Poll Giveaway Winner

First off, thanks to everyone who voted and commented in my recent poll about series–what makes you keep reading, and what makes you stop reading series. I like polls, so I’ll be doing another one soon.

Second, I want to congratulate Toni for voting and commenting on my poll about series. Please comment or email me (petra.lynn77 @ gmail.com) to claim your prize–an e-book of Shifting Gears, m/m paranormal romance.

You can still vote and comment on the poll and discussion.

Thanks!

What Makes a Great Series? (Poll and Contest)

As an author with just one published work, and another in progress, I run the risk of boring visitors here with talk of the same book over and over. I certainly do not want to do that! But I would like to know what readers are looking for with a series. I know what I like to read, but I’m realizing my idea of a perfect story is far from what others want to read!

I’m getting mixed reviews for Shifting Gears. That’s fine. I’m learning my way to being a better writer. I didn’t tell the whole story of either character or put lots of information about the shifters. Those are ideas I am spending more time on the sequel. For me, a series with the same main characters reveals more information about them as the series goes on. I’m hoping readers like Gray and Kenton enough to want to read more about their separate pasts and about their shared future.

What makes a great series for you? Please take the poll and be entered to win a copy of Shifting Gears! You’ll need to leave your email address or FB contact in a comment, since the poll is not collecting any contact information. Thanks.

[multiple choice ok]

Extra credit:

I’ll keep the poll open but I’ll choose a winner for the book on Sunday, Feb 24.

Feel free to discuss further in comments. I love to hear your opinions and what you like/don’t like about popular book series. Thanks!

Fringe Final Season – Catching Up on Favorite Shows

I recently had some free time and a chance to catch up on the last two seasons of Fringe. I remember when the show first started, I watched every week for the first two seasons and then lost track of the story sometime during Season 3.

It started out feeling a lot like X-Files with hints of some other similar shows. Then they really introduced more of the arcs with the other universe. I hated the other Olivia. Then they smoothed over the conflicts between the universes and they started working together. I was surprised to be so upset when they closed off the bridge. I had come to like the other Olivia. And I still think “Walternate” has to be the best character name ever. I have to believe they chose the name “Walter” simply so they would be able to have Walternate. Brilliant. The fact that the characters called him that was even better.

Fast-forward to Season 4 and 5. I didn’t care at all for how they had Peter show up in some new dimension. It wasn’t either of the two universes we already know. We started off with different Olivia, Walter and Astrid. Nina Sharp was nicer than ever. Olivia-3 then becomes the original Olivia through proximity with Peter and that was okay? Sorry, but not for me. That was probably where things went off course most for me. And never recovered. The last part of Season 4 and then Season 5 in 2036 didn’t take the show in a direction I enjoyed.

How did Etta’s partner not know she was “that” Bishop? They carefully avoided saying her last name during the whole episode, but still he had to know. It was a nice touch the way she called Peter “Dad” but it felt far too contrived. Walter’s plan to take the Observer child forward in time so that they Observers wouldn’t be created also didn’t really feel completely logical to me. And yes, despite all the far-fetched things that happen on Fringe, I still expect the “big solution” to make sense. I probably should have expected this since JJ Abrams did the same thing during the last part of Lost. I never liked how that wrapped up either.

At least this one ends up with a happy ending, though I still need to puzzle through the logic as to when Walter would have disappeared from the timeline and whether Olivia would even have met Peter. She only meets him when she needs to get to Walter, so if Walter left before that point… well, you can see why it’s still a bit fuzzy. I should watch the last few episodes again. I admit I haven’t read any commentary, but just wanted to share some of my own thoughts on the end of the show.

Overall, I’m glad I watched and I think there were a lot of brilliant aspects to the show. I’m constantly impressed with John Noble. He’s a fantastic actor who brought so many sides to Walter that even when he was doing something ridiculous I liked him. Seeing Noble as Walternate was a great foil and further proof of his skills. Anna Torv definitely improved along the way. She didn’t impress me at all to start, but gradually grew into her role. I even began to enjoy her as the other Olivia. Leonard Nimoy’s special appearances were fun as well, though I wish they had resolved William Bell’s storyline differently. Finding that he was even crazier than Walter was a surprise, but it still felt wrong.

I could go on about more things, but I won’t. I’ll just wrap up by saying that after watching the last of Season 5 I started watching Season 1 again, just to get an idea of how everything started, particular because I hadn’t really grasped the importance of the Observers—or even remembered them as far back as Season 1. I do like that they wove that thread in from the beginning.

I saw a lot of parallels with Season 5 of Supernatural. Olivia taking cortexiphan and turning into something more powerful reminded me of Sam’s plan to defeat Lucifer by taking power from the rings and from the blood. It’s no wonder that JJ Abrams and Eric Kripke ended up working on a show together. They seem like the kind of guys who could create something fantastic if they teamed up. And they can both pull off the multi-season arc in ways I haven’t seen done as successfully in other shows.

Which means I really need to start watching Revolution. Is it as good as Fringe, Supernatural and Lost all rolled into one?

The CW renews ‘Arrow,’ Vampire Diaries,’ ‘Supernatural’

Three awesome shows are coming back for another season! Happy Dancing!

I Learned Something New! (update on HFN warning)

With a first release it’s not easy to know what to expect, or who to ask when you’ve got a question.

I was surprised to get an email on Saturday from Brenna Lyons at Silver Publishing. She’d seen my post about my HFN Warning for Shifting Gears and removed it from my book’s information page! I hadn’t realized it would be that easy to fix, or that I could have just emailed one of the staff. I thought it was a rule.

So next time I won’t be so shy to just ask if I’m not sure about something.

The interesting part is that it seems to have bumped up sales a bit today, so maybe that was holding some readers back from buying. Shifting Gears popped from #5 to #3 on the Silver Best Sellers list.

