Cover Reveal: COLLIDE, #1!

I'm beyond excited to share the brand new cover for COLLIDE #1 today. The first installment will be released this December by InkSpell Publishing, you can pre-order the novella by heading over here.

The cover was created by Najla Qamber Designs!

Collide: Episode One

By Nicole Sobon

$1.99

ISBN: 978-1-945910-41-8

Buy Links:

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/collide-36

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077BPM6PN

Synopsis:

Three simple words were all it took to change their lives forever. 

Losing a loved one is hard. Learning to survive in their absence? That’s even harder. For Gemma Michaels, life had become difficult following her brother’s death, but the one thing that kept her afloat was the one thing she knew she shouldn’t have desired – her best friend, Ben. 

He’d made a promise to her brother – to protect her, no matter what. For Ben, that had meant that she was off limits. But then she slips and tells him the three words he’s been waiting to hear. 

Love happens when you least expect it.

Oh, and how about an excerpt?!

“If you’re trying to charm my pants off of me, it isn’t going to work, Nate.”At least, I hoped he wouldn’t succeed. Again.On one hand, the last thing I needed was to repeat the same mistake. On the other hand? I was single, and I did have needs. Of course, Nate’s model looks certainly didn’t help to keep my mind from considering his earlier proposal.And this is why you don’t drink around Nate, I told myself.
“Get your mind out of the gutter, Gem, geez,” he joked. I dropped my hands from his neck and shoved him gently in his chest before he grabbed my wrists, pulling me to where he stood. “I’m serious. You have convinced yourself my idiot cousin can do better than you. You seem to think that you can’t compete with the other girls, but it’s utter bullshit.”“It’s not bullshit; it’s called accepting the reality of the situation,” I said.“You’re so much more than those other girls, Gemma. I only wish you could see what I see,” he said. A sincere smile spread upon his lips, and he released his hold on my wrists. “Don’t let your fear keep you from trying. Sometimes the things that scare us the most are exactly what we need.”

Note: The first three installments are finished and edited, so you won't have a long wait between releases! The fourth (and final!) book is currently being written and I should have it turned in to InkSpell by the end of December!

<3 Nicole

An Update on COLLIDE.

Collide has been the book that I've wanted to trash on numerous occasions. Not because I didn't believe in the story, but because I couldn't stop reworking it. It was always meant to be a one-shot novel. And yet, I wanted to tell more. I wanted to add more.

Which is what has led to my decision to self-publish Collide as a novella series made up of five total episodes. Now, I'm not promising a set release schedule with this series. I want to say you'll receive an installment monthly since the book is done, but given how many times I've trashed this book and started from scratch? It's safe to say, I can't promise things won't change as I work on edits for each episode.

Here's what I can tell you about the five episodes:
1. Each one will only cost $0.99.
2. Each episode will have a minimum of fifty pages (some will be closer to seventy, but all will be over fifty).
3. There will be a collected edition of the series a month after episode five has been published.

Now, for those wondering why I decided to release the story this way:
1. As someone who sucks as self-marketing, I needed to find a way to release this story that would attract readers. Since I've yet to find a method of self-promotion that has really helped readers to discover my books, this feels like the best way. I won't be throwing up a single book and hoping it finds people... that seems to be my normal method.
2. The story works best as a novella series. This book is incredibly personal for me, and I wanted to be sure it was released in the best method possible. For those that haven't been following my blog, this past year has been kind of crappy in my personal life. Some things I've been open about, others I've been rather quiet about. The things I've been quiet about? I found a release for them in this story. Now, don't worry. When I say this book is a lot more light-hearted than my other projects, I do mean just that. Episode one is incredibly fun. Yes, as the episodes move along, the tone will slowly shift, but it won't ever lose that light-hearted feeling, I promise.
3. Releasing this story as a novella series allows me to add more to the story. The novel, even after I've rewritten it so much, did feel a bit stuffed. This allows me to spread the story out a bit more. (With each episode running around 20,000 words, that adds up to a 100,000 word novel.)

I will be revealing a brand new cover very soon.
I will also have a few pre-order links to share by the end of the month. (You'll be able to pre-order episode one through every eBook retailers except for Amazon, sadly.)

And before I go, here's an unedited teaser from Episode One of Collide:

Ben stood, the bag within his grasp, and made his way to the guest bathroom.

