Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 32

Well, this is it. The last day of the Seventeen Skulls virtual book tour. It’s been quite a wild ride, from day one all the way to this final post. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ll have a retrospective look back on the tour at a future time. As for today, we’ll wrap things up, put a bow on it, and call it a tour.

Today’s lone stop sees us venturing over to Teatime and Books, where the tagline reads ‘all you need are books and tea.’ I don’t know about that, but I’m pleased and grateful to be featured on their pages.

Yes, I know I teased a week of double features. Yes, I know that hasn’t been the case on most of this week’s days. It’s one of those unfortunate “the best laid plans” things where not everything always unfolds the way we would like (or had been led to believe). Nonetheless, I hope it’s been an enjoyable experience for those of you who have followed along here. We’ve visited a ton of places I, quite frankly, never would have ventured otherwise, so my horizons have officially been expanded. Once or twice along the way it’s been a challenge to get the day’s post up in a timely fashion, but the streak held intact right to the final guns. I’ll talk more about it when I devote a post to looking back on the journey.

On the eve of the last weekend before classes resume for the fall, let me offer a gentle reminder that both Crafting the Short Story and Writing Horror: the Dark Side are both set to kick off once again. If you or someone you know is interested in one or both of these courses, registration is still open – just click the links above for more information. Hope to see some of you there!

This will be my last daily post for a while as I take some time to recover, reset, and digest the past month’s events. I’ll be back at it soon though, so don’t forget to subscribe at my contact page for updates and news sent directly to your inbox. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 31

We can now measure the time left on the Seventeen Skulls book tour in hours rather than days – right around 30 of them at this point. Just today’s post and tomorrow’s, and this whirlwind ride is over.

It’s still going on, so it’s too early to take a retrospective look back at the past month, but I will do that in the near future. As for today, to make up for a lack of tour stops yesterday, we’ve got three of them right here, right now.

Up first we have I Read What You Write, which in addition to the normal fare features a Q & A with yours truly. This is one of the scheduled stops from yesterday, and unfortunately the only one we’ll be making today as the other one is still MIA.

Moving right along to Nana’s Book Reviews – the first stop on the tour which, at first glance, does not appear to be an English-first website. That first glance was accurate, as it turns out: our host hails from Greece.

An interesting third stop today, as we’re visiting the site of Valerie Ullmer, Romance Author. I don’t know that Seventeen Skulls is her normal fare, but I’m certain there are romance readers who enjoy romance novels, and vice versa.

Big thanks to our gracious hosts for today, always fun and exciting to break new ground. Thanks as well to those of you following along with the tour, daily or otherwise. You’re always welcome here.

So, this is it, guys. Tomorrow is the final tour day. Come on back over for the grand finale, we’ll wrap up with our last two stops, and call it a tour. In the meantime, don’t forget to head over to my contact page and subscribe to have posts, news and updates sent directly to your inbox. Until then, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 30

It’s drifting into evening here in Eastern Canada, and I realize I’m a bit late getting today’s blog tour post out there. Unfortunately, it’s by design that I haven’t posted already; due to a scheduling snafu, it seems both of our tour stops for today have experienced technical difficulties. As a result, well… I haven’t got much of anything for you today. I’m not thrilled about it, and I guess it’s possible we can get back on track by the end of the night, but I didn’t want to drag it out that long.

I did spend a little time today drifting back through the tour dates, popping in on some of our previous hosts and responding to a few commenters there. It’s nice to see the reach continues beyond our featured day at some of these sites, and that readers still manage to stumble upon my daily features well after the original date.

Here’s what I will do: I’ll continue to monitor the situation, and if things get sorted by the end of the day I’ll add a second post. If not, we’ll have one of two scenarios tomorrow – either today’s posts just fade into the sunset, never to be seen again; or today’s stops go live tomorrow and, with yet another two posts already scheduled for tomorrow, we’ll have a massive quadruple tour day.

Either way, thanks as always for dropping by. I love seeing all the visitors old and new alike each day. Also, a reminder that my writing course, Writing Horror: the Dark Side, kicks off with the fall semester on Monday, September 27th. Then on October 7th we’re back with another round of Crafting the Short Story. Due to the current restrictions, both courses are still being offered online while we look forward to being able to return to the classroom.

Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 29

It’s the beginning of a brand new week. Here in Canada, we collectively wait with bated breath for the federal election results. The polls close in a couple of hours, and then we see what shakes out. In book tour news, we’re down to just four days remaining and it’s back to business with not one, but two tour stops today.

First on the docket we’ve got the appropriately-named Insane Books, a busy little site that features a ton of books. Next we move on to The Book Dragon, which has given us a nice feature spot as well. Many thanks to our gracious hosts today, your interest and exposure are greatly appreciated.

Check back tomorrow when we’ll have two more tour stops, including two guest posts as well as a review of Seventeen Skulls. Good stuff!

That’s all for today, make sure you head over to my contact page and subscribe to have these posts delivered right to your inbox. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 28

It’s Election Day eve here in Canada, which means tomorrow, for the third time in six years, we head out en masse and flip the two-headed coin once again. Who knows, maybe one of these times the coin will land on its edge.

As promised, we’re going right back to tour dates as of tomorrow, right through the end of the tour on Thursday. Four more days, eight more stops, and then it’s over. I’ve never done anything like this tour before, and I’m not sure I would again, at least not in this way. I think it could have been a lot more impactful with a couple of tweaks to both the approach and execution. Even still, I have to admit the number of people who have dropped in to visit along the way has been pleasantly surprising. If nothing else I’ve learned a little about the process, what does and doesn’t work.

Thanks to everyone who’s followed along here with me; or has stopped by once, on purpose or accidentally; or anything in between. It’s all very much appreciated. thanks also to those who have subscribed to my website and are now receiving all of these posts right to their inboxes. The more the merrier, I say! Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 26

It’s Friday, the end of another long week and the beginning of the last week of this virtual book tour. As a reminder, there aren’t any tour stops again until Monday, at which point we’re doing double stops each day until the end. I’ll have posts over the weekend with other stuff, though.

Today’s tour date brings us to the home of the Midnight Book Reader, where we’ve got a feature spot and an update on the giveaway counter – over 2,400 today, heading into the home stretch. Thanks to our gracious hosts today, as every day. I appreciate the interest and the time taken.

A reminder that Crafting the Short Story and Writing Horror: The Dark Side kick off in the near future. Click the links for details. It’s not too late to sign up if you or someone you know has an interest in writing and needs a little nudge in the right direction.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone. I’ll have posts here tomorrow and Sunday, before we launch into the last leg of this mammoth tour. Thanks as always for stopping by, feel free to pop over to my contact page and subscribe to have news and updates delivered right to your inbox. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book TOur, Day 25

I want to start off this book tour post with a small confession.

It isn’t lost on me that, by this late point of the book tour, some might be getting a little tired of seeing me pop up here each day spouting the same message, about the same topics. As an author (one of many, I can assure you) who really doesn’t like talking about or, really, drawing attention to himself, this has been an unusual experience for me. There have been days along the way where I’ve sat down to add another post and thought to myself “Dude, they get it. They’ve heard all of this before, do they really need to hear it again?” Well, maybe not.

However, besides the fact that I made a promise to myself to post daily through the end of the tour, you never know when today’s the day your post reaches someone for the first time. Maybe someone who really likes what you have to say and is intrigued enough to check out something you’ve written. Maybe someone who decides they liked it so much they blog about it, and reach someone else who’s never heard of me. This just might be the day that exposes me to an entirely new and large audience.

Or maybe not. But as the Great One famously said, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” So, while I promise to ease it back a bit once the tour is over, for the next eight days I’ll stick it out and keep the updates coming. Hopefully you’ll stick it out too.

With that out of the way, let’s get down to business. Today’s tour stop is a Facebook page called Cover Love Book Blog. Many thanks to our gracious hosts of the day for featuring Seventeen Skulls among the many titles they’ve profiled.

That’s a wrap for today. One more tour stop before the weekend, just seven days after today, and then we bring it all to a close. Thanks to all who have followed along here, whether sporadically or regularly. For those who may have stumbled in here for the first time, welcome. To everyone, feel free to subscribe on my contact page for news, updates, and more – often, but maybe not quite as often as during this book tour. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 22

With the weekend behind us it’s time to dive right back into the tour. It’s day 22, which means we’re down to just ten more days after today. Today’s a special stop along the way because in addition to the feature, today we also have a book review.

