DAMNATION'S DOOR Released, Giveaways, Preorders, and MIDNIGHT SKY's Cover!

This week has been going great so far. I was away for a mini-vacation Sunday and Monday (why there was no blog post on Monday) and on Tuesday, Damnation's Door, the last in the Cursed trilogy, was released in style with two different blog tours and release blitzes courtesy of XPresso Book Tours and En Pointe Author Services. 

Demons are free. Angels are fallen. Hope is dying...

Constance Ramirez and her adopted sister, Andromeda, have stopped Lucifer’s plan– They have closed the Heaven Gate and kept the demons out. But their choice came with brutal consequences, and now every angel on earth is trapped in their mortal body.

All that remains is closing the Hell Gate and establishing a balance once and for all. That means returning to the city of Constance’s nightmares, which has become a haven for murderers and monsters. But even more dangerous than their hunt is that Andromeda’s powers and instincts are turning darker, and this time Constance doesn’t know how to protect her.

Constance is ready to fight for her life, but her enemies have plans she can’t begin to imagine, and they’re prepared to make her suffer...

Trust is lost and hearts are broken in the epic conclusion in Amy Braun’s Cursed trilogy...

Media Kit

Chapter One

Buy it here:

Amazon Kindle | Paperback | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Nook | iBookstore |  Goodreads | Smashwords 

I'm still reeling from the knowledge that I've officially released a full book series. It's exciting, uplifting, and a little sad. I've been on some great adventures with Constance, Dro, Warrick, Sephiel, and Max, and I'm sad to see them go. Still, I've learned a lot from the experience, and know that I can use the knowledge to improve myself as an author. Besides, there's another story to be told: Midnight Sky, the second Dark Sky novel, had its official cover reveal on Sunday, and I couldn't be happier with the work Deranged Doctor Design put together.

There are secrets, there are betrayals, and there are sacrifices… 

The Behemoth has been destroyed, and the bloodthirsty Hellions seem to have left Westraven. But Claire Abernathy’s mind is not at ease. A terrible disease plagues her sister, appearing to have been brought on the Vesper, the leader of the Hellions beyond the tear between worlds– the Breach.

To save Abby and stop the Hellions for good, Claire must find the machine her parents built before the attacks, and fix it before the monsters return. To do so, she needs the help of her crew, and must ignore the secrets and rivalries between her captain and the man she saved.

Because the Hellions are not the only dangers following Claire. Twisted humans and old enemies surface to stop her and destroy all she loves. While she is determined to endure the trials, a single betrayal could shatter the hope of a better world, and force Claire to make a choice that will cost her dearly…

Preorder Links (More on the way!)

Kindle | Kobo | Smashwords | iTunes | Goodreads

Though I'm still focusing on Damnation's Door and trying new promotion techniques, I have to say that I'm thrilled to have figured out parts of Scrivener with Midnight Sky, which will be my go-to writing tool... once I learn how to use it. I'm very excited about the release and everything that will come with it. In addition to the blog tours for Damnation's Door, I've also got a ton of contests and signups going on:

The Bookish Crypt Damnation's Door and Cursed series giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sign Ups:

Book Blitz for Damnation's Door
Release Blitz and Blog Tour for Damnation's Door

Review Opportunity for Crimson Sky and Midnight Sky

Last, but not least, I'll be starting the Storm of the Gods edits by the end of the week, I think. I'm still waiting for one more email response but am determined to have those done by the end of the month so I can send it to publishers. I'm also working on The Iron Gargoyle, and it's been going great. The story turned out to be longer than I intended, but there isn't a part of it I don't love. I'm very excited to jump into this new world and learn all I can from it. 
And that's what's going on! This has been a crazy, exciting week for me as an author, and I can't wait for it to continue. 
Cheers!

Amy

Cover Reveal: MIDNIGHT SKY

The time has come! I've been teasing at it for a while, but today is the day I reveal the cover of Midnight Sky, the second novel in the Dark Sky series. Are you ready? I know I am!

