Ophelia Kee
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  • Novels
  • Shorts and Audio
  • From My Desk
  • Ophelia Kee speaks
  • Contact

My Life in Words Ophelia Kee Speaks

Ophelia Kee author of the paranormal romance series Draoithe and the miniseries Dread Allies
Welcomes you to the dream !​
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"I can still hear you."

How did my Book get banned from Amazon Advertising?

2/23/2021

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When I first started my self publishing journey back in 2018, I had no idea what I was doing. Sometimes I still do things wrong, but after having published over 30 books on Kindle along with their paperbacks and also published the longer works as short read miniseries, I think I know a few things about how the process works. 
A few days ago a good friend of mine was complaining about how one of his military fiction titles had been placed into the erotica category and he could not run an ad for the book. He just couldn't figure it out.  It happened to me once with The Council, so I offered to help. He opened his KDP account, and we looked at the book in question. 
(If you have never published on KDP, this might sound like GREEK to you. Sorry, I swear I will get back to the books in the dream quick.)
If you need to do this, select the book you need to look at, click the three dots to the right of Promote and Advertise. Then choose the first option edit ebook details. The screen that will appear next is the one with the books title, author name, book description, etc..
We checked his keywords to be sure he hadn't misspelled anything or included terms that could be misconstrued. Next we verified that his categories had been selected correctly. They were. That was when I spied the culprit.
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Just below the categories box is a box entitled Age and Grade Range. I took a screen shot so you could see. It's just before you decide if the book is a pre-order or not. This box is specifically for Children's Literature. I don't mean just picture books. If the target audience is a child under the age of majority and the content or reading level of the book is not suitable for younger children, this is where an author should note that. Some terminology and phrasing is not okay for 5 year-olds, but is fine for 14 year-olds. For example: To a 5 year-old kissing a frog is funny. Kissing a boy/girl is gross. To a 14 year-old that is reversed. A five year old has serious difficulty with reading/understanding adult vocabulary. That's why adults spell out complicated things that that they don't want a five year-old to know about while he/she is in earshot. A 14 year-old usually has an excellent grasp of adult vocabulary, can spell, and understand even complex sentences, and will even invent their own lingo.
As an Amazon purchaser, you should be an adult. Having said that, it's important to note that this box is intended to aid adults who need to purchase books for children to know if the book is suitable for their child's age and reading level. If you aren't writing a Children's Book, you shouldn't be clicking on anything inside this box. It's auto-assumed that by not clicking on anything inside this box, that you are intending the book for an adult reading audience (the Amazon purchaser being your intended audience). If you open the age range box and click on 18+, Amazon will dump your adult book into erotica almost by default. (Why would a children's book ever have adult only content in it?) To avoid this, simply leave this box alone if your book is not a children's book.
The second section is U.S. Grade range which stops at twelfth grade. So, if you are targeting a children's book, you can set the age and reading level for the book so that parents searching for it can choose wisely.
I hope that helps clear up that ebook issue.
If you publish paperback, and your book has graphic violence, adult situations, or explicit scenes, you should click the "yes" under adult only content, but that is because once sold, paperbacks are more easily accessed by little ones and the purchaser should be aware that your title might need to be kept in a less accessible place.  Remember that Amazon Advertising specifically focuses on ebooks, not paperbacks. (That is why the exclusivity for Kindle Unlimited is required to do countdowns and limited time giveaways.) 

Shameless Self Promotion

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Part 3 is now available for only $.99 or FREE with Kindle Unlimited! Oh he's in love with her alright. But he's deluding himself about it.  It's never too late to start reading. Lyons Gate: Ghostly Kingdom is a spin off miniseries from the Draoithe Saga of stories, and this one is juicy. A forbidden affair, secrets, shrouded past, gifts and near death experiences. Lazlo Greyson and Soraya Heffernon are about to embark an a life of epic proportions and their smoking hot love affair is only half the story.

Behind the Scenes

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The Webpage and Blog are slowly migrating over to Word Press. I never could get Printful to work on Weebly and get the merchandise up and running, so I called in the big guns and got my brother to help me. LOL. My tech skills are seriously challenged. He suggested I move everything to a new platform, so bear with me while the construction dust continues. I should have it all up and running on Word Press by July.
In the meantime, Video Books are still coming! Check out the audio read tracks on the shorts and audio page and let me know what you think. There will be music and imagery when I finish it all. I'm seriously excited. I think I got this.
I haven't stopped publishing. A new short read is scheduled to publish every week between now and Christmas so hold onto your hats. It could be a bumpy ride.
You may see less Facebook ad presence as I play with Amazon Advertising some more. Limited budget and all, but I just wasn't getting the results from Facebook that I had once gotten so I'm going to try something different and see how that goes. The whole series is winding down on the writing side of things. There are only three books left to finish. Lots of editing still to do. 
I gotta head out and get the errands run. Shopping with a facemask for classroom supplies and laundry detergent with a dragon. This Saturday could only get better if the mask was no longer necessary. Wishing for Covid-19 to be wiped out like smallpox and the bubonic plague. If you read please be kind and leave those reviews. It means more to authors than you will ever know. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, I may be a tiger, but I am real and I love to hear from you so drop me a line. Until then,
Be Careful!
Happy reading,
Ophelia Kee
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Publishing Problems

