Category Archives: Publishing

April Updates

To get the full update, sign up for my monthly(ish) newsletter here. Coming up in this month’s newsletter, I cover living and writing in Spain for the month.

Life updates

Living and writing in Spain is something I do fairly frequently. It is not the only country I have lived in, but it is the one in Europe I travel to most frequently. As a consequence, it is the backdrop to some of my stories and always comes with a completely different pace of life.

Character Lab

Monica Carletto, bisexual vampire CEO is the focus of this month’s character lab. Those of you who have read The Lazarus Hunter series (written as Cas Martin), will have already met this woman whose destiny seems to be always intertwined with Elizabeth, a woman who hunts their kind.

Upcoming Promos

Tapas and Tangelos, set in this part of the world will be 99c for 15-19 April as part of a I Heart Sapphic promotion. Until then, you can read it for free in Kindle Unlimited.

Remember, to get the full updates via my newsletter and free short stories and promotions, sign up to receive them here.

Personal update and some free book info

Since my wife and I welcomed a baby into our family earlier in 2018, I’ve given myself permission to not do any writing. A sort of maternity leave, if you will, although anyone who understands the desire to write knows that it’s not a job in the usual way. Sure, the publishing side of things is very much an actual job, but the itch to tell a story is something else.

I intend to return to writing full time in 2019, but am already putting a cautious toe back in the water to remember what it’s like to sit at the laptop and try to find the right words. To invest in fictional characters, rather than focus on the real tiny human who needs me so much.

With Halloween already upon us, vampires are the order of the day. All the books in my Lazarus Hunter series will be either free or on sale this week*. A welcome back to myself.

Blood InheritanceFree until 2nd October.

Black Market Blood (book 2) and Shadows of Blood (book 3) are both on a time-limited 0.99 offer.

*price applies to most Amazon marketplaces

Although this series has never been the main focus of my writing, I absolutely love it. This was the story I wanted to tell for me, back when Buffy ended its TV run and there was nothing else to take its place. I’m not sure there ever will be, but for now, I’m happy to create my own little world that will, in theory, reach seven books someday!

Get ready for summer with some free books!

Summer is on the way and I’m more than ready to celebrate the good weather. What better way than by chilling with a cocktail (or in my case a new baby) and a good book. With that in mind, I’ve picked two of kindle ebooks to be available for free as part of the I heart Lesfic Mega Sale, running May 21st-25th.

 

The first, Dirty Little War is one of my favourites. If you’re a Kindle Unlimited member you can read it for free now, without having to wait for the sale to start. Many readers wanted to know what happens next, so I’ve written a follow on short story that you can get here: Evie and Carmen, the final chapter.

 

The second, Tapas and Tangelos will also be free May 21st-25th in kindle stores globally. Set in a sleepy Spanish town where lovers meet, it’s the perfect summer beach read.

 

That’s my little break from baby life to author life done. Even if you’ve already read my books, head on over to the I heart Lesfic site and grab yourself a good book at an amazing price.

Happily Ever After This Christmas (isn’t that what we all want?)

With a little squee of delight (tinged with end of year exhaustion), I can say that my Christmas romance novel is published and finally available for purchase (or to read for free if you’re a Kindle Unlimited subscriber).

Although I usually enjoy writing grittier, darker plots, it’s nice to have a break sometimes. With the state of the world in 2017, it’s nice to step away from reality for a little while. Picturesque English village setting? Check. An independent bookstore? Check. Misunderstandings and mistakes? Check. Best friends who are funny and quirky? Check. Festive cheer with mulled wine and minced pies? Check. Humour? Check. A few tearjerker moments? Check.

Basically, it’s light-hearted and fun. Isn’t that what Christmas is meant to be all about?

Official blurby stuff:

This Christmas, can she finally leave the past behind?

Each year, creating the magical Christmas display at Johnson’s Independent Bookstore gets Kayleigh Johnson through the holidays. Staying busy to the point of exhaustion, she avoids the harsh reality that she is spending another Christmas alone. But when an inspector from the local council arrives late one snowy afternoon, her carefully controlled world is turned upside down once more.

Jo Pearmain is determined to do things by the book. Being a health and safety officer is hardly her dream job, but it’s one she needs to keep. Little does she know that as she closes down the bookstore Christmas display, she is destroying the small sliver of hope and happiness Kayleigh has left.