10.
9..
8...
7....
6.....
5......
4.......
3........
2.........
1..........

There are secrets, there are betrayals, and there are sacrifices… 

The Behemoth has been destroyed, and the bloodthirsty Hellions seem to have left Westraven. But Claire Abernathy’s mind is not at ease. A terrible disease plagues her sister, appearing to have been brought on the Vesper, the leader of the Hellions beyond the tear between worlds– the Breach.

To save Abby and stop the Hellions for good, Claire must find the machine her parents built before the attacks, and fix it before the monsters return. To do so, she needs the help of her crew, and must ignore the secrets and rivalries between her captain and the man she saved.

Because the Hellions are not the only dangers following Claire. Twisted humans and old enemies surface to stop her and destroy all she loves. While she is determined to endure the trials, a single betrayal could shatter the hope of a better world, and force Claire to make a choice that will cost her dearly…

Preorder Links (More on the way!)

Kindle | Kobo | Smashwords | Goodreads

I'm not kidding when I say the cover Deranged Doctor Design put together couldn't be more perfect. The colours are what I'd hoped for, the key is perfect, and the metal background is identical to how I picture it. Why is the background so important, you ask? Well, you'll just have to preorder the book and find out!

I wish I were a little more prepared with the media kits and chapter sample, but Real Life and new tactics have made it difficult to keep pace with all I want to do. Rest assured though, I will have more links and an updated Dark Sky page by the end of this week. In a few hours I'm going on a delayed long weekend vacation, but I would love to hear feedback on the cover! Major, massive thank you's to all the blogs that took part and to Janet of En Pointe Author Services for helping set it up.

Cheers!

Amy

Sunday Snippet: "I didn’t think this whole plan through."

It's been a busy week! I'm posting early because I'm preparing for a long weekend vacation with my friends, a cover reveal in a couple hours (and likely live, depending on where you are in the world!), formatting, completing a first draft of a novel, and planning another series. I'm going a little out of my mind with all I need to do. But, first things first– Weekend Writing Warriors! My 8-10 sentence snippet for this weekly blog hop continues a little while after last week's cliffhanger post, since so many people asked for it to continue. So in this snippet from Damnation's Door, releasing on Tuesday (woo hoo!), main character Constance Ramirez gets into trouble, and has to fight her way out of it...

Admittedly, I didn’t think this whole plan through. Seeing the man who murdered my mentor, kidnapped my sister, tortured and tried to kill me sparked my already short temper. So it wasn’t long before they got their shots in.

The man on my left jabbed his fist into my ribs. I winced, giving the man on the right the chance to loop his arm around my throat. I was pinned to his back, my neck straining painfully as he wrenched it up. I used one hand to claw at the meaty arm on my throat, leaving my front completely exposed to the second man. He grinned, thinking he was going to get some revenge on me for the sake of his employers.

Stupid bastard forgot I was still armed.

Demons are free. Angels are fallen. Hope is dying...

Constance Ramirez and her adopted sister, Andromeda, have stopped Lucifer’s plan– They have closed the Heaven Gate and kept the demons out. But their choice came with brutal consequences, and now every angel on earth is trapped in their mortal body.

All that remains is closing the Hell Gate and establishing a balance once and for all. That means returning to the city of Constance’s nightmares, which has become a haven for murderers and monsters. But even more dangerous than their hunt is that Andromeda’s powers and instincts are turning darker, and this time Constance doesn’t know how to protect her.

Constance is ready to fight for her life, but her enemies have plans she can’t begin to imagine, and they’re prepared to make her suffer...

Trust is lost and hearts are broken in the epic conclusion in Amy Braun’s Cursed trilogy...

