For my Birthday...

Hello all,

Tomorrow, December 18th is my birthday! Usually, a birthday is something to celebrate, but this year, my heart is aching over the tragedy of the Sandy Hill School shooting.

I'd love for you to join my party on Twitter and Facebook at 8 PM CST tomorrow night, but it would mean the world to me if you could show support for http://www.helpmedonate.org/Sandy_Hook_Relief_Fund.

Anyone who donates $10 or more, tomorrow, December 18th and emails a copy of the receipt to KahlenAymesAuthor@gmail.com, with "Happy Birthday" in the subject line will be gifted their choice of my first two eBooks! Please note in the body of the email which one you want to receive and what format your eReader is so I can send you the correct one.

You may gift the book(s)to someone else, if you wish, but please include the recipient's email address in the body of the email, as well.

My heart aches for these parents and this is some small thing I can do in the memory of their little angels.

There can be no pain greater than the loss of a child. In the spirit of giving and Christmas, please, let's do this together.

Love,
Kahlen
xoxox

Pass this on to whomever and whatever bloggers you desire, and please RT. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Word Contest Winner!

This was very close and I wish you could all win!

Congratulations to THERESA KENNEDY with 475 words!  

You win the $25 Amazon Gift Card, a signed copy of Don't Forget to Remember Me and the coveted post card from our beloved, Ryan!

Please contact me at KahlenAymesAuthor@gmail.com.

Great job to everyone!

The Trilogy T-shirts will be available to order in the next couple of weeks and I've got a great contest for November!   Get ready to inspire me!

Love and Peace,
Kahlen
xoxox

T-shirt design for The Remembrance Trilogy Reveal!

The diamonds and the teal back light will sparkle. :-)

And the back... (This is my favorite part).

Yes, no, maybe?  Let's hear what you think by contacting me in one of the ways below. :-)
KahlenAymesAuthor@gmail.com
@KahlenAymes, @Kahlen_Aymes
Facebook: Kahlen Aymes and Kahlen's Books

PS--> If you've enjoyed the books, I'd sincerely appreciate it if you'd take a minute to leave a rating or review on Amazon.com, goodreads.com, smashwords.com and barnesandnoble.com.  It will also help me a great deal if you can LIKE my facebook page and also TAG me on Amazon. You can do this by scrolling to the bottom  of each book page and to the tags that people have assigned the book and then check the one's you agree with or add others you think fit.  They will include, romance, hottie leading mean, alpha males, etc.) Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have the best readers in the world!  :-) xoxox

Donation to Susan G. Komen

Hi Readers!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!  It touches so many of us.  You've had it, will have it or know someone who has or had.  Let's celebrate the strides they've made in research and do our part to help!

For the entire month of October, I will donate a portion of my book sales to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.  If you were planning on giving someone the gift of Ryan... this is the perfect time to gift them the books.

Now, get out there and make a difference! Give the books in loving memory, or in celebration of the life of a woman currently fighting and winning the fight against breast cancer.

As always, I love you!  You rock my world.

xoxox
~Kahlen

Win with Words!

What do writers and readers have in common?  WORDS!  

Winner receives a $25 Amazon Gift Card, an autographed print copy of Don't Forget to Remember Me and a personalized postcard from Ryan!  :-)

RULES

1. Make as many words as you can using only the letters in  the book title; "Don't Forget to Remember Me".

2. You may NOT ADD additional letters.

3. You can only use the letters in the title one time per word.  (E is in the title 5 times so you can not use E more than 5 times in a word or the word will be disqualified.)

4. The words must be listed in the American Webster's Dictionary to be valid.

5. Mail entry to KahlensContests@gmail.com with "October Contest" in the subject line, and your list of words in the body of the email,  by Midnight EST on Oct. 15th.  (Please only on entry per person.  Duplicate entries will be deleted, so make sure you've exhausted all of your words before you email!  Also, please do not send email correspondence to this address.  It is to be used strictly for this and future contests.  Plus, I am not judging, so I won't see them.)

