Lindsay McKenna Spring Newsletter 2013
When they say “Spring has sprung,” that could well apply to what is going on regarding my books. I’m going to divide this newsletter into three parts to avoid confusion. First, good news about my back list of earlier books being converted into eBooks! Secondly, SHADOW WARRIORS series is off to a fast start with a video trailer by Circle of Seven, Productions (COS). Thirdly, the 2013 ENTIRE book publishing list by me. This will help readers sort out what is happening.
EBOOKS ARRIVE ON BACK LIST!
Harlequin is really pulling out the stops to get nearly eighty-five of my backlist books converted into ebooks. The first batch that arrives will be April 15, 2013. And in September, 2013, nine books I’d written for other publishers early in my career, were bought by Harlequin and they will be out as ebooks at that time. More on that in the Fall Newsletter. For the April 2013 books, here they are:
A Question of Honor / 978-1-460-31494-4 / $4.99
No Surrender / 978-1-460-31495-1 / $4.99
Return of a Hero / 978-1-460-31496-8 / $4.99
Dawn of Valor / 978-1-460-31497-5 / $4.99
The four above books are from the original LOVE AND GLORY series…the first series books ever written in the romance genre! And were they ever a mega-hit, thanks to my enthusiastic readers. Also known by long time readers as Morgan’s Mercenaries. This is the beginning of the saga that is still ongoing to this day! And I’ll continue to add Trayhern children from Noah/Kit’s family as well as Aly/Clay’s family. So stay tuned. If you missed the original titles, here they are in ebook! I’m very excited about this. Also, Dawn of Valor was written later by me and is about Chase and Rachel Trayhern, the parents of Morgan, Aly and Noah Trayhern. This is a complete set and if you’re a first time reader, these are “foundation” books from which I’ve spun off and written over 45 other Morgan’s Mercenaries books over the years. Enjoy!
Heart of the Wolf / 978-1-460-31499-9 / $4.99
The Rogue / 978-1-460-31500-2 / $4.99
Commando / 978-1-460-31501-9 / $4.99
These three books were the next series group and called Morgan’s Mercenaries. It is three stories about three of Morgan’s operators who work for him.
There is a page here on my website that will have the new covers and cover copy information about each one. So be sure to check it out too.
Harlequin will be putting these up for sale/download on April 15, 2013. As time gets closer and when I can find out the URL, I’ll drop it in this newsletter as well as the E-book page so you can link up to get to them. They will be found at www.harlequin.com and be in their EBOOK STORE. They will be under NO LONGER IN PRINT. All of these books were in Silhouette Special Edition.
SHADOW WARRIORS SERIES–update
If you read my Winter 2012 newsletter, you know something about my latest military romantic suspense books. I will be writing for HQN as well as Harlequin Romantic Suspense. Harlequin will be putting up a webpage on this series beginning in September 2013. More on that in another newsletter.
I’ve enlisted the help of the world’s best book video trailer company, Circle of Seven, Productions to do a number of things for me. First, I wanted an over-arching view for my readers of what Shadow Warriors series is going to be about. We just completed the video and I’m thrilled to share it with you here. Just go to this URL and you can watch it. If you love it, SHARE it with your friends, tweet it, Facebook it and blog it. Get the word out :-).
I’ve asked that COS make a video on ALL the Shadow Warrior books that will be coming out in 2013 and 2014. That’s quite a few! Here’s the schedule on them:
2013
Danger Close (was VALKYRIE) by Lindsay McKenna, September 2013, FREE ebook giveaway. September 15 through December 31, 2013. URL to be announced.
December: Down Range (HQN), Book 2 Shadow Warriors series, Dec. 2013
2014
February: Risk Taker (HRS) book 1, Shadow Warrior series, book 3
March: Degree of Risk (HRS) book 2 sequel, Shadow Warrior series, book 4
May: Dangerous Edge(HQN) book 1, Shadow Warrior series, book 5
July: Never Surrender (HQN) book 2 sequel, Shadow Warrior series, book 6
DANGER CLOSE is going to be the foundation book for the Shadow Warriors series. Then, DOWN RANGE, HQN, December 2013, is book #2. There’s lots of fun about this. DANGER CLOSE will be given away as a FREE ebook. And the hero and heroine of that book have a daughter, Morgan Boland. Her book is DOWN RANGE. So you’ll be getting a sequel of sorts.
