Designed for updates, bits of undeniable wit, unasked for wisdom and story scraps.

Currently Available Books

Monday, August 22, 2011

So...what now?

Only The Stars Know is now available for only $0.99 as an Amazon ebook. You can even download Kindle for PC for free! (and it's pretty dang fast too)...I mean, what could be better? Plus, the paperback version will soon be available from CreateSpace and then you (and I) can hold it, smell it, reread it and place it on our treasured bookshelves.
So, what's next for the Shanco team?
Here's the plan:
1. Find book reviewers to tackle OSK and (hopefully) tell me they love it!
2. Travel to the ocean to do some much needed research on my next project, tentatively titled Selkie Dance.
3. Finish Selkie Dance so that I can actually concentrate on The Immortal World again.
4. Start work revising Shadows On The Wall. This is going to be the biggest task, because it needs so much work.
By far, Shadows On The Wall was always the fan favorite. Don't ask me why, it was my least favorite. But, I think the revision is going to be fantastic. I just have to get disciplined enough to sit down and do it.
I will leave it up on Fiction Press for jut a little longer, so you can refresh your memories. But be warned, it is going to change almost as completely as Blood's Faith did when it became Only The Stars Know.
Check out http://ShannonAHiner.com for some personal life updates!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Only The Stars Know Available as An Ebook!

Only The Stars Know is now available as an ebook through Amazon.com! Even if you don't have a Kindle, I know from experience that downloading the Kindle for PC is a piece of cake! (Delicious, booklike cake!)
It will only cost you $0.99 and it's so instantaneous it brings on a whole new level of instant gratification!
I'm still working with CreateSpace to make some nice paperbacks for you, we're in the review process now so hopefully it won't be long.
Don't forget! Interview with Romancing-The-Book in less than 2 weeks! (8/20/11)

Monday, August 8, 2011

Excerpt from Only The Stars Know

I'm giving you a Sneak Peek at Only The Stars Know until you are able to get your own copy to read! This will have to tide you over until you sit down to read the whole thing!
Without further ado, from one of my favorite scenes, I present you,
Only The Stars Know
.....

The animals were moving about the woods freely, that was a good sign. A herd of deer were a ways off. She could hear them chewing the leaves from surrounding trees. It didn’t calm her like normal. The air around her was tainted with her fuming rage. The animals gave her a wide berth. She wanted to scream that she was not a predator to them, but it seemed too much like a lie. Another lie.

No, given the chance she would change into a giant cat of prey and tear through the forest. The very thought made her muscles twitch. Her fingers flexed, trying to ease the itch in her palms. Her eyes burned and her vision shifted. The forest was more than just shapes in the darkness now. Everything had a color now. The trees were swirls of brown and green, the ground was gray. The creatures she had heard with such clarity before were now spots of red on the edges of her vision.

Her stomach rolled and she fell to her knees. The earth felt warm beneath her palms. The animals sensed the change. Each squirrel, jackrabbit and deer fell utterly still. They turned in her direction as one.

Run.

The word was a command in the darkness. She wasn’t sure if it came from them, or her…or both. They didn’t wait. Every beast bolted.

Prey. Her muscles twitched all together and she fell on her back.

“No!” She screamed, the agony was ripping through her in waves. She had to fight it. Not again. Please God, not again. Kali fought herself. When her muscles tried to make her rise, she threw herself back to the ground. It was long minutes before she could breathe the cool air again. Her eyes finally shifted back.

The forest was utterly silent. The animals would not return here for days.
Kali curled into herself on the ground as the sobs took over. She could not get angry...She could never allow herself to revel in that emotion. Because it would happen again.

When she could finally control herself, Kali lifted herself from the ground. She wiped the dirt from her arms and shook it from her hair. The bottom of her shirt would do for wiping away the tears. When she felt relatively whole again, she starting walking back down the road. As if nothing had happened? No. She could never pretend it away. The monster inside would never go away. She would never be truly alone.

Kali folded her arms around herself and walked faster. Up ahead the forest ended and Rowan came into view. The town was built in what used to be a large meadow. The buildings lined the outer circle, and in the middle was the Rowan tree. The path to Grandma Ivana’s was almost directly across the town from the Verbotsch’s.

As Kali entered the town she again had the feeling of being watched. She slowed down and glanced around cautiously. The town had gone to sleep for the night. Most of the houses were dark, but the windows that shone light had curtains drawn down as well. There was absolutely no one in sight. She raised her nose and sniffed warily.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

She walked faster again, keeping her head down and her ears peeled. As she approached the Rowan tree, the feeling of being watched grew. Her shoulders were tense and she was ready to run at a moment’s notice. When she was directly underneath the Rowan tree she could suddenly smell cotton and soap. She stopped moving.

A twig snapped just before something hurled itself out of the Rowan tree and at her. The man landed gracefully about three feet away and stared down at her. In the dark she could not make out his features, only that he was tall, imposing, and angry. She could also smell something else on him, something strange that she had never in her life smelled before. It reminded her of the predator smell that the dangerous animals always carried. It was sharper though, and more sweet.

Kali took a step back.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” His voice was soft and dangerous, but somehow she recognized it.

The blinding hatred that drove him was vaguely familiar, but Zane wasn’t in the mood for placing it. At the moment he was doing all he could not to strangle Kali before she explained herself. Her scent carried something new with it this time, forest and predator. If he hadn’t been so angry he might have questioned what she must have run into in the forest. That would be later, after he killed her.

“Zane?!” She whispered in surprise and fright.

He stalked toward her, cutting the distance between them in half. Her fear seemed to be converting to anger. Good, he detested the smell of fear. “What are you doing with my family?” He tried to keep his voice low, he wanted to shout very badly. If he shouted though, the rest of his anger might release. He would not kill her before he knew what game she thought she was playing.

“You’ve been spying on me!” She exclaimed, “Instead of going into that house and telling your family you’re alive you hid outside and spied on me!”

He growled, a barely controlled sound that seemed to rip from the back of his throat, “I wasn’t spying on you. I was looking in on my family. You should not have been there!”

“Hah! I shouldn’t have been there?!” She crossed her arms again, “They think you are dead!”

“I am dead!” He yelled finally. He could not hold the fury anymore. Grabbing her shoulders he lifted and shook her, “I died twelve years ago! I am never coming back!"
.....

Check in tomorrow and the next day for details on where to find Only The Stars Know published!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Only The Stars Know Pub Update

Monday the 8th!!! (Of this month, of course)
The cover is done, and I am sitting down to a very long night of final edits.
On Monday I will spending the whole day online (no, seriously) to put my book up as an ebook.
As for it paperback date, I'm not positive yet.
Many more details will be coming!