Let’s get down to business, shall we? We’re gracing the pages of Lilyana Shadowlyn today. In addition to her review site Lily also operates The Faerie Review, which the astute reader may recall we visited on August 26th, way back on day four of the tour. But today we’re at Lily’s review site where she had… well, I won’t ruin the surprise, but I’ll just tease a little bit of her review:

“This book started off innocently enough, and piqued my interest. By the time I reached chapter two, I was completely hooked, and I didn’t want to put it down.”

To read the rest and see how many stars we got, you’ll have to click the link above and pop on over to the site. I will say, though, that the giveaway counter has reached an astounding 2,240 people vying for an Amazon gift card or a free copy of my first novel, Terror in High Water. That’s a lot of interested eyes!

Speaking of reviews, I would be remiss if I didn’t add that they’re always welcomed and appreciated over on Goodreads and Amazon, or whatever other platform you may have found me on. Even a rating can make a ton of difference in terms of the potential viewing audience. Thanks in asdvance!

That’s a wrap for today, but we’re right back at it tomorrow with another awesome tour stop. Don’t forget to visit our gracious hosts each day, they definitely appreciate the support and always love company. As do I, which reminds me to suggest you pop over to my contact page and subscribe to have news and updates delivered right to your inbox, hot off the presses. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 21

It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon here. I’ve got a sleeping cat curled up on a pillow to my left, a ‘weary from a long walk’ dog sprawled on her bed to my right, and my better half luxuriating in a hot bath at the far end of the house. Here I sit, flipping through Shudder looking for something interesting while storm clouds loom large just on the horizon at the edge of my sight line. I feel like there’s rain in our future.

As for the tour, we’ve taken another day with no stops to report. It’s back to business tomorrow, but even book tour hosts need a day off here and there. So for now, it’s just me and my laid-back household, stopping by to say hi to those of you who like to drop in here and keep up on what’s new and exciting. Oh, I will mention that as of yesterday Seventeen Skulls was flirting with one of Amazon’s various sub-category top 100 best sellers lists (it has since slid back a bit, but is still going strong!). Big thanks to those of you who have picked up a copy, I’m very pleased with how many have shown their support. If you have read the book and enjoyed it, you might also like my first novel, Terror in High Water. And for the short story fan, my collection, Old Bones, is still on the horizon as something to look forward to.

Just a quick post today – I won’t take up too much of your time on this lazy Sunday. Thanks as always for following along here. If you haven’t already, or if you have and know someone who might also enjoy what we do here, you can always visit my contact page and subscribe to have news and updates sent directly to your inbox. The more the merrier, I say. There’s always room for new visitors here!

We’re back to the regularly scheduled tour again tomorrow. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 20

It’s Saturday evening here on the east coast, but regardless of your time zone I hope you’re having a great day! We’ve arrived on day twenty of the book tour, and even though we don’t have any scheduled stops on the itinerary today I thought I’d mention some other business while I keep the streak alive.

First, a reminder that fall sessions of Crafting the Short Story (Thursdays starting October 7th) and Writing Horror: The Dark Side (Mondays starting September 27th) will be kicking off shortly. These classes are always fun and informative and provide that extra bit of motivation needed to put pen to paper (literally or figuratively) and start churning out works of fiction.

Next, I wanted to mention to any of you who use Booksprout, Seventeen Skulls can be found there. For those who might be unfamiliar, Booksprout is a site for readers to download an advance readers copy (ARC) in exchange for posting a review. As I’ve mentioned before, reviews are the lifeblood of all authors, new or established. Ratings and reviews on sites such as Amazon, Goodreads, or whichever platform you acquire a book from play a huge role in others discovering and checking out things they might not have otherwise. It’s always greatly appreciated, believe me!

Lastly, be sure to visit my contact page and subscribe for emailed news and updates sent directly to your inbox. Thank you as always for dropping by and following along here. We’re back tomorrow for another book tour update, but until then, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP