But in Ankaret Wells’ “Firebrand” – recommended by folks on my Goodreads Feminist Romance group – I finally found what I was looking for: a romantic story that fits my feminist values without being a polemic, and a thoroughly enjoyable adventure with fully-rounded characters I came to genuinely care about.

The story isn’t about feminism, and it doesn’t need to be. It’s about a woman – told in her first-person voice – who has just lost her mother and not long before was widowed, though her husband’s death was clearly no loss. Kadia begins the story in the somewhat-stunned position of trying to figure out her place amidst these deaths when, by virtue of her mother’s will, she and her new airship become prizes sought by the most powerful men in Wells’ extremely well-developed world of an expanding empire versus last-ditch holdout provinces. Through a mixture of self-empowerment and being tossed about by forces outside of her control, Kadia gets caught up in intrigue upon intrigue and, of course, a romance.

The romance element is very nicely done, with enough questions about how things will turn out to keep it interesting. The sex scenes are lovely for someone like me who likes fairly normal heterosexual love scenes without any of the currently trendy faux-BDSM stuff. If you’re looking for exotic, non-het, multiple-appliances-involved sex, “Firebrand” isn’t for you. It’s for the rest of us who are still happy with the main thrust (heh) coming (heh heh) from the love and passion of the characters instead of slapped-on kink for kink’s sake.

Kadia as a character has her moments of impressive resolve and strength, but also entirely human moments of despair and longing. She is three-dimensional, her voice differs from other characters in the story, and even when she screws up she’s inherently likable to the reader.

The genre is steampunk romance, and this is the first steampunk book I’ve read since that’s usually not my cup of clockwork tea. But this is a solid story independent of its genre. The genre stuff forms the setting, the background, and the stage but is not a dictator over the characters. The people are just that: people, not puppets made to fit genre requirements, and it was very refreshing to read a book where I genuinely cared about what happened to the humans (and not-entirely humans) inside.

“Firebrand” isn’t a world-changing, life-altering book. It’s exactly what it should be: a great story that doesn’t rely on outdated anti-feminist tropes. I loved it and truly hope there’ll be a sequel.

This is a full-length novel that has been through the publishing gatekeeper. It is professionally edited, and my editor and I just went over it again for extra brushing-up (although if you’ve read it before, nothing substantial has changed). It is a love story in a fantasy setting (no magic), told in first-person. More information can be found here. I’ve also added it on Goodreads and by tomorrow it will hopefully be downloadable there as well.

Hopefully over the next several weeks it’ll propagate out from Smashwords to other stores, although probably not Amazon. Amazon does not allow free ebooks other than for a few days per year if a book is otherwise enrolled in their KDP Select program, which requires exclusivity.

The Blurb:

Unwilling to remain just another poor, country barmaid, Aenna leaves her life behind to save the life of a Prince she’s never seen. But she finds more adventure than she bargained for as forbidden love pits her against powerful adversaries and exposes her to intrigues and dangers. Will love be enough to conquer the demons of jealousy, addiction, temptation, prejudice, and violence? Or will Aenna succumb to the increasing spiral of depression that threatens to steal her sanity?

This is one woman’s honest portrayal of the sweetest and the darkest times of her life. Aenna reveals her deepest emotions, most private thoughts, and bold confessions as she tells the story of how she learns that romance isn’t a fairy tale, but a heart-rending lesson of the sorrows of adoration.

If you like it and wish you could have paid me for it, feel free to buy a copy of “Finding Gaia”. Multiple stores including Smashwords, Amazon, B&N, and more listed at http://findinggaia.com.

If you want a print version, speak up. With “Finding Gaia” there are hassles to a print version because of the lyrics permissions. With this, I’d just have to have enough folks who want to buy it to make it worth my time to pay my editor to format it for CreateSpace or Lulu or something. But if a few people say they’re definitely interested, I’ll do it.

Smashwords treats authors better and pays us a higher royalty while offering readers unlimited downloads in all major formats so they can switch between devices as needed.

