# Re: WOUNDED EARTH, $0.99 for July and Big Al liked it!



## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

Wounded Earth









Larabeth McLeod has beauty, money, several patents, a Ph.D., a successful environmental firm, and some very old secrets. When a man with the uncomfortable name of Babykiller begins stalking her, terrorizing her with stories of her darkest days in Vietnam, stories no one else knows, she feels compelled to fight back...until he exposes her most tender secret of all by threatening the daughter she has never met.

She turns to private detective J.D. Hatten for help, breaking five years of separation and silence between quarreling friends. And then Babykiller shows his true capabilities. He is the head of an illicit business offering but one service--moving cargo worldwide for criminals who need their drugs or cash or smuggled goods shipped safely and anonymously--so he is capable of putting anything anywhere. He quietly explains to Larabeth, a well-known environmental executive, that he can even put defective gauges in nuclear power plants, and he will, just to get her attention. If she goes to the police for protection, people will die. Lots and lots of people will die. And one of them will be her daughter.

Larabeth and J.D. are just a normal man and woman, up against a babykiller. But then, Babykiller doesn't know who he's dealing with...

WOUNDED EARTH is the first thriller by award-winning mystery writer Mary Anna Evans, author of ARTIFACTS, RELICS, EFFIGIES, FINDINGS, and FLOODGATES, available on Amazon in print, large-print, and audio editions.


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

_Wounded Earth_ just got a nice review on Smashwords, calling it a "very interesting book with well-developed characters." Check out the rest of the review here:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/11404?ref=maryannaevans


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

*A snippet--*

_Summer 1995, New Orleans, Louisiana_

Babykiller was meticulous in all things. It was his defining quality. Attention to detail was the key to longevity in his chosen profession, and Babykiller had been in business a long, long time.

Most of his competitors from the early days were dead or in prison, and he couldn't claim responsibility for all their misfortune. No, they had simply chosen a dangerous line of work. He was well on his way to outliving a second generation and he was considering retirement. At least he had been, before the oncologist's verdict. Retirement planning seemed so futile when death was certain.

Babykiller had created a life out of certainties. He left nothing to chance. He made no mistakes-at least, he made no mistakes that were obvious to the cretins who purchased his services. He had built a seamless organization that ran like a Volvo. It was reliable. It required little maintenance. It was safe. It was boring as hell. Even if his organization survived him-and he cared very little whether it did or not-it was a plain-vanilla sort of legacy for a man of his caliber.

Babykiller had more money than he could have spent in a normal lifetime. He had more than a fair share of cunning. And he had a long list of scores to settle with the world before he took his leave of it. It was time to retire and focus his considerable attentions on something more interesting. Or someone more interesting.

Babykiller had kept extensive files on his target for years, ever since he began thinking of retirement. He had videotapes and audiotapes. An accordion file labeled "BioHeal Environmental Services" held her company's annual financial reports, one for each of the twenty years she'd been in business. His clipping file bulged with articles dating to her first appearance on the cover of New Orleans Business News.

Larabeth McLeod had enjoyed good press from the start, for the usual reasons. She was an easy interview. Her field, environmental science, was red-hot. She was witty and down-to-earth. Her strong jawline made for good photographs. Reporters loved her.

She smiled out of the manila folder at him, wearing her success like a crisply tailored suit. He replaced the clippings in reverse chronological order and closed the file over her elegantly sculpted face. He remembered that face. He had cherished it long before the photographers fell in love. He had seen it contorted in pain, spattered in blood.

He would like very much to see it that way again.


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

From my blog about the vagaries of the book biz, "It's Like Making Sausage," http://www.maryannaevans.blogspot.com, on how the cover of Wounded Earth







came to be, on Day 7 of my series on how all my covers happened:

Seven cover stories...that's a whole week of blogging. (And more because I took a couple of days off to do things like vacuum and write exciting and fascinating books.) Just think how much sausage I'll be able to make with stories like the time I didn't know my book was coming out in audio until I got the publisher's catalog!