Media Kit

Chapter One

Pre-order it here:

Amazon Kindle | Paperback | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Nook | iBookstore |  Goodreads | Smashwords |

There've been some great reviews of the final Cursed novel lately, including one from WeWriWa's very own Christina Ochs, who just released her own brand new novel that you all need to buy! Seriously, get it, it's freaking amazing! In addition to reviews, One Book Two currently has a giveaway for the whole Cursed series! You can find out more details here, and there's still a ton of signups that all book bloggers are welcome to:

Sign Ups:

Book Blitz for Damnation's Door
Release Blitz and Blog Tour for Damation's Door

Cover Reveal for Midnight Sky

Review Opportunity for Crimson Sky and Midnight Sky

Now, in writing news. While Midnight Sky, the second Dark Sky novel is just about to have its glorious cover revealed to the world, I'm still working on the final formatting for both the printed and ebooks. I'm still working on figuring out Scrivener (the compile feature is what I want to use most right now, hence why I can't get it to format without doing weird things), but I'm hoping to have it sorted out by next week so I can send out all the details for reviewers and bloggers and begin its promotion. 
I'm crushingly close to finishing the second Areios Brothers novel (only half a chapter!), and wanted to get it done today, but I don't know that I'll have time or wakefulness on my side. *cries* That said, I'm taking my laptop with me to my friends cabin (and before you protest about what a horrible friend I am, all six of them plan to play a round or two of Magic The Gathering, a game I know about as much of as I do astrophysics), so I'll get a little more work in during that time. 
Once that's over, it's on to plotting and working on The Iron Gargoyle. I'm expecting a little more edits to return my way and will focus on Damnation's Door and Midnight Sky more than anything (seriously, thank God for blog tour companies and ebook promotion services– I think I would actually have to quit my Real Job if I had to do literally all of this by myself), but I'm going to need something to write when I have a moment or two to spare. 
So yes, that's the big news! Check back in a couple hours for the official cover reveal of Midnight Sky, and be sure to leave some love for the other Weekend Writing Warriors! I'll be posting again on Thursday, so until then, cheers! 
Amy

Monthly Goals (And Overworked Insanity): June

Wow. I like being busy, but am I the only one who felt that May went by insanely fast? Hopefully I can provide an accurate recap of it. The first, and most important thing, was that my second standalone novel, Storm Born, was released!

A single night can change your life… for the worst.

It’s been a century since the last Centennial Storm, the calamitous phenomenon that covered the world in disasters– tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, tsunamis, and dust storms– caused not by nature, but by alien creatures from another realm. The Stormkind.

Ava Reid tries not to think about that night, when she was caught in a hurricane and brought face to face with one of the Stormkind, the man with a dagger, and the agony she felt when he stabbed her with a crystal blade. Yet as she and the rest of Florida’s citizens begin to rebuild their lives, Ava can’t help but notice strange things happening around her. Things she seems to be causing. The gusts of wind and sudden floods attract the attentions of a mysterious stranger who leaves her clues, and the deadlier men following her.

It isn’t long before Ava is swept up into a wild conspiracy, led by a secret society that knows the truth about the Stormkind– and what their enemies have planned for the world she loves. If she wishes to protect her friends and her family, Ava must harness her strange new abilities and become part of the Stormkind society. Because if she loses control, there will be no force strong enough to stop her…

Buy it here:

Amazon Kindle | Paperback | Createspace | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads | Smashwords | iBookstore | 

***

I was super excited to have another novel, which has been selling quite well in my opinion, and I've received a lot of good feedback on it. There's currently a blog tour going on for it (and you can still sign up!) which will carry on for another week. En Pointe Author Services helped put together and they've been stellar to work with. 

A few weeks ago, I also had a guest post for an anthology called Fae Visions of the Mediterranean as a favour for an author who will be featured with the me in the upcoming Ghosts, Gears, and Grimoires anthology compiled by Mocha Memoirs Press. I was super excited to have my story, Engineered Deceit, accepted, especially since it will be released in between my upcoming Dark Sky novellas, Amber Sky and Smoke Sky. 

