One Stray Word

A Grave Full of Stilettos

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:18:00 +0000

Kindle US

Kindle UK

Kindle Germany

Kindle France

Kindle Spain

Kindle Italy

So, it's here finally. The 3rd Reapers in Heels book. I'll let the book speak for itself:

Things are heating up in Century City.

Brooke Graves, against her better judgment, has decided to reconnect with her ex Stanley Morris. He may be a man with questionable morals, but he has a lot of love for this half of Century City’s prettiest grim reaping team.

Avery Graves is finding herself torn between the affections of two men. She wants to do the right thing and stay true to her loyal boyfriend, but her heart may have other ideas.

Lori Standford’s mother died six months ago, but she’s too terrified to grieve properly. It seems Mommy Standford is back, haunting Lori out of her home. With nowhere else to go, Lori turns to the Graves sisters for help.

This time the girls don’t have to hunt down a renegade dead soul, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be any easier.

You can, of course, buy it now or wait until it goes free next week. Either way is fine, just be sure to spread the word if you liked it.

This'll be the last Reapers in Heels book for a couple of months. I've been working on grim reapers in one form or another since July of last year and I need a break. I've got a few other projects that I want to get out before starting on another the Graves sisters book. RiH will probably return some time in the Fall with a new title theme (I think I exhausted all variations of stilettos and graves). Maybe, if there's any interest, after the book's been out for a few weeks I'll do a Q&A if you guys had any particular questions about the series.

Speaking of Reapers in Heels and free: Book 2 is currently free for the next three days. Now's the time to grab it and spread the word!

I Look Around and All I See is Free

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:06:00 +0000

So, I'm doing a, I don't know, free tour? Between Feb 22nd and March 9th I'll have a bunch of books for free. Specifically, I'll have these books for free:

Free 02/22/12 - 02/24/12

Free 02/25/12 - 02/27/12

Free 02/28/12 - 03/01/12

Free 03/02/12 - 03/03/12

Free 03/04/12 - 03/06/12

Free 03/07/12 - 03/09/12

Every book is getting a two or three day promotion.

You may want to ask me: "Jason, why are you giving away so many books?"

To which I would answer:

I'm giving away so many books in hopes of selling even more.

This is how it works:

A book goes free.

The more people that download it, the higher it goes on the Free Bestseller lists.

The higher the book gets on all the lists, the more visibility it gets.

When the book switches back over to paid it'll end up with a higher ranking and it'll be positioned in a lot of Also Boughts (That's the selection of books you see on every page. Customers who bought this also bought...).

And, again, the more Also Boughts the book is on, the more visibility it gets.

The ultimate goal would be to get into the Top 10 Free Books, in hopes that when they go back to paid, my books will be well within the Top 100 or higher.

If you see something you like, make sure you get it and tell all of your friends!

Remember, you don't actually need a Kindle anymore to download a Kindle book. Thanks to things like apps for your iPad or smartphone or even the Kindle cloud reader, you can download and read a Kindle book anywhere. All you really need is a Amazon account.

So, please, make sure you grab a copy for yourself and please, please, please spread the word!

Sneak Peek: A Grave Full of Stilettos

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:17:00 +0000

It's finished!! Proofreaders are going over it now and the third Reapers in Heels book, A GRAVE FULL OF STILETTOS, should be out by the 29th. Worried that you might miss the release date? Just fill out that form to your right and you'll get an email just as soon as the book is available for purchase.

Now, to get you all excited, here's a peek at the first 1,300 words. Be sure to tell all of your friends to buy the book, okay? Thanks.

one

Lori Standford settles in to her chair with a hot cup of tea and good book in hand, preparing herself for a quiet night at home.

Wisps of steam drift off her tea and swirling around, filling her nose with the scent of chamomile. The purple mug reminds her of times past when she graduated from college. Her mother had stood there so proud and clapping so loud as Lori accepted her diploma. The purple mug was waiting for Lori when she got back to her dorm that night. “Word’s Smartest Daughter” is emblazoned on it in thick gold letters.

The memory makes her sad.

It’s only been a few months but the wounds are still raw and not for the first time, Lori wonders if she shouldn’t have just sold her mother’s house, rather than moving in.

It’s a big house, filled with nooks, crannies and ghosts of memories.

Lori shakes her head. No, she did the right thing. It was bad enough to lose her mother. But her childhood home? Lori wasn’t ready to part with everything just yet.

She gently blows on the hot tea, trying to cool it down to a bearable temperature. Hot tea before bed with her mother is a fond memory.

Lori sighs and gives in to the sadness. She misses her mom.

She sets the book aside, there wouldn’t be any reading tonight. No, tonight she is going to let her memories keep her company. Maybe she’d rediscover a forgotten nugget of wisdom her mother had passed down her to her.

Lori smiles. Maybe she’d figure out how to boil water for her tea without burning the roof of her mouth. She’s pretty sure her mother told her once or twice how to get that right.

The noise startles her immediately. At first she thinks it’s a bird flying into one of the upstairs windows.

But then it happens again.

Lori sets her “Word’s Smartest Daughter” mug and gets to her feet.

It’s a pounding noise. A heavy noise, as though someone was dropping a bags of bricks against the floor above her.

Lori walks carefully to the entrance of her living room. She hears whispers now.

Whispers?

“Hello?” Lori calls out. “Is anybody there?”

She feels immediately silly. Of course there’s no one there. It’s just Lori. All alone in the empty house.

Except the pounding noise isn’t coming from outside.

And the whispers aren’t in her head.

“Hello?” Lori says again, stepping into the hallway.

She catches sight of it for a second out of the corner of her eye. It’s a fleeting image, flickering away like a broken movie reel. She forgets about it almost immediately.

The blood dripping from her walls has Lori’s complete attention.

After that, the night’s a blur of screams and nightmares.

two

The lady shrieks, “You can’t have him!” and then she slams the door in Brooke Graves’ face.

Brooke is standing about half an inch in the doorway and the heavy wood door actually does smash against her poor nose.

“Ow!” she snaps, stumbling back. She kicks at the door with her boot heel. “Open the damn door, lady!”

The door suddenly swings open again and there is a large man dressed in a sharp business suit. The suit’s stretched across his wide frame, looking like the tailor’s measurements were off just a few inches. His face is flat and his arms are about the size of tree trunks. He’s either world’s toughest butler or special house security.

“Please do not bang on the door,” he says, his lips hardly moving as he speaks. “It disturbs Mrs. Withers.”

“Oh, well, we wouldn't want to do that, now would we," Brooke says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "God forbid we disturb Mrs. Withers."

The flat-faced man doesn't respond.

"Hey, you know what? If Mrs. Withers hadn’t slammed the door in my face like a crazy lady,” Brooke says, rubbing her bruised nose, “I wouldn’t have to bang on your stupid door. Now get out of my way.”