....But you're wondering what I'm talking about, because I've only written six books. _Au contraire_. I wrote an environmental thriller called _Wounded Earth_ in the mid-1990s, and it was good enough to get me a hotshot Manhattan agent. It was also good enough to get me attention at all the major houses and nibbles from the movies, but it never actually sold. Reasons for turning it down included things like, "Everybody here loved it, but we're concerned that the heroine is too smart and successful and a little hard-edged, and we think our readers won't identify with her."

I don't know about you, but I read that and I think two things. First, I think they see their audience as people who can't identify with a dynamic woman because, maybe, they're not real smart or successful or dynamic. As a reader myself, that hurts my feelings. Second, I think they see themselves as different. They can identify with a successful woman, but their readers can't. As a writer, this makes me ask myself, "They want me to live with a wimp for 90,000 words? I don't think so." And thus, Faye the independent archaeologist was born.

The fact is that I still loved the book. I thought readers would love it, and its heroine Larabeth McLeod, and I'm just thrilled that modern technology has given me the ability to publish it myself as an ebook. So, as of this month, Wounded Earth is available in versions to suit most e-readers and your computer on Smashwords and on Amazon, with more vendors to come. But that meant that I had to come up with a cover, and I don't have a brilliant and talented graphic artist on staff. I have me.

I fired up Microsoft Paint, which came free on my computer. I fumbled around and learned to use it a little. Then I went online, searching for public domain images that suited the book. Given the title and the environmental theme, Earth was a no-brainer. I found a beautiful public domain stock image, and was very sorry to have to cut off a beautiful starry sky, so that I had the planet only. (And only half of it, for dramatic effect.) Then I found actual images of nuclear tests done in the 1950s and 1960s, and they're in the public domain, as all images made with your tax dollars should be. I used the Mohawk test, because I liked the colors and the perfect mushroom cloud. Then I overlaid Earth on top of it, and figured out how to put a whitewashed band across the whole image to carry the title. I really like the colors and visceral impact of the result. What do you think?


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## jackwestjr_author (Aug 19, 2010)

An interesting premise.  Reminds me of Demille's Up Country.


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

I've dropped the price on Wounded Earth from $2.99 to $0.99 until the end of January. Consider it an after-the-holidays gift from me to you.


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

Tomorrow's the last day of my 99-cent January special on Wounded Earth because...well...it's the last day of January. 

The price will go back up to $2.99 from $0.99 on Tuesday, February 1. It's gotten a couple of nice reviews in the past week, so check those out while you're browsing the Kindle store.


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

I'm so excited about Wounded Earth's new cover and interior layout! I had a blast working with Hitch and Rick at booknook.biz. There's something special about working with professionals who know how to present your work in its best possible light. And the atomic mushroom cloud strikes just the right note of terror. It even scares me, and I wrote the thing.  Do you like it?


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## Alice Y. Yeh (Jul 14, 2010)

Hi! Just letting you know that I updated the image on my queue.

Nice new cover, btw. I think it sends a more powerful message.


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

Thanks, Alice.

I think you're right.  Rick's design does a much better job of communicating the book's theme:  the horror of nuclear disaster happening right where you are, wherever that is, and obliterating something irreplaceable.  

When we settled on a design, he said it scared him just to work on it.


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## Joel Arnold (May 3, 2010)

I like that cover! It's beautiful.


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

Wounded Earth is a Frugal Find of the Day over at The Frugal Ereader: http://thefrugalereader.com/2011/04/03/the-frugal-find-of-the-day-wounded-earth-mary-anna-evans-2-99/. I'm grateful to the ladies at frugalereader.com for featuring my book.


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

Our own MichelleR, working with Red Adept, has given Wounded Earth a lovely review.