I’m so thrilled. And I think I will start working on another book with Gray and Kenton. I didn’t fill in a lot of Gray’s shifter background in the first book, so I will definitely be expanding on that in Book 2.

Thanks to everyone who bought Shifting Gears so far.

Do ‘autocritters’ help?

Interesting and useful post.

Shifting Gears in Saturday #SeductiveStuds #PNR #MMromance

Here’s another foray into Saturday Seductive Studs. Hope you enjoy this little peek into Shifting Gears! This time they really are shifting gears.

Cover by Reese Dante

Kenton had chosen a rolling route for them, no steep hills, so that Gray could get used to his new bike and enjoy the scenery. The trees were just turning into their fall glory and it was refreshing to take a fairly leisurely ride on a lovely, clear fall day. He inhaled the clean fresh air that held a sharp tang. They were only a few miles from the coast. If only Will would join him on a ride like this, Kenton mused. Since they’d met, he’d cut back his riding time considerably, in order to make time to spend with Will.

As they rode, they chatted as best they could, about random things, shouted breathlessly to each other. Gray seemed to get the hang of the gear shifting easily and his legs were stronger than they appeared so he had no trouble keeping up with Kenton. On one stretch of flat road they began to race each other, legs rotating ferociously as they shouted taunts at one another and fought for the lead.

Kenton was a better sprinter and took the lead, turning his head to see how far back Gray was. Just as Gray began to close the gap he suddenly let out a shout of pain and fell, sliding along the shoulder of the road. Kenton circled back as quickly as possible and jumped off his own bike, not even noticing that he let it crash to the pavement in his concern for Gray.

Gray lay on his side, massaging his left thigh and Kenton sat next to him, leaning over him slightly. His knee was scraped and slightly bloody but it was hard to tell how seriously he’d injured it.

“What happened?” Kenton asked.

“I’m not sure. I felt this sudden pain and fell… Or maybe it was the other way around. It all happened so fast.” Gray was out of breath, panting hard as he sat on the grassy side of the road. Kenton pulled both of their bikes off the road surface for safety and came back to attend to him.

“What hurts?” he asked as he leaned forward and began to examine Gray’s leg. He was still breathing hard and he felt Gray’s breath on his neck and cheek as he leaned over. He hadn’t even realized he was rubbing his hands along Gray’s thigh. Suddenly he was acutely aware he was breathing even harder and that Gray’s breathing hadn’t quite returned to normal yet. But Kenton wasn’t ready to let go of him either.

(now available from Silver)

Read more excerpts at Saturday Seductive Studs

My HFN “Warning”

If you’ve checked the blurb on Silver’s website or Goodreads, you’ve probably seen the “HFN Warning” they decided to put on Shifting Gears.

Please don’t let that stop you from reading the story.

 

I think the HFN “warning” is a bit overblown and I didn’t know Silver was going to put it on the blurb. Without spoiling the story the ending doesn’t really imply they won’t stay together. The story ends as they are starting their relationship.

I would like to continue Gray and Kenton’s story, and I’m working on a sequel, and they will stay together and get a HEA. No cheating, breakups, etc.  It simply doesn’t happen during the first book because that’s not how the story was intended.

Please don’t let Silver’s “warning” scare you away from reading.

It is a happy ending. 

 

Shifting Gears in Saturday #SeductiveStuds #PNR #MMromance

Here’s my first foray into Saturday Seductive Studs. Hope you enjoy this little peek into Shifting Gears!

Cover by Reese Dante

“Kenton, I need you to be a hundred percent certain you know what you’re getting into with this,” Will said for about the fiftieth time before he’d let Kenton into the clinic exam room to see the wolf again. “It’s going to take a lot of care and patience for the next four to six weeks, and I’m still not convinced the animal is completely safe.”

Gray fought the urge to growl as Will turned to look at him. The last thing he needed was for Kenton to leave him here. He was pretty sure that Will wasn’t going to provide the love and tenderness that Gray could see in Kenton’s eyes every time he glanced over. Will was just as likely to stick a needle in him and it would be lights out. Then he’d come up with some excuse to tell Kenton the wolf had died, then they’d bond, maybe Will would offer a condolence fuck, and he and Kenton would ride off into the sunset together.

Over my dead body! Yeah, Gray reminded himself, it would be over his dead body, so he better get his act together and perform the part of the helpless and loving pet.

(now available from Silver)

Read more excerpts at Saturday Seductive Studs

First release. First rating on GR…

Cover by Reese Dante

I’m officially a published author!

Shifting Gears released today from Silver Publishing and it’s already on the best sellers list. I’m very excited.

That’s the good news.

On the flip side of the coin, I also got my first rating on Goodreads,–posted before I even saw the book was available—a 2-star rating . I guess that makes me an official author. I didn’t expect that so quickly, but I know it’s part of the process. Hopefully, that’s just a minority opinion.

Here’s the blurb:
Kenton Palmer finds an injured dog on the road on a rainy night and takes him to the nearest vet clinic only to discover he’s actually a wolf. Despite that, he decides to nurse the injured animal following the necessary surgery. Even better, the handsome vet who treated the wolf offers his own brand of animal attraction and makes it clear he wants to be a big part of Kenton’s world.

Gray Fowler is a werewolf. He’s forced to remain in wolf form after Kenton rescues him and takes him home to heal, but that doesn’t prevent him from falling hard for Kenton. It starts out as jealousy but Gray soon discovers Kenton’s new love, Dr. Will Barclay, is caught up in something sinister. But he must wait until he’s healthy before he can shift and enter Kenton’s life as a man. How are Will’s shady activities linked to the men who ran Gray down, and can he expose the scheme before Kenton gets too involved with Will?
Order from Silver Publishing