A Game of Spies & Indie Trials with Tribulations

Posted on October 16, 2024August 8, 2024 by writer35_bg

**First Off: a new cover for A Game of Spies,**

the second book in the Hearts in Hazard series

by M.A. Lee.

Originally published in November 2015, the cover needed updating after M.A. Lee’s HnH books 4, 5, and 6 came out in Spring 2017. Here’s a first look at the new cover.

Giles Hargreaves is hunting a French spy who somehow manages to steal government documents. Josette amuses herself playing whist at salons hosted by her sister-in-law. When Giles and Josette met, they are attracted immediately.

But he believes she is connected to the French spy.

And she thinks he will break her heart.

Giles and Josette have their first serious conversation on a settee under a stairway in the Sourantine house. The cover models perfectly capture that scene from the book.

The cover designer at Deranged Doctor Design combined the old cover with the new in a clever way. The playing cards and the sealed letters from the old cover along with the dominant color image transfer from the old to the new while the focus is on the couple.

Here’s the former cover image. I still love it, but I love the new one more.

After Publishing, What’s Next?

For a writer, it’s freaky hard to go to a site that has THE BOOK for sale, type in the name of the author, and nothing comes up for three or four pages.

A writer with part of my name shows up first in the Amazon Kindle store. And then, oh the ignominy, the other writer with exactly my name shows up before my books do . . . and this after I did research before my first published book to ensure that no other Amazon writer was using my name.

Oh well.

Okay, all is not lost. We can do a search for the title.

Digging into Death . . . Bam! Got it in one.

A Game of Secrets . . . not on the first three pages.

A Game of Spies . . . 2nd page! Yippee!

A Game of Hearts . . . Wow! 1st page.

The Danger of Secrets . . . 1st page. Yippee! Yippee!

The Danger for Spies . . . Success! 1st page, second one listed. Wait, the first book doesn’t even have The Danger for Spies as a title. 🙁

The Danger to Hearts . . . 1st page, first one listed. 2nd Coming of Happiness! Bliss Again!

But my author page doesn’t come up quickly unless you find one of my books and then click on my name.

And you can find the Hearts in Hazard series just by typing “Hearts in Hazard”.

Indie Challenges

Indie Writers face many challenges long after they have a story they believe is ready for print.

We want to present the best manuscript, one that is polished and as error free as possible. 100% perfection is not possible . . . so we strive for the highest level that is.

Then we can make a cover for ourselves or find someone who can do it at a cost we can afford.

I knew I couldn’t make a good cover. I am artistically creative as well as verbally so, but a professional designer knows to look for things and add things in and use balance and proportion in ways that I never thought.

Plus, a professional designer knows the photoshop program they are using. I would have a huge learning curve. Shouldn’t I spend my time writing?

It took me 18 months to find a cover designer that fit my aesthetic. I found Deranged Doctor Design by sheer luck . . . for a “God wink”. They are life savers, believe me. During my 18-month search, I worked on other books, which enabled me to put out three books back to back, all on one day in October of 2015: my first three books, the first three in the Hearts in Hazard trilogy, a one-two-three punch.

DDD is the BEST! I love working with them. Their covers are lovely, no matter in which genre they are working. They provide options and previews, and they are willing to switch things around. They are clear in what they can and cannot do. DDD works within a time frame that I understand. They have a great template that pulls from the author the information they need to work with. DDD is brave for working with Indie Writers.

Discoverability

After the writing and the editing and the cover designer, the job of an Indie Writer is not over. Marketing comes next. I am still working on this one.

Discoverability is now on my bookshelf. By Kristine Kathryn Rusch, it discusses what a writer needs to know about getting their works to the audience in the current state of the reading marketplace.

Getting the book out there, getting the name out there, attracting attention with the right cover and the right blurb and the right audience, these are the five essentials for all Indie Writers.

But I’ll keep writing, and hopefully the discoverability will happen soon. 😉

I did drink the water in Greenville, MS!

~ M.A. Lee

The Wyrded Forest from Remi Black

Posted on September 25, 2024June 7, 2024 by writer35_bg

The first novella in the Spells of Earth trilogy published on this date in 2021.

The Wyrded Forest

**In The Wyrded Forest ~**

Elemental Earth is a life-potential power. Can it be wielded to kill?

The Wyrded Forest: Wizardry burnt out and memory gone, Desora re-built her life in an isolated corner of the Northern Reaches.

She only wields the life-growing power of elemental Earth. She has nothing of Fire, Air, or Water. No fiery bolts, no whirlwinds, no drowning spheres: nothing for defense or attack.

Shape-shifting wolfen threaten her, able to transform out of Moon-turn.

And strangely gory deaths in the High Meadow mean a mysterious monster prowls, looking for life to consume.

With death menacing, Desora has no protection except her wards.

Wolfen and the eldritch monster kill the defenseless. Can Desora discover new ways to wield Earth before she becomes prey?

For elemental magic and dangerous Dark Fae allies, treacherous shape-shifters, and a twisty sorceress that seeks to defeat anyone associated with wizardry, look no further than The Wyrded Forest.

***

The Fae Mark’d World’s first introduction to readers was with the Wizard Alstera epic novels: Weave a Wizardry Web, Dream a Deadly Dream, and Sing a Graveyard Song.

Then came the first trilogy of novels in the Fae Mark’d World: Spells of Air, with Orielle and Grim. The individual titles are To Wield the Wind, To Charm the Wind, and To Curse the Wyre.

Each novella in the Fae Mark’d World is a complete story, yet the trilogies are interlinked.

The Spells of Earth trilogy includes The Wyrded Forest, The Riven Gate, and The Mysts of Sorcery. Readers will experience a greater enjoyment reading the novellas in order.

