We have a few book-related days lined up and squashed together right around this week. First up was National Tell a Story Day in the USA on April 27th. Today, the last Saturday in April is Independent Bookstore Day! Finally, tomorrow kicks off the start of Get Caught Reading Month in May!
National Tell a Story Day
On Wednesday, I decided to celebrate this day by posting a few shorts on social media about the various realms mentioned in my Hidden Series. Depending on if and where you follow me, you might have seen one of these three blurbs pop up in your feed:
- The Realm of Elaria, homeland to the elves, used to exist in balance. Growth and destruction. Life and death. Good and evil. Kahnlair has broken this balance. For the first time, evil fights united. A merciless army spreading and overwhelming the allied forces until even the immortal elves face extinction.
- Centuries ago, humans came to Elaria from a realm known to the elves as Aryanna. The two crossed briefly, less than a mere hundred years, for the human realm is governed by the physical world around them. Laws of math and science hold sway, and the humans developed to a point incompatible with Elaria. The realms drifted apart once more. Small human settlements remained within the mystical realm, but in Aryanna, all the elves left behind were legends and folklore.
- The magai of Scorcellen know a great deal, and entirely too little, about the existence of other realms. Scorcellen exists in a magical bottleneck of sorts. In one direction, the realms become lower magic, floating around each other in a nearly linear pattern. In the other direction, the realms fan out, spinning and bouncing off each other, generating a stew of high magical energy, energy the magai need.
I have been getting more questions about the realms and how they interact from readers.
For the Hidden Series, broad information about the realms is not central to the plot, so I have yet to find a way to bring it into the story without it sounding like an out-of-place lecture.
To resolve this, I have decided to kick off a series of blog posts about the realms as a perfectly placed lecture instead! Readers who follow my blog here or later check the website will be able to get some of those answers to questions I will likely not be fully explaining in the books for quite some time.
Independent Bookstore Day
For this day, I am going to highlight Page Turner Books in Kent, WA. Earlier this year, Wayne at PTB gave me a table in his store for the Meeker Street Nerd Party event for my first book signing ever.
PTB has a great selection of books, new and used, and things like Funko toys. Next door, PTB recently expanded into a second location for comics and manga. Between the two, they likely have something to satisfy your reading needs. They also participate in Meeker Street events and have additional nerd-related signings.
Do they stock my book(s) yet? No, because I’m not yet on expanded distribution on Amazon, and I have not reached out to see if he is interested in buying a couple directly from me.
Eventually, this will be the most likely bookstore to find signed copies. Once I’m in demand enough for expanded distribution, PTB will be one of the closest indie bookstores to me and easiest for me to stop by and tag a few.
Get Caught Reading Month
I have decided to issue a challenge to you all for this month:
In the month of May, anytime from the 1st to the 31st, post a picture or video of yourself with my book (cover visible in either format) on social media and tag my relevant account. It could be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok (@tiffanyshearn_author), and all of my accounts except TikTok are at the bottom of my blog, newsletter, and website.
If just ten people do this, when I do my Hidden Sanctuary giveaway of a signed paperback later this year, I will giveaway two instead of just one, AND everyone who makes a post will automatically receive one entry.
The giveaway will be done the same way as the first time through the newsletter with the same fine print (mostly around not being able to guarantee international), but you do not need to be signed up for the newsletter to receive this social media entry. I will also allow the winner(s) to pick which of my two books they want me to sign and send.
Have fun getting caught reading in May!
Tiffany Shearn 