6.  The winner will be chosen based on the list with the most valid words.  In case of tie, the names will be put in a hat and one drawn at random by Kathryn, one of my editors.  Who better to validate words than an editor? :-)

7. Winner will be announced on Halloween, Oct. 31, 2012

And, there you have it!  Get to listing your words and have fun!!  Good Luck!!

Love ya!
~Kahlen  XOXOX

Missing Scene from The Remembrance Trilogy this week on Bookishtemptations.com

Hello all!

Elena and Tamie invited me to guest post on Bookish Temptations this week and they asked for something special!  I've had several requests from readers who wanted to see how Ryan and Julia first met!  Well, here is your chance!  It will post tomorrow on bookishtemptations.com.

Let me know what you think!

:-)
Happy Labor Day weekend. Be safe!
Love and Peace....
~Kahlen
xoxoxo

Amazing results on Amazon!

The promotional giveaway is almost over!  The Future of Our Past was offered FREE on amazon.com (and amazon.uk and other international amazon sites) for five days to celebrate the release of the second book in the trilogy, Don't Forget to Remember Me.

I'm proud and elated to say that more than 32,000 copies have been downloaded so far and the book is #5 in the Kindle FREE Store.  DFTRM is moving up the charts and is around #400 on the amazon ranking.  I'm praying it will keep going until it breaks the top 100!

Thank you so much for downloading and for your faith in me and my work!  Here's to a lot more where that came from! (PS...only a few hours left to download TFOOP for free.)

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=kahlen+aymes

Love and Peace...
~Kahlen
xoxoxo

Don't Forget to Remember Me Release Date!

I'm happy to announce that Don't Forget to Remember Me, Book 2 of the Trilogy, is slated to drop in eBook on Aug 8th or 9th and in PRINT on Aug. 17th.  The distribution channels determine the drop dates.  I expect it on Amazon and Smashwords first. Smashwords gives you access to Nook, Kobo, iTunes, Sony, etc.... and both sites will have the print version.

I'll be doing a giveaway of 10 signed copies of the book on Goodreads.com between now and Aug. 30.

I'm excited!  Yippee!!

Thank you to all of you who have read and reviewed The Future of Our Past!  Reviews are so important for encouraging new readers to take a chance on me, and I do appreciate them, so very much!

To celebrate the launch of DFTRM, TFOOP will be offered for FREE on Amazon.com for two days!  Aug, 7 and 8.    Please let anyone you know who hasn't read it, but wants to.  I won't tweet about it until Aug. 7th.   I'm telling you here, first!

The Future of Our Past will also be offered on Smashwords outlets by the end of August.

I'll be adding another recipe to Julia's recipes in the next few days. :-)

Love and Peace...
~Kahlen

The Future of Our Past featured on Best Romance Novels Today!

Hey all!

The Future of Our Past has been featured on The Best Romance Novels!

The site only features 5 Star romances!  I'm honored to be listed among the other wonderful books  & authors found there!  If you're looking for something great to read, this site is a great resource.  The books listed have to have 5 Star reviews by book review bloggers to be posted there, but I'm so thankful for all of the wonderful reviews from my readers posted on Goodreads, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  Reviews can mean the difference between success or failure for a writer, so THANK YOU!!!

Update on Book 2 of The Remembrance Trilogy, Don't Forget to Remember Me is almost to the point of Print Formatting!  I admit I believed the book would be out by now.  I'm sorry!  I'm as anxious as many of you who have contacted me on Goodreads, Twitter or email.

My mother is out of ICU and now in a rehabilitation hospital.  Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.  She can't walk yet, but her mind is as sharp as ever.

I'm currently writing the Beyond Twilight outtake I promised.  I will be sending it out as soon it is finished and beta'd.

AND, I'm about 1/3 finished with A Love Like This!  I'm working on a pivotal scene and I'm a picky bitch!  My goal is to have it written by the end of SEPT so it can publish around Christmas.

