Pieces of Stars

A Shot of Adrenaline...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:40:00 +0000

I'm not feeling it today and I haven't been for a few days. I've been sick and New Baby has been teething. It's hard to sleep when you're all plugged up and you have a sad little man who demands comfort in the form of not sleeping, but rather rocking and holding and loving. Which I don't mind. I love being a mom.

However, fatigue is NOT a good motivator. 5:30 AM is difficult when you've been up all night. And skipping the afternoon nap is downright impossible. I have gotten some work done on Zyander and another Angelic Agents story I've been working on, but it is slow going.

Still, I have not forgotten my WOTY. I may be down, but I'm not out! I still have the goal of finishing Zyander by the third week of March. I still want to be at LEAST edited, if not proofed by April 30th. But overall, I want this book to get finished, and kick butt! :) I'm excited to see what fans of the last book have to say about this one.

Other things on the world of the web:

FREE BOOKS. No, really. I'm serious.

Baen, the most awesome publisher of sci-fi, is giving away their books. Because they are AWESOME!!

GO HERE.

Also, have you heard of Lendle? If you have a kindle and an addiction to buying indie books, then this might be the place for you. Check it out HERE.

Remember when I did that series on Author Etiquette: HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE?
Well, not to toot my own horn or anything, but it turns out it was kinda true. Read about that, OVER HERE.

That's about all from me. Hoping for better news next time. Until then, Happy Reading!

Inspiration...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 21:28:00 +0000

Unfortunately, there is a teething baby in this house, so there will be no long, thoughtful post about my WOTY today. Ah, well.

There is cause for celebration, however. At just under 150,000 words, Luka's story for Aeris is now complete. There will be the inevitable edits, and I'm really not so happy with the ending line (I like a strong ending) but that's what editing is for. I'm just so excited to have two, count them TWO, of my characters finished for this book.

I've started on Zyander, but his entries will be more editing than writing at this point, so it will be slow going. My goal for him is the third week in March, at which point I will send out copies to my betas with a week deadline for feedback, then start my hardcore edits before sending the book onward to proofing. *sigh* So happy to be here, so happy to be getting my goals accomplished.

I've got lots of side projects going, but I've been making them take a back burner to Aeris. I have a fantasy short story collection that should be out in another month or so, and a sci-fi one that will be out in another week or so. There is also a super secret project that I am NOT working on, but making notes for to start up when Aeris is published.

Last bit of news... I've been kind of off the internet, so I don't have many links this week, but I wanted to plug writer Elizabeth May, who has a book called The Falconer coming out sometime in 2013. She has a GREAT entry on editing that gave me some super helpful hints on how to identify words you use too much in the course of your writing. Have you seen Wordle, guys? It's amazing. Check out my rough draft of Aeris through Wordle's eyes:

I'm not worried about "like" as I tend to use a lot of similes in my writing. "asked" and "one" are more troubling. I don't see a lot of adverbs or -ing words, so hopeful my writing isn't too passive, either. We'll see when we get to editing.

HERE is her blog entry on editing. (BTW- much of what she talks about can also be found in the excellent book: Self-editing for Fiction Writers)

One other thing. Elizabeth May also has a cool pinterest dedicated to inspiration for her book, and I thought I'd post a link to that, as well. It inspired me to create my own board with stuff that gets my creativity flowing.

Here is her pinterest board.

Here is mine. (Much smaller right now)

Hope all your goals are being reached and your inspiration is soaring!

Phoning it in...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:10:00 +0000

I had a whole huge entry about my word of the year, DETERMINATION, to share with you, but then New Baby got the croup again and I got about... hmmm... 45 minutes of sleep last night. Sometimes, as a mama, I DO have to tell myself, "You can get through this. You can, and it WILL get better." Thank goodness I have another son's experience on my belt or otherwise I might think otherwise. New mamas out there, you have my sympathy. I've been there and I understand your deep, everlasting fatigue.

I digress. On to my update. I'm so excited, guys! I'm at 145,000 words with Aeris. I'm >THIS< close to being finished with Luka's story and I've got my short story collection in proofing. One of them. The other one is in limbo because I haven't figured out the ending to one of the other stories yet.

I'm pretty sure —unless I come down with the plague— that I will, in fact, finish it by the 15th. I'm so very very excited about where Luka's story went with this book, although I think I said that about Nikka's story, too. hahaha

So that's it from me for now. I'm going out of town on Wed. So I may or may not update.

Good luck to all my fellow ROW participants and Happy Reading!

Reader Love...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:12:00 +0000

For some odd reason, maybe as a fallout to that craziness mentioned a few entries ago, everyone has been talking about readers on the web. Whether its about writing more books so your readers don't forget you or keeping yourself away from reviews as a way of preserving your author health, readers seem to be on everyone's mind.

Which is how it should be.

It's hard to remember sometimes, when we're wrapped up in our wars of words, but readers are who we do this for. Let me just say that again: READERS ARE WHO WE DO THIS FOR. I don't care if you consider yourself an "artist" or if you HAVE TO WRITE so your heart doesn't die... that's fine, but if you put yourself out there, take the leap, try to get published in any way... it becomes all about the reader.

Sometimes I think reader love takes a wrong turn into unrequited love territory. You know what I mean. You have a crush, you give your heart away, then your crush basically says to you: "You suck, you're ugly, oh and by the way I'm going to make everyone hate you." You go home, drink a bottle of wine and start drunk posting on FB (or twitter, as the case may be) about how terrible this person is, how they need to die a horrible death and how you never really liked them anyway.

True love is so great, isn't it? In a perfect world, every reader would read your books, fall madly in love and start telling all their friends how they're so lucky to have met you. In the real world, though, like love, there are people who will love you, like you, despise you, and not care really one way the other. There are people in your life who will meet you once, seem to like you, but never make an effort to be your friend. Believe me, you will find readers who are much the same.

If we could all just take the view that we need to find our TRUE reader loves, I don't think it would hurt as much. As a person, you don't want everyone in the world to love you, do you? Friends are great, and so are husbands, but I personally wouldn't want a hundred of each. Granted, the reader/author relationship is a bit different, but if we could just somehow realize that it's okay when readers love us and it's okay when they don't, because despite pouring our hearts and minds out onto the "page" we understand that not everyone is going to love us.