The man doesn’t move.

“Hello? Did you hear me? I said move it.” Brooke pokes him in the chest. It’s like poking a concrete block. “We’re here on official business.”

He exhales through his nose. “Mrs. Withers does not recognize your official status. Please leave.”

He closes the door, far more gently than Mrs. Withers had.

From somewhere inside the house there’s a shrieking wail of a moan.

“Nooooo!” the lady howls from inside. “You can’t have him!”

“Oh, my-" Brooke starts.

Avery cuts her off. “Come on, cut her some slack.”

Brooke whirls around to face her older sister. “Excuse me? Cut her some slack?”

“That’s what I said.”

They’re standing in the driveway of a eleven thousand square-foot mansion. It’s home to the recently deceased Daniel Withers, the man who made billions from inventing a cooler sleeve for hot drinks so you didn’t burn yourself when you picked them up. He passed away this morning at the ripe old age of ninety-three and a net worth of one point three billion.

Daniel’s wife, Lori Withers, is fifty years his junior. Daniel’s her fifth marriage. Her four previous marriages ended in financially beneficial divorces, for her.

This time, with Daniel, though, it had been for love. Or, at least, that’s what she would have the Graves sisters believe she as she shrieks at them from her palatial estate.

Brooke steps down to her sister who’s waiting by their pink sedan. She’s taller than Avery with black hair that could use a good brushing, but is instead pulled up in a sloppy bun. Her eyes are dark brown and she’s got a smile that never ceases to bend men to her will. Today she’s wearing a rock band t-shirt turned inside out and a pair of professional tattered jeans. The outfit flatters her slender figure, hugging to her curves tightly. The brown coat that covers her used to belong to their father, William Graves. It’s one of Brooke’s few prized possessions.

Brooke points to her bruised nose. “She could have broken my nose and did you see the size of her thug? The man has hands that would crush my head like a tomato. So, no, I’m not going to cut her some slack. You know what happens if I get a broken nose?”

“No,” Avery replies. “but I have a feeling you’re going to tell me.”

“Of course I’m going to tell you,” Brooke says. “If my nose gets broken, I get ugly.”

“You’re assuming you’re not already ugly.”

“I’m laughing on the inside,” Brooke replies dryly. She waves at her face. “My nose is what ties this all together. It’s the lynchpin of my face.”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve heard a few men describe your mouth as the lynchpin of your face,” Avery replies with a smirk.

Brooke folds her arms. “Okay, I see what you’re doing there. But you know what? I’m going to own that.”

“I bet you will,” Avery mutters.

“I am know in some parts for my exceptional oral skills,” Brooke continues. “But no guy is going to want a blowjob from a woman that looks like a survivor from a meat grinder accident.”

“I told you to not go up to the door until I was ready,” Avery says.

“Well, you were taking, like, two thousand years,” Brooke replies.

Avery looks at her sister, “Really? A Thousand years?”

"Two thousand years," Brooke corrects her.

"Because it's the extra thousand that makes a difference." Avery rolls her eyes.

Brooke simply folds her arms. “Well, that’s what it felt like.”

“I hope you’re not going to be the one responsible for teaching your kids how to tell time,” Avery says.

“I don’t plan on ever having kids.”

“And the entire world breathes a sigh of relief,” Avery replies.

Avery gazes up at the mansion, raising a hand to block out the noonday sun. The curtains on the second floor ruffle from the inside. Somebody’s watching them.

Elementary, My Dear Watson

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:26:00 +0000

My wife and I finished watching series 2 of the BBC's Sherlock the other night. It was great. They had a lot of great visual tricks to show us how Sherlock's mind works. And the way episode's 1 and 3 were written, it felt as they had managed to cram 6 episodes of story into 1. Some very skillful writing there. I like their season structure of three hour and a half episodes. What they're really doing is making a standard movie trilogy, when you think about it. Only instead of waiting months or years between each installment, you only need to wait a week. I'd be interested in seeing this kind of production applied to other properties .

I enjoy the Robert Downy Jr movies, but for my money, the BBC's modern take is a 1000 times more superior. Also, am I the only that thinks there might be a relation between The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon Cooper and the BBC's Sherlock Holmes? Hmmmm.....

Even more fascinating than the modern day take on Sherlock Holmes, I think is the use of Moriarty. In the show, Moriarty is a powerful and scary figure. But Sir Arthur Conan Doyle only used him once, maybe twice? Somehow, over the decades, we've transformed Moriarty from a tool Doyle used to kill Sherlock into Sherlock's very own arch nemesis. I wonder what Doyle would think of it...

It also blows my mind that there was a fandom so strong back in the late 1800's that Doyle was actually convinced to bring Sherlock Holmes back to life. I can imagine that happening today with the Internet and email. But back then? It just blows my mind.

_____

I suppose this next part could be considered NSFW. It really depends on how sensitive you are to it.

So, I had this thought:

Why is socially acceptable to call someone a:

bitch
bastard
whore
hoe'
asshole
asshead
fucker
shithead
dumbass
idiot
fucktard

But you can't call them a:

faggot
gay
retard
nigger

What makes the words in the second group any more offensive than the words in the first group? If we're going to insist on being more sensitive and less derogatory, than shouldn't we be against all forms of curse words and derogatory terms?

Some might say that the words in the second group are derogatory towards a specific group. But here's the thing, any of these words, in either category, are derogatory to whoever you're saying them to.

If I call my brother retarded for doing something stupid is that a commentary on people with mental disabilities or am I just calling out my brother for being stupid? Am I being derogatory towards people mental disabilities by calling my brother retarded? Well, since my brother doesn't have a mental disability (None that I know of...) I would say not.

But would anyone have a problem if I called my brother an "idiot assfucker"?

A strange double standard, no?

_____

And now that I've stirred the pot of controversy, let me tell you about my current free promotion.

For the next few days, I'm offering this for free:

Book 1

Kindle US

Kindle UK

Steven Raines (you know, the man who made billions making an operating system that out-Microsoft-ed Microsoft?) has hired Alex Cheradon(private investigator) to look for his missing daughter. Good news: It's a million dollar payday. Bad news: she may be a Satanist hell bent on bringing the Devil to Earth.

The dead bodies are piling up. Vampires are crawling out of the woodwork. And there's something named Pookie that's lurking around the corner.

Breathtakingly paced, the jokes and wisecracks fly fast as Alex races against the clock to save the day.

Could you be a dear and tell your friends? Also, feel free to leave a review on Amazon if you liked it. I'd appreciate it.

How I Can Fix the Economy

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Hey, look, it's a blog post that has nothing to do with promotion! Okay, well that's not entirely true. There's some promotion, I just put it at the bottom.

______

I think I'm going to start blogging again on a semi-regular basis, mostly for purely selfish reasons. I noticed that when going back through my blog entries for 2009-10, it was almost like a journal of my life. I've never been much of a journaler, but seeing as I have a horrible memory, I figured I should make more of an effort.

