Book 4 is COMING!

Finally, brain and weather signed a peace treaty in favor of me actually getting some work done, so it's time to share. The fourth book of the Heroes, World, Universe Chronicles, A World Reborn: Children of Heroes, is on its way! I still have some minor work to do-- checking formatting, making a marketing flier, fun stuff, but I'm setting the release date for April 20th and will have pre-orders available soon.

Print Cover Design

Once more I'm aiming for $15 for the print and $3.99 for the ebook. I'd love to make cheaper print options and hardbacks available someday, but the trade paperbacks are beautiful and very sturdy so well worth the price.

I'll leave it at this since I'd like to jump into updating my website and the bits and pieces to set it all up. I really enjoy the work and hope to keep bringing you even better options, stories and characters as I go. Thanks to everyone for the amazing support as I grow with each new experience!

Keep writing!

Made a Thing

Well, another thing. At some point, humility seems insincere since I've made a lot of things and I've busted my butt while I'm at it. Share time...

 

And there it is. I shouldn't have slacked off on actual making a virtual flier, but it did completely slip my mind. UnNamed was already released as well, but I may hold off on designing one until I set UnSung up for release.

Oh man, oh man, UnSung will be huge though... Now that I've stripped away all word count concerns by sticking to self-publishing, I'm still two scenes away from finishing Part One of Three and I'm at a whopping 70K words already. That's the 'minimum' word count for most adult novels already (anything smaller usually gets called a novella). Keep in mind, I'm also fairly skeletal in the beginning. When I flesh out some of the rushed scenes, that sometimes boosts my count up another 5-10K. I would not be surprised if this story reaches the 200-300K range.

It's a vague set of numbers but maybe more details will shed light on this. I've mentioned before it's a complex story to write, but that is because I labor to make these ideas much simpler to read. To give you some insight, the story starts with the bard, Aiden. He is a young man who can't speak and lived most of his life as a slave before escaping. He is running from place to place, always afraid he will be returned to his master. He meets a strange young woman named Lilith that decides she is useful to him, but to help, he has to go with her to a mysteriously abandoned city where trade once flourished. To him, literally anything is better than going back to his master.

The story also follows a girl he met prior to his escape, a fire dancer named Talia. Life seems perfect-- she's at the top of her class, close to graduating, has a wonderful boyfriend. After fleeing from a scene where she might be suspected of murder, she travels alone to a place where she doesn't know anyone but is befriended by a performance troupe. When she auditions for them, she displays a very unique trait. She is separated from them and begins to believe that maybe she is cursed to wander alone.

And the murder investigation continues. Following head investigator Corvus, we get more insight into the murder that resulted in the first two characters fleeing. Only it doesn't stop there.

These are the three main plot points, but there are also smaller scenes that carry the story involving two of the Gods. I say that this is easily its own book because I'm resolving many of these plots that lead into a very different approach for Part Two. Part Three will unify all of the ideas to resolve the main conflict.

As I did on UnNamed, I am planning an epilogue that starts in a very different region on the same world. I already have the first two characters in mind, but I hope this one will be as rich and vast as UnSung is turning out to be. I do know that UnHeard is taking place on the lightly mentioned island nation to the west of the Anders. Until I write the epilogue, I don't want to commit to any details for the time being.

I'm not terribly worried about my ideas being stolen. For one, good luck arriving at all the details beyond those short descriptions. I haven't given away anything specific enough to be pinched and plagiarized. For two, nobody talks like me. I know this. How I arrive at things is not mainstream. My voice is its own thing. I am at least keenly aware of that.

Honestly, like with any story, I anticipate releasing it to everyone! Even more so, I always look forward to the next story. Physical exhaustion aside, I'm so unblocked that I'd need a spaceship to hide from my muse. And I'm so grateful for that, really. With so much else that can go wrong in life, the best thing I can ask for is a relentless muse.