Speaking of Dark Sky, I was thrilled to have the cover art for Midnight Sky returned! The wonder team at Deranged Doctor Design outdid themselves this time. The cover, which will be revealed on June 5, is exactly how I imagined it would be. I can't wait to share it. 

There are tons of sign-ups for my upcoming releases, all of which can be found below!

 Sign Ups:

Blog Tour for Storm Born

Review Opportunity for the Cursed series

Pre-Order Release Blitz for Damnation's Door (Starting soon!)

Book Blitz for Damnation's Door
Release Blitz and Blog Tour for Damation's Door

Cover Reveal for Midnight Sky

Review Opportunity for Crimson Sky and Midnight Sky

***

I also started taking time to re-organize how I write. I'm trying to learn the mysteries of Scrivener. It's format is almost perfect for the way I write, but the learning curve is merciless. I'm hoping to have it figured out either some time today or next week so I can upload the final versions of Midnight Sky, which is now up for preorder on Kindle, Kobo, and Smashwords. I'm also slowly transferring my Blogger account to Wordpress, now that I've bought a domain name. More learning curves. And I thought I was done with school. 

So. That's been May. As for June... June will be freaking insanity. Next week, the final novel in the Cursed trilogy, Damnation's Door, will be released. 

Demons are free. Angels are fallen. Hope is dying...

Constance Ramirez and her adopted sister, Andromeda, have stopped Lucifer’s plan– They have closed the Heaven Gate and kept the demons out. But their choice came with brutal consequences, and now every angel on earth is trapped in their mortal body.

All that remains is closing the Hell Gate and establishing a balance once and for all. That means returning to the city of Constance’s nightmares, which has become a haven for murderers and monsters. But even more dangerous than their hunt is that Andromeda’s powers and instincts are turning darker, and this time Constance doesn’t know how to protect her.

Constance is ready to fight for her life, but her enemies have plans she can’t begin to imagine, and they’re prepared to make her suffer...

Trust is lost and hearts are broken in the epic conclusion in Amy Braun’s Cursed trilogy...

Media Kit

Chapter One

Pre-order it here:

Amazon Kindle | Paperback | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Nook | iBookstore |  Goodreads | Smashwords |

***
I'm super excited for its release, and have been hearing great things so far from fellow author Christina Ochs and the reviewers at One Book Two, who have listed the first of many giveaways! 

In a couple days, I'm going to be very excited to have Christina Ochs back on the blog to promote her new novel, Hammer of the Gods. The novel is spectacular, and I look forward to reviewing it in detail on Saturday. Sunday is the cover reveal of Midnight Sky, and almost all the signups I have will be kicking off, starting with a Pre-Order Release Blitz for Damnation's Door. I'll also be sending out emails to reviewers for Midnight Sky, and am hoping the Review Opportunity will bring in more interest and help boost promotion. 

While all that's going on, I'm hoping to finish the second Areios Brothers novel. I'm pretty confident I can get it done today (lest I become exhausted and distracted with Scrivener and Wordpress tutorials). It will be a relief to have it over with, and I expect the Beta edits for the first novel, Storm of the Gods, to come back in a couple days. I'll be happy to work on those and add a few changes to the story, and my goal for the end of the month is to have it sent out to publishers. I'm realistic with my expectations, which is why once those queries are sent out, I won't touch the novel for six months. If I hear nothing back, I'll self-publish the series. The Areios Brothers is extremely dear to me and I would love nothing more than to see it on book shelves, but I'm not going to revolve my career around one book.

Case in point, if I can't motivate myself to do the tutorials today, or if I fail at them abysmally, I'll be working on the series plots and first storyline for my upcoming Iron Gargoyle series. I've already started some of the first novel, and I adore it. It's been a while since I've constructed a series from scratch, and my mind is bursting with ideas for this new series. I won't give much away (the title hints at quite a bit to be honest), but hopefully it will be like nothing readers have encountered before.