2/19/2021

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Part 2 of Lyons Gate: Ghostly Kingdom is now live. The story is gearing up. Lazlo finds proof that he should have never done business with Elliot, can he claim Soraya anyway? I hope y'all enjoy this story as much I had fun writing it. As always, Part 2 is FREE with Kindle Unlimited and this hour long short read miniseries part is only $.99 as an e-book from Kindle. It's even a paperback listed on Amazon.

Behind the Scenes 

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So I finally got the Speechelo program to draft an audio version of Draoithe: Drake and Lorelai that is pretty darn good. I'm real excited about it. Is it audiobook worthy? Probably not. I think it's video book worthy. I just need to set the reading to music and add the imagery I want to go with it. I'll finally have it. There's only one catch. I originally bought my Corel program that I use to create the book trailers a could of years ago. I still have the emails with the receipt. The issue is that my download is no longer valid. It expired. So I got my shiny new computer and I got the Speechelo working, but I can't download my Corel program to begin combining it all together to make a good video book. So oh well, back to the drawing board. I will have to make some more money to buy the program again. Shipping my old tower from Longview to Florida is out of the question and more costly than it might be worth it. So I'm working toward a new version of Corel. I haven't given up. 
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Speaking of not giving up. It has been almost a year since I first tried to create merchandise. I still haven't gotten it figured out, but I haven't given up on that either. I do so seriously wish I could focus my time on my writing instead of my day job, but so long as the day job pays the bills and my writing only makes gas money, merchandise is still on the back burner, but I haven't forgotten. Someday my copyrighted tiger and direwolf will finally be on t-shirts, coffee mugs, and posters. Until then, I will keep dreaming about how nice it might be.  

Paid For Reviews? No Way!

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For all my writer friends or others who might be thinking about self publishing. DO NOT buy book reviews. Buying book reviews can cause you trouble with the Amazon platform. Amazon is a bit crazy about deleting suspicious book reviews and reserves the right to revoke your privilege to publish your book on their platform if they deem that you violated their policy. Amazon is really against anything that might manipulate their system and cause them to have angry customers. Having said that, it is acceptable to gift a copy of your book to someone who wishes to read it for free and leave a review. You need only have an email address if you want to give your book to someone else. 
Having said that, if you're a fan, it doesn't hurt to reach out to authors. I would love more reviews of my books. Sadly, I can only ask and hope readers will be kind and leave me one or two. To all who have left me reviews Thank you Soooo! much. It's always nice to read what people think of my stories. If you ever have an issue with any of my stories, just have a comment or suggestion, or have any questions about the books, the dream, Ophelia Kee, etc... please reach out and start a conversation. I would love to hear from you.
I have to run away. Sushi is calling my name and I, like Kallik and Griz, am not ever saying 'no' to fish and/or seafood. When you read, please be kind and leave your review. Have a great weekend, and enjoy a book or two. 
Be Careful,
Happy reading,
Ophelia Kee
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Lyons Gate

2/13/2021

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Lazlo Greyson, a millionaire CEO and descendent from a line of kings, is lonely. He's finished with gold digging socialites and seedy one-night stands. He needs something a bit more permanent. 
Peter Elliot might just be able to help him find what he needs, but the man is bad news and Lazlo knows it. When Elliot introduces him to Soraya Heffernon, a beautiful, trained orphan girl, Lazlo is sold. 
As Lazlo feared, Elliot had a hidden agenda. The woman he fell in love with isn’t what he thought she was. Things take a serious turn for the worse and his whole life is turned upside down when he lands at Draoithe in need of help from the tiger queen to save his life. Meet the Ghost King of Lyons Gate, a newly crafted outpost kingdom in this spinoff story from the Draoithe saga.
Step into the dream and feel the magic... Welcome to Lyons Gate: Ghostly Kingdom The miniseries is now publishing in parts. Part one is available from Amazon and Kindle e-book $.99 and paperback $6.50. OR Read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited! Just in time to add a new favorite to your list or gain a new book boyfriend on Valentine's Day!

Shameless Self Promotion

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Draoithe: The Thread is the Prologue for Draoithe: A Pack Forms    The Prologue is now FREE!
Meet Lucas Mendez the retired army colonel and Elizabeth Miller the high school teacher before they meet one another. They both have secrets that they don’t want to share. He watches her but agonizes over how to introduce himself. She's finished with men and anyone controlling her life. Both have a past that makes everything complicated. Can he overcome his anxiety? Can she put the past behind her? IT'S Perma-FREE now. I finally figured out how to change the price on Amazon to $0.00 last weekend. It wasn't easy. There is a lot of out of date information about that on the internet. You have to contact Amazon. They have to decide. Since then people have been downloading it! I was so excited. I haven't said a word about it on social media yet. So grab your copy today!

Testing the Market

I want to see if my books might have a larger audience than Amazon and Kindle. The Thread has never been part of Kindle Unlimited! It's also FREE on Kobo, B&N, and Google Play and as a PDF from OpheliaKee.com. If you haven't gotten a copy, choose a favored reading venue and check it out! Sorry, no ibooks as I don't Apple. Total Google girl here. I know I know, there are ways. I've just never been successful outside of Amazon so too skeptical to try it. Maybe later if this experiment proves fruitful.

Behind the Scenes

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I crafted an audio book version of The Thread, but it might be a bit too computer sounding still. I will work on polishing it further. I might have finally found the solution to the expense of that problem, and I now have a new far more powerful computer with which to craft promotional items and create audio and possibly video books. I will be downloading my Corel program over the weekend and possibly purchasing Doodly and Toonly. Let's see if I figure out how to craft video books. LOL. It will be nice to finally have all my programs in one place. It might take a minute to transfer a lot of the imagery I have saved to Google drive, but I think it will be worth it in the end. Writing and Self-Publishing aren't for the faint of heart. If you want passive income, invest in mutual funds. If you want a serious challenge, try writing. 
Gotta run away, Dreamers. I hope you enjoy Lyons Gate: Ghostly Kingdom and grab a copy of The Thread. When you read, please be kind and leave your reviews. I know every author will appreciate it; especially indieauthors. If you have any thoughts, comments or suggestions please contact me. I am real, I love to be interrupted, and questions are super great. Enjoy Valentine's Day and the weekend! 
Be Careful!
Happy Reading,
​Ophelia Kee
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Audio Anyone?

2/6/2021

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Prologue for Draoithe: A Pack Forms
Meet Lucas Mendez the retired army colonel and Elizabeth Miller the highschool teacher before they meet one another. They both have secrets that they don’t want to share. He watches her but agonizes over how to introduce himself. She is finished with men and anyone controlling her life. Both have a past that makes everything complicated. Can he overcome his anxiety? Can she put the past behind her? 
Free PDF read when you subscribe at https://www.opheliakee.com/
I've been working on audio files of the books for a long time. Nothing ever worked out very well. That is until I found Speechelo. This is chapter one of Draoithe: The Thread. Give it a listen and see what you think.
I'm super stoked about this. Maybe I can finally create the video books I want to make with this as the soundtrack. I seriously need feedback, people. What do you all think?

Now Publishing!

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Magnus Jakobsen is a valravn shadow master. He’s slowly fading and has been for centuries. His brother Llewellyn Christiansen and his mate Cherie along with their involvement in training other valravne has been all that has kept him alive. 
That was until Ryley Faye arrived at Draoithe with an old friend who’d been murdered and saved from the underworld by a dragon’s blood. He owed Gaspard the debt that could never be paid and now he might just owe the gryphon twice. He’d once again rescued the reborn version of Magnus's lifemate. Only this time she lived.
Magnus Jakobsen had some debts to pay, a few enemies to settle old scores with, and a woman to claim as his own. Could he do it before time ran out and he was all but lost to the fade? Would knowing she lived again grant him the strength he needed or would a few missteps see his empire crash and burn?
Draoithe: Shadow Master  is now Live! The complete short read miniseries is now available as an ebook for only $2.99 and a paperback at only $9.69, but for all my Kindle Unlimited subscribers the book is FREE! Volume 19 everyone!

Behind the Scenes

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I need a new computer. My Asus is still awesome for writing. I can't say often enough how much I truly love this little Chromebook, but I need a lot more memory space to build the video books I want to create.
Google docs only allows 15 g for storage on drive which is perfect for the writing. 
I just need something with a bit more hardware behind it than my little laptop for all the imagery. I think the easiest thing would be to buy a gaming computer. The monitors have kick butt graphics, and they have much higher built-in memory for storing all the images and audio files I need to build.
A shout out to Speechelo is in order. I purchased this program. They offered me the upgrade to pro for one low fee when I refused the quarterly subscription. I went for it and am exceedingly happy with the results.
I intend to combine the audio files with Corel. I can't wait to see what happens next. I'm still considering Doodles. I want the stories to be animated at some point.
How cool would that be? Adult fantasy cartoons? I love the idea, but I'm no artist. I need a bit of help to do that. 
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I've got to run away. The laundry must hop into the dryer as it's raining here in St. Petersburg, FL. I am missing Longview, TX, but the day job is here, so I will suffer living by the beach a while longer.

When you read, please be kind and leave your review. You will never know how much a moment of your time means to indie authors.

Thank you for stepping into the dream and joining me on my authorwalk. Stop by the website's main page and subscribe for your free copy of The Thread today!

Until next weekend, 
Be Careful!
Happy reading,
Ophelia Kee
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Long Walks

1/30/2021

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It's been a long road to get to this point, but all 5 parts of Volume 19 in the Draoithe saga are live on Amazon and Free to read on Kindle Unlimited! For all of you who buy the books as ebooks, the complete volume will be available this coming weekend for only $2.99. Draoithe: Shadow Master ​will wrap up publishing very soon. I am excited.
Along this author walk, I realized that a few characters and stories that were not in the main line of stories had to be told after I had written a prequel and a forbye, so what to do. I wrote them and crafted spinoff miniseries. It was what had to happen. Dread Allies and several of the short reads were first, then Eyrie Iolair.  Next up, Lyons Gate. 

Cover Reveal

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Don't you just love the extinct Barbary lion? Allow me to introduce you all to Lazlo Greyson the once and future king of Lyons Gate. He has a few issues he needs serious help with, and he gets mixed up with Peter Elliot. He's a victim as so many have been, but in a way you never saw coming. I hope you all will enjoy reading about him and his ghost queen the extinct clouded leopard, Soraya Heffernon.

A Teaser

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Before you get the idea that this is a horror story, no not quite. There are some horror elements in this one. As always, this is adult fantasy and steamy pnr. There are triggers. Forewarned is forearmed. So read responsibly and enjoy the dream.

Behind the Scenes

I had to stop production on the Kings Wilde miniseries for a moment. I think my wires might have gotten crossed with Devil's Sins, Criminal Behavior or Darkest Desire (Coming Soon! To a Kindle near you!) So I gotta do some fact checking there. But I did want to let you in on the tentative title, Kings Wilde: Ace in the Hole. What do you think? Let me know. The main character is an Owl shifter named Armand King, but there are 4 other main characters who help him. When Kallik Tarkik manages to aid them by saving one of their own, they decide to ally with Draoithe to end Peter Elliot in the town of Juneau, Alaska. It's sitting at 110,000 words in 11 parts at the moment before edits, and it's not finished. So cross your fingers.
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I gotta run. Life calls me out of the dream. Look for new things coming to the dream soon. I miss writing all the time, but the day job is still necessary to pay the bills. To all who support me, Thank you. To all who are new to the dream, Welcome. I hope you enjoy the escape. If you read, be kind and leave your reviews. If you have a question, comment, suggestion, or remark, leave me a message either here or on any of Ophelia Kee's social media sites. I would love to hear from you.
Be Careful!
Happy reading,
Ophelia Kee
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January 23rd, 2021

1/23/2021

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I got busy and managed to get the duet short read Draoithe: Fairytale Shadows published this week. I promise, I didn't waste my three day weekend. Edits like crazy, but it's live! Check it out! Like all my stories, it's FREE with Kindle Unlimited!

Book Blurb!

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Alaric Dark and Elyas Night are grandmaster valravne shadow mages. Mercenaries with dark magic willing and able to handle dangerous jobs. Still, they are mercs with a conscience, and there are things they refuse to do for money; abduction, trafficking, and lab experiments among them. When they find themselves caught in a scam to trap them to study their magic and caged in a barn in one of Peter Elliot’s nefarious experiment houses, things go from bad to worse when they realize that two of the other experiments are actually their shadow ladies. They will stop at nothing to save the one’s the magic made for them. Getting out is easy. Getting over the damage that was done, not so much. Step into the duet short read and find out how two lost valravne join Draoithe and help cement a relationship between the Druid council and the valravne kings of their former home, the Black Shadow Castle. This is a companion short read that ties up some loose ends and gives further detail for Draoithe: Shadow Master (Now Publishing) and Draoithe: Dragon Wedding (Coming Soon). 