Plus, I was thinking it might be a nice way to ease into my writing for a day. Kind of a mental-priming-the-pump kind of thing. Does that make sense?

______

In case you were wondering, my work schedule for the rest of the month looks like this(unless, of course, I change it):

Blogging/work on novellas - 1 hour.
Reapers in Heels Book Three - 2 - 3 hours.
Rupert & Me - 1 hour

______

I saw an article the other day in passing, I think it was on Yahoo, that was talking about a 21-hour work week and why that's a good idea.

I don't just think that a 21-hour work is a good idea. I think it's a great idea.

Think about it for a minute:

Pay full time salary for a part time work schedule.

Because of the part time work schedules, you need to hire more people, thus providing more jobs.

Because you're paying a full time salary on a part time schedule, people don't have to get a second job and therefore have more time on their hands.

Because people have more time on their hands, they're seeing more of their families. They're also probably taking the opportunity to eat our more, go shopping more, and go to the movies. Heck, they're all probably even reading more because they've got the time and money to enjoy that new Kindle they got for Christmas.

Stress levels are down because everyone's working less. Unemployment is down because there are more jobs. And the economy is up because people are out there spending money, because their stress is down and they've got time on their hands.

How is this not a great idea?

My name is Jason Krumbine and I just fixed the economy. You're welcome.

______

Read Robert Kirkman's HAUNT run. Read it after watching CHUCK, so it kind of felt like a supernatural version of CHUCK. I enjoyed it, mostly. Haunt is, visually, an almost blatant rip-off of Spider-Man. But, nobody ever said Todd McFarlane was a design genius. Or did they? I don't know. I've never been a McFarlane.

It had a lot of a nice touches and I liked the set-up. But it felt all over the place towards the end. Like Kirkman wasn't quite ready to hand off the series.

Also, I know it's an ongoing series, but I would have thought Kirkman would have ended his run on a stronger note. More of an actual ending, clearing the deck, so to speak, so the next creative team could start fresh. I don't know. I'm gonna stockpile Joe Casey's issues for a while and then read them.

______

Reading Daniel Wilson's Robopocalypse right now. I never read World War Z, so I don't know how much of a rip-off it is and I don't particularly care. So far I like, although it's a little slow. I think it could be tightened up a bit. I really like the format. I think I want to write a book like this, exploring one incident from different accounts. I've got a couple of ideas percolating.

______

And now the promotion portion of today's post, I've put my Alex Cheradon books into the Kindle Lending Library. Which, of course, means that Amazon Prime members can borrow all three books for free!

Catch ya all later.

Book 1

Kindle US

Kindle UK

The dead bodies are piling up. Vampires are crawling out of the woodwork. And there's something named Pookie that's lurking around the corner.

Breathtakingly paced, the jokes and wisecracks fly fast as Alex races against the clock to save the day.

Book 2

Kindle US

Kindle UK

In this action packed follow up to Fruitbasket from Hell, private investigator Alex Cheradon is faced with a nail biting case.

Reeling from the public relations nightmare that accompanied accidentally tackling a senator's daughter, Alex is approached by man with a lethal case of amnesia. He wants to hire Alex to find out who he is, and since he just happens to have a winning lotto ticket that's worth 10 million dollars, money's no object. But as Alex starts to look into the man's past he finds more questions then answers and a whole lot of people out to kill him.

The clock is officially ticking. The crazies are coming out of the woodwork. And it's down to Alex to save the day.

Book 3

Kindle US

Kindle UK

In his third book, Alex Cheradon, private investigator, wants nothing more to then lay low and ride out the repercussions from his previous time traveling mishaps. Unfortunately, his ex-girlfriend, Angie, has other ideas and drags him into his most bizarre case yet.

Giggles, the town’s most infamous midget, has run off with 10 million dollars. Vincent Jane, a nobody with nothing, is left holding the bill. If he doesn’t get that that 10 million back he’ll be paying for with his life.

Alex and Angie are caught in the middle and headed for a showdown with their toughest opponent yet: the malevolent, malicious Midget Mafia.

Who Doesn't Like Free?

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

There's nothing like a romantic picnic in a cemetery...

...after dark...

...on a Friday the 13th...

What could *possibly* go wrong?

It's Mike and Danielle's first date. Will true love blossom as they make the transition from Just Friends to Boyfriend & Girlfriend? Or will zombie uprising squelch their romance and force the young lovers to join the throngs of the undead?

---------------------
A GRAVEYARD ROMANCE IS A 21,000 word novella.

---------------------

Between now and Sunday midnight (PST) or 3am (EST) A GRAVEYARD ROMANCE is free for everyone with a Kindle.

Go get it and read it and tell all of your friends to do the same.

Kindle US

Kindle UK

Now With 100% More Prime!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 01:59:00 +0000

If you've got an Amazon Prime account and you're looking to save a little money, DEATH WEARS STILETTOS and A GRAVEYARD ROMANCE are now free for you.

You're welcome.

Borrow DEATH WEARS STILETTOS from the Amazon Kindle Lending Library.

Borrow A GRAVEYARD ROMANCE from the Amazon Kindle Lending Library.

Death Wears Stilettos

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:18:00 +0000

So, it's here. Now available for your Kindle.

When a dead soul goes renegade you call a grim reaper. And when you’re in Century City, you call Avery and Brooke, the Graves sisters.

Jack and Cindy were a happily married couple. She was an elementary school teacher. He was an aspiring children’s book author. They had the perfect life together, until the day they decided to kill themselves. Their souls never arrived in the afterlife and now it’s up Avery and Brooke to find out where these deceased lovers have wandered off to.

Hunting down a pair of dead lovers isn’t the only thing on Brooke’s to-do list. Her love life is a mess with too many men, too many options and not enough time. And what starts out as a meaningless fling for her quickly moves to something more serious for him.

Love, death, relationships and sparkly shoes. It’s just another day for Century City’s prettiest grim reapers.

Kindle US

Kindle UK

Kindle Germany

Kindle France

Kindle Spain

Kindle Italy

Not only that, but I'm discounting Book 1, ONE STILETTO IN THE GRAVE to $0.99 until Friday January 13th at Midnight.

So, to recap: New book now available, old book is on sale at an awesome price. What more could you possible ask for?

Tell your friends, get your copies and start reading!

Free for Another Day

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:29:00 +0000

Because I love you all, I've extended the free promotion for OUTLAWED LOVE by one more day. Until 3am EST or 12am PST tonight, OUTLAWED LOVE will be free for your Kindle. Now, do your part and tell all of your friends.

"This was one heck of a fast paced, suspenseful read!"

Reviews By Molly

"I was not about to put my Kindle down a second afraid I would miss something"

Ohio Girl Talk's

"...the perfect blend of sizzle and thriller. I truly cannot wait to read more by J.M. Krumbine."

