Sasha & Derek, Sasha & Mick, or Sasha & ...Sasha...?

Hmmm... Now that the 3rd Sasha Jackson Mystery is out, I'm starting to get some interesting feedback & fan responses about Sasha's love life.  Some readers (and reviewers) like Sasha more as a single chick, and some like the fact that she has a budding romance with the lawyer Derek Armstrong.

Background: 

In Blood and Groom Sasha was single and dateless.  Her ex-boyfriend (and former band-mate) Mick was sort of in the picture.  The two of them have (had) MAJOR chemistry, but just can't get along for long, outside of the bedroom (or offstage... and the  stage stuff has zilch to do with the bedroom stuff... in case you were wondering!!!)

Halfway through the 2nd book, Dead Light District, Sasha has a very passionate encounter with Derek, a lawyer she first met via her detective life, and with whom there has been much flirtation.  They finally get together... but...

In book 3, The Lies Have It, Sasha and Derek are involved, but he's away on a business trip for most of the book.

So... what should I do with her love life in the 4th book, Frisky Business?  I could keep their relationship going, dial it up or down a bit, or I could make her single again.

I would love your input!

Recent Reads: Alexander Fool Longitude Tongue

Moore always makes me laugh out loud!  This book explains the papacy (The Discount Pope & the Retail Pope - one offers cheesy bacon bits on the hosts), and it includes the lines "she honked my codpiece" and "strung together like anal beads from Hell's own bunghole."  It's an alternative and hilarious version of King Lear.  Loved it!

I've read many books on language, including another by Abley.  This one is a contemporary look at language via modern day lenses, such as Hip Hop & Rap and language, the Internet, and globalization/migration.
Lots of interesting factoids and examples.

You'd think that this would be dull as dishwater, but it's actually a fascinating story.  Put yourself in the headspace of a sailor in - let's say 1653 - and consider the challenges to seafaring back then.  No GPS devices, no ship-to-shore communications, and of course, challenges like food and health while at sea.
Figuring out longitude had a huge impact on sailing and exploration.  A really cool read!

Not the most exciting book ever but still a worthwhile read (if a book doesn't grab me enough I won't finish it).  The man himself was interesting (although anal), but the real catch here is the depiction of mental health way back when and how society dealt with law and order and people who didn't fit into expected social molds.  Interesting stuff here.

Hmmmm, so does *FREE* work?

I did a promotion for three days this week for Blood and Groom.  The ebook version of Blood and Groom was free on Kindle from March 20th to 22nd.  (It's now only $2.99.)

I've never done anything like this before, so I have nothing to compare the results to, but...

• More free Blood and Groom ebooks were downloaded in those three days than in the prior six months, so that's good! I reached a bunch of new readers!

• For all three of the promo days, Blood and Groom was in the Top 10 Hard-Boiled Mysteries list for the Kindle store, so that's also really good! 

• I promoted the freebie extensively on Twitter.  I had a lot of help and support from many friends, fellow authors and Tweeps.  The promotion netted me a bunch of new followers on Twitter (I'm @JillEdmondson) which is also good, since that broadens my circle.  *** A big THANK YOU to all the folks on Twitter who helped to spread the word ***

•  The promotion did net me a few actual sales, but not yet as many as I had hoped.  However, it may be premature to comment on that.  My gut tells me I should wait a couple weeks and give the folks who downloaded Blood and Groom a chance to read it, and then see if they come back to buy Dead Light District and/or The Lies Have It. 

• Facebook didn't seem to be terribly effective with this promotion.  I linked the freebie info to my own profile and also to the Sasha Jackson Mysteries FB Page.  I got a few "likes" and a couple of "shares" but not much else.  Interestingly, though, when someone else posted the promo info on HIS FB profile, it actually generated lots of activity and many comments! 

Some people may question the idea of giving it away for free when I could be selling it and making some $ on it.  I guess, at first blush, it seems like cutting in on your own sales.  However, Blood and Groom was first released in November 2009, so it has really run its course.  I still do sell  paperback copies of it when I do store events and such, but  the bulk of the sales came (of course) during the first 6 or 8 months of its life.  So, NO, I don't really think I'm cutting into my own sales.  I see it more as revitalizing them.

Would I try another freebie event? Yes, definitely!I'd like to do something similar - perhaps with Dead Light District or The Lies Have It, or maybe with a different platform.  I don't know yet, but I am definitely looking into it! 

Availability of Dead Light District: Correction

A number of retail websites that list Dead Light District say that it is unavailable, out of stock, cancelled and such.  These websites are mistaken about the book's availability.  You can get it from several sources, in either paperback or as an ebook.

The sites listing Dead Light District as unavailable, etc. also have other errors.  First of all, it is not a Dundurn book (a number of sites still wrongly list Dundurn as the publisher - Dundurn never published this book).  Furthermore, on many of these same sites, the cover of the book is shown as a black and white photo of a woman, from the waist down.  She's wearing a very short skirt and has fishnet stockings on, and she is holding a gun. This cover was never used; no book by me was ever published with this cover.  (For the record, I absolutely HATE that cover - it looks like soft-core porn or erotica.)  Finally, the release date is also wrong (it shows as Dec. 2010).

The correct info is this:  Dead Light District was published as a paperback and as an ebook by Iguana Books in March 2011.

Dead Light District is on KOBO and NOOK and AMAZON and can be ordered directly from ME or from the publisher IGUANA.

Recent Reads: Count Plum Moon Cream

This was an interesting read: science, politics, history.  Rumford made a difference and had an impact, yet his name is not well known (probably because he pissed off so many people).  Filled with lots of fun bits of trivia. 

I read everything in the Stephanie Plum series.  She is without a doubt one of my favourite characters. 
I love the escape and love having a good laugh as I read!

Wow!  This is one time that I can truly say a book is gripping, moving, compelling...
I was very teary-eyed by the end.  Read it!

Loved this latest mystery by Howard Shrier!  It really is a page-turner!  Jonah Gellar is a wonderful
character and a great PI - I look forward to the next installment in the series.