And that's okay. Because it's not personal. Let me just say that again, too. IT'S NOT PERSONAL. Even though it feels like it. Even though, like all the people in the world have done at one time or another, you want to scream to the skies, "Why doesn't he/she love me???" They just don't. They're not right for you. It never would have worked anyway. It wasn't meant to be.

If you take one thing away from being a writer, let it be about finding the RIGHT readers. The ones who WILL love you, cheer you on, treat you like the special author you are. They're out there, waiting. All you have to do is find them.

Here are a few of the great entries I'm talking about:
Book Bloggers HELP indie authors
Write More Books for Your Readers!
Interesting Take on Genre Fiction
Why You Probably Shouldn't Read Reviews, Authors.

Happy Reading!

PS- My ROW week has been pretty productive. Doing lots of editing and writing(though not on Aeris, though I plan to get to that next week, fingers crossed!) Good luck to all the other participants.

ROW and WOTY

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:10:00 +0000

So, I read Kait Nolan's blog when I can (that woman is seriously prolific and I have no idea how she does it, so I often find myself woefully behind) nodding in agreement with much of what she says, mulling and pondering as well. Then, the other day she introduced this concept that is just so brilliant, people. (I know, you're all wondering what WOTY is, and will I just get to the point already!?)
Word of the Year. Hers is "steady" which is a great one, I admit. For me, personally, my WOTY is

Determination.

It's an important word for me, with a book that is woefully behind schedule, plus an extra bebe to care for, a garden that needs starting, chickens that need feeding, bread that needs baking... you get the idea. My life is busy, and if I let it, I could easily admit defeat, walk away from the world that fills my dreams and imagination, and call it quits. It would certainly be the easier path then waking up early or staying up late or giving every extra moment to research and writing. I could take up crocheting or be super crafty like my super crafty sister (check my pinterest for a link to her blog).

But no. I am a writer and so I must write. So then, the question becomes one of fortitude (which is another great word). Will I give up? Will I slack off? Will I sleep in, when it's easier, thanks to my teething baby? I am DETERMINED to finish this book. I am DETERMINED not to let defeat overtake me. I am DETERMINED to put out the best product I can, even if that means taking longer, making major rewrites, and finishing 6 or 7 mths later than I expected to.

ROW: I expect to finish up my short story Siren Song by today or tomorrow, along with formatting the others to send to some beta readers and then straight to proofing. Hoping to hear back from my sister about permission for the images she wants to use for the covers and then get these done in the next week. After that, I want to finish up Luka's story line by the middle of February.

What is YOUR Word of the Year?

Here are a few links that I've gathered for your reading pleasure:

Elizabeth May: On Comparisons

Writer Dan Willis Contemplates Giving Up

David Farland's Kick in the Pants: Writing is a Long Road

Deanna Knippling: How Much is Your Writing Worth?

Happy Reading!

ROW and Link Happy Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:59:00 +0000

So, I'm home again and somewhat better, but as is the case with EVERYONE who leaves home and is gone about a month(yes, a month), I have so many many things to get done. I've written NOTHING in Aeris. But that's okay, because I HAVE been writing! I have.

I wrote a short story that I have no audience for, as far I can tell and I'm currently writing another short story that has something of an audience. I'm not sure what to do with these stories... I'm thinking about putting together a collection and trying out that Kindle Select Prime thingy.

BUT LET ME BE CLEAR... NONE of my books(Compis, Aeris, Six Keys or any of my Angelic Agents books —both of which you can get for free on Smashwords if you like Fantasy Western Romances) will ever be exclusively anywhere. I feel pretty strongly about everyone having access to them. I love Smashwords and what it represents and the fact that it's super flexible.

Probably half of the letters that I've gotten from readers telling me how much they enjoyed Compis are from people who didn't buy them on Amazon (although my sales at other venues continue to be minimal in comparison). What does that tell me? Well, people who buy on Kindle care less about letting me know if they liked my book or not. Not sure why. I guess it's a different kind of reader. Anyway, I have no desire to piss off my readers. I love them. However, I must try it, because Konrath demands we try new things as authors. I've made a commitment to try several new things this year and this will be one of them. The others will be announced soon.

So to summarize: Weird little stories about girls with keyhole universes and psychotic androids, YES. Books that people actually read and comment on, NO.

I have read some of the MOST INTERESTING articles ever in the past week. BTW, I just want to say again how much I LOVE the passive voice. It is hands down (besides Konrath) one of the best resources for writers out there. Here are a few of the stories I found most fascinating this week.

Amazon wants to kill publishers??

Readers Taste in Books vs. Publishers Taste in Books

This one is particularly good: Investing in Your Future (as a writer)

Writers Will Work for Cheap

Writer vs. Author

Enjoy all these, good luck in your goals, and Happy Reading!

Doing that Indie Thing You do...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:47:00 +0000

Hey there! Remember that THING, we talked about a few weeks back? This one, right HERE...
Well, it turns out, that's still a good idea! What a concept! For those of you too lazy to follow the link back (admit it, you are) let me just summarize.

As an author, you will get some wonderful reviews (at least, that is my hope for you!). You will get lovely emails, four and five star ratings on various book sites, you may even have your favorite reviewer send you an email telling you that she loved your book.

ON THE OTHER HAND... you will also get plenty of the other variety as well. People who will call your book bad, say it's only okay, or pretty much ream your writing until you feel like it was a useless endeavor to write in the first place. If you can't accept that as a FACT, RIGHT NOW, then you have no business in this business.

Seriously, good customer service is the name of the game, folks. We indies (and not so indie) are running businesses that require absolute professionalism from us at all times. This means ignoring the stinging one star reviews when they come (AND YES THEY WILL COME) or at the MOST thanking the reviewer for their generous time and effort in reading our work.

We charge people money. Let's not forget that. Any product or commodity on the market has fans and haters. FACT OF LIFE. That is why there are Mac people, PC people and Linux people. That is why there are Team Jacob people and Team Edward people (and I HATE TWILIGHT people).

You know what's not great, at least for me? What's MUCH MUCH WORSE than getting a one star review (which I have gotten, lest we think I'm an arrogant writer person)? What's much worse than getting a one star review is feeling horrified by another indie author who just can't take the heat. What is much worse is feeling embarrassed to BE AN INDIE —something that I've always been proud of before.

I'm going to link here because I feel like we all need to take a page from the lesson here, which is NEVER EVER DO THIS.

