tracie puckett

Hey guys! I don’t have a sneak preview for you yet, but how ’bout a little teaser?

Almost everyone at Frank’s Bar & Grill turned to the TV to watch the breaking news. As his father’s mug shot was suddenly plastered across the screen, Derek followed me out of the booth—where we’d only just sat down to order dinner—and joined me in the middle of the floor. His hand landed softly on my back and he pulled me closer, but I didn’t fall into his embrace. I stood completely still, momentarily mistakable for any other inanimate object in the room.

Other than the sound of heavy breathing and the outside rain, Frank’s had died to a deafening low; no one talked, and no one made a sound. Most of the patrons watched the TV, but some—like Derek—were more interested in watching me.

Conan Milton had escaped from prison, and there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he was headed straight for Oakland; he was coming to kill me.

I have some rather important news to pass your way, and I’m quite certain that it’s news that some of you won’t be too thrilled to read. So, before I say anything else, I want to say that I truly apologize that the content of this post is going to have some of you throwing things (and I can almost name every one of you who’ll fall into that category, haha). So, here goes with the bad news.

I have to bump the release date back for JAL #7 and JAL #8. While I know you guys have been waiting for a while to finish the series (some of you more patiently than others, haha), this is something I feel I must do if I want to create the best story possible.  I’m more concerned with quality than timeliness, and I hope you guys can understand. The last thing I want to do is ruin these last two installments (simply because I’m in a hurry to get them out to you). There’s a lot of pressure to get this right, and I’m working day and night to do just that. But rushing is getting me nowhere fast, and ruining Julie’s story just isn’t worth it to me.

Now, I can’t say that I’m still in the early writing stages of JAL #7, but Ican say that I’m in the early stages of editing (and that’s just as time consuming and stressful).  With editing always comes a fair share of rewrites. Honestly, I can’t realistically see getting a (good) 30,000+ word story out there with less than a month left to work on it.
 
So, what’s the date for the next release? I don’t know yet. It won’t be a huge extension from the original date, but I can say with some confidence that it most certainly won’t be the previous date I mentioned earlier last month.  Hang in there; I’ll have a much better idea of what to expect as the days move forward.

Again, I’m (so, so, so, so) sorry.

The wheels are in motion! Just a Little Surprise is coming to a (virtual) shelf near you!!!

As of 9:30 PM EST on 04/25/2013, it’s only available on Smashwords. It’s currently in review on Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. It should be available in 12-24 hours. Keep an eye on the website for publishing updates and links.

For those of you who’ve been with me for a while, you probably know by now that it takes a while longer to reach the iBookstore.

As much as I love hearing from you guys, I’m politely asking that you please (please, please, please!) do not hound me about the release date for Apple. 

I simply do not know; it’s impossible to tell. If history is any indication, it will most likely show up in the iBookstore in 7-14 days. Unfortunately, I can’t do anything to expedite the process. Once I hit “publish” (which I’ve already done), it’s out of my hands.

To give you a general idea of how the process usually works (in my experience), please see the following list.

(1) Publish on Smashwords (this is where my job ends, and it becomes immediately available on their website)
(2) Await acceptance into Smashwords Premium Catalog (takes 3-5 business days)
(3) Await electronic shipment to Apple’s iBookstore (takes 2-4 business days)
(4) Apple manually reviews ebook content (takes 7-10 days).
(5) Book goes on sale in the iBookstore

I hope it doesn’t take as long as it normally does, but there’s no way to know.

However, if you’re eager to get your hands on a copy, you can download an .epub version (or any other format of your choice) on Smashwords and upload it directly to your device.

I’m going to go to sleep now… it’s been a long, long, long day of formatting!

Happy reading

-Tracie

p.s. I haven’t forgotten about you guys! I’ll respond to emails/website comments first thing in the morning!

Update: As of 2:50 PM EST on 04/19/2013, the  preview of Just a Little Surprise has been sent to all newsletter subscribers. I hope you guys enjoy your little sneak peek!

Hey guys!

I wanted to take a minute to check in. We’re only about eleven days (give or take) from the release of Just a Little Surprise, and I’m finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

I apologize for being absent on the site lately; I haven’t had stable internet access for over a week. I’m still receiving your comments, questions, and emails, but I haven’t had a way to respond. Give me a day or two and I’ll get back to you! I’m not avoiding you guys (I promise!). Anyway, all that’s another story for another time.

As for now, while I have a few seconds to spare, I wanted to let you know that I’ll be sending out a sneak peek of Just a Little Surprise tomorrow to my newsletter subscribers. This is exclusive content that will not be available anywhere else—not even here on the site. If you’re not signed up to receive my newsletter, you can subscribe here for free. The newsletter will go out at approximately 12 PM EST on 04/19/2013. If you’re not signed up by then, you’ll probably miss out. But you can still sign up for future sneak peeks, content, and mindless ramblings.

So… I have to ask. Anyone excited?

I am!

How ’bout a book description for JAL #6? Okay, okay. Here ya  go:

I hate surprises. Always have, always will. And that’s not me being stubborn; that’s just me telling it like it is. There’s nothing—I repeat nothing—good that has ever come from a surprise.

Julie’s eighteenth birthday is just around the corner, and there’s nothing she’d like more than to just forget about showing up for the (not-so-surprise) “party of the century” that her uncle has  been planning for weeks. So between dodging Charlie, avoiding Luke, and ignoring nearly every one of her deep-seated feelings for the men in her life, she has more on her plate than she’s ever willing to admit. But when an unexpected phone call from an old friend comes completely out of the blue, Julie can’t help but wonder if every surprise is really all that bad….