There is a giveaway coming up on Bookish Temptation where I've been asked to do an author interview, where I am offering a ePub & print copy of The Future of Our Past & one lucky reader will get an advance copy of DFTRM.  Thanks to Elena and the site for the opportunity.

Keep watching for more giveaways!  There will be one on Kerry-Ann McDade's Blog, Reading a Little Bit of Everything along with other goodies to celebrate her birthday in August.  (Exact date to come.) :-)

Also, I have another book that will publish the first quarter of 2013.

xoxox
Love and Peace...
Kahlen~

Worthy Cause

This past Tuesday, the Twilight Fandom lost a dear friend. Gisela (@Mad4Hugh) lost her life crossing a street in San Diego while waiting in line to be part of the first fans for the Twilight Panel at Comic Con that took place today, July 12, 2012.

I had the opportunity to meet Gisela in Las Vegas this past June for the TwiFic Meet Up and was lucky enough to spend quite a bit of time getting to know her.  We shared an evening walking the Vegas Strip with two other special friends, Lilly and Wendy and had breakfast together the last morning of the meet up.  She was funny, sweet and so, so kind.  Giseal was passionate about Twilight and had mad love for Robert Pattinson and Hugh Jackman. :-)

I know I, as well as many others, will miss her dearly.

This is Gisela with myself and Lilly on the strip.  Wendy took the photo.

As usual, when tragedy strikes or a worthy cause comes along, the masses of the Fandom unite.  It fills up my heart.  

Gisela's mother suffered from Alzheimer's Disease before her death and Gisela was her care-giver.  This fundraiser, in her name, will benefit the Alzheimer's Foundation.

I am donating signed copies of all three books in The Remembrance Trilogy as they publish.  I encourage you to join me in donating to this wonderful cause and pay tribute to one of our own, gone too soon.

Fandom 4 TwiFan G (Pls. donate here).

RIP Dearest Gisela....You will be sorely missed, but I know you are dancing (and watching Rob and Kristen at Comic Con) with the angels.  Best seat in the house!


I promise, we won't forget to remember you.   
My sincerest condolences to Gisela's family and friends.

Love, Always....and Peace...
~Kahlen

Please enter your email address...

Hi all,
It will make it easier to send you all the outtake, (when the situation with my mother stabilizes and I am able to complete it), if you enter your email address in the yellow "Subscribe to My Newsletter" box, lower right side of this page. We have to do it this way as Google disabled sending mass emails through the "Follow Me" widget.

Thanks to everyone who DM'd and tweeted your support and prayers for my mom.  You always amaze me and I'm so thankful for each one of you!

Love,
Kahlen

The Promised Outtake

Hello, all,

I promised a new BT outtake by the end of June to the members of this blog.

I'm sorry to tell you that I'm a little behind schedule for three reasons:

I was proofing the final versions of DFTRM for my publisher
I'm editing a new novel to submit to my publisher and most of all
my mother has been gravely ill.

As some of you may remember, around the time I was finishing DFTRM back in 2010,  she had open heart surgery and though she was supposed to have a valve replacement they decided instead to thin out the septum. She only felt better for about a month, as it turns out she has two leaky valves. Over the past two years, she has gotten weaker and this past Christmas, she got the shingles. This is a severely dibilitating disease that causes a lot of pain. She has had problems with her lungs due to the heart disease, and she smoked for 2/3 of her life. (Lesson, if you smoke, stop now.)

Last Friday night she was put on a respirator because she can't breathe on her own. I am not sure what the prognosis is, but I wanted to give you the reason that the outtake will be delayed.

I apologize. It is not my intention to make promises that I do not keep.

I will finish it and I will mail it to every one of you. It will not be a post here or on Live Journal.  You, my readers, are so important to me. That hasn't and will never change.  Thank you for the support you've shown for TFoOP and also for book 2, which will be out very soon.  I am truly grateful and humbled by the amazing reviews that so many of you have left and for telling your friends about my writing.  Keep an eye out for more giveaways of both books.

