Congratulations to the three Goodreads giveaway winners of paperback copies of books 1-3. I packed up your books last night and will ship them very soon.
To those who entered but did not win, subscribe in the sidebar to be notified of future giveaways.
Every giveaway paperback comes with a coordinating bookmark. Limited edition and priceless! (Kidding.) If you’re a fan of the series and would like a bookmark, contact me and I’ll send one your way.
I’m 5,200 words (about 2 chapters) in to THE CATALYST (book four of THE ALIGNMENT SERIES). It’s a rough 5,200 words that will be fine-tuned later in my revisions stage.
I’ll admit this now that I’ve worked past it: I was afraid of this book. Every time I start a new book I convince myself I don’t know how to write. That the books I’ve already published were some kind of temporary insanity that I’ve overcome, and due to that, have lost the ability to write. The reality is that the insanity is permanent. Good news for readers! Maybe not such good news for me. But the only cure is writing, so that’s what I’m doing.
I have 31 pages of notes and already-written scenes. I’ve finished the beginning and I know the end. The work is what comes in the middle. Right now I have no idea what the bulk of that is. I know TB has a serious character arc in this book, the finality of it, really. And Liv? She’s got issues too. Probably the most issues she’s had yet. And I’m very glad to be writing present tense again. I’ll be even more glad when I can get past the first couple chapters. TB is showing his bad side, and it is…not good.
Updates won’t be frequent for the next several months. Just know that I am writing as fast as I can. I hope to make book four the best book yet.
THE CATALYST (The Alignment Book Four) coming in Autumn 2016.
The Oak and the Moon
by Kay Camden
I’m giving away a paperback of three books: THE ALIGNMENT, THE TWO, and THE OAK AND THE MOON to three lucky winners. Giveaway ends December 20. See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter Giveaway
The first book in The Alignment Series is free on Kindle December 2-6!
Tell your friends!
An infant kidnapped by his enemies. A mother plotting an escape. And a favored son torn between family loyalty and forbidden love. The end of an age-old war between two powerful families begins.
THE OAK AND THE MOON, the third book in The Alignment Series, is now available on Amazon.
Sample or buy now: Kindle | Paperback
The Alignment is a contemporary fantasy series about two rival families and the people caught between them. If you haven’t read the first book, the Kindle version will be free on Amazon December 2-6. Subscribe to my blog in the right sidebar to receive notice when my books go on sale!
THE OAK AND THE MOON is a bit different from books one and two. It takes place in a different time; it’s separate yet very connected to the story you already know. It serves to answer all the questions you might have about Trey and the Moores, and will hopefully give you reason to forgive the things Trey does in book four.
Thanks so much to my talented team: editor Max Dobson, proofreader Debra Argosy, and the artists at DamonZa.com. I’m a perfectionist and bit neurotic, but they all treat me like my nitpicking and freakouts are 100% normal.
I’m beyond excited to publish this book. I hope you like it. It’s being released at $2.99 for the incredibly patient fans of the series. Price will go up soon, so get it now!
THE OAK AND THE MOON
Book Three of The Alignment SeriesSloane Bevan and two-week-old Trey are kidnapped by strangers who speak her rare language and know her family’s secrets. She suspects these men are the ones who murdered her husband nine months ago. Now it’s her son they want, to raise as one of them. To keep under their control.
Imprisoned in the Moores’ opulent estate, Sloane cultivates a plan using her family’s ancient magic right under her captors’ careful watch. Escape is one thing. Ensuring the Moores won’t target her family again is another.
What she doesn’t count on is a battle against the Moore brothers: one after her life, one after her sanity, one after her sympathy, and one after her heart. All while her son is being honed into a vicious killer, and it’s up to her to plant the seeds that will one day reverse the evil now growing inside him.
Sample or buy now: Kindle | Paperback
The proof has arrived. Unfortunately, there’s a tiny problem. It should be a quick fix, but it will take another couple days to get the file back from the cover artist and have a new proof printed and shipped. I’m trying hard to get this book out this month but it’s getting very close…
I’ve just given final approval on the ebook formatting and back cover art.
The Oak and the Moon (The Alignment Book 3) is complete.
Publication happening soon. Very soon.
Progress of THE OAK AND THE MOON
First Draft: Complete (160,627 words)
My revisions: First round complete, final round complete (161,377 words)
Professional editing: Complete
Proofreading: Complete
Formatting: Complete
Final proofread: Complete
Cover art: Complete
Here’s a quick TOATM update for all you patient people. I can’t believe it’s been three weeks.
The paperback format is finally done! *cries* We had a few files get corrupted which slowed us down even more.
What’s left: ebook formatting and proofreading (should be way quicker than the paperback), back cover and spine artwork, review of paperback proof (hardcopy).
This will all come together fast, like Liv’s dagger into an assassin’s eye. :)
Paperback and ebook will be published the same day, very soon…
We found some boo-boos in the final proofread that must be fixed before finalizing the formatting. It’s going to add some time. One to two weeks is my guess. Sorry, but it has to be perfect.
All that said, I’m working hard to get this book out as soon as I can. We still have a few things to do (ebook formatting and proofreading, spine and back cover art, approval of the physical paperback proof), but they will all happen quickly once these final changes are made.
I hope you’ll find it will be worth the extra wait. :)
Progress of THE OAK AND THE MOON
First Draft: Complete (160,627 words)
My revisions: First round complete, final round complete (161,377 words)
Professional editing: Complete
Proofreading: Complete
Formatting: In progress, delayed by 1-2 weeks
Final proofread: Complete
Cover art: 50% complete, remaining half starting soon
Draft two of the paperback interior for THE OAK AND THE MOON is currently under close scrutiny. Even closer scrutiny begins in a few days by a take-no-prisoners proofreader who’s doing the final pass.
I’ve compared my final Word doc to the formatted pages to check that all the Irish and other italicized words came over correctly. Two computers make this process easy. I completed it in about an hour last night. See below—that’s the Word doc on the left, paperback version on the right.
Now I have to continue my read-through of the whole thing. It’s weird to read this book. After the editing process it becomes such a polished thing, so much improved over the rough version that’s still in my head. It will take several reads of it in its new form before it sinks in.
Tonight I’ll take a break from proofreading to watch the supermoon eclipse—a supermoon + Blood Moon visible from my part of the U.S. We have heavy cloud cover as I write this, but according to the weather forecast, it’s supposed to clear up just in time. If not, I’ll be watching the live stream on Time.com.
Interesting timing for a lunar eclipse as I finish this book. And that’s all I’m sayin’ about that. :)
Progress of THE OAK AND THE MOON
First Draft: Complete (160,627 words)
My revisions: First round complete, final round complete (161,377 words)
Professional editing: Complete
Proofreading: Complete
Formatting: In progress
Final proofread: In progress
Cover art: 50% complete, remaining half starting soon
Kay Camden 