From the Desk of J.M. Poole

Astute observers might have noticed that www.Lentari.com now automatically directs visitors to www.AuthorJMPoole.com. Why make the change? It’s simple. Poor planning. 🙂

Lemme explain.

Back when I started writing I never imagined that I’d write/release/publish a mystery novel. I just figured I’d always stick to fantasy. Had I checked around then I would have seen that all the other authors were using their names as their main websites. After I published CCF1 I realized a change was in order. Lentari really doesn’t have anything to do with the new mystery novel so I had to come up with another name. And, wouldn’t you know it, JMPoole.com was already taken. So that’s how AuthorJMPoole.com came to be.

Now, in case you didn’t know, this website is a WordPress site. There are a few things you should know about WordPress. It really doesn’t like you messing with its innards. I thought for certain I screwed up the site on my first attempt to switch it to the new domain. Thank the Fates that Godaddy keeps 30 day backups. 🙂

I did my research for my 2nd attempt. Looked up notes from people who had already done it, printed out instructions, etc. It took a while but I got it moved! Now I can have a suitable presence online for readers of all the books. Works in progress, upcoming events, giveaways, etc. I’ll cover all the bases from this one website.

I’m also announcing that just as soon as my (2nd) printed proof arrives I’ll be hosting some giveaways. I’ll give away copies of CCF1 on Goodreads and on here. I’ve always been a fan of trivia. I’ll probably make you all strap on your thinking caps and answer a few questions. If you win, you’ll get a signed copy of the book!

I’m also toying with the idea of creating a section dedicated to PV and uploading some of the information I have in my binder. Maps, character profile sheets, business names, and so on. You wouldn’t believe the amount of info I have amassed as my wife and I plotted out the town. Thought it might be fun to share!

That’s it for now. Lentari is calling! ToL6 isn’t gonna write itself!

Happy Holidays!

What better way to celebrate the upcoming holidays than by having a trivia contest!  AND, why not make the questions about the Star Wars universe since the new movie comes out on Friday!  So, let’s see how much useless Star Wars trivia is crammed away inside your head.  Hopefully it’s just as much as mine.

Now, the rules:

• NO Googling.  What fun is that?  Try and see if you can answer without looking it up.
• No looking at other answers.  This is a test of YOUR trivia, not others!
• No changing your answer.  Any comment that has the word “Edited” next to it will be disqualified.
• Only one answer per person.  Choose your answers wisely, Padawan.

If there’s only one person who answers correctly then choosing the winner will be easy.  If there are multiple people who answer correctly then the winners will go into a hat and I’ll let Keeley the corgi choose.  What will you win?  A signed print copy of the latest Tales of Lentari book, Wizard in the Woods AND an automatic position as a Beta Reader for the 6th Tales of Lentari book as soon as I’m ready.  I also have a Goodreads Giveaway ending very soon, so I’ll ship both books out at the same time, which will be this coming Friday (the 18th).  Good luck!

I guess I’m used to Smashwords and their preorder process.  They’ll let me create a preorder with a publication date of up to a year away.  When I originally submitted Wizard in the Woods (ToL5) as a preorder I tried to do the same for Amazon, but was surprised to see that they will only allow a 90 day preorder.  I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the big-name publishers & authors releasing books much later than that, but whatever.   Interested in preordering the book?  Here’s the Amazon US link:  Wizard in the Woods  and the Amazon UK link:  Wizard in the Woods   🙂

Yep.  Yesterday I took the time to submit all the files.  Well, obviously not the finished book file, nor the final cover.  The cover is just something I made ’cause I didn’t want to leave the cover blank.  What I’ve noticed is that there are a lot of times when you finish a book you enjoy, and it’s part of a series, then oftentimes you’ll look up the author to see what other books are out there and when the next one is due.  And, usually, if the next one is a preorder, they’ll go ahead and preorder the thing so that they don’t forget about it.  To me, that’s a valuable tool for an author to have at his/her disposal.

So will I be able to hit my deadline?  Will I actually release 3 books in one year?  Well, if I have my way about it, I plan on releasing 4!  We’ll see about #4, though.  As for WitW, I’ve already hit the 40,000+ word mark and am only on chapter 5.  I should easily be able to hit the 100k mark for this one but I won’t make any promises.  The last time I did that I fell short by about 5,000 words.  So I’ll zip my lip about it.  The point I’m trying to make is that I don’t see any reason why I can’t make that deadline.  In fact, I plan on having the book finished by early July.  Keep your fingers crossed.

The Goodreads Giveaway for a print copy of A Portal for Your Thoughts is still underway.  That giveaway will be going through the month of June, so if you live in the US and haven’t already done so, head over to Goodreads and enter the contest.  You never know!  You could be the proud owner of a signed paperback copy of the book!

I’ve already had some people ask me about becoming a beta reader for WitW.  I’m not ready to send out the call yet, but it probably will be in the next 2-3 weeks, so keep an eye on the blog.  I typicallly will take about 6-8 beta readers and those slots fill up fast.  Very fast.  I’m actually thrilled to death on how fast people volunteer to beta read for me.  Makes me smile, guys, so thanks!!

I think that’s it for now.  I hope everyone is having a great week!  Happy reading!

J.

Has everyone figured out what WitW stands for yet?  If not, hint:  you can find it as preorder at Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple’s iBookstore, and a few others.  I’m working on making it a preorder for Kindle.  KDP Select (Kindle) requires a cover of some sort before I can do that, so I have to come up with some type of generic cover first.  As soon as I do I’ll release it as a preorder and then let everyone know.

How’s everyone doing?  Are you having a great week so far?  The temps are heating up here in AZ, but it isn’t too bad.  Yet.  In less than a month I’m expecting to have the AC on 24/7.  *sigh*   That’s what you get when you live in the desert.

I have a new Goodreads giveaway going.  It’s for a signed print copy of A Portal for Your Thoughts (Tales of Lentari #3).  This particular giveaway is open to residents of the US only, I’m afraid.  I’m trying to cut down on shipping expenses since the simple act of shipping one book overseas usually results in a bill that’s four times the worth of the book.  Crazy, I know.  And sorry to exclude some of you readers.  Please don’t hold it against me.  🙂

Here’s the giveaway details…

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Portal for Your Thoughts

by Jeffrey M. Poole

Giveaway ends June 30, 2015.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to Win

I’m still looking into the idea of getting personalized bookplates.  I’ve had quite a few readers want to know if they could purchase autographed copies of the books from me for their own collections.  As I was mentioning earlier, shipping in the US (Media Mail) is quite reasonable.  Get it outside the US and it becomes downright deplorable, so I’ve been looking into other options.  Another author friend of mine was saying the same thing and he went that route.  It’s working quite well so I’m seeing how feasible it is.

Remember, if you haven’t already, sign up for the newsletter in order to get the link to the free Tales of Lentari short story.  Hunt for Red Oskorlisk falls between the events of Lost City and Something Wyverian This Way Comes.   Wow.  Had to think about that.  Is that right?   I had to look it up on my iPad.  Yep, that’s right.   Also, if you haven’t already, please consider leaving me a review wherever you purchased the book.  Nothing will help an indie author out more than seeing positive reviews on Amazon, or Barnes & Noble, or Kobo, etc.  If you liked it, or hated it, I can take it.  🙂

I still think it’s incredible that I’ve published 7 books and am actively working on my 8th.  Plans for the 9th are also underway and I am actively working on that story, too.  Yep.  Two stories at the same time.  I will warn you, though, ToL6 is going to be a little slower as this will be my first collaboration!  That’s right.  Another person is helping me write this one.  Who?  Well…  you’re gonna have to wait and see!!!

That’s all for now.  Feel free to friend me on Facebook or Instagram, or just leave me a message here.  Ask a question.  I will answer.  I promise!

J.