Love and peace,
xoxox
Kahlen

Blog tour, reviews, interviews and give aways!

If you want a chance to win one of my books, please follow these bloggers!  If you would be so kind as to help me promote the tour and the book, I'd be ever so grateful!  A couple of these links don't have links, but I'll get them up as soon as I have them.  Thanks!

May 28 - Understanding Shae's Story - Review/Giveaway

May 29 - TToria - Review/Excerpt

May 30 - The Life and Lies of an Inanimate Flying Object - Guest Post/Giveaway

June 1 - Reviews By Molly - Review/Excerpt

June 4 - TE Garden of Books - Review/Interview/Giveaway

June 5 - What's on the Bookshelf? -Interview/Excerpt

June 6 - Sweeping the USA - Giveaway/Excerpt

June 7 - My Cozie Corner- Review/Giveaway

June 7 - The Guardian of the CrossRoads - Excerpt

June 7 - Keeping up with the Rheinlanders - Promo/Excerpt

June 8 - Abbey Ann's Bookshelf - Review/Guest Post/Giveaway

June 11 - The Self-Taught Cook - Review/Giveaway

June 12 - Reading a Little Bit of Everything - Review

June 13 - Musings of a Bookworm - Review/Giveaway/Excerpt

June 14 - Snag a Bargain - Review/Giveaway

June 15 - Book Lovin' Mama's - Review/Interview/Giveaway

June 18 -  Bunny's Reviews- Review/Guest Post / Giveaway

June 19 - In Between - Review/Giveaway

June 20 - For the Love of Film & Novels - Review/Giveaway/Excerpt

June 21 - Ja citiam, a ti? - Review/Excerpt

June 22 - The Adventures Within - Review/Interview/Giveaway

June 22 - The Steamy Side- Review/Giveaway

Drum roll please.....!

Here is the cover for Book Two of the Trilogy, Don't Forget to Remember Me!

Cover Image of Don't Forget to Remember Me available SOON!

I'm so excited!  There is so much going on and I'm so busy!  My real life sometimes feels like it intrudes so much on all I want to get accomplished with my writing!

I saw the first images of the cover drafts from my publisher yesterday and I'm very anxious to share it with all of you!  It's hard to portray an entire book in one image, but I think we're close!

Don't forget that you'll all receive the new Beyond Twilight Outtake emailed to you after June first.  Please remind any of your friends who are fans of the story to please subscribe to this blog because it won't post on my LiveJournal pages!

Also, those of you attending the TwiFicMeetUp in Las Vegas on June 6-11, please find me there!

You can win one of 25 signed copies of the paperback! There's still time!
Sign up on Goodreads.com

Thank you to all of you who have cared enough to post reviews of my novel on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and Goodreads.  As usual, it means the world to me to know that I've managed to entertain you or touch your life, if only for a moment!  You inspire me to keep writing and overwhelm me with your kind words.

I have the BEST READERS, EVER!!  Don't be afraid to email, tweet, DM or chat.  I want to talk to you!! :-)

Love and Peace...
~Kahlen
!!! xoxoxox !!!

Kickstarter Pledges fulfilled for Book ONE of The Remembrance Trilogy!

Hello everyone!

I'm excited to say that I've signed, sealed and mailed the paperbacks to those of you who pledged on KICKSTARTER.com prior to release of The Future of Our Past!  Those of you who purchased the whole trilogy, or even what will become my fourth book, Angel After Dark, will have them shipped to you in a similar fashion immediately upon publication!  MY SINCEREST THANKS to everyone who believed in me enough to pledge in advance!  Your generosity overwhelms me!

It's amazing, but the books have shipped all over the United States, as well as Australia, Brazil, The United Kingdom, France, Macao & Sweden!  There are still a couple of you that I need addresses from, Jan, Sonia, Janis & Lisa!  Get those to me, ASAP so I can get your book to you, please. :-)

Book TWO of the trilogy is already in the works! I hope to have the cover of Don't Forget to Remember Me available with the back cover blurb very soon!