The book remains on sale at the stores listed on the sidebar for the regular price of $4.99.

If you have any questions, feel free to respond in comments below, on their blog of it here, or anywhere else that works for you. Definitely speak up if you’re another reader who wants to ensure you’re only getting a professional, edited product when you buy books, especially if you have any ideas for how that information should be put forth.

If you want to talk to the puppet, the best place to do that is here. Watch out: she bites.

Wait, what?

That’s right. 393. Because he’s immortal. But shhh, that’s a secret. Don’t tell anyone, except maybe Trish because she already knows. And of course, those who have already read “Finding Gaia”. Everyone else can read more about him on his profile page.

He also happens to look exactly like Hugh Jackman, which is eye candy for the rest of us*. But since I’m a writer and not a graphic artist like Charles Dowd, the best I could do was whip up this cheesy card. Maybe some of you fans out there could make better graphics for Jason’s birthday. If anyone does, I’ll feature them here!

Besides, this could’ve been worse. It’s also Fabio’s birthday. I could’ve posted photos of Fabio, but I made a promise to never have barfy pink Fabio-ish covers on my novels even though they’ve got romance and sex in them. You’re welcome.

Want to spy on Jason a little for free? You can at Smashwords, B&N, Kobo, Goodreads, and Diesel.

* Obviously no part of this is endorsed by Mr. Jackman. You can tell because I’m not dead, and if I ever had communication from Jackman, I’d drop dead of fanjoy. But if you also like Jackman eye candy, I have a notify circle on G+ where I share occasional delicious picspam privately, so come on by sometime and ask to be added.

Indie creators really love fan mail because, frankly, sales are few and far between and their day is made each time a fan says, “I bought your album/book/litho/etc and I love it!”

But when you take the time to also say, “I found out about you from [source],” it’s vitally useful to their future marketing strategies.

For instance, I heard about Monty Harper’s excellent science-based kids’ music from the Parenting Beyond Belief podcast, and I made sure he knew that. I’ve told other indie/small scale artists about having heard them first on Pandora. I told Dave Carroll that I bought his album “Perfect Blue” because I’d heard of his viral YouTube video “United Breaks Guitars” but that now I’m more in love with other songs on it (particularly “Now” and “The Place that I Call Home”).

And of course Charles Dowd knows that I found out about his girl-positive comic Lilith Dark because of asking for specifically that sort of thing on G+.

Indie creators know when their friends buy their stuff it’s because of that personal relationship, but are often bewildered as to how random strangers heard of their work. Is this sale a friend-of-a-friend thing, or did a promotion strategy actually work this time?

Last month I ran a coupon for “Finding Gaia” on Smashwords. One person used it. But my current Amazon stats show five sales so far for February, two of which were from before the coupon. Were those other three related to the promotion? Did people forego the coupon because they prefer to buy from Amazon? Or did they just see reviews on Goodreads and happen to buy during the coupon period without even knowing it was available?

Indie creators spend a lot of time on marketing that they could be spending on more creation. If fans take a moment to let creators know what promotions worked, it goes a long way to helping reduce wasted time for everyone and focusing future campaigns more effectively.

So today, go tell an indie or small-scale creator you like that you like them and where you heard about their stuff. You’ll be making someone’s day in multiple ways.

To celebrate, and in recognition of Valentine’s Day this week, I’m offering $2 off “Finding Gaia” at Smashwords through February 15. Use code ZA46L to pay only $2.99!

Further, the extended love scene “The Power of a Blush” is still FREE and comes with the first two chapters of “Finding Gaia”. It is available at Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Diesel, and Goodreads.

For my fellow data nerds or for any would-be writers who would appreciate some realistic information, here are some statistics on my sales so far:

Publication date: July 9, 2012

Copies sold*: 152
Total known payments owed by all stores: $481.30
Actual payments received: $385.53

Costs**: $1556
Profit: -$1170.47
Percentage: 31%

* Includes those stores that have reported as of February 11, 2013. Third-party sellers to Smashwords sometimes take months to report.