Posting FORTY reviews (real or not) on a reviewer's blog that YOU SUBMITTED YOUR BOOK TO, will not counteract her critical review of your work.

WHY did you think it would be a good idea to respond to a one-star review (at least twice now) with a blog post deriding said reviewer and review... how in the world did you think that would help you become an "up and coming author" as you describe yourself??

To the audience of people who reads this blog... PLEASE remember that the internet is a small world. Use good judgement and good manners. And realize one tiny little thing... IF SOMEONE DOESN'T LIKE YOUR BOOK, IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD. Pass it on.

Happy Reading!

PS- ROW update: I have actually been writing, despite a new round of sickness and sleepless nights. Luka's storyline is closer to being finished and I am really excited about the round of celebration that awaits when I finish that first draft! :)

PPS- For a full update of the reviewer/author drama, of which I highlighted on the indie part, go HERE.

Determination...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:03:00 +0000

As I mentioned in my entry The Twelve Plagues of Christmas which somehow the lovely Blogger refused to publish, oy, I got a little off track during Christmas, for obvious reasons. But also, I got some great planning done.

And now, my big announcement... I AM GOING TO FINISH AERIS BY APRIL 30. That is writing, editing, proofing, formatting, and posting. Every dang thing that needs to be done will be done.

That's about all I have to say about that, except, good luck to all of you and welcome to all our new joiners. This is a fabulous group, I can attest to that!

Happy Reading!

A Few of My Favorite Things...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:26:00 +0000

Everyone is talking about their favorite books of the year and I've definitely got a few of my own. Some people have separate lists for indie and traditionally published, but since I don't really care either way, you're getting this list Kate style and in the order that I read them.

So, let's start off with my favorite series of the year. I couldn't pick one, so there are two, and mind you, these are FINISHED series.

The first is an indie that has now been reissued by St. Martin's press. Gone are the days where you can pick it up for $.99-$2.99, I'm afraid. It's the Trylle Trilogy, by Amanda Hocking. I admit, the first book didn't get more than a "like" from me. It was rough and I didn't really like the main character. But by the end of the series, I was completely won over to the characters, the story and Amanda herself.

My other favorite series of the year, The Fable Haven Series. I loved the first book, though the characters came off as immature. By the fifth and final books, the characters had grown up, along with the story. I cannot say enough about how high a quality these books are in the world of juvenile fiction. I plan on buying the entire series for my boys to read, because I know they'll love it and for once, I approve of the entire content!

Let's move on to books: There are a scant few of these, but I found several new favorite authors as the year progressed. Thanks to goodreads, and all of my favorite book reviewers, I read a treasure trove of good books.

1) I don't ask for much from a book, but it's got to keep me reading! This book delivered in spades, and I was up all night, riveted by this story of a normal American family caught up in a devastating race for survival. The ending was abrupt, but satisfying and I was pretty impressed with my first taste of Blake Crouch.

2) This book was recommended by my cousin, and I was once again reminded how FANTASTIC juvenile fiction can be at its best. Poetic, tragic, and ultimately morally satisfying, I recommend this to parents of kids who enjoy a thrill and some mild horror.

3) This book is a shining example of steam punk as it should be. The characters are amazing, the world is built to the nth degree and I could NOT STOP READING it. I wasn't a fan of the Uglies series, but Westerfeld really won me over with the quality of this book.

4) This book is going at the top of my all time fantasy loves. It's a book to BUY and KEEP and LOVE for me. The writing style is not for everyone, but I was transported.

5) This book was so amazing that I didn't even notice it was the hated first person present tense until page 85, so you know I liked it! There was a point with some flashback stuff that could have been corny, but actually ended up being delightful. This is an author I will read again for sure.

6) It is a big deal for me to like a werewolf book. They are a WAY overdone character type, and yet, Red proves the rule that you can make ANYTHING seem new again, if you do it well. I ate up this book in one gulp. It is perfectly timed, impeccably written, and has very little in the way of YA annoyances. Like Mary Poppins, it is practically perfect in every way.

7) No, I didn't forget one of my other favorite indies of the year. I was hoping to make the Angel's Edge series one of my favorites of the year, but alas, I didn't get to read the third (and final?) book, so I picked my favorite to highlight, Darkness in the Blood. Both of these books were excellent, but I found myself enjoying the more polished writing style of Darkness better.

8) I had a hard time with this book at first, being an American, but after some help from my Aussie friends, I was completely bowled over by the writing style, the beautiful way the story came together and well, the fact that I cried my eyes out made this book a nice end of the year surprise.

9) From the first page to the last, Laini Taylor was an unparalleled artist, weaving words and metaphors together in a unique prose I found delicious and irresistible. I couldn't get over these short stories and wished for more in the end. She will be a new favorite author for me, I can tell.

My final favorite of the year isn't really a book, it's more of a novella or short novel. It's worth noting, however, so that's why I include it. It was one of my more successful beta reads, for sure. I can't wait to read the next.

I hope your reading endeavors were as successful as mine this year.

Happy Reading!

The Twelve Plagues of Christmas...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:20:00 +0000

I had quite the interested Christmas holiday this year and in honor of the horror, I have composed a remake of a beloved Christmas Carol to illustrate it.

Ahem...

On the first day of Christmas, my sister gave to me...
A flu bug from Texas for me!

On the second day of Christmas, my sister gave to me...
Two sleepless nights (thanks to my sick infant)
and a flu bug from Texas for me!

On the third day of Christmas, my sister gave to me...
Three hacking coughs, Two sleepless nights,
and a flu bug from Texas for me!

On the fourth day of Christmas, my sister gave to me...
Four days of fever, Three hacking coughs, Two sleepless nights,
and a flu bug from Texas for me!

On the fifth day of Christmas, my sister gave to me...
Five hours of waiting (in the ER for lung Xrays of my infant), Four days of fever, Three hacking coughs, Two sleepless nights and a flu bug from Texas for me!

Let's just skip to the end now, shall we...

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my sister gave to me...
Twelve stranded days with the in-laws (they're actually very nice), Eleven books read on kindle, Ten cans of Lysol, Nine Kleenex boxes, Eight hours driving home, Seven days of meds, Six fleeing relatives, Five hours of waiting, Four days of fever, Three hacking coughs, Two sleepless nights and a flu bug from Texas for me!