“Uh, what are you doing?”

“I’m getting ready for our date.”

“Don’t you have to ask the girl out on a date before you randomly show up at her apartment and tell her that you’re taking her out on a date?” I wasn’t entirely sure how this entire thing worked, really. My past relationships and dating choices weren’t exactly the greatest references of what to expect.

I sat waiting for a response that never came.

A moment later, I heard the bathroom door open. Ben strolled back into the living room dressed in a black button down shirt, black dress pants, and a pair of black leather loafers. His hair, usually tousled, was slicked back, showcasing his gorgeous gray eyes. I’d seen Ben dressed up a few times before, but this? This was absolute perfection.

My mouth fell open and I suddenly became incapable of speaking. Holy. Shit.

“What? I look ridiculous, right?” He hung his head and laughed. “I knew I shouldn’t have allowed Molly to go shopping for me.”

“Ridiculous?” I gawked. “Let’s put it this way: if I was drinking, I’d be doing everything in my power to avoid you right now.”

He arched a brow at me. “Really now?”

“Oh yeah,” I answered. “You’re looking totally doable.”

“Does that mean you’ll go out with me tonight?”

I wanted to laugh in his face. With him looking like that? There was no way in hell I’d be able to say no to going out with him tonight. But I wasn’t going to let him know that. If he was going to do this the right way, I was going to see to it that he did just that. “Maybe,” I answered. “If you ask me properly.”

He smiled and dropped down on his knee in front of me. “Gemma Michaels, will you please go do me the honor of accompanying me tonight on a romantic date?”

I pretended to think about it for a couple of seconds before I finally answered, “Yes, but you have to find a vase for these.” I handed him the tulips. “And thank you, for remembering.”

He shrugged it off. “There’s no need to thank me for remembering that you liked tulips, Gems. I’ve always made it a habit of memorizing what you’ve liked. I like seeing you smile, and I’ll do whatever is needed to do so.”

In that moment, as I made my way to my bedroom to get dressed, I thought that this could work. I finally allowed myself to believe that we could cross that line without destroying anything.

An Update on Collide!

This book has been pushed back time and time again (seriously, I originally planned on a February release). And as much as that has sucked, I'm actually happy I pushed the book back. It developed into something much more after I started reworking it, and honestly, I'm happy with how it is turning out.

Now, I won't give you a release date because I don't want to get you all excited for nothing. BUT! I am planning an October release.

I'm going out of town the first week of October to see White Lies, so I won't be around for close to a week. My goal is to have Collide out by then. Things can always change but October is my goal.

I posted a teaser on my Facebook page featuring Nate and Gemma the other day. For those that missed it, here you go:

“Anything else, miss?” The bartender asked, throwing a white towel over his shoulder.
I shook my head no, leaning on the bar counter.
I’d never been much of a drinker, mainly because I tended to do stupid things under the influence of alcohol. And by stupid things, I didn’t mean just calling every one of my exes at two o’clock in the morning. No, by stupid things, I meant trying to get into my best friend’s pants.
That was the downside to having an incredibly attractive best friend. It was easy to keep my hormones in check when I was sober, but when I was drunk? All logic went out the door.
“Are you sure about that?” Nate took a seat beside me, a shit-eating-grin wide on his face. “I think the drunken Gemma show is exactly what I need to fix this boring night.”
I turned to glare at him, choosing to ignore the bartender’s smirk.
Another stupid thing I’d done under the influence of alcohol? Made out with Nate, who just so happened to be Ben’s cousin.
Needless to say, I’d made it a habit of watching my alcohol intake. Although, even though I hated to admit it, I wasn’t entirely ashamed of my Nate mishap. After all, the boy was gorgeous at six-foot-three with the body of an MMA fighter. His spiked blond locks highlighted his stunning blue eyes. Yeah, definitely attractive, I thought, but not nearly as attractive as Ben.
Nate caught me staring. “You know,” he moved in closer so that his lips were inches from my ear, “My place is only about five minutes away-“
Before he could finish what he was saying, I threw my elbow out, hitting him in the abdomen. “As I’ve said before, Nate, that night was merely a lapse in judgment on my behalf. I can assure you that it will never happen again.”

Don't worry, I promise, there isn't a love triangle in this one. ;)

I'll leave you with my favorite song off the new White Lies album...

