THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR CHERYL KAYE TARDIF

Mystery, suspense, thrillers, paranormal, horror & YA by "Cheryl Kaye Tardif" & romance by "Cherish D'Angelo". Cheryl is represented by Trident Media Group in NY.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

The NEW cover for my Whale Song e-book, coming soon to Kindle and Kobo

If you read yesterday's news about Whale Song, you'll know that my bestselling novel now has a new cover for a brand new e-book edition that will soon be available as an Amazon Kindle and a Kobo e-book. So if you were disappointed that Whale Song was taken "out of print" last year, you'll be happy to hear you'll soon be able to read Whale Song via a Kindle eReader, Kobo eReader, on your smart phone using a Kindle or Kobo app, via other readers and on your PC. I'm hoping iPad will sell it as well, since I'm an avid iPhone user.

I searched everywhere for inspiration for the new book cover, but kept coming back to the same piece of art--the one that started it all--world-renowned artist David Miller's inspiring painting, Sanctuary. Yesterday, I learned that the license has been granted to me to use it once again for the cover of Whale Song, and I couldn't be more thrilled.

Here is your first look at the NEW e-book cover for Whale Song (left). I hope you like it. If you want to see a larger version, just click on the cover.

I'll let you know when the e-book is available, but until then, please visit David Miller's website and check out all of his amazing paintings.
http://www.mauiarts.com

~Cheryl

Friday, March 26, 2010

The rebirths of my bestselling novel Whale Song

Anyone who has followed my career knows that author life for me started with one plot and one title--WHALE SONG. It was my "baby", my debut novel back in 2003, and oh the wonderful journey it has been on ever since.

People were immediately drawn in by the mystical allure of the original cover, which featured stunning artwork by world-renowned artist David Miller. His painting Sanctuary grabbed my heart from the moment I first saw it online, and it has never let go. David graciously granted me the license to use Sanctuary for my debut cover, and everywhere I went--every book signing I attended--people were mesmerized by the beautiful image of a small pod of killer whales swimming underwater. One fan actually gave me the puzzle version of Sanctuary that she'd received as a gift. Later, I purchased and framed a huge poster of Sanctuary (and other David Miller works) for my family room.

Whale Song was first published in 2003 and went on to great sales and reviews. More importantly, it made an impact socially and emotionally with my readers. Over the years, I've received so many emails from fans telling me my novel made a difference in their lives; a couple said I'd changed their lives with my words. I'd always known that words were powerful, but I hadn't known HOW powerful mine were until these emails arrived.

Why has Whale Song affected people so profoundly? I think because of the various themes of friendship, family, bullying, racism, abuse, deception, forgiveness...and the most controversial theme, assisted death. Many readers have experienced the first seven themes, which is why so many have connected emotionally to Whale Song. With regards to the last theme, I make no claims to know the answer to whether assisted death (often called assisted suicide) is right or wrong. I believe it's a deeply personal decision and that some situations warrant that right to choose to die with dignity, as many of us saw portrayed from all points of view in last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy.

It seems fitting somehow that my book about death should have so many rebirths itself. In 2006, Kunati Books, a new traditional publisher, picked up Whale Song and it was re-released in 2007 with a new cover and expanded text. To me, the story became bigger and better. I was extremely happy with the new version, though I'll admit, I missed the original cover. But I have to give credit where credit is due. The new cover with the girl's face underwater added a suspenseful element to the excellent new cover for Whale Song. My novel went on to even more sales and success, achieving bestseller status on Amazon in Canada and the US. In Canada alone, I have sold over 5000 copies of Whale Song, which I've been told makes it a National Bestseller. Then in 2009, right before my publisher went under, I got the news that Whale Song was going out of print. I was heartbroken over this news. So were my fans.

Since then, I've received frequent emails asking me when Whale Song will be published again. It has been frustrating to not have an answer. The Kindle version of the 2003 edition was on Amazon for a while, but as it was an unauthorized e-book, I had it removed. I have no idea where the money from the sales went. The only copies available are through the Amazon Marketplace and in a few bookstores in western Canada.