So yeah, my sister gave us the plague and WHAT A PLAGUE it was. I literally did nothing but hold New Baby for about five days straight, as he was MISERABLE and wanted nothing to do with anyone but Mama. Poor little guy. My oldest son was sick for about 24 hours total, but has a lovely cough as a souvenir and so do I, for that matter. Today is pretty much the first day that I have been able to get out of bed and do anything worth talking about.

So I got zero writing done. The good news is, even in my feverish state, I managed to get work for Aeris done. I recited my story outline of Luka's final chapters over and over until I had it memorized. I came up with a rewrite plan for Zyander that is seriously KICK ASS -so excited to start that, which is a major breakthrough for me. I didn't think I could be so excited about a book after Compis, I loved that book so much, but Aeris is shaping up to be killer and man am I proud of all the hard work I've put in this year! It's taken much longer than I planned, but it will be a better book for it, and I'm hoping that my two or three edits, plus the final proofing and formatting won't take too long.

I've got the cover, had that since the summer and as soon as my first draft of Aeris is done, I will show it here, as a mini-celebration. My sister surpassed herself, yet again. And I have other, exciting news that I will reveal then, as well. It's going to be a good year for me, and I hope it will be for all of you!

This will be my first year of ROW that I get to do the WHOLE year and I am just shocked at how many people have signed up this year. It used to be a teeny tiny group and now it's in the hundreds! This is thanks to Kait and all of the great authors who support each other and bring on the positive feedback. I've met so many great authors this year and made a lot of great friends. Look forward to meeting more of you!

-Happy Reading!

Author Etiquette Rule 4

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 23:53:00 +0000

Where did the week go? It slid by with alarming quickness. So fast, in fact, that despite my intention to write a mid-week entry and go visit the other blogs on the Twelve Days of Christmas list, I sit here today grouchy and out of sorts. Well, that is one of the reasons. The other reason is that New Baby has hit a growth spurt, AGAIN, and decided eating is more important than sleep.
Readers, let me tell you, it is amazing how quickly this boy grows. At 3.5 mths, he has now made his way into the 6-9 mth size clothing. How is this possible? His brother was a chunky one, yes, but did not grow out of his clothes nearly so fast!
I have moved past the mourning phase of my character's death. It still saddens me, and that is a great place to write from, but it no longer has me halted without words. I'm up to 138,000 words. I meant to get up to an even 140,000 on Aeris this week, but I've needed a nap every day, and with New Baby's schedule being off, I find that my writing time has become very limited. It's catch-as-catch-can these days. Ah well, I knew it would be.
I would just like to thank the reader who sent me the lovely email last week, telling me she was willing to wait, even if the book didn't come out till spring. Those are good words to hear, because even though I'm almost(yes, almost!) done with Luka's story line, I still have Zyander to tackle and he has been a bit difficult this time around. :)

So, on to my next rule for authors, and this one, IMHO, applies directly to the indies of the world. Remember that forums count as an online presence.

Now it's certainly true that we all have our own private(ish) online handles that we use when we go forum hopping. I am a recovered Sims addict, and back in the day I would spend hours online discussing it with other Sims addicts. But then there is the "author persona" we adopt when we go online as our author selves. I've been to a few different places online where authors interact, but I'm going to use MY favorite, and the one I've mentioned a few times on this blog: Kindleboards.

Ah, Kindleboards, land of the kindle reader, spicy soup of the hopeful author. When you go to the Writer's Cafe, which I have frequented, you will find a variety of things, as a reader, that will make you CRINGE.

1) The "Woe is me, I got a bad review, readers suck" post. Let me just clarify... sometimes these can be hilarious posts, filled with self-deprecating humor and good will. When that happens, you come off looking great. But when your post is filled with the whiny complaints of an author who can't STAND to see someone hate their book, you don't look so great. Not everyone is going to like your book. If you can't accept that now, then this is SOOOO not the industry for you. When you put your books in a public forum, you have to accept that they will be praised and reviled publicly. Instead, focus on reaching YOUR AUDIENCE. A few good reviews by people who actually like your quirky book on leprechaun love stories will go much farther than a one star review where someone says, "This book is for people who don't like good books." If I were a reader, I wouldn't take it seriously. Remember that readers CARE what you say about them. As a reader, I pay attention to what writers say. A surefire way to turn me off of you FOREVER is to B-I-T-C-H about another reader.

2) The "come visit my blog, I'm awesome" post. Kindleboards have pretty strict rules on where you can advertise your book or blog. But there is a space where you can toot your own horn, so to speak, and invite people to read your newest post. I guess if you're an awesome blogger, like Robin Sullivan, you could do something like that and still be awesome. If you're Joe Schmoe writer who I've never heard of? You just come off as arrogant. Instead of making empty posts that really only point back to yourself, make it a point to visit other bloggers and engage with THEM. It's what I talked about earlier. Care about others and it will come back to you, I promise.

3) "I'm posting something I hope people will argue about" post. I made the mistake of doing this myself, once. Ooops. In my case, it was an honest mistake, as I was linking to a Konrath post I thought was interesting. I forgot that his subject matter can be quite radioactive sometimes and inadvertently started a firestorm of posts. I posted the link that morning and later that afternoon, came back to about 7 pages of people arguing over it. I was shocked. I was also shocked by the vehemence of the arguing. It was almost as if these people had forgotten that READERS visit the writer's cafe. Yes, that's right, your sniping and carrying on, your pettiness, all those are being witnessed by potential readers, so let's all try our best to NOT engage in that. It just doesn't look great, unless you can do it in a way that isn't going to seem negative, which is hard to do when arguing a point.

4) And the fourth and final no-no... posting about sales (or talking about it too much in someone else's post). And no, I don't think there is anything wrong with a healthy celebration over good sales or talking about trying out different price points. We are in a business, after all. It's actually pretty healthy to view yourself as a business entity, because it helps you to take the sales rise and fall cycles with a grain of salt. What I'm talking about are the people that post OVER AND OVER (and yes, if I wanted to, I could name names) about their lackluster sales. "I only sold 2 books this month." I see the same person say that every time someone talks about sales. I get that it is disappointing, but first of all, saying you are barely selling doesn't make me want to take a chance on you. It makes me think there is a REASON you're not selling. Whether it's because your book sucks or it's just in a niche genre I wouldn't be interested in. Second of all, when you talk about it ALL THE TIME on EVERY FORUM, it seems like you have your head up your ass. Sorry. That is frank talk, but it's the truth as I see it. And again, I want to reiterate that there is NOTHING WRONG WITH TALKING ABOUT YOUR SALES OR LACK THEREOF. It's just the obsession that doesn't come off well.