Behind the Scenes

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I'm almost finished with publishing the revised 2nd editions as 6x9 books for all the titles currently published as 8.5x11 books. We all make mistakes and I am learning. I have the formula for formatting the books written down now. I revised all the ebooks as well. So hopefully, it's an even cleaner read than it was before. If you're new to my authorwalk, I hope you enjoy the changes that were often suggested by readers. All the chapters are enumerated and the paperbacks all have page numbers and footers, even the short reads. As I now have over 300 short read titles published on Amazon. (Hey, Eric Binkley, Was this the answer to that question you asked me! Shout out to one of my readers and an early book reviewer.)
This was a serious undertaking! It has taken me over 2 months to get it all done. But no going back. Moving forward. (I write long, but publish short for better editing. All miniseries can be purchased in the complete novel length volumes as soon as I get the whole thing edited and published in parts for all of you who do not read incomplete series. I am speaking to readers like myself, lol.)
I am on track to finish writing the saga by the end of this year and to have it all published by the end of 2022. Cross your fingers. For those of you who read on Kindle Unlimited, first thank you. Second, watch for the extras. I am going to publish the main miniseries one 10,000 word short read a week as I have been doing, but if I can manage to get the short read companion stories all published at once, I will just post them to Kindle as I did with Draoithe: Fairytale Shadows.
The shorts are just hanging around bothering the novels. If I put them to work, my docs files get cleaned up a lot faster. I don't know about other writers, but too much clutter messes with me, whether it's digital clutter or actual clutter doesn't seem to matter.
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Before someone asks. Am I holding out on you? No, I'm not. Many stories have already been written. They are rough draft done with first edits accomplished, but they aren't polished finished works yet. The bells and whistles aren't there. I still have to make covers and add the details like my copyright page and about the author pages. That takes a while. For each 10,000 word miniseries part that a story is broken into, it takes about a week to get all of the formatting and the final Grammarly edit done. Grammarly is awesome, but it can't easily handle full length novels without crashing so parts for the edit is way better.
Once it's edited and ready though, I simply publish it. I mean why not? The worst thing that happens is I have one more title on Amazon. More facings equals more opportunity to be seen by readers, right? It is very hard to find readers who enjoy what an author writes, so that is always the quest in marketing and promotion. 

Bother Me! I like it!

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If you read, please be kind and leave your review. Indie authors love to see what you think more than other readers want to know. Better yet, reach out to me. I like answering questions, hearing your comments and suggestions or explaining things about the dream, the magic, and the characters who inhabit it. You never know when it may spark inspiration and add to the saga.
Email the author at opheliakee69@gmail.com
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Get updates on the characters and information on release dates for new books and free offers by visiting the webpage https://www.opheliakee.com/
I have to run away and get some housework done so I can get back to writing. Enjoy your weekend!
Be Careful!
Happy reading,
Ophelia Kee

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Three Day Weekends

1/16/2021

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Book Blurb: Frank Grimes is a lowlife, no count, barely classifiable as a human, male who just happens to have enough sense to hire and retain qualified construction workers. He landed the contract to build most of Draoithe in January of 2016. He’s not only worthless, but he’s also criminal filth. He will do anything for an easy dollar. After the Draoithe housewarming party, his true colors shine through when he attempts to rape the architectural designer in her apartment after driving her home. Luke can’t afford to let Jace kill him or allow Flame to turn him as dragonsworn, but there is no way that Frank can be allowed to just get away with what he’s done. Even the Assassin King wants him dead, and he is the dragon called to serve one miscreant underking. Sentenced to house arrest and forced labor, Grimes seeks a way to fulfill the requirements Luke sets on him to gain enough respect that Javier will turn him as a canine shifter until he meets a blood demon who wants to help Luke out. Is it possible to totally rehabilitate the walking filth that is Frank Grimes into a real man in order to help him avoid certain death and turn him into a wolf? Or will the demon simply drink him dry and slowly end his miserable existence?
Draoithe: Filth and Death Part 1 is FREE this Weekend! Grab your copy before it's gone. Step into the dream, feel the magic. Frank Grimes is filth, and he should be dead! The question is, who kills him? This is one crazy rollercoaster ride paranormal romance adult fantasy. As will all my stories, its a good stand alone read. I even added in scenes from other books so no one gets lost, but if read with the other books in the saga, it's even better! Y'all enjoy and let me know what you think.

Currently Publishing!

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As always I am still publishing new work! Draoithe Shadow Master part 3 will be releasing this weekend. Step into the dream and meet a valravn shadow master, Magnus Jakobsen, and his mate, a the lightning-shadows gifted human, Ryley Faye. It has been posted to Kindle to read for Free with Kindle Unlimited or as an ebook for only .99 and will also be available as a paperback. This is a shorter novel in the saga and will be followed by a short read extra.
​If you read, please be kind and leave your review. Indie authors need them, but paying for them is as always a no go. Amazon is very persnickety about reviews, so pretty please with sugar, if you enjoy it, leave a quick line or two. For all of you who like myself will not begin a series until it is published entirely, the full miniseries will be out by the end of January and I will as always be publishing it in a complete volume for a reduced price. Thanks to everyone who reads! I appreciate you!