<3
Nicole

Overdue Weekly Update.

So, it is now Tuesday, and I normally post these things on Saturday. Oops.

I've been incredibly busy as of late, and I haven't actually had time to spend on the blog. (I'm hoping to fix that soon!) Between writing, working and trying to squeeze in some time with my family and boyfriend, I'm pretty much running on fumes these days.

Submerged will be out TOMORROW. Yep. A whole day early. I wanted to stick to the release date on this one, but that is going to be impossible as I'll be busy all day on Thursday. So to be safe, I'm going to hit the publish button tomorrow afternoon. The eBook will be $2.99, and it'll be available on Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes & Noble. (The other retailers will take a week minimum to list the title; Smashwords distributes it to them, so I have no control over that.)

I'm working on Decoding Evie again. I just randomly felt like working on it last night, so I opened it up out of the blue. I forgot how much I adore both Evie and Aidan. I want to submit this novelette to Entangled Publishing's Flirt line later this month (don't worry, if they reject it, you'll still get it in June). Want a small teaser? Here you go:

I turned back towards my computer screen, unable to process what the hell had just happened. That was when I noticed a small post-it-note pressed against my Dell monitor. Scribbled across the neon pink post-it was a note from Aidan:

Evie, what are you so afraid of?

-Aidan

What was I afraid of? I was afraid of everything.

I was afraid of letting people in.

I was afraid of falling.

But most of all, I was afraid of myself. I was my own worst enemy.

I grabbed a blank post-it note from the container on my desk and pulled a black pen out of my coat pocket. I allowed my hand to move freely, not thinking of my response. Only then, after I placed the pen down on my desk did I read what I’d written.

Reality.

I'm also working on Collide (edits + query letter) and Is Love: Vol. 2 (writing/editing). I don't have much to say about either title right now. Is Love: Vol. 2 is still on track for release this month, but It'll be a bit before I receive a decision on Collide from any publishers.

Oh, I should probably mention that Capture is FREE. I'm waiting for Amazon to price-match it so that it'll be free there too, but for right now, it is free through Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, iTunes and Sony.

Lots of writing.
Lots of editing.
And all I want to do is read and sleep.

And for those that don't know, I'm holding a giveaway on my Facebook page (found here). All you need to do is review Program 13 (with an honest review) by 12AM EST tomorrow, and then e-mail the link. Details can be found on this post.

<3 Nicole

Saturday Update (NaNo Edition)!

This is going to be a short Saturday Update since I'm in the middle of NaNo craziness.

I've reworked Collide. Gemma and Cole's story itself hasn't changed, but how their story develops has. I think it works a lot better now, and I'm actually thrilled to be working on it for NaNo (although I now have to hit 6K by tonight to catch up).

For those of you waiting for me to send you Submerged to beta-read. I'll be e-mailing the file on Monday, November 5th. I was going to do it today, but I'm just finishing up the newly added Epilogue, and I need a little more time to try and clean it up a bit more.

A bit of a fangirl moment: I'm a huge fan of Shelley Workinger's Solid series. It is a fantastic sci-fi series that I wish more people knew about. The final book, Sound, was released on the 1st. I bought both the paperback and eBook as soon as they were released, and yesterday when my paperback came in, I was surprised to find I'd been quoted on the back! I've been quoted as Nicole's YA Book Haven before (my old review blog), but this was the first time I'd been quoted as "Nicole Sobon, Author of...". Needless to say, I squealed a bit. :)

If you haven't read the Solid series, you really should. There's romance, action, humor and a likable heroine that learns from her mistakes.

I'm going to end this post with some bad news: I might be switching a few 2013 release dates. I know that I can finish my drafts in time, but I need to take editing into account. I'm not sure which titles will be affected yet (Allegiance and Collide are safe), but the Is Love novelette series might be delayed by a month (all three will be released at once). I'll update you guys on the release dates once I figure everything out. The delays won't be too long, maybe a month at the most.

To make up for the bad news, here is a teaser from Collide (note this is my NaNo project, so it hasn't been edited yet):

11:59 PM. One minute until the ball dropped. I glanced around the room in search of Cole, determined to start off the New Year with a bang. But he was in the corner, his tongue down some blonde’s throat. Some things never changed, I thought.

Saturday Update.

