End of the Year Contest

So 2010 is drawing to a close and 2011 looms large with all sorts of awesome craziness bearing down on us all – namely the long-awaited release of my 5th Lawson vampire novel, THE KENSEI. As part of the gazillion things I’m doing for promotion around this title (and Lordy am I doing a LOT of stuff to promote it – check out the schedule late next week here and on Facebook if you don’t believe me…) I’m launching a brand new version of Boston Nocturne complete with graphics, free content, exclusive freebies, and much more. MISSION: MALTA, a brand new Lawson adventure debuts in the first issue of the newsletter next week and will run in serial format throughout the year – 100% FREE just because you guys are the best fans an author could ever hope for.

Anyway, I want to get a TON of subscribers for this newsletter. Thousands, in fact. And I’ve been pimping the hell out of the newsletter. Right now, I’ve got several hundred subscribers.

I want more.

So, here’s the contest part: get all your friends and family to sign up for the newsletter by going here: http://bit.ly/hBHz7t. You can use that link to pass along to your friends. Repost this on facebook, Twitter, any bulletin boards, email it out to your friends and family and colleagues. And then keep track of who among your contacts signs up. I get a notification every time someone new subscribes, so it’s simply a matter of you letting me know who was your referral. Easy, yeah?

Whoever sends the most new subscribers to Boston Nocturne gets the following:

  • 1. A signed ARC of THE KENSEI
  • 2. A signed cover flat of THE KENSEI book
  • 3. A signed copy of the actual book THE KENSEI when I receive my copies in a week or so.

Pretty cool, right?

There’s no time to waste. I’d like as many new subscribers as possible before the first issue of Boston Nocturne ships late next week. Go forth and strong-arm, cajole, persuade, seduce, extort, bribe, sweet-talk, whatever – just get more subscribers for my newsletter and the one who delivers the most wins that cool KENSEI prize pack.

Contest begins now and ends Wednesday, January 5th at 11:59PM.

🙂

Updates on stuff…

We’re just 38 days away from the launch of THE KENSEI and I couldn’t be more pleased with how things are looking. Back in 2002, I was excited about seeing The Fixer eventually come out in mass market paperback, only to have the series dropped by Kensington after four installments. A lot of nastiness went into that decision by the publisher, and I’ve never stopped believing they made a huge mistake in letting it go. That said, I couldn’t be happier than I am knowing that THE KENSEI is being released by St. Martin’s Press. Not only is SMP a far superior publishing house, but I have the editor I’ve always dreamed of having and the in-house support has been extremely gratifying. Additionally, I’d like to say a huge thank you to the good people at Barnes & Noble, who have really stepped up to get behind the book as well. I hope you’ll give them your support in return by purchasing THE KENSEI either at one of their stores or online here (you can preorder it now). In fact, next Friday, Barnes & Noble will be doing a little something special for folks to get them rev’d up for THE KENSEI. Details next week as it approaches, so stay tuned!

Obviously, my goal with THE KENSEI is nothing short of selling hundreds of thousands of copies. Seriously. I want the rebirth of Lawson to be so spectacular, they every person who has grown weary of the sparkly, glitzy vamp angst that has plagued both books and TV/film, to read THE KENSEI and become excited all over again. A groundswell of support from my fans and friends will really help make that a reality. So I’m pulling out all the stops to make sure everyone gets a copy and then tells their friends to get a copy as well. Let’s sell this thing out of its first print run in a week!

To that end, I’ll be doing a lot over the next five weeks or so. Today, I created the Official Facebook Book Launch Event and would love for everyone to click over and attend. It happens everywhere on the 18th of January, so you don’t have to do anything special, except buy a copy of THE KENSEI on that day (or preorder it now). I’d also like to ask that you all invite all of your Facebook friends to attend the event as well. Let’s see if this social media phenomenon can really turn this thing into a bestseller. The more people who attend and make the commitment to buy THE KENSEI, the better. There are instructions on the event page about how to easily invite all your friends without needing to click every single one of them.

I’ll be posting more as the days dwindle toward launch, but please remember that without your support, none of this would be possible. I’m indebted to each of you and can’t thank you enough for your support through the years it took to find Lawson a new home.

Have a great day!

Mistaking Being Nice for Being Weak

One of the greatest failings in human behavior is a recent trend of mistaking being nice for being weak. Somehow, if you are not rude to someone, but instead treat them the way you might like to be treated, it’s considered a sign of weakness by a lot of very misguided people.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Some of the most dangerous people I know are also the nicest. They always treat people with kindness. Their Facebook profile pictures are smiling and convey happiness and security with who they are as people. And it takes a lot to rile them up. They are forgiving and tolerant of people with less character, honor, and intelligence.

Conversely, some of the weakest people I know are also the rudest posers imaginable. They never have a smile to share or a kind word about anyone. They spread lies created by others without having the courage to go find out through personal experience what the truth of the matter is. Their Facebook profile pictures are leering tough-guy-wanna-be frowns, or them bedecked in firearms, or wearing ferocious samurai armor, or some equally pathetic attempt at conveying some supposed degree of machismo. As they strut about puffing themselves up with their own hot air, espousing their own hype (and believing it) they try their best to project a rough-and-ready attitude, when they are anything but.

And when these rude posers talk trash about others, they then make a very bad mistake: they assume that just because the nice person doesn’t immediately put them in their place, or cave their face in, that those people are actually weak somehow. They don’t see the fact that the nice person has no reason to crash down on them. From the nice person’s perspective, there’s nothing to be gained from swatting an annoying little pest. After all, the annoying little pest will always be just that. Annoying and little. Their capacity to grow has been permanently crippled by their willingness and need to be self-delusional. The nice person, on the other hand, secure with who they are knows that there is always more to learn and explore; that there are always people out there who know more than they do. Rather than try to inflate themselves fraudulently, they instead seek the truth and aspire to always make themselves better.

Meanwhile, the rude people fly around buzzing about this and that. But then they make yet another, more serious, mistake.

They get too close. Or they become too annoying. Or their lies start spreading to the point that they begin infecting other people.

That’s when the nice person stops being nice.

Roadhouse was a truly awful flick, but I’ve always liked one particular line from it, when Swayze said, “I want you to be nice until it’s time to not be nice.”

People who would equate being nice with being weak need to remember something: eventually even nice people reach their limit. Eventually, even the nicest soul imaginable says, “enough.” And eventually, that person that you talked trash about for years and years and years will grow weary of listening to the same old bullshit.

And then that nice person will stop being nice. Instead, they’ll pay the rude person a visit one day. And a lesson will be handed out.

So, in the spirit of the holiday season, here’s a wee little reminder that if someone’s nice to you, it isn’t necessarily because they’re weak – indeed, they may be more than capable of squashing you like a bug.

Be nice to them in return. You’ll be better off for it.

Custom US Postage Stamps Featuring THE KENSEI

Here’s a cool way to get your holiday mailing done and help spread the word about THE KENSEI’s release in just about six weeks: customized US postage featuring cover art from the book along with a tag line. These are first class 44 cent stamps that you can use on any piece of mail – holiday cards, packages, bill payments, whatever. And if you order today and use the code JINGLESALE46 you get an additional $5 (five bucks) off your order. So one sheet of twenty stamps costs only $13.55. Click on the image to order or GO HERE TO GET STAMPS.

Thanks for helping spread the word about THE KENSEI. January 18th is just around the corner!