But now I have news of another rebirth!

Whale Song will be converted to an e-book shortly and will be available as a Kindle (authorized, this time) and as a KoboBooks.com e-book, to start. You may have read that Kobo is getting ready to launch their new eReader in May. I am hoping to have Whale Song ready by then. The new e-book edition of Whale Song will feature the same text as the 2007 expanded version AND a new cover.

You can check out the new cover right here on my blog TOMORROW! I'll let you all know as soon as the e-book of Whale Song is available.

In the meantime, please check out David Miller's stunning artwork at Maui Arts in Florida or visit http://www.mauiarts.com

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif
http://www.whalesongbook.com

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Understanding the myths regarding self-publishing versus traditionally publishing

There are a lot of myths and misconceptions out there regarding the pros and cons of either self-publishing or traditional publishing. I recently came across a blog that was advising writers on 5 Reasons to Self-Publish Your Next Book, and I found all but one of the 5 points to be very misleading. Of course, this is my opinion, based on the fact that I know a lot of authors who have done either or both, and I have done both.

Without printing the author's explanations, here are the 5 reasons the author offered, and my opinion on them.

Reason #1: Self-Publishing is Not Nearly as Difficult As You Think
Reason #2: Publishing Companies Don’t Actually Do Anything.
Reason #3: You Will Make More Money.
Reason #4: You Will Spend Less Money.
Reason #5: A Publisher Will Never Care As Much As You Do.

Visit The Write Type ~ Multi-Author Musings to read more and to find out why 4 of these reasons are myths.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Extreme Home Makeover: Coventry Edition - The walls go up

Things have been crazy busy the past few weeks, and there has been a lot of progress on the building of our new home during our Extreme Home Makeover: Coventry Edition. We sold our current home. Twice! Both deals fell through because the buyers were unable to get financing or didn't have the down-payment. So our house is back on the market.

If you're looking for a home in SE Edmonton, the house we're selling has a huge pie lot, double attached garage, lots of backyard room and a defined garden area, plus 2 apple trees--and a prime location close to schools, buses and a shopping centre within a 3-minute walk. It's listed on the MLS site HERE.


As for the new home that Coventry is building for us, the basement walls are all up and done; the floor will be poured later. Right now it is filled with rock.

We can see the basement windows and the side door. Without the inner walls framed, the basement looks huge. Later, there will be 3 bedrooms a large bathroom, a family room, a storage area/kitchenette and the utility room.

Framing the basement comes later.

The framing stage for the main floor is the next major stage after the basement walls are done and the floor for the main floor is secured. This is an exciting stage of the build. This is where the homeowner can see his or her realization of the 'dream home' or plan coming together, recognizable now. It's also the time when small errors can be made by the builders. Hey, no one's perfect--and no company either. The sign of a good builder is whether they recognize the error soon enough and fix it quickly. We've been fortunate in that Coventry Homes is a top-notch builder. A window was placed in the wrong room (that far narrow window in the pic to the left) and was quickly and easily fixed a day later.

In the pic on the left you can see the large windows in my kitchen nook. They overlook one corner of our backyard--the largest area of our backyard in fact. The windows also look out over a walkway and treed area, plus a neat circular park with benches and trees. Of course all the trees are young ones, but give them a few years and this will be lush and beautiful. The best thing: no neighbors sharing the back fence (like we have in our current home).

More walls went up and then they started framing the rooms inside the main level of the house, about 1660 sq. ft. of living space. My (and my husband's) space! There are stairs going into the house from the garage or to the front door and stairs into the basement. But I'll rarely go downstairs, which is a good thing since stairs have been challenging for me lately. Everything I need, including a nice sized laundry room is on the main level.