Things that happened this week worth mentioning:

• Two 5-star reviews for Program 13 (here and here)
• Cover reveal for Collide
• Cover Reveal: Opal (Lux #3) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Cover Reveal: How to Marry an Alien (My Alien Romance #3) by Magan Vernon 
• Mini Review: Suffocate (The Breathless #1) by S.R. Johannes
  

I'm currently working on both Is Love and Allegiance. Having written both Program 12 and Program 13 through the P.O.V of a Program, it is nice to write this short through a human perspective. Plus, I kind of adore Alexis. I'm hoping to have the first draft complete by mid-October, this way I can hire an editor and do a few rounds of revisions before the December release.

Once Allegiance is complete, I'll be focusing on both Deprogrammed and Survival Instinct (working title for this WIP). Deprogrammed is meant to be my NaNoWriMo project, but there is a ton of plotting to do before November comes around. The plan is to have Survival Instinct and Collide completed by the end of October. It sounds crazy, but that's my plan.

Here is an unedited sneak peek at Is Love:

“Ridley Mulligan, do you understand your crime?” the judge’s voice echoed throughout the marble hall.

“No, Sir. I’m afraid that I do not.” I folded my hands in my lap, trying to appear calm. Even though I could feel the anxiety creeping through, trying to break through the false courage I presented to the Council.

“Ms. Mulligan.” Judge Evans removed his glasses and placed them gently on the podium. “You are here because you were found to have violated the Caiden Act, remember?” I didn’t answer. “Council, will you please present the footage that you have discovered? Maybe that will help to jog Ms. Mulligan’s memory?"

Please, no. I wanted to run forward, to admit my wrong doing. To stop what was about to happen. But I didn’t. I couldn’t.

For those curious, Is Love will consist of three novelettes (each between 10k-15k words).

Oh, and in case you didn't know, Is Love: Volume 1 received a new cover:

I will reveal the covers for Is Love: Volume 2 and Is Love: Volume 3 next week. Again, these will be eBook only releases. I might do a print edition of all three volumes in the end, it really depends on what readers want.

And finally, some of you might remember Decoding Evie. It was a novella that I began writing for a submission call. Well, due to Program 13 edits and Submerged drafting, I never finished that novella. After doing a clean-up on my jumpdrive (where I trash unfinished projects that will neverrrrr see the light of day, such as Crave), I came upon the Word file for Decoding Evie, and well, I decided to save it. What does that mean? Expect to meet Evie and Aidan at some point in 2013 (I'm not setting a date yet, but it'll be before summer hits).

Here's an unedited snippet from chapter one of Decoding Evie:

“Hey, I’m heading out for the night.” Aidan leaned against the door-frame, his eyes boring a hole into the back of my head. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as his voice echoed in my mind. Such a soft, alluring… “Hey Peaches, did you hear me?”

Crap. Slowly, I spun around in my desk chair, Aidan’s bright blue eyes nearly rendering me speechless. “I…uh…yeah, alright. I'll see you tomorrow?”

“Uh, Peaches, tomorrow is Saturday.” Laughing, he ran his right hand through his black, curly hair. “Maybe you should head out, too. It’s Friday night, go home and relax.”

Me? Relax? That was not going to happen anytime soon. Especially with him – Mr. Perfection - standing in the doorway. I turned to face my computer screen, forcing myself to act as though I was focusing on the code in front of me, when, honestly, all I could think about was Aidan and what he would look like in my bedroom. On my bed.

“Peaches?” Aidan’s closeness startled me. I jumped as he placed his hands on my shoulders, grateful for the touch, but scared shitless of his ninja like movements. “It’s going on ten o’clock. Don’t you have anywhere to be?”

In all honesty, no, I didn’t. But I couldn’t tell him that. I might not know the first thing about dating, except for what I learned from “He’s Just Not That into You” (which seemed to describe my love life perfectly), but I was pretty sure it was frowned upon to be anti-social. 

Once I have a date in mind, I'll work on a cover reveal. Like Collide, Decoding Evie will be a New Adult title.

I'm going to be playing review catch-up over the next week. Reviews that I need to post are as follows:

• Gustav Gloom and the People Taker
• Spark (Sky Chasers, #2)
• Wool
• Glitch
• Seraphina

Wool and Gustav Gloom should be live before Monday. As for the others, I'm working on getting them up soon, but I'm not guaranteeing dates/times.

<3 Nicole