When she realises what she’s done, Jo’s determined to put it right, but Kayleigh is slow to forgive. The harder she works to fix things, the further Kayleigh pushes her away.

Can Jo convince Kayleigh they must work together to save Christmas for the village? And if she can, they might even save each other…

Happily Ever After This Christmas is a heartwarming romance about overcoming adversity and rediscovering the miracle of Christmas.

Available now at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

A story for the hopeless romantics out there (grab a free preview)

Everyone knows I like my stories with a bit of grit and darkness. I can’t help it. Give me a heroine with a dodgy background she’s trying to escape from and I’m happy as Larry.

At the same time, 2017 hasn’t exactly been a stellar year. Just following the news is enough to give you a nervous breakdown. So, for Christmas, I thought I would make a change from my usual MO and go for a gentler option. Happily Ever After This Christmas is set in the English Cotswolds, at the independent bookstore owned by Kayleigh Johnson. A woman who is getting on just fine (or so she thinks), until Jo Pearmain walks through her door.

It’s not that Jo intends to completely destroy the other woman’s Christmas, it just sort of happens. It’s not really her fault, but the more she tries to fix things, the more determined Kayleigh becomes to not let her.

With the countdown on until Christmas Eve, will Jo finally be able to convince Kayleigh to forgive her? If she can, then she might also be able to convince her that together, they could become something wonderful.

I’ll be sending my mailing list a free sample chapter later this week, so if you want to check it out before it’s available for sale, then click this link to sign up.

October Roundup: New Books! Free Books!

After far too long, the next 2 books in the Lazarus Hunter series are complete!

To celebrate, there’s a promo offer on all of them right now.

Blood InheritanceFree until October 29th

Black Market Blood (book 2) and Shadows of Blood (book 3) are both on a limited 0.99 offer until 8th November 2017.

That means you can get all three books for only 1.98 if you buy them before October 29th.*

*price applies to most Amazon marketplaces

 

I absolutely love writing this series, even if it was horribly delayed because there was a sticky plot point in Black Market Blood that has taken two years for me to fix in a way I was happy with. After some much needed rest, I’ll begin the edits to book four in December – I’m already looking forward to it.

I really hope you enjoy them and if you do, then please leave a review. Not only do I appreciate it, Amazon uses it to help other readers find my books.

For those of you who enjoy my C.K. Martin books, never fear! I have a heartwarming Christmas romance coming out at the beginning of December. More details heading your way soon!

 

Why I’ve used a new pen name for an old book

It has been absolute chaos, but I have finally completed the behind the scenes, messy task of disentangling Blood Inheritance from the author name C.K. Martin and moving it over to a new pen name, Cas Martin.

The great news is, now that the boring back-end stuff is done, I’m excited to be able to release books 2 and 3, Black Market Blood and Shadows of Blood.

Having two separate author names is a lot of effort, so why bother? Simply this: to make it easier for readers, even if it does make it harder for me.

Many of my books fall under the heading of lesbian fiction. Some are romance, some have a lesbian protagonist. For a significant number of readers, they have found my books because that is exactly what they want – a break from the heteronormative world that is 99% of publishing.*

My fantasy books won’t always give that. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re the kind of reader who only wants to read about straight white people, then you’re not going to get that either. I write my fantasy how I experience my world, and that is female and male, gay and straight, white and black. A messy walk through life, without clear-cut boundaries. If you enjoy all genres, then explore both by all means. I just wanted to make the branding visibly different.

In terms of social media, I’m not going to pretend that they’re two separate people. So my personal Facebook profile and twitter account will stay the same, but will reference both names. As will this website. Other things specifically book related, such as Amazon author pages, Facebook pages and (if I can get it to work properly) Goodreads will be separate to avoid posting things not of interest to the majority of readers.

So apologies if things are a bit messy for awhile. I would love it if you read all of my books, but if you’re looking for something specific, then this should help you get to the books you want. You can read the blurbs for all three on the Urban Fantasy page.

Quick Links:

Cas Martin’s Amazon Page / Facebook Page

C.K. Martin’s Amazon Page / Facebook Page

*not an actual statistic, but you get what I mean.

September Roundup: Promos and short story thoughts

Current Promo (time limited offer)

Dirty Little War eBook – on sale for 0.99 September 28 – October 5.

If you enjoy this novel, don’t forget you can sign up to get a free follow on chapter by signing up here. It contains spoilers for the entire book, so don’t read it until you’ve finished!

You’ll get notified of any new releases, but that will be all (I hate spam).