The left photo shows our bedroom. One thing we learned from building our first house, when the walls are framed, suddenly the rooms seem smaller as your mind tries to fill in the drywall and finishing touches. It's a weird sensation and can cause you to panic to the point where your husband has to go out and measure everything himself and compare it to the floor plans you've had drawn up.

What seems like a small space can turn out to be bigger than you thought, which is exactly what happened when we compared our new bedroom to the one we have now and the one on the plan. Our new room IS a bit bigger than our existing one (and the correct size on the plan); it just looks smaller.

All the rooms on the main floor have been framed. Yesterday, I walked into my laundry room, bedroom, walk-in closet, and the huge open-concept living room/kitchen/dining nook, which will be bright with the morning sun through all the nook windows and sliding glass door. I love morning sun! As I stood near the open windows and overlooked my dirt backyard, some Canada Geese flew overhead, honking and announcing their arrival and that spring is here.

The 3-car attached garage (my hubby's favorite part of the new house) saw walls going up too. There's the door from the garage into my house (left).

Once the walls were in place, they started adding the roof. This is where the design of the front of the house starts to take shape. See that single car garage on the right? That's my space.

All in all, building our second home has been exciting and very fulfilling.

In the words of author Stephen J. Cannell's popular character Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith (George Peppard) from the A-Team, "I love it when a plan comes together."

And the plan for my dream home is shaping up very nicely! Thank you, Coventry Homes!

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
bestselling Canadian author

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Saturday, March 13, 2010

The River is available for Kindle readers

A while ago, my action-packed suspense thriller The River was available on Kindle via my publisher, but just recently I have taken control of my ebook rights and I've resubmitted The River. It is now available, and for a lot less!


Kindle fans in other countries will see a $2 surcharge, bringing the price up to $6.99 US--which is still quite a bit cheaper than the original Kindle price.

STEM CELL RESEARCH, CLONING, AND WORLD DOMINATION--WITH A TWIST...

The South Nahanni River area of Canada's Northwest Territories has a history of mysterious deaths, disappearances and headless corpses, but it may also hold the key to humanity’s survival―or its destruction.

Del thought her father was long dead. But someone from her past says otherwise. Now she and a group of near strangers embark on a perilous mission...

Seven years ago, Del Hawthorne’s father and three of his friends disappeared near the Nahanni River and were presumed dead. When one of the missing men stumbles onto the University grounds, alive but barely recognizable and aging before her eyes, Del is shocked. Especially when the man tells her something inconceivable. Her father is still alive!

Gathering a group of volunteers, Del travels to the Nahanni River to rescue her father. There, she finds a secret river that plunges her into a technologically advanced world of nanobots and painful serums. Del uncovers a conspiracy of unimaginable horror, a plot that threatens to destroy us all. Will humanity be sacrificed for the taste of eternal life?

At what point have we become...God?

"Cheryl Kaye Tardif specializes in mile-a-minute pot-boiler mysteries." --Edmonton Sun
"Exciting and vivid. Tardif’s latest novel sweeps readers along into uncharted, wild Canadian territory.A thrilling adventure..."―Midwest Book Review 

Friday, March 12, 2010

Children of the Fog: 'You have 10 seconds to make a decision...'

People in the writing biz know how difficult it is to have a manuscript rise to the top of the slush pile, where it needs to be so that publishers will notice it. My goal is to get to the top--and I'm close. Nowadays, authors have to be bolder to get noticed.
 
While my agent is pitching my new thriller Children of the Fog to publishers, I am doing what I can to get it read by editors. Right now it is on Authonomy, a site created by HarperCollins, and I could really use your support.
 
The more people who "back" my book, the closer I'll get to being read by the editors at HC, and I would love that opportunity.
 
So I'd like to invite you to check out Children of the Fog, read a chapter or seven, and if you enjoy it and think it's worthy, please click on "back the book".
 