Strap on thy thinking caps, fellow movie buffs.  Ye are about to show the entire world just how much useless movie knowledge ye have crammed away in thy brain!  What be the prize for answering my fiendishly clever trivia questions?  I will tell thee!   Up for grabs is another signed print copy of A Portal for Your Thoughts (Tales of Lentari #3) as soon as it is officially released.  How soon is that?  We be gettin’ closer, matey!

Wow.  Don’t know where that came from.  Sorry.  Anyway, depending how many people play, if there’s only one person who can answer all three questions correctly then congrats!  You’ll be the winner!  If more that one person plays AND gets all the answers right (no Googling!!!) then I’ll compile a list of the winners and have everyone’s favorite corgi select who will be the proud owner of my latest novel.  Sound fair?  Are you ready to play?  Here we go!

Movie trivia time – comedy edition:

#1:  According to Up Periscope, what tattoo does Cmdr. Dodge have on a certain portion of his anatomy?

#2:  What is the name of the property Fletch inherits from his dead aunt in Fletch Lives?

#3:  What is the name of Striker’s friend who was killed in the war that he feels personally responsible for in the slapstick comedy Airplane!?

Remember, try to avoid looking at other answers (here’s hoping a lot of people play!) and no Googling!  Good luck and have fun!  Don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter!  Another issue is going out today and I’m previewing the title graphics for APfYT!

J.

I’ve started a new Goodreads contest, which should be active in the next day or so.  I just have to wait until they approve it.  Which book?  This time it’s going to be Insurrection (Bakkian Chronicles #2).  It’s the book with Peanut & Pryllan on the cover, sniffing noses.   Quite frankly, it’s one of my favorite covers.

Anyway, the giveaway will be open to the following countries:  USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Australia, and a new country, Sweden!  Good to luck to all who enter!

Here’s the link:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Insurrection

by Jeffrey M. Poole

Giveaway ends April 01, 2015.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

How would you like to be one of the first people to own a signed print copy of A Portal For Your Thoughts (Tales of Lentari #3)?  It’ll be hot off the presses, I guarantee you!

What do you have to do?  Well, this contest will be open to any and all fans of the series, regardless of where you live.  To enter, all you need to do is to answer the following questions, which I will hide behind the collapsible bar:

Post a comment with your answers.  Try not to look at what everyone else has answered!

Good luck!

Ok, since I’m rapidly approaching tfe finish line for aPfyT, I thought I’d start offering up some copies on ebook of Lost City, the first novel in the Tales of Lentari series.  Here’s what we’ll do.  I’ll post some useless movie trivia and the first three people who answer correctly will win Smashwords coupon codes for a copy of Lost City (Tales of Lentari #1) for themselves or else someone they know.

Unless, of course, you just want to test your movie trivia against mine, which is completely fine.  If you’re playing for one of the codes just tell me.  🙂

Remember, no Googling!!  This is a test of your memory banks.  If you know the answer then post it below, along with your favorite Lentarian character, and you are entered!  Good luck!

J.

Oddly enough I was thinking about writing another post with more useless movie trivia and then a fan actually requested it.  So, put on ye olde thinking caps and let’s see how good you guys are!

Movie trivia:

1. What’s the name of the funky-looking knife in The Shadow?  You all know the one.  It growls and has a mean looking face!
2. What is the name of Inigo Montoya’s father?  My wife asked me this one a while back and I almost said I don’t know.  Inigo mentions it once in the movie.
3. What is the name of the underwater drilling rig in The Abyss?  Xtra credit:  what was the name of the surface ship that its umbilical was connected to?

Good luck!  Have fun and no Googling!!!   🙂

J.

Hello my fellow citizens of Lentari!  As promised, I have posted my third short story, The Hunt for Red Oskorlisk, free of charge to whoever would like to read it.  Oh, what’s this?  The post is password protected?  Well, whatever might the password be?

What could it be?  Well, since everyone did such a fantastic job translating the runes to learn what the title of the next full length novel in the Tales of Lentari series will be, I hereby propose another challenge:

The password

You might recognize a few letters from the book title.  What does this word mean?   The only thing I’ll say is that this unique word shows up in one of the books.  Good luck!