Cafe of Dreams

So, you know, Merry Christmas.

Kate Sharpe, US Marshal, is a woman on a mission with no time for love or romance. Her prisoner, the handcuffed hottie, Kyle Archer, just turned State’s evidence on notorious mobster Jonathan Bragan. Kate’s responsible for getting him from the courthouse to the jailhouse, but can she do it without losing her heart?

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 19:27:00 +0000

To cap off OUTLAWED LOVE's December blog tour, I'm running a special Amazon promotion. For December 25 & 26, OUTLAWED LOVE is free!

So, after you get your brand new Kindle and you've stuffed yourself with Christmas cheer, be sure to download your free copy of the book that people are calling:

"This was one heck of a fast paced, suspenseful read!"

Reviews By Molly

"I was not about to put my Kindle down a second afraid I would miss something"

Ohio Girl Talk's

"...the perfect blend of sizzle and thriller. I truly cannot wait to read more by J.M. Krumbine."

Cafe of Dreams

So, you know, Merry Christmas.

Happy Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:58:00 +0000

So, to celebrate Christmas and the launch of the Reapers in Heels series, I wrote a short story.

It’s Christmas Eve in Century City and all Avery Graves wants is magical evening with her wonderful boyfriend. What she gets instead is nightmare before Christmas when the local Scrooge dies and starts haunting the Twin Pines Mall. He’s determined to spread holiday gloom and it’s up to Avery and Brooke Graves, the city’s favorite reapers in heels, to round up this Scrooge of a ghost before it’s too late.

DEAD FOR THE HOLIDAYS is a short story approximately 5,500 words.

--------

Isn't that a cute cover?

Dead for the Holidays is currently free for your Kindle through Sunday 19th. I urge you to download a copy and tell your friends to download a copy. I want this short story to the most downloaded story this weekend!

If you've read One Stiletto in the Grave already and are curious about the continuity of these two stories, it's quite simple: Dead for the Holidays takes place about a year prior to the start of One Stiletto in the Grave. If you haven't read One Stiletto in the Grave yet, then don't worry about it.

So, let's shoot for a Christmas miracle here, folks! One million downloads over the next five days! Let's go!

AMAZON US

AMAZON UK

AMAZON GERMANY

AMAZON FRANCE

AMAZON SPAIN

AMAZON ITALY

One More Day

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:33:00 +0000

UPDATE....A FEW MINUTES LATER

Whoops, looks like I spoke too soon. Amazon just discontinued the free promotion. ONE STILETTO IN THE GRAVE is back on the paid list, but still free to Amazon Prime members, of course. Don't let this stop you from buying a copy, though!
----------------

So, apparently when I said "December 13th at Midnight, Pacific Standard Time" I meant December 14th at Midnight, Pacific Standard Time? I don't know if it's my goof or Amazon's, but One Stiletto in the Grave is free for one more day! So, you know, get a copy and tell a million friends to do the same.

Thanks.

AMAZON US

AMAZON UK

AMAZON GERMANY

AMAZON FRANCE

AMAZON SPAIN

AMAZON ITALY

Best. Deal. EVER.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:05:00 +0000

One Stiletto in the Grave is a Kindle exclusive now.

What does this mean? This means that, normally, if you're a Kindle Prime Member, One Stiletto in The Grave is available to you through the Kindle Lending Library for free.

However, because this exclusive just went through, like, yesterday, I'm going to do one better.

Until Tuesday, December 13th at Midnight, Pacific Standard Time, I'm making One Stiletto in the Grave free for EVERYONE. Here are the links:

AMAZON US

AMAZON UK

AMAZON GERMANY

AMAZON FRANCE

AMAZON SPAIN

AMAZON ITALY

If you have a Kindle and you're in the one of the above, it's free for you. Go download it.

This morning I woke up to 134 downloads for One Stiletto in the Grave. It is my fervent prayer and hope that One Stiletto in the Grave gets One Million downloads by Tuesday night. One Million. Hey, it's a free and it's an awesome book, this should be no problem! I'm really enjoying writing this series and I want you guys to enjoy reading it just as much!

So, if you're a fan, please download a copy and then tell all your friends with Kindles, with Kindle Apps or Amazon Accounts to download a copy. If you loved the book leave us a review. Spread the word on your Twitter page or Facebook account. Let's do this!

UPDATE 12/10/2011

We're currently at 1,341 downloads. Only 998,659 to go! And, just so you know, even if all you have is a computer and no Kindle, you can still download a free Kindle App to your computer that will allow you read Kindle books and, more importantly, allow you to download a copy of One Stiletto in the Grave. So get that app!

Reboot

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:39:00 +0000

So here's the deal. I'm rebooting the Grym Brothers.

This:

Is now this:

I know this might seem a little crazy, but bear with me for a moment.

During one of our walks my wife and I were discussing the Grym brothers and future books in the series when I suddenly had a revelation:

The Grym brothers should have been the Grym sisters.

When we originally came up with the idea of these grim reaping brothers, the plan was to create a more mainstream series that would appeal to an audience beyond that of the Alex Cheradon books, but still allow me to indulge in my favorite parts of writing. It never occurred to me that the mainstream reading audience was female and that the brothers have been sisters.

I don't normally write lead female characters. I tend to write what I know and, this may come as a shock to some of you, I'm not a woman. So my leads tended to be men. With the exception of OUTLAWED LOVE which had US Marshal Kate Sharpe carrying the book on her shapely shoulders.

As a side note, OUTLAWED LOVE is currently rocking a 4 out of 5 star rating on Apple iBooks with over 143 ratings, and that's just in the US.

So, apparently I have a better handle on female characters than I thought.

Anyway, back to the Grym brothers.

During the course of our 30 minute walk my wife and I explored the repercussions of a gender switch. Mort's philandering and (according to some reviewers) misogynistic behaviors, suddenly became a bizarre take on female empowerment. The concept of two brothers talking about their relationships felt slightly awkward and metro, but as females, it takes on a Sex in the City-type quality. Side characters such as Alan Gold and Stanley Morris took on whole new and, frankly, more interesting interpretations.

By the end of the walk we had decided to pull the trigger. TWO AND A HALF DEAD MEN would become ONE STILETTO IN THE GRAVE. Thane would become Avery. Mort transformed into Brooke. I changed their last name to Graves and series name to Reapers in Heels.

ONE STILETTO IN THE GRAVE is not just a rehash of TWO AND A HALF DEAD MEN. I've added new material, I've deleted old material. Some stuff might seem familiar at first, but later will take on a whole new meaning.

Even the Grym brothers themselves aren't really gone.

The book is a little longer, with more of an emphasis being placed on Avery's and Brooke's love lives. It's a little steamier in some places (Well, 'little' is probably underselling it.). The ending's even been changed.