Well, I'm off, friends! Thanks for reading and, if you're one of the others, keep writing as well.

As for me, more to write, more to design. I'll keep you posted!

Busy B

It certainly took Kindle Scout long enough to review, just to get back a rejection. I've seen some Hot and Trending books tanking on there so there's no telling what their criteria there is. Honestly, I'm so sick of identity politics deciding trends these days that I'm more than happy to continue self-publishing. 

So I'm putting UnNamed to the paces to prepare it for a release this week. Have not yet decided on pricing, but I'm thinking $3.99 for the ebook, but print will be determined by print cost. Once that goes through, please look for Book 3 completing the Truth about Heroes trilogy by the end of February. I'm working on painting the cover this week then I'll set that up. I'm hoping to shove all three into a text-only omnibus as well.

Believe me, this is no Cloud Nine experience. It's fraught with highs and lows like any other. As frustrating as that can be. I've only been doing this since August. Barely over half a year since I put myself out there. I don't market much and a good deal of groups don't let you unless you're in on the circle jerk. Which I'm not. I'm just not into manipulation when all I want to do is find an honest audience. I'm probably a little too 'pure' for quick results.

This is also part of the reason why I'm aching to do a web comic. I get a lot of positive feedback for my drawn stories. I can't churn out ideas with the same satisfying speed as writing alone when I'm drawing, but I do get a lot of positive feedback for my style and wit.

And let's face it-- I'm not one of those group hug types. I don't spend gobs of time stalking other writers and artists because I'm crunching to do the actual work. Oh, and I'm just not the fangirl type. I don't get starstruck, I don't rub elbows and squee. I might collaborate, but I'm a bit of a slave-driver when it comes to work. I'm sure that works for some people, but I'm just not a girlie-huggie kind of person. Yes, I probably do have a feminine voice as a writer and I write about things that I like, which as a woman are probably things other women will like. But I'm just not a we-womens-gotta-stick-together ride-or-die-girlfriend type either. Hyphens mean serious business, I'm telling you.

I will never ever claim to be an expert and I'm not looking to convince you I'm an expert. In fact, as much as I've read, the more I find Ernest Hemingway's simple quote to be true: "We are ALL apprentices in a craft that no one ever masters." Sure, we all want to make a mark, be quoted, have fans-- I would never deny that. However, if that means being safe or trendy, forget about it. I'll take a little niche market where all I can ever afford is making my fish eat as long as I can tell my stories.

You've seen plenty of my writing in public forums by now. I hope that if you haven't checked out my writing, you do so. Keep in mind, I know there's a lot of cringe in the introduction of my first series' book. I had always debated about rewriting it, but the more I read it and cringed, the more I realized that the awkward charm was fitting for the very awkward start of an adventure. I didn't want these characters to be eloquent and bad ass right out of the gate. It may or may not have been a good decision, but I committed to it because there are other stories to write and sometimes you just have to let your babies grow up. I feel like as the series matured, it began to show off the years I put into it. My characters were maturing with me (or dying off or 'retiring').

For that reason, UnNamed is a testament to how I matured as a writer. I think one of the best things about the advent of self-publishing is that we can let people see our work and learn how to market and value our own work. We can aim to please or aim to challenge and there are no literary snobs that have the power to shut us down. We get to grow in the public eye, not just when someone deigns to look down their nose at us. And it's a beautiful thing, somewhat quaint and ancient, like times when all you needed was a bound book and quill, copying each word by candlelight to immortalize your words. Now, anyone who puts in the time and passion can put a piece of themselves to market.

Woe betide the reader who now has to weed through the garden with all this burden of choice and no guarantees! So like the days when I picked up a book with no words on its cover, no idea what I was about to read and took a chance. Some of the touted classics bored me to tears but I've found joy in the 'trash' that critics will slam too. I don't think self-publishing dirtied the pool. There have been bad covers, poor editing and crappy plots long before that was ever a thing. Whatever standards people will claim exist to preserve the 'dignity' of literature have long been tainted by trend and politics and the whims of agents and publishers. It has never been a pristine pool and to be honest, my fondest memories of swimming were never in chlorinated pools but in dirty creeks.

Lastly, all my love to the risk takers who will read a new author's work (and not just the ones on those circle-jerk lists). It's so difficult to get those people who will invest time in you, who find you interesting and refreshing and want to see what you can do. I'm going to write with no guarantees of fortune or fame. I'm not going to please everybody, but I'd like to believe I have something to contribute. So I'll labor under that hope.

Keep writing! And stay tuned for more updates.

Campaign is Ready!

https://publishizer.com/unnamed/

There's the link.  I'm not sure how this will work.  Let's face it; I'm new and I don't know many people at all.  I'm deep in my craft so I don't network much. Still, I decided to try a campaign to see if I can actually interest people in my latest series.

Until Christmas, the campaign will take preorders.  Once it's over, I can either choose from the interested publishers or I can dissolve the campaign (preorders won't gets charged) and petition publishers\agents myself. Whatever happens, I'm determined to make it happen.

Okay, I'm determined to make a lot of things happen. I know that. Comic books are still one of those things. I love drawing and I don't suck at it.  I have stories to tell and I don't suck at it. I do intend to at least finish the stories and series I've started before throwing my weight into comics.  It would be stupid of me to not use the talents I have to find my niche.

It's hard for artists to ever "make it." I know a couple of successful artists even though I know a ton of talented ones. They all work hard and they all work smart, but it's largely about luck. And who you know.  Which is a big ouch for me. I'm a small circle kind of gal and not an elbow rubber at that. 

I can only hope that somewhere along the way, I can make a decent living at it. We'll see. Like I said, I'm new and luck is fickle.

If you want to help, be sure to share the link on social media. I share everywhere I can, but of course I love what I do. Secondhand support is always valuable!

NaNoNovel: UnNamed

Spent today just working on a book cover for UnNamed, which if you haven't read the previous post or the title, it is the novel I will do for NaNoWriMo in November.  I'm really excited to be able to share it.  It's turning out pretty amazing.

It's like a falling star...  Seriously, that title placement wracked my brain, but popular opinion seems to be leaning towards the middle one.  Letter shadowing is still under scrutiny too. The black border is only because I screenshot it in PhotoShop.  I may be redoing the mercenary there, give him some proper shadow detailing and such, but damn, did I do that?  

For $65K in student loan debt, you're damn right I did.

NaNoWriMo! Let's Get Psyched!

I've seen some of my writer friends posting about it for years and finally reached the day where curiosity won over and I'm itching to try it.  I'm dabbling with notes on a new idea for a fantasy series, this one with a specific set of self-imposed challenges.  The books will not be set in the same world, each will standalone but will have one common theme: a specific psychological or physical limitation.  Voice, style and POV will be integral in developing the pace and plots.  I don't want to say too much-- I'd prefer not to know if it's been done before or have someone beat me to the punch if it hasn't. 

In any case, it's what I'm bringing to NaNoWriMo, a basic intro I started and a notebook full of scribbled notes I'm excited to put to paper.  How I will juggle it with illustration for book 3 of my current series remains to be seen.  I will need to put my fanfic and other WIPs on hold to divvy up the time better, but I'm excited to be getting another series going alongside my flagship series.

FYI, this new series will still be adult, but more for language and violence, not for gratuitous sex.  Female writers tend to get shit for that and I intend to prove I can write just fine without it.  I also intend to keep writing books with smut here and there because it's human and I'm not uncomfortable with how people express it.  Challenging myself does not mean I'm going to write formulaic bestsellers just to appease the market.  The rebel in me just loves to fly my middle finger.

If there are any fellow NNWM participants out there, share some details in the comments!  Shameless plugs for any of your published work and links are highly encouraged too!