Social Media

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I have been trying to keep up my presence on social media. The full-time teaching day job makes it a bit hard for me. But I do still answer messages even if I'm a bit slower returning them. Questions? Comments, Suggestions. I can still hear you as Eli says, so please drop me a line. I am a real person, no ghost writing or AI. Beta readers comments have been the inspiration for several stories in the saga. Email Ophelia Kee 
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Pick up a FREE short read, get updates on the characters, information on release dates, and behind the scenes of the dream. Visit OpheliaKee.com

In the Works!

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I ran into a bit of an issue with my excerpts from Kings Wilde. They are somewhere. I know it, but I must have saved them in the wrong file. As you can imagine hunting them down might take a minute as I might have mislabeled them since I have changed the story title on this miniseries as the story developed. It's amusing even if it is also irritating. This one is already over 100k and still climbing. I have actually rewritten parts as the timeline was wrong on about 10,000 words. I think it's all correct now, but a beta reader will soon let me know if I got it right. Until then, allow me to introduce the ace in the hole, Blade. He's a Lord of Dragons with a serious darkside. He's a necromancer, and he still practices the black magic in a time when few in the Leaindeail even understand what that means. When he swears fealty to Armand King and Nicklaus Wilde, a chain of events is set in motion that will see the end of the Eternal Partners and a serious blow will be dealt to Pillsanderz and Peter Elliot. Step into the dream, feel the magic and add a bit of gangster to the Draoithe saga in Juneau, Alaska.

Sorry I can't keep chattering with you longer, but I have writing to do. You likely have reading to catch up on, so I will run off and get some stuff done. (Mostly finding those missing excerpts.) As always if you read, be kind and leave a review. Happy MLK day. I will visit with you again next weekend.
Be Careful!
Happy reading,
​Ophelia Kee
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Indie Author Tales

1/9/2021

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Draoithe: Shadow Masters has begun publishing. I was reviewing my list, the stories that are finished and waiting to be posted to Amazon, and realized that it keeps getting longer. I thought I should wait to publish and finish the revisions for the 6x9 paperbacks first. I could not. I have 48 short reads that are ready right now.  I can't just stop publishing or the whole saga will take ten years to finish. LOL. No one wants to wait that long, least of all me. So without further ado, allow me to introduce you to volume 19 in the Saga.
This one has a bit of a twist and is a bit more of a cliff hanger than the other stories. (Sorry about that in advance.) When you get to the end you'll understand, but this one is a crazy ride. Meet the latest Rogue Kings. The valravne are terrors from Danish nightmares, but not quite the way the original horror-style fairy tales were told. 
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Shadow Master Excerpt

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Magnus Jakobsen is a valravn shadow master. He’s slowly fading and has been for centuries. His brother Llewellyn Christiansen and his mate Cherie along with their involvement in training other valravne has been all that has kept him alive. That was until Ryley Faye arrived at Draoithe with an old friend who'd been murdered and saved from the underworld by a dragon’s blood. He owed Gaspard the debt that could never be paid and now he might just owe the gryphon twice. He’d once again rescued the reborn version of his lifemate. Only this time she lived. Magnus Jakobsen had some debts to pay, a few enemies to settle old scores with, and a woman to claim as his own. Could he do it before time ran out and he was all but lost to the fade? Would knowing she lived give him the strength he needed to rebuild his life or would a few missteps see his empire crash and burn? 

The Author Walk

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I wrote over 3,000 words in this title in only a few hours, but I am liking it. It's up to almost 90,000 words, but this spinoff miniseries is looking like an excellent rough draft now. I couldn't help but share a taste of it. This one is going to get a bit dark and the necromancer will need to seek help from Draoithe before it's all finished, but the scenes keep speaking to me so I keep writing. This one is a bit like Dread Allies in its style with a string of interwoven shorter reads that form a larger tale. I promise the HEA will be there and all the juicy steamy bits are there too along with a bit of humor and the usual twists the magic lends to the tale. This time you'll find yourself in Alaska, but a dragon and four wild kings will definitely be heating up the cold nights. A bit of the criminal underworld sneaks into this story. Not every story is black and white/good and evil. Sometimes the best ones are a bit grey and convoluted enough to need therapy. If you want more like this head over to the Dream Group on Facebook and join me. I share parts of the story as I'm writing there and love to interact with readers. Hearing others thoughts sometimes aids the process. 