I could go on and on with this, but dinner calls. There may be another post on this one. :) Hope all of you are hitting your goals this close to the final days of ROW, and that you have a Merry Christmas. (or whatever you celebrate this holiday season!)

Happy Reading!

Accidental Death

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 05:26:00 +0000

First, a confession... not much written on the book this week. I've been working overtime on Christmas prep. I may as well give up, because the rest of December is going to be just as crazy. Not to mention the fact that I just got the new Kindle Touch for an early Christmas present. It is much easier for me to use than the regular Kindle (I guess I'm just lazy, hahaha) and I've been squirreling away books using my birthday money.

I had a hard week with writing, I'll admit. Not just because of the Christmas rush. I had to kill off a character this week. I was determined not to do it in this series, because I HATE it when my favorite characters die in books. Even in George's books. But despite my resolution, one of my favorite characters died this week. I was sick to my stomach and as heartbroken as if I had seen it happen in front of me.

My brother scoffed at me when I was relaying my sadness over the loss to my mom (who I talk about ALL my books with). He couldn't understand how I could "let" that happen. I'm the author, shouldn't I be in control of what happens? No. No, I'm not. I'm still reeling over it. When a story takes over, as it does for many writers, I believe, I seem to have no control over some things that happen. Editing only goes so far and only when I know that a story line gone off on the wrong track.

So, that was hard. As I said, this was a much loved character for me and I'm sooo sad. Oh, and sorry if that is too spoilery for anyone. (Claudia) So writers, does the story take over for you, or are you in control of everything that happens? Have you ever had to kill off a character you loved? Or readers, have you ever lost a character you love?

I meant to write an entry on my favorite cliches, but I don't have the heart today, so maybe I'll write a Wed. entry for a change!

Happy Reading!

Author Etiquette Rule 3

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:09:00 +0000

Well, hello all. I hope you're enjoying this fine Sunday. I am, as I sit curled on my parent's couch in front of the fire, New Baby slumbering in his chair at my feet. It is a glorious and sunny day, but freezing, so I'm happy to be inside. After this, I'll be working on Christmas presents, but I hope to get in some writing today (possibly tonight) so I can bump my sad little word count for Aeris, up past the 134,000 count. December is a busy month for me, but I'm hoping to finish up Luka's story line at least and then head into Zyander's. Zyander requires the most rewrites, so I'll have to go back and do some rewriting before I finish out his story, to reflect the changes I talked over with my sister. And now, on to my entry!

We're switching it up a little this time, any instead of talking about how authors present themselves with their marketing endeavors, let's chat for a minute about how we present ourselves with our writing. Setting aside the very real need for proofing and proper English, let's instead consider the characters and the stories. I hadn't intended to talk about this for a while, but it's something that IS on my mind, as a writer and more importantly, a READER. Then, one of my favorite reviewers, Kat Kennedy, wrote an entry on it, and I just couldn't help myself.

Here is the link:
Cuddlebuggery

Essentially, the gist is this: authors, please consider your overworked stereotypes. I agree with this premise, but move it to a more blunt statement. Authors, please don't consider your readers to be stupid. Sure, we see the "Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" moments in the media, where we all start to think that humans have gone backward in development and we all watch TV waaaaaaay too much. But despite the reading world's love of Twilight, we are still smarter than the average bear.

For instance, one of my LEAST favorite archetypes for women is not the slut or the evil female. Mine is the Damaged Loner. We've all seen her in a cop show, usually one that has a woman as its main character. Here is her story: Someone was killed in her past, leaving her bruised and grieving. Swearing revenge, she focuses her entire life on become a part of the system that will bring justice in such situations. She could be a cop or investigator of some sort, but the outcome is still the same. She is emotionally stunted, unable to have a single healthy relationship, she works WAY too much and has no life outside of what she does for a living. There are a string of men, needy and gentle, who fall for her, but she breaks them one by one in her endless need to prove that she has what it takes.

I can name a dozen TV shows and books that feature this character and let me tell you, I am SICK TO DEATH of her. Gimme a break, writers of the world. Switch it up, will ya? Give her a family, a husband that she loves, or make her seem human somehow. Just stop expecting me to stand by and watch while she destroys her life piece by piece. Boring. And let me just say, as a reader, I'm smart enough to get that this is LAZY writing.

Here's another that I can't stand, though it's not a character, but merely a plot point that is so popular in YA fiction: The Love Triangle. GAG. I understand that putting some difficulties in the way of the main character's love story helps keep the drama alive for those teenage readers, but really, how fun is it to read about two really likeable characters where one of them gets their heart broken? Apparently, barrels of fun, since almost every YA book features a deliciously tragic love triangle.

Hmm... this is turning into a reader rant. hahaha Just consider who your characters are and what they accomplish. If anything is possible in writing, then why not pretend that there is a world where gender has nothing to do with anything?

I'm not saying you have to go that far, my dear authors, but at least, as Kat says, consider changing them once in a while.

Happy Reading!

Christmas Break...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:55:00 +0000

I'm a December baby, one of those embittered souls whose childhood consisted of birthday/Christmas combos and leftover Christmas wrapping paper (because that was all they had, you see). Luckily, thanks to my awesome parents and my own general ability to ignore stupid people, I LOVE Christmas. Or you know, whatever you call this "Holiday Season". To me, it's Christmas, with Douglas Fir trees, homemade gingerbread cookies with buttery frosting (yes, I make them myself!) and crammed stockings.
My favorite part of Christmas, however, is what my family did every year as I was growing up —pile into the family van (there were 8 kids, so yes, it was a VAN) to drive around and look at the Christmas lights. I don't know how it got started, I was probably too young to remember, but I do know that as we drove around the city, oohing and ahhing over the fairy colors and pulsing brightness, I wished it would last all night. Starting at the top, with my Dad, each of us would pick a favorite Christmas Carol to sing as we went along. It was sort of a game to see how long we could keep going until we couldn't think of any more.
My Dad invariably picked "Joy to the World", my mom "O Little Town of Bethlehem" or "Silent Night". My favorite song, hands down, was and always will be "The Twelve Days of Christmas". What isn't there to like? The song has everything, plus when you get towards the end you can sing it faster and faster until the words spill out of your mouth till you can hardly pronounce the words.
I hope to share that Christmas Tradition with my own boys, someday. Here's hoping you find your own to share!

Be sure to read all the entries for the Twelve Days of Christmas blog event! Use the link on the top of my blog.
Happy Reading!

Author Etiquette Rule 2

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 22:05:00 +0000

First, good news! I am happy to announce to my fellow ROWers, I have finished Nikka's story line in Aeris. Yay! I'm at 132,500ish words. It feels so good to have that chunk of the book done (except for a few things I'll be editing in) and now I'm onto Luka's story line. I'm kind of avoiding Zyander right now, hahaha.

I still think the final word count will be close to 170,000 words, but I'm hopeful to get the rest of the book done this month, unless my kids keep getting sick and depriving me of sleep, that is. New Baby had the croup earlier on in the week, which was kind of scary because I've handled BAD asthma before, when I was a nanny, but never croup and all I know about it I read from Anne of Green Gables. So I had to put in a call to the doc, and I've had two sick children keeping me up all night, basically with no break or naps all week long. Needless to say, my writing has suffered. I have higher hopes for next week.

On to the next segment of author etiquette: Author Response. For this section, I want to talk about reviews. We live in a small online world. Because of the ease of access, it is simple to get keep records on everything said or commented in this world. It's important to remember that as an author, because sometimes our emotions lead us down paths that we don't plan for. Here are the examples I can think of off the top of my head:
1) Commenting on reviews for your book.
2) Commenting on reviews for other books.
3) Commenting on blogs.

Let's start with number one. Everyone gets a scathing review at least once. If you haven't gotten one yet, you will eventually. It's a no-brainer. It may not be a one star review, but someone is definitely going to rake you over the coals and make your skin sting. That being said, no matter WHAT someone may say about your book, it's probably not the best idea to comment on it in a negative way. First, it makes you look petty and insecure and second, it's just not professional.
There is also the case of commenting on a good review. I know there are a lot of authors out there who thank readers for their review. That is certainly an individual's prerogative, but again, I recommend not, simply because again, it looks petty, especially if you only say thanks for the good ones. :) Not that we're not all tempted, of course!
Imagine it from the reader's perspective for a minute. If you have something to say about a book, and it's personal opinion, how safe would you feel giving that opinion, if you feel like you can't be honest? Places like goodreads are supposed to be a safe space for readers to come and talk about what they're reading, whether they like a book or not. If the dialogue becomes about "shaming" the reader into always being nice, then why are we even there? Goodreads isn't about everyone having the same opinion about something. For instance, one of the reviewers I respect the MOST on goodreads has a completely different opinion on the book Evermore than I do. That is OKAY. And hopefully, the author of that book realizes that my 5 star review is just as valid as her one star review. My reasons for liking it are as different as her reasons for hating it. Again, that is OKAY. :)

This leads me to topic #2, commenting on OTHER author's book reviews. Recently, I came across some goodreads drama, when another of my favorite reviewers, lambasted a book that to be honest I've never read. Another author among the goodreads clan (an indie) took it upon herself to take this reviewer to task on her style of reviewing. Needless to say, this is just as bad as arguing with a review of one of your own books. This author was openly challenged and derided for trying to stifle free speech on goodreads. Not the best way to get attention, let me just say. Respectful debate is always welcomed, but I think that your best bet is to keep a professional tone and not get pulled into making explosive statements which let me assure you WILL come back to bite you.

In the third example, I point you to blogs like JA Konrath, The Sparkle Project, and Drenched in Words, where one author after another says things about readers, reviewers and sites that would make most readers cringe. Authors, we love your books, but sometimes we don't. Please don't hate us forever because we can't like everything or make everyone happy. And certainly don't say something like this: "Goodreads continues to make me miserable almost daily. I can't go a week without checking to see how far my rating has slipped. Then I go and check out the one and two star reviews to see what nasty things people have to say about me. Then I go and try to determine why a person who is supposedly my friend gave me four stars when they should obviously give me five. Are they just pretending to like me? Then I try to hunt down people who gave my book 5 stars and see whether they just do it for everyone. Then I curse people who gave my book a bad rating and yet say they didn't finish it. Then I compare readers' ratings for other books to mine to see what books they liked more than mine. Then I perform scientific experiments to see how long I can remain on Goodreads before the vein on the side of my head starts to turn blue. "

There are many things I could say about the above paragraph, and some of them will be for a later addition, but for now, I will simply say, saying you hate goodreads is like saying you hate readers. It's a site MADE for readers. Readers are what keep you in business. Let's all try to remember that as we go forward.

Happy Reading!

Author Etiquette Rule 1

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 23:04:00 +0000

So, hello all in the internet, reader and writer. First a quick status update. As of right now, I'm at 128,000 words for Aeris. I'm deep in my groove now, and the words are flying out of my fingers whenever I can scrounge up the time to devote to them. My new method of attack? I ditched the idea of continuing to write the three stories simultaneously. The book has become so long that it was mentally debilitating (not an exaggeration) to continue to write on it day after day, word after word, and know in my heart that thousands and thousands of words were left until the end.
Currently, I'm writing Nikka's storyline. I've had it mapped out for a while now, and the tricky ending has been conquered. I estimate that I'm about 4-5 chapters from the end of her story line, about 6,000 words for those of you keeping track. That will bump me up to 134,000ish and she'll be done. For the rest of Aeris, if I go off of what Nikka's story has cost, word wise, Aeris is going to end up at 170,000 words. And no, I don't think I'm going to get it done in the fall. I will be danged lucky if I get it done by the end of December, writing my butt off to do it. Still, it feels good to be almost done with Nikka. Next up will be Luka, then Zyander.

On to other topics. I've been wanting to do a series on things that bug me as a reader that authors do. How they behave in public, what they do in the internet arena, how they interact with me, Kate The Reader. This will all be subject to personal opinion, but judging from some of the blogs I've read lately, I'm not the only person who feels this way.

Here is my first rule: If you want to be my friend on GoodReads, be my FRIEND. Share reviews, comment on mine, recommend books to me, etc. Please DO NOT use that as an opportunity to send me spammy mail.
Look, I get it, I'm a indie writer myself. It's hard to get your name out there and get those books sold! You're thinking to yourself... how can I let people know that I have a totally awesome new book coming out that they must read IMMEDIATELY?? Well, I can tell you how NOT to do it.
1- Don't send me a hundred thousand emails telling me about your awesome new book that I should buy and read.
2- Don't send me LOTS of invitations to some event that you're "hosting" that is really just you shoving your book in my face.
3- Don't recommend your own book to me using GoodReads new feature.

Nothing will make me unfriend you faster than these three things. The best thing you can do to get my interest is:
1- Write books in a genre I read. If you write, say, YA fiction, I can pretty much guarantee you that at some point I will hear about it and be intrigued enough to read the blurb and the reviews. On my own. Without prompting.
2- Give me a free copy. I hadn't really planned on bumping Kait Nolan's new book to the top of my reading list. I was interested in passing, but when she sent me an email offering me a free copy, with the understanding that I would give an honest review (as she did for SEVERAL other people), it went to the head of my stack. Then I read it, and MAN, she's got a fan for life now.
3- Interact with me, be my friend, show me you give a crap about me. It will make me give a crap about you and I will become really interested in seeing what it is you write.

So, that is my rule for the day. More on spammy emails, HERE.

Happy Reading!

Pinteresting, Very Pinteresting.

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:47:00 +0000

Well, my ROW friends, I missed my usual Sunday update, but that's just because I was traveling down, down, down to my parents' house. My husband is on one of his trips and I hate being in the house alone. We live in a very nice neighborhood, with good friends as neighbors, but it's just lonely in the house without him and I don't enjoy it.

Now I'm here and since I have nothing like laundry or dishes or dinners to make, I have forced myself to skip naps and have raised my word count for Aeris to: 121,360! I've got several thousands of words more to go. I'm guessing my final word count for the book will be about 140-150,000, which is double what the previous book was.

I was airing some of my fears to my sister (who is always one of my beta readers) and she confirmed part of my fears regarding Zyander's story line. Zyander does some really interesting things in this new book, but unfortunately, because of the way I have my timeline set up, his timeline seems slower than the other two, which takes some of the excitement out of his story. I'm going to be doing some reordering when I edit, and shorten the first part of his story, so I can get in all of the events I need to. I can't concentrate on editing right now though, I must must MUST finish this dang book. :)

I have discovered a new marketing technique that I wanted to share with you all and that is Pinterest. Pinterest is like a mix between visual bookmarks and Facebook. Basically, you have a place where you make a bunch of bookmarks for yourself, ordered by whatever labels you give them. You can follow specific boards, so you don't have to see everything from one person. Your friends follow you and they get broadcasts of anything you pin(bookmark). On top of that, if they see something they like, they can repin it (bookmark it themselves) and their friends see it. Then, as the final icing on the cake, all of your pins are randomly placed on the pinterest main page.

Let me show you my page, as an example:
http://pinterest.com/katecopeseeley/

On my page, I have a section where to find me online, blog, goodreads profile, my books linked online. I also have a section for blogs and websites that are reader/writer related. I'm making lists of my favorite indie books and my favorite books, period. It's not only lots of fun, but it's a great way to get your name and your work out there. For instance, I posted one of my stories, The Angel and Her Gun and someone pinned it as a book she wants to read!

If you want an invite, post your email and I will send you one. :)

Next entry, I'll be talking about internet book reviewing and author reception. There is an interesting debate going on right now about free speech and what that entails.

Happy Reading!

Fear and Honesty

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 20:12:00 +0000

So my subject today, the big deal on my mind is book length. To start, I just want to refer to my new word count for Aeris: 112,000. I've been writing like crazy and I expect to do even better today, since the hubby took my older son to the Reptile Show and the younger is strapped to my chest via my Moby Wrap. :)
I hope to pass 115,000 this week. We'll see. It's been pretty tiring, trying to write, get up 3 times a night, and keep up with a 3 year old, but I'm really motivated to try and get this book out by December. It will be my birthday present to me.
For those of you keeping track, the book is about 350 pages now. This is about 100 pages longer than Compis. Oh, and by the way, IT'S NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BEING FINISHED YET. I know I've aired my fears about having a super long book this time around, but now that my fears are being realized, I can't help but wonder at the quality of the book I'm producing.
Quality is something I tend to obsess over as a writer. I know I'm no Steinbeck or George R. R. Martin, but still, I try to be the best I can be, providing clean text, original story line, non-cliche characters, and a readable final product. I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who feels this way.
But when I sit at my computer, writing word after word after word, and my book gets longer and longer and longer, I have this secret fear. What if I'm just filling up this book with mush? What if it's a whole lot of words and not a whole lot of substance? What if it's a bunch of boring, boring plot points that make no sense to the story and only serve to piss off all the people who said they liked the first book so much? I was pretty happy with the first part of this second in a series, but part 2 is so much longer than I planned and I just can't see what in the world I would cut out. Is it possible, my book could end up being *gasp* BORING???
It doesn't help me to think of Paolini, author of Eregon, either. By the time I got to the third book and the infamous dwarf wedding, I was ready to throw in the towel, send the editor a giant and symbolic red pen, and curse all writers of series.
Usually this blog is addressed to the reader side of me, but today, I must admit to feeling insecure. I put the question to all of you... how do you feel about your work as you're writing it? Is it hard to get a great product with a large word count?
I've got to go. So much to write and so little time.
Happy writing (and reading)!

ROW and Price Point Heaven

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 22:40:00 +0000

I just read a fantastic blog entry by Dean Wesley Smith, linked here:

The New World of Publishing: Cash Flow

I don't always agree with DWS, (for instance, he's against editing your voice and I'm SOOOO for it!), but his experience where I lack it, has been educational for me. For instance, in this blog, he talks about how the money flows from the publisher to the author in a traditional setting.

Now I know every author has a different reason for publishing (notice I didn't say writing): fame, money, personal accomplishment. Probably a mix of all three. I'll be honest. I didn't write my first book (or any of those other short stories and failed attempts at novels) because I was thinking about the future. There was not a thought of money or publishing in my head when I wrote Six Keys. BUT, when I lost my job last year and found myself pregnant, and pretty much unable to get another job right away, I thought about that lovely passive income that a self published book could bring in.