So that's my June. I know. I don't know how I'm going to keep up with everything, especially since I still have to work full time at the Real Job. That said, thinking about all these upcoming projects is very exciting. I'm learning a lot and can't wait to go through all this madness again!

Cheers!

Amy

Huge Weekly Recap With Reviews, Signups, and Pre-Orders!

Last week got busy fast, and this week is going to be even more intense. I have so much going on and even more planned, it's hard to keep up. While not everything is crossed off from last week's goals, most of it is close to being done:

• Finish editing Midnight Sky ASAP!
• Midnight Sky media kit and pre-order setups 
• Format Midnight Sky (working on today)

• World building, histories, series outline, and plots for the Iron Gargoyle series (create a map)

• Continue writing the sequel to Storm of the Gods 

And if you thought that was a lot of work, take a look at this:

• Send out Midnight Sky media kit and pre-order links for promotions
• Format Midnight Sky for print and ebook (test out Scrivener)

• Series outline, and plots for the Iron Gargoyle series (create a map)
• Start writing The Iron Gargoyle, the first Iron Gargoyle novel

• Finish the sequel to Storm of the Gods 
• Beta read edits for Storm of the Gods (if they come in)
• Open contests for Damnation's Door (released next week!)

Yeah. So far, today has been one of those days where I just don't know where to start. Well, that's not true. I'm aiming to get the final drafts and review copies for Midnight Sky up now that the Kindle, Kobo, and Smashwords pre-order links are live. More should be on the way and the Dark Sky series page will be updated next week after the cover reveal on June 5. 

 Sign Ups:

Blog Tour for Storm Born

Review Opportunity for the Cursed series

Pre-Order Release Blitz for Damnation's Door (Starting soon!)

Book Blitz for Damnation's Door
Release Blitz and Blog Tour for Damation's Door

Cover Reveal for Midnight Sky

Review Opportunity for Crimson Sky and Midnight Sky

***

Not that I have any expectations to get all of those goals accomplished, but to think that I might is really motivating. I mean, if I get even two or three of them done, I'll consider myself ahead of the game. Since formatting is perhaps my least favourite part of writing, I'm going to be working with Scrivener for the first time. I'm a little anxious and I hate tutorials (so boring!), but considering the issues I've had in the past, and the recommendations I've gotten, it makes sense to give it a shot and see how it works. If nothing else, at least I'll have a reliable formatting software. 

Damnation's Door is out next week. I'm still working on believing that. It seems like I just finished the final draft yesterday. It's nice to know that I'll have a full, completed series, but I'm going to miss the characters. That said, I'm getting ready for the blog tours and giveaways, and have already heard great reviews from One Book Two and fellow author Christina Ochs!

Speaking of Christina Ochs, she'll be part of a special guest post this week on my blog to promote her new novel, Hammer of the Gods. I've already read and reviewed the novel on Goodreads (a fuller review will be coming this Saturday), and I have to say it's freaking spectacular. If you like mild fantasy novels/historical battles, trust me when I say this is a book series you want to start. I couldn't stop reading! 

Last but not least, updates on my newest writing projects. The second Areios Brothers novel is almost finished (about 2.5 more chapters to go), and I'll be relieved when its over. There will be some changes, many of which might come later since I need to update the first novel, Storm of the Gods. I should be getting the Beta edits back any day now, and am hoping to start working on them in June so I can take a deep breath and send out query letters. Once I do that, the series will be out of my hands and there will likely not be updates on it for the rest of the year, unless the incredible happens and it's picked up by a publisher. 

Finally, Iron Gargoyle. You guys have no idea how much I'm aching to get really started on that bad boy. I've already created the world history, written the prologue and the first chapter of the first book, and have the basic plots for the series (which will include four full length novels and a series of three novellas revolving around another character), so now I need to set up the world and detail the plots. It's a lot of work, but I love doing it. 

So, this blog post turned out to be way longer than I expected. Imagine what my monthly blog post is going to look like! 

Anyway, it's time to get back to work. Thanks for spotting by! Cheers!