To keep you abreast of my progress, I'm about 1/3 of the way through with writing Book THREE: A Love Like This.  The goal is to have them all out by Christmas!

As it has always been, I love hearing from my readers and I'm so thankful for the reviews!  They are better than GOLD to a new writer, so thank you to those of you who have taken the time to share your thougths and opinions with me.

Romance in Review & Naughty Readers Review gave tFoOP 4.5 out of 5 stars! Read it here:

Lastly, most of you know my writing began with Twilight FanFiction.  I will be attending the TwiFicMeetUp in Las Vegas on June 6-10! Come meet me, here!

I love you!!  You rock my world!!!

Love and Peace...
~Kahlen
xoxox

Contact me
Twitter:  @kahlenaymes & @oliviamk1218
Facebook: Kahlen Aymes
Read, rate, review, recommend and share with your friends on Goodreads.com

Win a FREE autographed copy of my debut novel, The Future of Our Past.

Hey, you can sign up for a giveaway on goodreads.com to win a signed copy of my novel, The Future of Our Past, now!  http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/25218-the-future-of-our-past

Also, join my blog, http://kahlen-aymes.blogspot.com/ by May 31 to get a BRAND NEW Beyond Twilight outtake emailed to you. This will NOT post on LiveJournal, so go sign up!

Also, IAD will post the last two chapters on my LiveJournal Community and Friends page, very close together & very soon!

Love ya!

Kahlen!
xoxox

Cover Release: The Future of My Past!

Here it is!  :-)

There seems to be a little confusion in reference to the kickstarter project...

Hi All....

In response to a couple of emails I've received, I realized there may be some confusion regarding the kickstarter.com project around the launch of my first book.

Question: If the project doesn't fully fund will we still get the books?

Yes, you can get them, but you'll have to use traditional venues such as Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. (After the book publishes)

Question: Will I need to add postage for each edition of the print book?

If you live inside the US or Canada, I've added to the pledge to include the postage. If you live outside the US, then a little will need to be added to cover the difference.

Question: Can I still get the book signed by you?

Sure, but you'll need to send it to me, then I, back to you. The postage will be more because it travels more.

Question: If the full $5K amount isn't raised, will you not publish?  This is the most important question and the most important answer...

I'll still publish. The first book has been funded and almost ready to launch, however, retail venues do not pay authors as books sell. I have to wait 3 or 4 months to receive payment so it will delay book two and three before release. The funds from kickstarter,(besides funding pledge fulfillment) will be used to launch the second book right on the heels of book one.

Question: Do you receive the full amount from Kickstarter?

Kickstarter keeps a small portion as does Amazon for processing the pledges.

Question: If I pledge, when is my payment processed?

It will process at the end date of the project and ONLY IF THE PROJECT REACHES GOAL. Kickstarter is an all or nothing proposition

Question: If it the project doesn't reach goal, will I still get the books?

Your pledge won't process, so you won't have purchased the books. You can still get them later, as mentioned above. There is no risk to pledge. IF project reaches goal, you WILL get the reward attached to it.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me on kickstarter.com, my blog, DM on twitter or through my gmail accounts.

Thanks you! Help me get this fulfilled so I can get Don't Forget to Remember Me to you sooner!!  I'll have a cover for you in a day or two. :-)

Love and Peace...
Kahlen
xoxox

Kickstarter Project update

I'm happy to report that six days in, the project has been almost 30% funded.  :-)  Thank you to those of you who have so much faith in me that you have pre-ordered my book(s).  You make me so happy!

The Kickstarter site was suggested to me by my sister, Kathryn,  as a way to help cover the costs of publishing.  It is a platform for artists, authors, filmmakers and musicians to convert dreams into reality.

I went into it with the intention of setting the pledge amounts the same as it would be to order the ebooks and the print books on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, etc after it is published...the shipping in the US/Canada is included in the pledge amounts.  There are higher pledges available because close friends and family have expressed interest in contributing more.