View the Trailer: https://youtu.be/Oq4nRp9FIZk

Purchase Links: Amazon and other online distributors like Kobo and Barnes & Noble.

Enjoy A Trio of Keys

Posted on July 27, 2024March 30, 2024 by writer35_bg

Unlock mystery, suspense, and romance

in the Regency era ~

A Trio of Keys.

It’s raining male protagonists in A Trio of Keys!

Promo Banner by Deranged Doctor Design for Writers Ink — **“It’s Raining Men, Hallelujah!”**

The Key to Secrets

After years in London, Constable Hector Evans returns to Chalmsley Court to solve a violent murder. He doesn’t expect the victim to be the fiancé of Lord Chalmsley’s youngest daughter.

His lordship wants a quick resolution, before gossip about the crime’s salacious nature and trap-like killing becomes widespread. With no murder weapon, no identifiable clues, and no eyewitnesses, Hector has little evidence to build a case.

Yet he has plenty of suspects for the bloody death—including the woman he once loved.

Dark hearts and sharp knives of The Key to Secrets create a compelling entry in the Hearts in Hazard series of Regency mysteries and suspense.

The Key for Spies

Spies and traitors. Lies and treachery. Unexpected love where bullets fly.

One traitor destroys loyalty. What will two traitors destroy?

The British spy Simon Pargeter scouts the terrain for Wellington’s army in French-controlled Spain. Miriella de Teba ye Olivita, the famed Doñabella, wants to give him aid, but she must first find the traitor lurking in her band of guerillas.

Can Simon escape the French patrol hot on his trail? With Major Pierre LeCuyer actively seeking Doñabella’s identity, can Miri hold her guerrillas together long enough to get the information Simon needs? Can she locate the traitor before she is unmasked?

Or will the traitors reap the reward while Simon and Miri swing from the gallows?

The Key with Hearts

Married for money, not for love.

A convenient marriage inconveniently causes murder.

Six months ago, Liza Corbett married Greville Myers. Her money saved his estate. His nobility raised her station. The couple have achieved an uneasy relationship, tepid and uncomfortable.

Then Liza is nearly killed in a failed attempt at murder.

Who wants her dead?

*The woman who had expected to marry Greville?
*The mother-in-law who hates her?
*Someone unknown?
*Or her husband, so he can keep her money and marry the woman he loves?

. ~ . ~ . ~ .

series card by Deranged Doctor Design for Writers Ink — M A Lee’s Hearts in Hazard

A Trio of Keys bundles books 7, 8, and 9

in the Hearts in Hazard series

of romantic mysteries and suspense.

Satisfy your reading needs with a classic serial killer story in an English country manor, a spy chase on horseback in northern Spain, and a vintage gothic in the vein of Victoria Holt.

Click this link to visit Amazon for the ebook or the paperback.

This link offers access to online distributors worldwide, like Kobo and Barnes & Noble.

Enjoy A Trio of Games

Posted on July 25, 2024March 30, 2024 by writer35_bg

the Heart-Pounding Puzzles of A Trio of Games

The smugglers in A Game of Secrets,

Tricky Twists of A Game of Spies,

& mURDER mOST fOUL IN A Game of Hearts

Regency mysteries and suspense with a dash of romance.

My first three books ever published, way back in 2015,

collected into A Trio of Games.

A Trio of Games offers my first three mysteries.

Long before I dreamed of publishing, A Game of Secrets rescued me from a dark time of life. Then came A Game of Spies at another dark time. In 2013, when I realized self-publication was not only possible but a reality, I began writing A Game of Hearts. Indie publishing was a dream coming true, and these three novels began my writing career.

These weren’t the first novels I penned, but they were the first to enter the publishing world and be offered to readers, in October of 2015. Even in that month, the whole 12-book Hearts in Hazard series was just a dream.

This Trio of Games

The individual books are available in ebook and paperback formats while the collections are ebook only. All of the novels are available in wide distribution: Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Amazon, and many other distributors. Find your favorite online bookstore, and search for the individual titles or the series title under my pen name of M.A. Lee.

You can find the collection A Trio of Games at Amazon, available at this link, and at worldwide distribution with this link.

Throughout the summer, the other collected novels will come out of Amazon exclusivity and enter worldwide distribution. They are A Trio of Dangers, A Trio of Keys, and A Trio of Hazards.

It will be a busy summer of publishing for me, and a busy summer of reading for you!

Sink into the best reading: 3 heart-pounding puzzles in A Trio of Games.

Torrent of Evil

Posted on July 10, 2024August 8, 2024 by writer35_bg

The first novella in Spells of Water ~

Torrent of Evil

Death. That was the omen that the crows and ravens brought to Inkeri.

Deep in the desert Idros Ahdreide, men had lost their lives in battle against a strange evil. A half-Fae wielder, Inkeri ventures to investigate.

Rhodren, baron of the Bois Argent, is commanded by his king to investigate the disappearance of a troop and a caravan, lost at the abandoned citadel of the Archais, deep in the Ahdreide. Yet when he and his men reach the border, a flock of crows and ravens attack.

Surviving that attack, Rhodren and his men are then confronted by slavering panthers. Inkeri comes to their aid.

The Ahdreide has predators aplenty, all willing to feast on the wariest of travelers. What enemy marshals these dangers? What evil lurks at the Archais?

Will a wielder of elemental Water and mortal men discover the truth without become prey for the desert predators?

https://books2read.com/u/m0EBVl

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFQ1GK5L

Watch for Storm of Spells, with Inkeri and Rhodren at the Archais, facing the evil that has feasted on a troop and a caravan and has a thirst for more.

The next newsletter will be in October. The best up-to-date information is always available at https://remiblack.blogspot.com/ or https://writersinkbooks.com/ .

Until then ~ happy reading!