Amy

Sunday Snippet: "I didn’t hit my mark."

It's been a crazy week for me with the upcoming release of Damnation's Door, the final Cursed novel, and preparing for the promotion and release of Midnight Sky, the second in the Dark Sky trilogy. That said, I still have time to promote Weekend Writing Warriors, the weekly blog tour where authors get together and share 8-10 sentences of their current, upcoming, and newly released work. I'm still carrying on from chapter one of Damnation's Door, and decided that a little chaos is in order. After being faced with one of her most loathsome enemies and his cronies, Constance decides to take matters into her own hands...

I took a risk myself, and threw my silver knife at Drake.

I didn’t miss–I hardly ever miss–but I didn’t hit my mark.

The thin silver blade slammed into the neck of the Possessor standing beside Drake. The huge bounty hunter had stepped to the side so the blade wouldn’t get anywhere near him. He stepped so far I was a little embarrassed at how off my aim had been. Deep down, I knew better. Drake was fast for someone his size, but it looked like he’d gotten quite a bit from his deal with the Devil.

The man lurched, blood gushing from the wound in his neck. He opened his mouth as though to scream, but a spiral of thick black smoke shot out of his mouth. The Possessor’s true form screeched and twisted away in the back room. Then room exploded into action.

Demons are free. Angels are fallen. Hope is dying...

Constance Ramirez and her adopted sister, Andromeda, have stopped Lucifer’s plan– They have closed the Heaven Gate and kept the demons out. But their choice came with brutal consequences, and now every angel on earth is trapped in their mortal body.

All that remains is closing the Hell Gate and establishing a balance once and for all. That means returning to the city of Constance’s nightmares, which has become a haven for murderers and monsters. But even more dangerous than their hunt is that Andromeda’s powers and instincts are turning darker, and this time Constance doesn’t know how to protect her.

Constance is ready to fight for her life, but her enemies have plans she can’t begin to imagine, and they’re prepared to make her suffer...

Trust is lost and hearts are broken in the epic conclusion in Amy Braun’s Cursed trilogy...

Pre-order it here:

Amazon Kindle | Paperback | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Nook | iBookstore |  Goodreads 

| Smashwords |

***
Now, onto the news. I'm happy too announce that the edits Midnight Sky for are done! I likely have some touch-ups to do that will happen when I begin formatting *cries* but I'm sure I'll catch all of them. I was also super excited to receive the artwork for the novel, which is freaking spectacular. Deranged Doctor Design nailed my idea completely, and I couldn't be happier. It's kind of killing me not to show the artwork, but the cover reveal is June 5, but there's still time to sign up for it, along with all the other blitzes and promos I have coming up!

 Sign Ups:

Blog Tour for Storm Born

Review Opportunity for the Cursed series

Pre-Order Release Blitz for Damnation's Door (Starting soon!)

Book Blitz for Damnation's Door
Release Blitz and Blog Tour for Damation's Door

Cover Reveal for Midnight Sky

Review Opportunity for Crimson Sky and Midnight Sky

***
Now, writing news. While I'm going to be formatting and preparing Midnight Sky, I'm still plugging along with the end of the second Areios Brothers novel. I don't think I've ever had this much trouble writing an action packed ending, though I came up with some absolutely wicked ideas regarding the third book in the series. Not that it will be next on the docket. Nope– Iron Gargoyle is next on the list. I'm still working on the plot, which will likely take a full day, but I'm committed to planning it out so I can send it to Beta readers and publishers after that. It will take a few months to complete, but I'm going to be excited to see it through. 

So, that's my truckload of work. Looking at it now reminds me why I wish I didn't have to worry about my Real Job. Yeah, it pays the bills and pays for my writing, but I would really rather just be writing. Such is life, right? 

Anyway, thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out the other Weekend Writing Warriors blogs and leave some love for the authors. Weekend Writing Warriors has just about every genre you can imagine, so you're guaranteed to find something you like! Cheers!

Amy