 

 

Don’t forget, if you enjoy it, leave a review! 

In other news…

There’s been lots of travel this month, which is great for coming up with new ideas. I’ve got a few bubbling away, but I’m also looking forward to all the new season TV to get a feel for what is good out there right now (and to see if Supergirl can redeem itself).

I’ve got a second round of edits back for my standalone romance and also my Christmas romance, so that’s a nice stack of work in the queue. Add that to my plans to relaunch the Lazarus Hunter series in October and the final quarter of the year looks to be as busy as the first. I’m really excited about all these books though, so I can’t wait to share them with you.

Short stories have been on my mind a lot lately. I don’t know many people who read short stories in the lesbian fiction genre unless they are free. From conversations with friends, even those readers with a Kindle Unlimited subscription prefer to get something longer (and therefore of perceived better value) than a quick read. I’m conscious that my sample size is small, so if you have any strong feelings, then comment below and it might change the direction of some of my plans for 2018.

 

Don’t forget, if you want to take advantage of the promo, make sure to click on the links above before it expires!

August Roundup: Free book promotion and other news

Current Promos (time limited offers)

 

 

Recapture the summer with Tapas and Tangelos –  a romantic beach read set in a sleepy European town. Read for free between September 2-6.

 

 

The second book in the Detective Teddie McKay series, A Taste To Die For is on offer for only 0.99 between September 9 – 16. You can also pick up the first in the series, The Crochet Killer for the same price too.

 

 

 

Don’t forget, if you enjoy them, leave a review! 

In other news…

August 2017 will forever be known as the month of the great edit. Nearly all my time has been focused on The Lazarus Hunter series, which will be republished under a different name a little later in the year. It makes sense to separate this out from my lesbian fiction, even though it won’t be easy. In the long term, it will be better for everyone to keep them separate. Of course, if you are primarily a fan of that series, I’ll be providing ways for you to find it and get your hands on the next books in the series.

Another standalone romance is in the editing queue and my Christmas romance is also coming round for its next stage of edits. So with that many plates spinning, I have been quiet on social media. That looks likely to continue into September (when I throw some travel into the mix as well, just to stay on my toes) but by the time autumn rolls around, I hope to be writing some new things rather than just editing existing manuscripts.

Now, back to work!

Don’t forget, if you want to take advantage of the promos, make sure to click on the links above before they expire!

July Roundup: Current promotions, free short story and WIPs

Current Promos (time limited offers)

Dirty Little War eBook – on sale for 0.99 only until July 29.

If you enjoy this novel, don’t forget you can sign up to get a free follow on chapter by signing up here. It contains spoilers for the entire novel, so don’t read it until you’ve finished the book!

You’ll get notified of any new releases, but that will be all (I hate spam).

 

The Crochet Killer – You can get the eBook for FREE between July 29 – August 2.

And if you enjoy Detective Teddie McKay, then the second book in the series, A Taste To Die For is on offer for only 0.99 between July 29 – August 5

Don’t forget, if you enjoy them, leave a review! 

In other news…

July has been a strange month. I have done lots of work, but it doesn’t feel like work. That might sound like a nice perk, but when you are a hyper-focused completer-finisher like me, the guilt starts to set in. I end up feeling like I’ve not done anything at all.

Another thing with writing is that sometimes, despite your original intentions and ideas, some stories just don’t work. It can be a labour of love to write an entire novel length work. Putting it aside and letting it go doesn’t come easily. It doesn’t matter how many books you’ve completed, it happens. So take heart newbie writers out there. The key is just to pick yourself back up and keep going.

The main focus for August will be whipping the second book of the Lazarus Hunter series into shape. This has been sitting languishing for some time, but like the new novel mentioned above, there was something not quite right about it. It’s taken me literally years to work out what that is, but now that I have, I can finally make progress. This is really exciting for me as books three and four are already written and have been waiting until this one got its act together.

However, with that comes the decision of whether or not to unpublish the first book and republish the series under a different name. As much as I love the book and it does contain some slashy, subtexty goodness, I understand that those who have come to my writing via lesbian fiction might be confused by a book that doesn’t fit that genre at all. I’ve tried to make it as clear as possible in the blurb, but there is always the chance of people reading a book they don’t expect. I haven’t made the full decision on this yet, but my gut feel is that it’s the right thing to do.

Don’t forget, if you want to take advantage of the promos, make sure to click on the links above before they expire!