The over-arcing plot has been changed dramatically and toned down even more so. There's still some serialization in the series. I fancy each book similar to an episode of a TV show, building to a season finale, but that doesn't mean that each book won't be able to stand on it's own.

So, that's the big news. As of December 2nd, I'll be pulling the Grym Brothers books from distribution. This shouldn't delete them from your e-reading devices. If it does, send me an email at onestrayword@gmail.com and I'll correct that for you. The Grym Brothers series may resurface later on in another format perhaps.

If you've purchased TWO AND A HALF DEAD MEN I want to give you a copy of ONE STILETTO IN THE GRAVE for free. Just send me an email at onestrayword@gmail.com with a copy of your receipt from whichever e-retailer you purchased it from and I'll send you a copy of ONE STILETTO in whatever format you prefer.

I think you're going to like the Graves sisters. I've grown quite fond of them in short time they've been around and I think you will, too.

So, without further adiu:

When a dead soul goes renegade you call a grim reaper. And when you’re in Century City, you call the Graves sisters.

Avery and Brooke Graves are two of the best reapers in town. For them, hunting down a renegade dead soul is easy, hunting for a good man, however, is a whole ‘nother challenge.

Brooke’s ex-boyfriend is back in her life and the heat between them is quickly turning up.

After what was supposed to be a simple double homicide at the Kirkland Motel the Graves sisters end up with more than they bargained for.

With love on the rocks and souls on the run, it’s just another day for these reapers in heels.

Such a Tease

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:12:00 +0000

As promised, here's a sneak peek of follow-up to OUTLAWED LOVE. This is R-rated. If you don't like the steamy stuff, don't read any further!

UNDERCOVER LOVERS

About the book:

Following the events of OUTLAWED LOVE, Jack Sharpe is on a dangerous convert mission for his government. But the last thing he thought he’d expose was his heart…

Chapter One

Now

Tracy Willis slipped into the office, softly closing the door behind her. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the dark. The lights were off and the blinds were drawn closed.

"Hello?" she whispered. Taking a step forward, she unconsciously pushed her brown hair behind her ear. She kicked off her heels. "Hello?" she whispered again.

There was no response.

"Jack?" Tracy frowned. She was too late. She sighed. “Damnit.”

Hard, strong hands grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms at her back. Tracy bit back a scream, letting out a strangled squeal instead.

"Hush," a strong male voice whispered in her ear.

Tracy smiled, the fear melting away immediately. "Jack," she breathed. She relaxed her body against him.

"Hey," he said, inhaling her scent. Jasmine. She smelled like jasmine.

"This is new." She tried to turn around and face him, but his powerful hands held her in place.

"You're late," he replied. Keeping one hand on her arms, he pulled the hair away from her neck. He bent down and lightly blew on her skin, following it with a soft kiss on the back of her neck. Tracy bit her lower lip, shuddering with delight.

"I got held up in the meeting," she replied, squirming in his grasp. She wanted to face him, to see him. She needed to. Tracy tried to pull away from his grasp.

"Stop," he said, tightening his grip on her.

"This isn't fair," her tone was playful.

She could hear the smile in his voice. "Then maybe you should have shown up on time,” he said.

Jack let go of her hair and placed his head on her waist, caressing her hip. He slid his hand up to her breasts, cupping her through the white blouse. He gave her a firm squeeze, running his thumb across her nipple and he felt it pucker and tighten through the material. Gently, he pulled at her nipple and was rewarded with a lusty moan.

"Jack," she whispered, not daring to speak any louder. "This really isn't fair."

Tracy wiggled her bottom against him, there's a sharp intake of air from him as she felt him harden. Encouraged by his response, she pushed herself against him more forcefully. A soft growl escaped him.

Jack squeezed her breast again. "Stop.” His tone was firm, but she could tell he wasn't serious. "I'm not the one in trouble."

"Oh?" Tracy pushed against his hardened length again, swaying her hips as though she was participating in a forbidden dance. "Well, in that case, what's one more infraction?"

Jack laughed softly and guides her further into the office.

It was an empty office. In fact, most of the twentieth floor was empty. Which was why it made for an ideal meeting place.

Jack pushed her down over the desk, Tracy's face pressed against it's cool surface. He released her arms and let his hands travel down the length of her body, settling on her hips.

"Don't move," he said.

"Is this my punishment?" she asked with a smile. Her eyes are closed as she gives herself over to him.

"Maybe," Jack murmured as his fingers found the zipper on her skirt, pulling it down slowly. The sound sent waves of anticipation through her. Her skirt dropped to the floor and Jack forgets to breathe for a moment.

"Jack?" she asked after silence drew on for a second too long. "Are you still there?”

"Just taking in the scenery," he replied. "You wore the red ones." His finger traced the outline of lace on her panties.

"It's your first day back," Tracy replied. Little goosebumps popped up at his touch. "I wanted to make it memorable."

"Oh, it's definitely memorable," Jack replied in a hoarse voice.

Both hands gripped her bottom, squeezing her cheeks tightly. Tracy pushed back against him. Her hands gripped the edge of the desk tightly. "Jack," she moaned. "This is terrible."

He laughed. "Baby, I haven't even started yet."

He planted a kiss on her exposed lower back. She wiggled herself against him again, sending him a very clear message: Foreplay later.

Jack hooked his fingers around the edge of her panties and pulled them down in a single motion, letting them rest around her ankles. He nipped at her soft flesh, following each gentle bite with a soft kiss. Her skin felt delightfully smooth beneath his lips and tasted so sweet.

Tracy lifted her head at the sound of his buckle being undone. "You have no idea how much I've missed you."

"It's only been a day," Jack said, squeezing her bottom again.

"It feels like a month," Tracy replied.

"It sure does," Jack agreed, reaching around her. His fingers brushed against her soft, velvety skin.

Tracy moaned in response.

"You want to know how much I missed you?" he asked her.

"Yes," she replied. "Please, Jack. Please."

Then he was between her legs, touching her. She pushed back a little.

"Hey," he said, holding her by her bottom. “Slow down.”

His tip caressed her velvety flesh and he was rewarded with another moan.

"Jack..."

"Tracy," he breathed. His hips started to push forward.

The building's alarm suddenly went off. The office was flooded with red lights.

Jack stumbled backward, his lust-addled mind dazed and confused. "What the-?"

And then everything went to Hell.

----------------------------------------------------

Is it hot in here or is just me?

UNDERCOVER LOVERS is scheduled for a March 2012 release. But don't worry, you don't need to remember that. All you need to do is fill out that form to your right and you'll be added to a special email list that updates you whenever I have a new release.

Outlawed Love

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:58:00 +0000

I'm starting a blog tour for OUTLAWED LOVE next month on the 5th. Here's the full schedule:

Monday, December 5

Book reviewed at Ashley’s Bookshelf

Tuesday, December 6

Guest blogging at Just Another Book Addict

Wednesday, December 7

Book reviewed at Just Another Book Addict

Thursday, December 8

Guest blogging at Reviews by Molly

Friday, December 9

Book reviewed at Book Nook Club

Monday, December 12

Interviewed at Blogcritics

Tuesday, December 13

Book reviewed at Ohio Girl Talks

Wednesday, December 14

Book reviewed at From the TBR Pile

Thursday, December 15

Book reviewed at Faerotic Prose

Friday, December 16

Book reviewed at Cafe of Dreams

This what people on Apple are saying about OUTLAWED LOVE:

Pretty awesome, right?

And, of course, here's where you can buy the book:

PLUS! In a few days I'll be posting the first chapter from the new book starring Kate's brother, Jack: UNDERCOVER LOVERS! Oooooh, exciting, isn't it?

And this isn't even the biggest news of the week from me. Stay tuned for more....

Contest

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:47:00 +0000

So, Lulu is running this short story contest. They want stories 600 words or less. I had a few of those lying around, so I entered it.

Here are the links to the stories. Everything's free and in ePub format.

This Entire Experience Has Left Me Feeling Rather Dyspeptic

The Sexual Harassment Seminar

The Other Man Upstairs

Innocence Lost

Unbelievable

Dead City

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 03:35:00 +0000

Here's are two excerpts from the next Grym Brothers book, DEAD CITY. And by excerpts, I mean snippet, really. Raw. Unedited. And probably out of order. Heck, for all I know they may end up on the cutting room floor, too. Anyway, here they are:

Rhodes struggles for a moment, trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy. It's not working. "I've never had the pleasure of meeting a grim reaper."

"That's a good thing," Mort says.

"Not even when my wife passed away six years ago," Rhodes finishes.

"Look, Mr. Rhodes," Thane starts. "We're sorry for your loss."

"It was, like, six years ago and we just met the guy today," Mort says. "Why are we sorry?"

---------------------

Where Jackson usually has a mess of files on his desk there’s a large calendar instead. All the paperwork’s been moved off to a pile on the floor.

The Grym brothers grab the two empty seats.

“Okay,” Mort says. “What’s with the feng shui?”

“It’s not feng shui,” Jackson says.

“Well, I’m not going to lie,” Thane says. “That’s kind of a relief.”

“Oh yeah?” Jackson says. “Why’s that?”

Mort points to the pile next to his desk. “Because it makes you look like an even bigger slob.”

Thane points to his brother. “What he said.”

Jackson shakes his head. “You two are a piece of work.” He wipes his hands across the large calendar, smoothing it out. “My Captain has been reading Efficiency books.”

“Efficiency books?”

“Productivity,” Jackson clarifies.

“I don’t know what either of those words mean,” Mort says.

Things Left Unsaid

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:33:00 +0000

Two years ago my father died. It was sudden. There was no warning, no preamble. We never found out the exact cause of death. Quite simply, one minute my father was living and then the next, he was not.

The last time I spoke to him was that previous Sunday. I was trying to get his advice on how to fix a plumbing problem my wife and I had. He called back between performances at the local theater where he was handling the lighting. It was a conversation no different than other conversation's I’ve had with my father. There was nothing special about it, but then, neither of us knew that it was going to be the last time we spoke. Although, I wonder, would it have been any different had we known? My father and I were on good terms. There were no unresolved issues between us. We enjoyed each other’s company, we respected each other’s opinion. We had a good relationship. Honestly, though, my father and I had never had a difficult relationship. Oh sure, when I was a teenager, there was the typical crap that goes on between a parent and a child. But I grew up. I learned how to deal with my father and my father learned how to deal with me.

The last time I saw my father was a few weeks prior to his death. We had gone out to dinner with my wife’s sister, husband and children. My mother and father were there as well. I don’t know what was going on at the rest of the table because I was sitting at the corner with my Dad, as these things usually went. And, I’ll be honest, the majority of our conversation consisted of my Dad giving me a hard time about my creative ventures. My Dad was nitpicking at everything I had ever done, even to the extent of suggesting that all of my novels needed to be rewritten. But it was never an argument. It was a discussion. It was a discussion that annoyed me, true, but it was still a discussion that I got to have with my father.

The Reapers in Heels series is about two sisters who work as grim reapers, hunting down renegade dead souls. It’s series about characters looking for love, trying to make sense of life and doing the dirty work. But there's another part to it. There's a part to a grim reapers job that’s just not about hunting down the renegades, but helping bring closure to the living. Sometimes a dead soul has gone renegade simply because it hasn’t said all it needed to say.

I can’t imagine that there was anything else my Dad needed say. Honestly, I don’t even think there was anything else that I needed to say to my Dad. But there are people out there who aren’t as fortunate to have had a relationship like my father’s and mine. And, for those people, maybe, just maybe, they’ll be lucky enough to get help from the two reapers in heels who are ready to go a little above and beyond their job.

-----------------------

Book 1 - NOW AVAILABLE

Kindle US

Kindle UK

Fright Night

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:20:00 +0000

With Halloween right around the corner I thought I'd share this appropriately themed short story.

FRIGHT NIGHT

Brodrick kissed his wife lightly on the cheek. She looked lovingly into his eyes.

"Tonight," Precious said, her voice a throaty whisper, "Tonight is the night. All Hallow's Eve."

Brodrick's smile broke and a puzzled expression replaced it. "I thought it was Halloween?"

Precious' hand shot up the backside of Brodrick's head like a two-by-four. "All Hallow's Eve IS Halloween, you idiot!" she barked.

Brodrick grinned sheepishly, "Oh."

The oversized sleeves of Precious' pink clown outfit fell back as she spread her arms around the glowing Jack-O-Lantern. Yellow light pulsed out of the neatly carved face and cast shadows in the darkened kitchen. She grinned wickedly, "Within this Jack-O-Lantern lies power beyond our wildest dreams!" she paused for a moment and shot a sideways glance at her green-clad husband. Then she said dryly, "Or your's at least."

The cheapshot did not go unnoticed by Brodrick, who rolled his eyes and

said, "Oh my precious..." he faltered as he realized what he was going to say and

recovered with a weak smile, "...Precious-"

Precious cut him off, "Oh, shut up!"

The doorbell rang. Precious quickly grabbed a towel and threw it over the glowing pumpkin. She raced to the front of the house and opened door to find a devil-child, a pirate, and a four foot tall "Barrack Obama," standing on her front porch.

"Trick or Treat!" They shouted in unison as they lifted their bags expectantly.

Precious smiled sweetly and retrieved three bags of candy from her colossal sleeves.

"Here you go, my pretties!" she crooned as she dropped the candy into their

bags, "Don't eat it all at once."

The children dashed off without so much as a thank you. Precious stared out at the departing brats a moment longer, her sweet smile transforming into a disgusted sneer. Then she slammed the door closed.

The witchy woman stomped back to the kitchen. "Is everything ready?" she snarled.

Brodrick's head bobbed up and down. "Yes, it is," he replied enthusiastically, hefting a large duffel bag from the other room.

"Good. The sooner we get this over with, the better." Precious snatched the towel away from the glowing pumpkin, its eerie glow growing stronger. She whipped off her dunce-like cap and leaned in towards the glowing Jack-O-Lantern.

Her face was bathed in yellow light and, for a moment, Brodrick thought he saw a beautiful young maiden, instead of the old hag he called his wife. But the moment quickly passed.

Precious looked up. "Give me,” she paused dramatically and then demanded, “The Book!"

Brodrick faltered for a moment, jerking back at her harsh tone. He reached into the duffel bag and retrieved a few stapled photocopies. Precious abruptly seized the papers from his hand.

"What is this?!" she roared, her eyes going bloodshot and her face turning red. She held up the photocopies with a shaking hand.

Brodrick nervously shifted from one foot to the other. "Uh, well you see, the only magic book they had at the library was a reference copy. They wouldn't let me check it out. So I had to photocopy the spell," he stammered out, then he added quickly, "They assured me the spell would still work."

Precious glared at him for a moment and thumbed through the photocopies. Everything looked right. She decided she would risk it and continue. She placed the papers on the table and studied the first page for a moment. Then she spoke, "Give me the dead rat."

Brodrick reached into the duffel bag and brought out a rodent, which he placed in his wife's open palm. Precious looked at it. Then she looked up at Brodrick. "I'm sorry, dear," she said sweetly, her voice as pleasant as a harp, "I had forgotten you're losing your hearing," her voice got a little sharper, "I asked for a dead rat, not a rotting squirrel!"

"Uh, well, I figured a, uh, squirrel would work, because, uh, I, uh couldn't find any rats," Brodrick stuttered. He was sweating nervously.

"The spell specifically calls for a RAT!" Precious shouted in vexation.

"Well, they're both rodents," Brodrick offered weakly.

Precious fumed for a moment and then moved to a cabinet and pulled out a knife. She quickly stripped off the squirrel's bushy tail. Now it resembled a rat. Then she tossed it unceremoniously into the glowing Jack-O-Lantern. Looking down at the papers she read out loud, "Iksnay, ipsnay, attersnay!"

There was a tiny explosion of yellow light from the pumpkin, it shot up in a perfectly spherical ball and dissipated quickly.

"Quickly," she hissed, "Give me the ground buck's tooth!" Brodrick handed her a jar filled with a white powder. She opened it and sprinkled the contents over the glow of the pumpkin. Another explosion of yellow energy shot up, this time stronger, lasting almost three seconds before it dissipated.

"Now the child's finger!" Brodrick handed her a ziplock bag with a finger in it. She dropped the finger into the pumpkin.

Another yellow ball shot out of the pumpkin, this one almost reached the ceiling.

Precious rubbed her hands together and smiled maliciously. "Opsnik, ipsnik, lipstick!"

This time an orange ball of light shot out of the pumpkin and hit the ceiling. The house trembled.

Precious raised her hands to the ceiling. "Gods above us! Gods below us! Hear my plea to give us what we decree!" She turned to Brodrick, "And now, the final ingredient!" She glanced down at the spell and then looked up again and said, "Give me the Plutonium!" Precious paused for a moment and did a double take, "Plutonium?" Suddenly like a kettle reaching its climax, she screamed out, "THIS IS THE WRONG SPELL!!"

Every bit of glass in the house shattered at her voice. She towered over the cringing Brodrick, who was now curled in a fetal position against the wall. Behind her, the energy in the pumpkin was cycling through a multitude of colors as it approached its zenith; orange, yellow, black, white and the cycle started over again.

"I'm sorry," Brodrick moaned between sobs, "I'm sorry!"

Precious glared at him through blazing red eyes, oblivious to the mounting energy behind her. "You copied the wrong spell and all you can say is 'I'm sorry'?!?!" she shrieked.

The kitchen was now bathed in the multiple colors. Incomplete, the energies the spell had conjured were now running amuck. Precious, pulled from her blind rage, finally took noticed of the event behind her. She stared dumbly at it. Brodrick got up from the floor, captivated by the cascade of colors.

Suddenly a beam of energy shot up from the pumpkin and breached the ceiling, it continued up into the far reaches of the atmosphere. The Trick-Or-Treaters paused in their festivities to gaze in wonder at the magnificent sight. For a moment, everything and everyone just stopped and stared at the pillar of energy extending from the house of the people known only as the Millers.

Then the beam suddenly dropped back into the house with a silent explosion.

The house was enveloped in a burst of yellow light and then everything was as it had been. People gathered around the house, but no one moved to enter it.

Eventually, old man Foster went inside.

Everything looked normal as Foster made his way through the house. No one answered his calls. In the kitchen, he found a neatly carved pumpkin sitting on the table, an empty duffel bag and a few charred pieces of paper. Next to the bottom cabinet were two little figurines, so small Foster almost missed them. He bent down and picked them up to examine them more closely. One looked like a woman in a clown's outfit, she appeared to be upset about something. The other was a man, dressed in a similar clown's outfit, gawking. For something made out of stone, they had an extraordinary amount of detail to them. Quickly making sure no one was in the house, Foster dropped the figurines into his pocket and went outside, eager to make the most of this Halloween.

--------

This story was brought to you by:

Ahh, nothing like a romantic picnic in a cemetery, after dark, on a Friday the 13th. What could possibly go wrong? Will true love blossom for Mike and Danielle? Or will they join the throngs of the undead? Nothing like first date jitters. BONUS CONTENT Original Short Story: The Forgotten. A mysterious stranger with no memory finds himself to protect a helpless family.

Spooktakular Sale!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 01:52:00 +0000

So, until Halloween these two books are going to only be $0.99. They're great Halloween reads and the start of two excellent series. Grab a copy of each and tell all of your friends!

Grab Your Kindle Copy Now!
or if you're in the UK
You Can Get It Here

Grab Your Kindle Copy Now!

or if you're in the UK
You Can Get It Here

Five Reasons Why It’s Great to Be a Grim Reaper on Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 11:31:00 +0000

Hey, it’s October, which means it’s a month-long build up to Halloween! Let’s get our spook on!

“5 Reasons Why It’s Great to Be a Grim Reaper on Halloween”

Ready Made Costume

Okay, yeah, it might your work outfit. It’s kind of like a businessman dressing up as himself in a suit and tie, but, come on. A scraggly hooded robe and a scythe? That is an awesome costume. Plus, you can skip showering for the day and no one’s going to complain because you’re the Grim Reaper, you should smell like death warmed over.

What’s Creepier Than Death?

Answer: Nothing. Witches? Nope. Gremlins. Not even close. The undead? Please. Vampires? I laugh at vampires.

You are Death. Boom. Nothing beats that. Not even dressing up as the Olsen Twins. Plus, if you want to be extra creepy, you can bring one of your dead souls with you when you hit up the party scene. It’ll be a scream.

No Need to Say Trick or Treat

Because, really, who’s going to make the Grim Reaper beg for their candy?

It’s the Only Time of Year You’re In Style

Sometimes it feels like death is never cool or it’s always coming at an inopportune time. But on Halloween? Everyone else is dressed to the nines at witches, goblins and zombies. Death can stroll down Main Ave and look positively normal.

You Feel Like a Celebrity

Dude, you’re a Grim Reaper. When do you not feel like a celebrity?

Today’s post was sponsored by:

People die every day.

But not all of the souls can or want to move onto the afterlife.

That’s where the brothers Thane and Mort Grym come in.

Thane and Mort are bounty hunters for dead souls. They inherited the job from their father and they’re two of the best in town.

But when there’s a double homicide at the Kirkland Motel the Grym brothers end up with more than they bargained for. In a world without vampires, zombies or the undead, one of their bounties might not be as dead as he’s supposed to be.

Get it at all these fine establishments:
Kindle US

Kindle UK

Nook

Smashwords
iBooks

Free Book

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 22:21:00 +0000

Hey, everybody, I got a free book!

It's currently available for free from:

iBooks, perfect if you have iDevice(iPad, iPhone, iPod)

Smashwords, perfect if you have any ereader, period. OUTLAWED LOVE is available in every ereader format through Smashwords, including Kindle.

Amazon UK, perfect for if you're one of my fabulous UK fans.

iBooks readers are saying:

"Omg I love this book best love story ever wish there was a second book I recommend this for all teens"

"I loved the suspends and the characters.....the story plot was good and well writen.... i wish the ending was longer but it was great :) fantastic book... i truly recommend it <3"

Alas, it's not currently available for free through Amazon US, but if/when that changes, you'll be the first to know!

It'll be free for probably another week or so. Grab a copy. Tell your friends! Have your friends tell their friends!

Good News

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 01:59:00 +0000

Wow.

So, towards the end of June my wife and I were reviewing our finances and it looked like I was going to have to get a job outside the home. We’d been living off of her salary for the last two years while I worked on my creative endeavors and we had gone just about as long as we could without me having a “real” job. We were bummed out, to say the least. My wife and I really enjoying spending time together. She’s never been upset or resentful of the fact that she was the only one pulling in a regular paycheck for the last two years. As far as she was concerned all that meant was she got to spend every day with me(Her job allows her to work from home). And I certainly pulled my weight around the house. I helped with the cooking, cleaning and errands. I mean, I wasn’t a total bum. The thought of having to spend eight hours or more everyday apart from each other, after the last two years, was just very depressing.

So we did what we’ve done everyday since the day we got married and prayed that my books would take off. We sold, on average, about 50-100 books a month. But the bulk of those books were priced at $0.99, of which we only kept $0.35 as profit. You can do the math.

My brother-in-law is fond of the saying, “Go big or go home.” Well, I’ve amended to “Pray big or go home.” I mean, what have you got to lose? So we prayed pretty big. We were looking for 15,000 to 50,000 sales a month and that’s what we were praying for.

In June we did experiment with making some of our books free and that did give us a boost in sales. Unfortunately, with all of those free books out there we got hit with a lot of negative reviews, which didn’t do much to help our mood.

So I started applying for work and we kept praying. 15,000-50,000 sales.

In July I started raising some of our prices to take advantage of a higher royalty rate. At $2.99 we would make $2 off of every book sold. Our sales continued to be kind of “meh.”

Nobody was calling me back on any of my applications. I think out of twenty-some applications I got two interviews. So we got a little more depressed. Not only did we not want me to have to get an outside job, but nobody even wanted to hire me!

Then at the end of July I added up our numbers. We ended up selling 713 books for the month. That was huge for us. Yes, it was a far cry from 15,000 or 50,000, but it was a lot better than 50. Plus, enough of those 713 books were being sold at $2.99 that we actually made some decent money for the month. Topped off with the nice, healthy bonus my wife got from her job, we were looking at a month reprieve of me having to find a job. Despite the negative reviews some of my books were getting, we were starting to feel a little better.

So we kept praying. 15,000-50,000 monthly sales, that’s what we were praying for day in and day out.

The month of August came and went and still no one wanted to hire me.

On August 31, 2011, I tallied up our numbers for the month. Turns out we sold a little over 1,300 books for the month of August 2011.

1,300 books.

Again, a far cry from 15,000 or 50,000, but two months ago I was only selling 50 books a month.

You could ask me what was different about August from any other month and I’d just shrug. You might able to point to the freebies we offered or a few keywords we added in our listings and say that was the reason our sales picked up. But I can tell you I have put very little effort into my marketing my books. Not because I’m lazy, but because I don’t know how. Marketing and selling are skill sets I just don’t have. As far as my wife and I are concerned, the only reason we sell any books at all is because of God. I’ve put my marketing and promotional planning in His hands and it’s working out.

Not only are these 1,300 book sales going to help us pay off one of our last major debts but it’s also going to help pay for organizing a blog tour later this year. The blog tour will help raise my Internet presence and help people become more aware of my books.

But even more importantly, those 1,300 book sales have allowed me to stay home with my wife. I don’t have to go looking for a job outside our home.

It may not be the 15,000 or 50,000 we were praying for, but it was exactly what we needed.

God answered our prayers and, honestly, that was the “Wow” part. You know He’s listening, but it’s nice to know He’s listening.

So, to celebrate our success I’ve released a new book! The third Grym Brothers book is now available on the Kindle and Nook! If you’ve enjoyed the first two Grym books, you’ll love this one. Thanks for supporting us!

Book 3 - NOW AVAILABLE

Kindle US
Kindle UK

Nook

They say dead men tell no tales, but that’s just because they’ve never worked as a Grim Reaper.

Grim Reapers are real. They are governed by the Council of Reapers. Reapers are responsible for the capture and containment of dead souls that refuse to or cannot move on to the afterlife.

Lori Standford’s mother died six months ago. Now she’s back, haunting Lori out of her home. Lori turns to her close friend, Emma Grym, mother of Thane and Mort Grym, for help.

Now Thane and Mort find themselves embroiled in a mystery of dead men that stretches all the way to the top.

OSW - Go, Go Captain America!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason Krumbine) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 16:20:00 +0000

My review of Captain and updates on all my current book projects.

Listen below or subscribe through iTunes.

Questions, comments, thoughts, suggestions: You can get a hold of me at
the following:

onestrayword@gmail.com

Twitter: @jasonkrumbine

Facebook.com/jmkwriter

www.jasonkrumbine.com