Here's what the critics say:
 
"Gripping storyline... that takes us on a harrowing and chilling journey...BRILLIANTLY written..."
"IF ANYONE WANTS TO KNOW WHAT GOOD WRITING AND A GOOD STORY IS; THIS IS IT.  Wow."
"Superb."
"Masterful writing! Descriptive! You hook us with your gripping edge of the seat, first chapter. You have set the bar high for the genre."
"Truly professional quality writing. Quite astonishing really."
"Gripping...The pitch is also fantastic, one of the best I've read here or anywhere else."
"This is an excellent but chilling story, and I sat in front of my computer with tears rolling down my face...an absolutely superb gem."
 
Children of the Fog ~ You have 10 seconds to make a decision. Let a madman take your child, or watch your child die. CHOOSE!
 
 
Once you click on "Back the book" you'll need to set up an account, but it's free and you don't have to do anything else afterward. And you won't get junk mail.
 
Thank you for your support. I truly appreciate it. 
            
Cheryl Kaye Tardif
Canadian suspense author
 
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Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Divine Intervention is available for Kindle readers

A while ago, my psychic suspense thriller Divine Intervention was available on Kindle via my publisher, but just recently I have taken control of my ebook rights and I've resubmitted Divine Intervention. It is now available, and for a lot less!

Divine Intervention (ebook) now retails for $4.99 US.

Kindle fans in other countries will see a $2 surcharge, bringing the price up to $6.99 US--which is still quite a bit cheaper than the original Kindle price.

SOMEONE IS LEAVING A BLAZING TRAIL OF CORPSES BEHIND...BUT WHO?

CFBI agent Jasmine McLellan is assigned a hot case―one that requires the psychic abilities of the PSI Division, a secret government agency located in the secluded town of Divine, BC.
Jasi leads a psychically gifted team in the hunt for a serial arsonist―a murderer who has already taken the lives of three innocent people. Unleashing her gift as a Pyro-Psychic, Jasi is compelled toward smoldering ashes and enters the killer's mind. A mind bent on destruction and revenge.
Jasi's team, consisting of Psychometric Empath and profiler, Ben Roberts, and Victim Empath, Natassia Prushenko, is led down a twisting path of dark, painful secrets. Brandon Walsh, the handsome, smooth-talking Chief of Arson Investigations joins them in a manhunt that takes them across British Columbia―from Vancouver to Kelowna, Penticton and Victoria.
While impatiently sifting through the clues that were left behind, Jasi and her team realize that there is more to the third victim than meets the eye. Perhaps not all of the victims were that innocent. The hunt intensifies when they learn that someone they know is next on the arsonist's list.
The case heats to the boiling point as Jasi steps out of the flames…and into the fire. And in the heat of early summer, Agent Jasi McLellan discovers that a murderer lies in wait…much closer than she imagined.
For fans of J.D. Robb or Kathy Reichs, and TV's Medium, Ghost Whisperer and CSI. 
Buy the Kindle of Divine Intervention now.

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Major Canadian literacy campaign in the works

I am very pleased to announce that I am working on a major literacy campaign that has the potential to reach hundreds of thousands of Canadians. I can't say too much about it right now, not until everything and everyone is in place, but this will be an inspiring campaign that I believe will be featured prominently in the news, via word of mouth and online.

I am the campaign creator and coordinator, and I'm looking for 5 or 6 major corporate partners who are interested in literacy in Canada. I have already contacted some potential partners, but if you or someone you know may be interested, please email me.

I am also planning to bring in a literacy partner, and so far I've been contacted by two organizations that are interested. I am looking to partner with an organization that has successfully promoted literacy in Canada and has worked with other sponsors on previous events or initiatives. If you're a Canadian literacy organization and you're interested in my campaign, please email me. cherylktardif(at)shaw.ca

How will this literacy campaign affect Canadians in general? It will bring literacy issues to the forefront. It will inspire people to read more. It will encourage some to learn to read or to increase their reading skills. It will educate the public about illiteracy issues in Canada and how these issues affect Canadians.

I am so excited about this project, which has been simmering in my brain for a couple of years.

Happy reading, everyone!

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif