Oh, geez, I just realized I didn’t update my home page yesterday. Duh. To be honest I was staying away from the net a bit–still am–in an attempt to lighten my release-day panic. Did it help? Maybe. Maybe not. I do know that I’ve spent several more hours now scrubbing the hallway floor with bleach–pretty much straight bleach–and it’s working. Slowly. Like, I scrub, and I let it sit, and I scrub and I let it sit, etc. etc. for a few hours, and when I wipe it clean it looks pretty good. Sigh.
Also, we had some fun with the oven yesterday! It’s a really cool old-fashioned gas oven. Like, when you use the oven part there are actually open flames in the back. I would take a picture, except–guess what?–it runs on gas/propane tanks, and they are empty! Which I discovered halfway through cooking out Very First Dinner In The New House–a steak pie. So much for that, and so much for the carrots I was going to roast and the potatoes I was going to boil in watered-down beef stock and serve with coarse salt and a bit of ground rosemary (delicious, btw). We had Chinese instead. They should be replacing the gas tanks today, so here’s hoping. The half-made pie is in the fridge but the half-cooked veg were a loss. Sigh.
My deep fryer arrived, though, which is exciting, and I can’t wait to use it.
But, of course, that’s not the big news of yesterday, is it? The big news is that SACRIFICIAL MAGIC is out there in the world, sinking or swimming on its own. Eek!
Like any anxious author, I’ve been keeping a semi-loose track of my Amazon and B&N rankings. They’re much better than I expected; SM on Kindle is around 500 overall, and in paperback it’s around 2000 (as I write this). For the Nook it’s at 171 overall, which is quite nice. And it’s been in the Top 25 for various Fantasy categories in both paperback and Kindle.
Like I said, it’s nice. It also means nothing, sadly. Nothing at all. A book can have a ranking that high and sell fifty copies. The rankings are nice but don’t exactly signify Runaway Bestseller, either. Amazon rankings are essentially meaningless; they always have been. Which is why you’ll never ever see me running around calling myself a “Bestselling Author” due to Amazon rankings. Is it nice to see? Sure. Does it matter, really? No. Hell, BE A SEX-WRITING STRUMPET has been in the Top 10 for its categories for like the last year. Still doesn’t mean it’s a bestseller or that I am a bestselling author. You get to be a bestselling author when you hit the USA Today list, or the NYT, or Bookscan or one of a few other legit lists. You get to call yourself a New York Times/USAT bestseller when you hit the Top 10 (afaik); if it’s not the Top 10 you’re a “National Bestseller.” Those are the rules, to my knowledge–I mean, they’re not “rules,” like you’ll get punished or something, but they’re general ethical guidelines–and I don’t violate them and am uncomfortable when others do.
So beyond that, let’s look at some stuff around the net!
The lovely Katiebabs is having a giveaway here; go comment!
(NOTE: Uh…okay, I saw Katiebabs’s links to this, and brought it up in a new tab so I could post the link here. But I didn’t actually get time to READ it until now. Wow. I’m overwhelmed. [And no, I had no idea.] Please go show Katie some support by commenting!)
An interview and giveaway at The Readventurer here!
The full text of my chat with Stacey Jay is up here, at Addicted2Heroines!
And how about some reviews? Because we got a bunch of them yesterday, and it’s pretty exciting!
Abigail at All Things Urban Fantasy says:
Everything about the Downside series pulses with paranormal perfection, not the least of which is Downside itself. It’s like New York from Escape from New York overrun with murderous ghosts and deadly magic. Gritty doesn’t begin to describe it. There is a wonderful contrast between the residents of Downside with their slang/dialect way of talking, and the hyper formality of the Church of Real Truth, the ruling entity that protects humanity by magically banishing ghosts. Seriously, everything about this series is so finely nuanced and realistic, frighteningly so in some cases, but always intensely gripping. I can’t wait for my next Chess and Terrible hit when CHASING MAGIC is published on June 26, 2012.
Tori at SmexyBooks gives it an A:
Sacrificial Magic is a force to be reckoned with and only enforces my belief that the Downside series is one of the top urban fantasy series out there to date.
Samantha at Fiction Vixen says:
This book was a rollercoaster. But when is life with Chess not? This series continues to be a must read for me. Terrible continues to rock my world.
5 Stars from Claire’s Book Corner:
As with the earlier books Ms Kane writes a very emotional scene that had me fighting back the tears and wanting to give Chess a big hug as well as a little shake. There aren’t many authors who can make me feel such strong emotions and have me rooting for such a messed up character but Ms Kane excels at this. If you are fans of this series you will not be disappointed and I cannot wait for the fifth book Chasing Magic to be released. I would like to give Sacrificial Magic 5 stars.
From Books to Brighten Your Mood:
What can I say about Stacia Kane, that hasn’t already been said or that will do justice to her work! This author is plainly brilliant and with Sacrificial Magic she just proves that once more! Sacrificial Magic was among my most anticipated titles for this year, and now that I read it, I can positively say that I wasn’t disappointed in the least.
Another 5 Star review, from The Romanceaholic:
Overall, I of course adored it. Chess’ self-hatred and self-sabotage did start to grate on me towards the end, which I admit almost kept it from being a 5-star read, but the ending was absolutely amazing and the setup for the next story has me frothing at the mouth at the thought of having to wait until June to read it, which more than made up for any irritation I might have had with Chess.
An incredibly solid 5/5 Stars.
I have a long held belief that no matter what book I pick up after reading one of Stacia Kane’s books it will not compare in any shape or form to the Downside Ghosts series. … If you’re already a fan of the series you will love Sacrificial Magic. If you have “Terrible Fever” you will love Sacrificial Magic. If you have a soft spot for Chessiebomb the most amazingly flawed female character out there right now you will love Sacrificial Magic. If you’ve never read any of the books and are currently wondering what the hell I’m going on about, go buy the them you will love them. Nothing out there right now compares.
My rating: 5 out of 5 (and then some).