I could tell she really got what I was trying to do when she said this: 
"Larabeth was a terrific character. Smart. Strong. From the second she even suspected there might be a threat, she sought out help. Now, by Literary Law, local police are useless, but J.D. - a private detective she knew - was her first call. I love that we're told she's smart and logical and then she goes ahead and does smart and logical things. Early on, after Babykiller calls her for perhaps the second time she said to him, "If you're threatening me, it won't work," &#8230; "I may have been careless in the past, but no more. If you know so much about me, you know I can afford a security system, a gun, even a personal body guard, if that's what it takes."

I love that. She does make mistakes, but she makes reasonable mistakes. Even some of her actions that backfired were logical given what she knew. When she was careless, she was careless in a way that most people could understand - in defense of people she cared about."

She also said nice things about Offerings







. Praising two books at once will always warm the cockles of any writer's heart. 

Here's a link to the review:
http://redadeptreviews.com/?p=4990


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Oh, Offerings was the first book that made me understand that there could be quality, inexpensive fiction available for the Kindle. It was a very important book for me, so I was all too happy to see Wounded Earth on the list we have of books waiting for review.


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

Thanks, Michelle.  I like the notion of being a positive representative for indie writers everywhere.


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

Alice Yeh, who I believe hangs out here, has posted her detailed 5-star review of Wounded Earth







on Amazon and on her own blog, Stimulated Outlet. Here's the link to her blog, as well as some snippets of the nice things she said:

http://www.stimulatedoutlet.com/2011/04/wounded-earth-mary-anna-evans.html

"Evans' characters are convincingly flawed, and their actions are at times brilliant and other times unbelievably stupid. Admittedly, there were large portions of the story where I wanted to beat Larabeth and her daughter silly with a giant foam bat, primarily because of their shared Achilles' heel: pride. Ah, the downfall of many a brilliant mind."

Yes, I do believe she understood what I was trying to do with those two characters.  And I think she had a good grasp on Larabeth's nemesis, as well:

"Like those of any good maniac, Babykiller's plans were difficult to predict but made a twisted sort of sense retrospectively. The convoluted steps of his last hurrah were chilling and unexpected, thus instilling a savory sort of dread throughout. There are redeemable villains, and then there are the ones that are purely evil but delightfully mad. Babykiller falls into the latter category, and I enjoyed every bit of his sick and sordid behavior."

And she summed it up with:
"Wounded Earth is a wonderfully entertaining read from beginning to end, recommendable to those who relish suspense and feast on antagonists with delusions of grandeur."

Thanks to Alice and to all the dedicated reviewers out there. You're a godsend to people who love to read.


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

Wounded Earth is featured today on Daily Cheap Reads, presumably because it's cheap at $2.99. And I guess because the folks at Daily Cheap Reads think you'll like it. 

Enjoy!

http://dailycheapreads.com/2011/04/28/wounded-earth-an-environmental-thriller/


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

Wounded Earth is in the Indie Spotlight today. Thanks so much to Greg and Edward for this opportunity!

Here's the link. Enjoy!

http://www.theindiespotlight.com/?p=5377


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

The folks at Kindle Nation and Booklending.com listed WOUNDED EARTH in their email promoting books with 5-star ratings.  I'm so excited!


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## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

I've reduced the price on WOUNDED EARTH to $0.99 on Kindle and Smashwords for the month of July, so grab it while it's cheap!

I was thrilled to read this recent review from Big Al's Books and Pals. It's good when someone likes your book, but it's great when someone likes your characters. 

"..._Wounded Earth_ delivers on plot. Its nail-biting intensity will keep you up late in your eagerness to find out how it ends. However, when evaluating what I liked most about "Wounded Earth," it wasn't the plot that came to mind...For "Wounded Earth," what stood out is the development of the main characters, especially the protagonist Larabeth. I've found I especially enjoy books with a strong female character. Larabeth is driven, not just towards success, but also to do good and what is right. It would be easy for a character like this who "has it all" to seem unreal. It is her difficult history, both with ex-boyfriend J.D. and skeletons in her closet, that makes Larabeth human and intriguing. It is also why, as a reader, I was pulling for her that much more."

Thanks, Big Al.


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