It will only take 150 readers to order the the first eBook, and 150 readers to order the print version of the same edition to fund the project.  I have more than 4000 members on LiveJournal, and 1350 Twitter followers, so I hoped that 200-300 backers wouldn't be over the top.

The costs of publishing include copyrights, cover art, cover design, formatting & printing.  It's quite a lot of money and I have fronted the funds for The Future of Our Past, but I didn't have enough in savings for all three of them.

The Kickstarter project is simply a way to get all three books out more quickly because I know that those of you who have already read DFTRM in it's original version would prefer it that way.  My goal isn't profit at this point, but only to get the books published and to launch a career in writing.  It would be a miracle to be able to write full time and that is my dream.

I wanted to clarify a few things:  Kickstarter is an all or nothing proposition.  The pledges will only be charged to your cards IF the project meets goal, and not until the end date of the project (March 23rd) passes.  There is no risk to pledge, and if you want signed copies, this is the fastest, best way to avoid the time and money involved in shipping it three times.  (Retailer-->you.  You--->me.  Me--->back to you.

If you're already planning on purchasing the book or books, please consider pledging to the project. The Future of Our Past will launch regardless if the project fulfills or not, hopefully in March.  But let's get all three books out ASAP...:-)

I'll share the cover design and exact launch date as soon as I have them.  If you have questions, please feel free to contact me directly.

My deepest thanks to all of you who have pledged and are planning on doing so!  I have always been inspired and overwhelmed by your love and support.

Please follow me on facebook, twitter & Goodreads. After you receive the books, I would so appreciate your reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, etc...They are like gold to a new author.  I'm counting on you!  I promise to never give you less than what you've come to expect from me.

Thanks, again.

Love and Peace,
Kahlen
XOXOXO

Release of Debut Novel

My debut novel, The Future of Our Past is on it's way to being published!  It's the first of a trilogy, and will be closely followed by Don't Forget to Remember Me and A Love Like This.   I'm very happy and excited to finally be able to give this story back to my readers and to hopefully, garnish some new ones along the way!

To those of you who have been with me on this journey, I am so grateful for all of your support.  I decided to self-publish the book after three editors asked for different revisions.  What one loved about the story, another wanted revised.

So...I did what I've always done; I leaned on you.  I asked some of you and I went back to the reviews and read them.  The conclusion I came to was that reading is as subjective for editors and agents as it is for readers, and though I didn't take their comments lightly, I was left confused with where to take the story.  So...I chose to put my faith in all of you and you told me said to leave it as it was originally written.

I've made so many friends among my readers that I know will last a lifetime.  I'm fueled by all of you.  Your support and encouragement; your excitement about each new thing I've written, lifts me up and gives me hope that I really am an author.  I have been overwhelmed with the amount of support and love this story has received.  I poured my whole heart into it, and I hope it shows.

The book(s) will be available for pre-order through a funding project on Kickstarter.com, for a period of 30 days.  Kickstarter is a platform for artists, authors, filmmakers and musicians to launch careers, new projects and gain exposure.  A pledge toward the project is connected to a reward that you will receive in return, to include the ebooks, print books, merchandise, etc...There is no risk because if the project is not fully funded, pledges will not be accepted.  You can pledge here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1312371723/the-remembrance-trilogy-book-1-release

Special thanks to Ali, Kathryn, Sally & Liz my editors, Jena, who helps me with blog design and posting to my blogs and to Samantha who's amazing artistic mind comes up with my banners and cover ideas.  All of these people are volunteers who believed in me and my writing enough to donate their time and effort.  It's more than I can ever ask for and I don't know how I can ever repay you.  I love each of you and hope one day to be able to meet you in person.

And to you, the readers;  I am ever indebted to you for reading, reviewing and recommending my work to others.  Without you, the dream could never become reality.  I will endeavor to never disappoint you and to keep giving you more and look forward to hearing from all of you.  You have my heart.

Keep checking back for an exact release date, but I expect it sometime in March of this year.  Yippee!  :-)

Love and Peace,
As Always...Kahlen
XOXOXO