Behind the Scenes 

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I have started an advertising campaign on Amazon. I don't know if I'm doing it right. Likely not. LOL, but I will learn eventually. I think the trick might be not to go broke. It feels a bit like playing the lotto. I might hit it. I might not. I doubt it matters in the end. It's not as if I will quit. The addiction is quite complete. I have temporarily stopped my ads on Facebook as they stopped performing as they once did. I'm not sure what went wrong, but I was spending money on the same ad I'd been spending money on and getting results only to see nothing in return all of a sudden. I think maybe the ad needed to be adjusted, but I'm not sure how. So I will merely craft a new one or ten. I guarantee I won't be spending much money. There is never any to spend. It's a new year and new offers need to be made. I need an evergreen ad for A Pack Forms. In the meantime, I must continue on with the shameless self promotion on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Facebook. Don't get me started on Pinterest. LOL.  I would love to see you there. Follow me on the social media platforms. Say hello, share a promotion if you feel like it. It never hurts. 
I gotta run off and get some housework done. I have put it off all week in favor of the day job and my love affair with a good story. If you read in this New Year, don't forget to be kind and leave your review. 
Be Careful!
Happy Reading,
Ophelia Kee
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New Year Author Resolutions

1/1/2021

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Finishing the saga. The New Year's Resolution of an Indie Author. I want to finish writing the Draoithe Saga. I won't likely get it all published next year, but I would like to write the last scenes in the saga. I might still write other stories later that are set in the dream, but finishing the rough draft on the last few books left to write would be nice. Publishing Goals: To publish Shadow Master, Lyons Gate, Criminal Behavior, Devil's Sins, and Four Horsemen by the end of 2021. It's a big goal, but I think I might be able to pull it off.
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Author Walk 2021

As this is my Personal journal of my author walk, I want to be honest with you. Since I went back to working the full-time day job, sales dropped as fast as my promotion stopped. That told me a few things. First, this is not a part-time gig even though for now, I lack the ability to make it anything else. Second, I will never earn anything even close to commiserate to minimum wage for the labor of love that indie writing is. Third, I am hooked like a heroin addict and if this was a gambling addiction, the farm would have been long lost. LOL
I have seriously investigated free promotions and social media platforms. They are worth it and if I stay with it, I can see the impact. It isn't enough to get me what I want however (the end of the day job life). So, sorry if you were hoping I knew the road to instant success. (I don't think that really exists. There is always a back story.)
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Define Success?

If the truth is that most self published authors never make but less than $200 on their books total, then if I have in the last two years made a few hundred on my books all together, then I have done as much as most. I have also learned a lot. Is there a magic formula for success? If there is, I have not hit upon it yet. (See my previous statements about get rich quick ideas for clarification.)
What's my goal? What would I consider a true success story? Clearing $500 a month on my books would be it, I'd say. Would I love more? Sure. Is it unrealistic? I don't think so. If it never happens will I be upset? No, I will only wonder what else I should have done. Don't worry, I won't quit on you. I love to write. It's a bit of an addiction for which I seek no rehabilitation, much like my reading habit. 
I have quite a few books published, so given the size of my bookshelf, I could eventually crack the code and manage to make enough to fully fund my Roth Ira especially if writing in series is the winning strategy. (which I managed to do by accident and all the experts agree is the way to go when writing fiction.. I was only going to write one book. LMAO)
$500 a month would be a good side hustle. That would be a level of success worth shooting for. If I could multiply that figure by 5. I might be able to eek out a living as a writer. That might be far more difficult to pull off. The ball would have to start seriously rolling to manage it. How long will any of that take? I don't honestly know. I have spent two years working through the trenches knee deep in it for 6 months straight before I had to climb back into the corporate American rat race again. Still not yet. So unless or until, I will report back to my Day Job bright and early on Monday morning and dream of being a full time writer. (Or a lotto winner, same thing really, right?)

Hard Work, Not Passive Income Stream!

What I can say for sure about indie writing is this, if I am not 150% committed to my writing, publishing and promoting, then the amount of time it will take is astronomical, unless I put in cash. There-in lies the rub. How much is not enough? What is the too much mark? But the real question has always been: where does this money come from? With no guarantee on the investment, it is difficult for an old country girl like me to part with the hard earned cash. 
My current working theory is this: I need to be advertising on both Facebook and Amazon. Twitter is far too complicated for ads, and Pinterest won't like this, but they can't keep their systems connected properly without a lot of help on the platform user end. My lack of computer tech skills is legendary. So...
​Instagram and tumblr are better bets, even if I won't be likely to spend there either. I still intend to use Youtube as a cache for my video and audio content, but sadly when my weebly comes up for renewal, I might not buy the webpage again. It is expensive and I don't see the pay off for it yet. Especially as my stories are at this stage far more of an expensive hobby than a profitable business venture. So I see having a website as a push in the community, but it might be an expense better saved for that success milestone instead unless you just have the money to spend. 