** Includes cover artist, editor, and lyrics permissions. Does not include ISBNs and occasional small-scale marketing costs (ie printing flyers).

Fans are the most powerful force any independent author has. You can make a tremendous difference! Please post a review, tell your friends, and share the coupon around. Thank you for your continued support.

Image source: http://cheezburger.com/2247703296

Yesterday I wrote a bit of the “Finding Gaia” sequel in which Trish and Anna discuss their relative perspectives on women as prizes for men. It included Trish using the phrase “Pepe le Fucking Pew”.

Those of you who have read the first book and seem to love Trish so much no doubt want to read that conversation.

But I want to remind you all that I write more when I get sales. I’m almost at 150 copies sold, which is pretty good, but my break even point is just over 500 at the standard $4.99 price (and a lot of those 150 were with coupons, so really the required count is higher now). This is an indie book, but it had a professional editor, cover artist, and other costs to produce.

If everyone who bought it so far convinced three other friends to buy it, I’d be in the black and well on the way to getting the next one out.

Of course the “next one” may be a prequel since several of you have been begging for those as well.

So go get three friends to buy it, please. If you run a book blog or club that you think can get even more sales, let me know and I’ll make a coupon for you to share.

The main website lists many purchasing options, as does the sidebar on this post. If you’re holding out for a print copy, tell me here.

And if you liked it and haven’t posted a review, please do, especially on sales sites and Goodreads. These things do influence other potential buyers, and we indie authors depend on fans to help spread the word, especially those of us standing up to disempowering trends in the romance, science fiction, and fantasy genres in favour of actual examination of gender tropes. That’s never going to be mainstream, but you can help make it at least self-sustaining.

Thanks so much for all of your support. I am actually working, I promise!

Go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/180554 where you can read the first few chapters for free and then use code TD72Z for 60% off. If you dig it, please tell your friends and post reviews! We #indieauthors survive by word of mouth so please help out with that!

If you’ve already read it and are one of those people pestering me to hurry up and write more, please share this coupon because it’s going to take a lot of sales at this low price for me to put a dent in the debt and move on to the next expenditure.

And again, if you really like free stuff, there’s a free bonus love scene plus the first two chapters here.

If you want more information, you can find tons of it at http://findinggaia.com, including other stores (although the coupon only works at Smashwords). I posted a suggested soundtrack of music that fits the various scenes. I drew the main setting in Sketchup (badly) and posted the file plus screen caps so you can go see the layout of Jason’s mansion. There are character profiles there, and for those who dig Trish, she’s got a Twitter, blog, and G+ page.

If you’re holding out for a paper version, tell me so here because I’m not doing it unless I’m certain enough people want it.

If you’re a book blogger and want to do interviews or other promotions, I’m open to that. Just ask.

If you’re on Goodreads, you can add it there plus review it and vote for it on lists. You can also add me as a friend/fan and I add back. A super way to help there is to tell groups you’re involved with about the book and maybe even suggest it for a monthly read. In fact, if someone got it on the Vaginal Fantasy hangout I’d be forever grateful! I think it would suit them perfectly but I’m not well-known enough to get their attention.

So for my birthday, I’m giving you a great deal and really hope the gift you’ll give me in return is buying it, reading it, and spreading the word.

Because c’mon, I’m 40 now…I ancient and could die any day so motivate me to stop playing Civ and hurry up and WRITE ALL THE THINGS before I keel over. I’m not immortal like these characters!

UPDATE: I just put my cake decorating books on sale for my birthday too.

The Great Indie Anti-Black-Friday Promo on G+

My offering is a $1 off coupon (VP87S) for “Finding Gaia” at Smashwords plus a reminder that you can still get the free bonus love scene to that novel (plus the first two chapters).

Buy your friends and family some excellent indie gifts this holiday!