I’ll discuss the 2014 Shadow Warrior books in coming newsletters. Suffice to say, these books are going to hot, hot, hot, intensely suspenseful, gritty, visceral and will keep the reader glued to the page. All are military romantic suspense.
COS is also going to do video book trailers on my highly popular The Wyoming Series for 2013 too! Here’s the books coming out. Both books will have ex-SEAL heroes in them, so if you love SEALs, come on down and sink your teeth into these books!
July: The Loner, HQN, The Wyoming Series
September: High Country Rebel, HQN, The Wyoming Series
LIGHTS! ACTION! CAMERA!
When I enlisted COS to help me make the Shadow Warrior video book trailers, I found out quickly that there weren’t a whole lot of stock photos of women in military uniform. And what there was, was not suitable for my books. So, Sheila English, President of COS, suggested a photo shoot with models, so that I’d have great photos of my heroes/heroines and they would be in the correct military attire.
This has been a sharp learning curve for me, but an awful lot of fun. I almost feel like a mini-Hollywood at this point. I’m working with Joe, a senior editor at COS, who will be handling all the creation of the Shadow Warrior trailers. Not only have I had to go out and find present-day SEAL uniforms, but Army medivac female flight uniform, and Marine Force Recon, but all the props that go with that uniform.
I’ve just sent Joe all the proposals on the 2013-2014 Shadow Warrior books. When one does a photo shoot (I’ve been taught), you must have a ‘casting call.’ What this means is Joe and I put our heads together in creating a paragraph or two of what we want. For example, males, 27-35 years old. Females 27-30 years old. All my characters in my books are this age group. I don’t want an 18 year old guy with a baby face showing up for the shoot when my hero is 29 years old!
Or, for example, my heroes are six foot tall and my women are tall, usually 5’7” up to 6’0” tall. We’ll put that criteria in there. And the men must be athletic looking and buff. Joe said I probably wouldn’t find too many female models who are buff (but trust me in the military, you are in good shape), but he knows a couple of women martial arts instructors that just might fit the bill!
Other criteria would be the model would have to have (if male), military short hair. He can’t show up with a pony tail! And the female models aren’t going to show up with mascara and eye shadow either. Why? Because women in combat haven’t got much make up on. They don’t wear lipstick either. And so, we aren’t going to have a lot of dolled up female models coming….limiting their makeup to something very neutral, more natural and certainly not gaudy. One doesn’t see many women in combat wearing lipstick. More than likely, Chapstick to keep their lips moist.
It’s all these little details, the reality of it, that I want accurately portrayed in the shoot. They can be very good looking models, with great, athletic bodies, but not so much makeup.
Once this casting call is sent out to models (Joe refers to them as actors, and really, they are) and also to modeling agencies. Models who fit the criteria we’ve written up then send in what is known as a “zed card.” This is an 8 1/2 x 11” photograph of the model in many different poses. We need that zed card to see how the model looks in different lighting and also to get an idea of his and her face. Joe has to slog through lots of zed cards and he’ll narrow it down. Once he’s narrowed it down to the type of models we need, he’ll send those zed cards on to me.
I get to choose four male and four female models for our shoot. What fun! Who better knows what my hero and heroine looks like than me? Right? Right. Then, as Joe said, we’ll do a “mix and match” to pair up these four guys and gals into the hero and heroine for each, individual book trailer. It is up to Joe to gather all the props we’ll need for this shoot, although I’ve been helping out a lot. There are places where you can go to costume company and rent what you need.
Once we get the eight models and we pair them up, the next step is to send them a “Character Trait” card. This will have information about the hero and heroine, who they are, what they look like, their background, etc. That way, when the models arrive for their hour of shooting, they can get INTO that character. That is important because their expressions are going to be conveying something we’re needing in that shot.
We will have a “short sheet” that will be given to the models as well as the photographer and ourselves. This will be about what is worn by the model and what the pose is going to be. I’ll be there with my husband (I was in the Navy and Dave was in the Marine Corps) to make sure the uniforms are accurate, the way weapons are held or worn, are accurately displayed. Details, details. But I love this stuff. So much fun. I also love to see my characters come alive in these coming book video trailers. And I’m hoping you will enjoy them too.
Just keep checking back at my website (www.lindsaymckenna.com) for releases on these book video trailers. Typically, I will release one a month BEFORE the actual book comes out.
So, I think there’s a lot going on this SPRING! I hope your flowers are coming up around your home. That the snow has melted! And the trees are budding out!