Shameless Self Promotion!

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This Weekend Draoithe: The Dark Gift Part 1 is FREE! Grab a copy for your tablet or new e-reader. A bad boy vampire with a secret finds a desperate broken vampire. Can he save her before her loss destroys him?
For those of you who have been with me through the struggle, y'all know that this one is really my favorite story even thought Filth and Death competes with it on some levels, The Dark Gift is the purest PNR that I have written. 
I usually have a serious amount of adult fantasy woven into my stories as a running back story, but this one is far more romance than anything else. I hope you will read and enjoy. Stop by for more as I am always trying to give away a few stories.
It's time for me to run away and handle the business of life. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and will enjoy a good read or two from my bookshelf. If I can answer any question or you just have a suggestion or comment, please drop me a line. My author walk continues into 2021 with the same zest for writing and ridiculous hope for the future of the dream even if my measurement for success has been redefined by the truth of my life. When you read, please be kind and leave your review. It only takes a moment, but an indie author will appreciate you for eternity for that one moment.
Goodbye 2020. Welcome 2021!
Be careful!
Happy reading,
​Ophelia Kee
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Christmas Writing

12/26/2020

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As a classroom teacher, the day job is serious and often requires most of my attention. Sure I work the 8 hour shift, but planning, grading, and prep work often goes on after hours and teachers burn the midnight oil probably a bit more productively than most undergrads. The holidays are nice well deserved breaks from the routine and long hours. It's a respite time for unwinding, relaxing, enjoying the family, home cooked meals, and finally, when even that's done, it's time to write!
This year, the job sees me in Florida and the tight money situation that I need to climb out of has forced me to sit still and miss most of the family stuff. I'm refusing to cry about it. Instead I have turned to my writing for solace and am over 10 k up in the Kings Wilde story I started a long time back. It's getting good. So long as the scenes flow, I want to write. 
Is it the story I thought I needed to finish? No. Is it a Christmas story? No. Is it a traditional PNR? No. But I don't write the stories I want to write. I write the scene the way the characters reveal it to me. I have no idea what's coming next, but it's going to be good.
This miniseries is the strangest of tales. Mafia romance meets paranormal fantasy. Need a glimpse? I've shared bits of this story before, but allow me to introduce the old man.
"Viktor was starving. He’d been shot. He woke up as a polar bear. Someone had burned down his house, and he was being spied upon. It wasn’t turning out to be a good morning. A shot of vodka might be in order before someone died. Retirement might be for dead men." -Viktor Wilde From Kings Wilde by Ophelia Kee Coming Soon!

Shameless Self-Promotion

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FREE for Christmas!
Draoithe: A Pack Forms Part 1
Pick up your copy today! Step into the dream with me and meet the men and women, immortal and human who color the landscape and live with the magic. The epic saga starts here, but if you truly need a grand escape there are many volumes in this colossal saga. If you love PNR and adult fantasy, check this series out! As an indie author, I have no issue debasing myself and begging for reviews even though my ethical code prevents me from ever paying for them. If you are new to the dream, welcome! If you have been with me for awhile, sincerest thanks at Christmas, you are the reason the story must be told. Questions, Comments, suggestions? I would love to hear your thoughts. Drop me a line somewhere when you finish a read.  Need another free read? Visit Ophelia Kee and grab Draoithe: The Thread to go with it.

Merry Christmas

I want to wish you all Merry Christmas. 2020 has been a harsh year. Loss of our customs and traditions due to the strictures placed on us in our attempt to defeat a disease have caused hardships the world over. But it's not all sad and depression. I have spent my life wanting out. Allow me to be the one who offers you hope in my sure knowledge that there is always a way out! As I look toward the New Year, I have hope that my stories will aid others in their escape whether it be a moment or a few hours. In a real sense, sometimes just a small escape allows us a chance to see the world around us in a new light. So please allow me to encourage you to read, enjoy art, music, and literature. See the play, watch the movie, dance with others. One of greatest contributions mankind makes to the world is inspiring thought and interest through cultural endeavors. One of the oldest forms of entertainment is storytelling. I'm not the best, but I did choose to write the story in my mind. If it may entertain someone else, then that was the point. Merry Christmas Everyone. I'm looking forward to the New Year in the dream. May you do the same. 
Be Careful!
Happy reading,
Ophelia Kee
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