Gwen Gardner, Author: 13th Floor Series

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Is There More To The 13th Floor?

I am so stoked to be hosting Christine Rains on my blog today. I know you've heard of her series. Even the name of the collection gives me shivers. And it's so awesome that it's nearly Halloween, and the perfect season in which to read the series, if you haven't had a chance yet. So - please welcome Christine!

*Resounding applause raises the roof*

WILL THERE BE MORE BOOKS IN THE SERIES?

One of the questions I hear most often is if there will be more books in the 13th Floor series. My answer is always this: No. Well okay, yes. Maybe? I don't know!

Perhaps if I rephrased the question: are there any more books planned for the series? No. I'm focusing on other projects at the moment. There's a chance I might revisit the 13th Floor one day, but not any time soon. I've played around with the idea of writing 13 books in total, but not within the next year

One of the biggest decisions a writer needs to make is when to back away from a series. It's difficult when you have characters you adore, and the readers ask for more. I can see their stories going on for years. But should I keep writing them for years? Probably not. I planned to have six books in the series, and I like where the final book ended. It wrapped everything up nicely, and it left readers wanting more.

Endings can be difficult. I've been disappointed a lot by how books ended. Some of my favorite authors like Stephen King have endings that fell flat even when the story itself was phenomenal. It's not easy to write a spectacular ending and know that it's the right ending for your series. It's tricky to find the point where it's not ending too soon with loose ends left hanging and not dragging out so that it bores the reader.

It's a writer's job to keep their readers entertained. That means giving them something new and amazing in each story. This is what I plan to do. It was so much fun writing the 13th Floor series, but it's time for me to bring you something new.

Have you ever been disappointed by an ending?

How do you know when to end a story?

Blurb:

Six supernatural tenants

Living in a haunted apartment building

On a floor that doesn't exist.

Six novellas telling their tales.

A retired demon acquires a price on his head.

A werewolf is hunted by her pack.

A modern day dragonslayer misses his target.

A harpy challenges Zeus for the soul of the man she loves.

A vampire is obsessed with a young woman he can't find.

A banshee falls in love with someone who's death she has seen in a vision.

And a sweet ghost must battle a primal monster to save them all.

All the stories take place at the same time intertwining their lives together on the 13th Floor.

Includes “The Shadow,” a bonus short story.

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18460150-the-13th-floor-complete-collection

Find The Books Here:

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Smashwords

Author Bio:

Christine Rains is a writer, blogger, and geek mom. She has four degrees which help nothing with motherhood, but make her a great Jeopardy player. When she's not writing or reading, she having adventures with her son or watching cheesy movies on Syfy Channel. She's a member of Untethered Realms and S.C.I.F.I. The 13th Floor series is her first self-published series. She has eight novellas and twenty-one short stories published.

Connect with Christine here:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Friday, September 13, 2013

What Do You Know About The 13th Floor?

Christine Rains is here today to talk about the evolution of her covers for the 13th Floor series. They are some of the most awesome covers I've seen around! Check this out:

The 13^th Floor Complete Collection

By Christine Rains

FINDING THE PERFECT COVER

I recently posted on my blog about this topic and discovered people do judge a book by their cover. It's the first thing a potential reader is going to see. If the cover doesn't win them over, they aren't going to pick up the book and read the blurb. You could have the best blurb in the world, but it won't mean a thing if no one reads it.

I agonized a long time over the cover for The 13^th Floor Complete Collection. I wanted it to represent the series as a whole, but I couldn't find anything that managed to do so. I had images in my head of intense and casual group shots of the tenants. If only I could get all the models together and pose for me! I also had a picture of the 13^th floor hallway with each door accompanied by something to symbolize each tenant. 1301 would have a red glow coming from under the door, and 1303 would have a lance propped up against the door frame.

Those would be great covers, but they're way beyond my creative skills. I needed to stick with simple like I did with the novella covers. I love my covers for the individual books. Dark, intense, and dramatic. Maybe I could do something like that for the Collection's cover.

Below is a rough draft of the first version of the Collection's cover. Each tenant has their own “door” to frame them. It's clean, dark and dramatic, but intense? I don't know. It also wasn't something new. Everyone has seen those images (except the image of Veenya from “The Shadow” on the spine). Would it attract new readers? Maybe. Does it represent the series as a whole? Perhaps. Does it represent the 13^th floor? No.

Plus, the barcode would've covered Xan's chest. We can't have that.

I continued my search for images, and after several hours, I found the perfect staircase. Old-fashioned, paint chipped, and eerie lighting. It had the right atmosphere. The only thing it lacked was the romantic aspect.

Thankfully my meager Photoshop skills could remedy that. And voila! I had a cover that represented the series, and more importantly, the 13^th floor.

Title: The 13^th Floor Complete Collection

Author: Christine Rains

Genre: paranormal romance

Release date: October 13^th, 2013