That's what it is, people, the best income of all, the passive kind. You know, the kind where you do something and you continue to benefit from it, even in a minor way, financially. Again, in all honesty, I'm not making a ton of cash, and I never thought I'd be the next Amanda Hocking or John Locke. Heck, I didn't even know they existed at the time. It was a whim, really. "Hey, I'll post this online and see what happens," I thought to myself.

I've never looked back. And leaving aside the whole debate of which is better... I think that given a very specific set of circumstances, I would probably never go with a Traditional publisher. For many reasons. First of all, I don't think it's a great way for a newbie or a midlister to make money. Dean Wesley Smith's blog, Harlequin, and several other sources have taught me this is true. If you're not a big boy in the writing world, one of those powerhouses we've all come to know, you're less than dust to most publishers. And you're consequently going to have a hard time playing hard ball when it comes to contracts, ebook rights, and royalties. It's just a fact and please don't give me examples of the exceptions. Of course there will be.

Will you be as famous doing indie publishing? Probably not. Will you have to do a crap ton more work? Probably so. Again these are the facts and you authors out there will make the decision that is best for you. Good luck to you, and I hope you have every success.

Smith's article is key to this thought process because it highlights what I never thought about as an author: TIMELINE. Both ways have them different. I point you to the blog for a look at the traditional timeline. In the indie world, it's almost instantaneous. As soon as you start selling those books on Amazon, you're accruing that 70% royalty. After 60 days, barring abysmal sales, you're gonna get that remittance in the mail (or direct deposit in my case). It's like the fast food of writing.

And then there is the biggest topic regarding sales on Kindleboards: What should I charge? There are so many different schools of thought on this subject, I wouldn't know where to turn. Locke says $.99, Konrath says $2.99 (although recently he has started to change his opinion on that. Say what you will, the man learns and changes with new information. Most people are never that smart.), Robin Sullivan says, take it higher and use $.99 as a loss leader.

Here is my take, though I don't claim to have discovered price point heaven. If no one knows your name, you probably won't get a ton of downloads on a high pricepoint (anything above $2.99). You also have to be pretty confident in your writing abilities, because if your book is crap and you ask a lot of money for it, you will get REAMED in the reviews. I see a lot of new writers at the $.99 price point.

The reason I set Six Keys higher at $1.99, is that I didn't want to get lost in the 99 cent books. I also wanted more reviews. What I've noticed is that for newbies like me, a $.99 book will take a long time to build up reviews. People buy those books, true, but when you buy anything at $.99 that is in a genre you read, you generally take your time in reading it because there will be quite a stack. It really didn't take me that much time at all to build up reviews for Six Keys. And when I put Compis even higher, I got more reviews than that, and in a much shorter amount of time. People who buy a book above a certain price point make sure to read it and when they read it, they inevitably have an opinion.

Reviews are the key, reviews and readers. If you're like John Locke and you can pump out your books or if you're like Amanda Hocking and you've got 8 of them available to release, you are going to get a lot of readers. For the rest of us, we have to do whatever we can to make sure those purchases become read. I think Kait Nolan is super smart about releasing Red for reviews just for a month. This will get her those readers and reviewers and from people like ME, word of mouth, because you can bet I'm recommending Red all over the place.

So, experiment. Find your Price Point Heaven. But don't just pick a price based on some formula of what everyone TELLS you to do. Do your research, work hard on your writing, and be an educated author.

Happy Reading!

PS- So thrilled to say that I'm at 103,000 this week. I've been ignoring the fatigue and just going for it! I am determined to get Aeris into the editing phase by November. Let's see if I make it! :)

Parallel Minds...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:20:00 +0000

Through the wonderful world of ROW, I have become acquainted with several new and wonderful authors. One of these is Claudia Lefeve, whose work I sampled via her goodreads profile page. BTW- Readers, if you are interested in an author but want to sample their work before you download, I recommend looking at their profile page to see if they have any short stories or chapter samples posted. This will give you a good idea as to their writing style. I myself have a couple of chapters of Six Keys posted, as well as my short stories The Angel & Her Gun and Perfect Man Plus. They are free to read.

In Claudia's case, I read the sample of her book Heir, which later became Parallel, and was intrigued enough to beg to be on her beta reader list. To my excitement, she accepted, and that is what I'm going to talk about today.

Because I am a beta reader I'm not going to give Parallel a traditional review. I don't know if that would be considered "ethical", which is why I wouldn't ask MY beta readers to review my book. Usually betas are people you like and root for, and I'm sure that could be considered a conflict of interest. However, since I do think Parallel is WORTH talking about, I'm going to at least feature it here on my blog.

It's always nerve wracking, being a beta reader. There is certainly a lot less pressure, since the product involved is a work in progress and the author generally WANTS feedback. But it's tough. I've done it a few times, and there are a couple of times that I've pretty much didn't like the books I read. I had to put aside my subjective feelings and give constructive feedback without telling the author involved that I thought their work was crap and that I would be surprised if anyone liked it. I know that seems harsh, but again, we can't always read the books that are intended for us. I'm sure that some of the books I've read weren't even remotely written for me, as a reader, so I take it all in stride. As I do when someone else has the same reaction to MY books. You can't please everyone.

So it was with some trepidation that I received Parallel. I wanted to like it SOOOO bad, you see. Thank goodness, I can say with all honesty that I LOVED it. Sure, there were some inconsistencies and plot issues, because Parallel was a work in progress. Having read the final version, I can assure you that she addressed all of them and more. She even added more words, which was my overall comment. Give me more book, dammit! :)

Parallel is the story of Etta, orphaned girl and foster home hopper, who finds herself endowed with powers most humans only dream of. In the course of this story, she will have to hop through dimensions, use her powers to find her real family, and try to discover the true identity of the mysterious, yet sinfully handsome Cooper.

I LOVED the idea of this book. The world Claudia creates is so fascinating. I have never read anything like Parallel in YA fiction before. She manages to describe the differences in worlds perfectly, yet she also leaves enough mystery to leave you clamoring for the next addition in this series.

My other favorite part about Parallel is the romance, which is again, so far from the usual YA fair, that it's a breath of fresh air. I'm so tired of teeny-bopper love, and this has all the makings of mature, passionate love. The two characters are perfect for each other, but this book gives them the time they need to fall in love, and save the world, all at the same time.

If you don't like cliffhanger endings, you might want to wait for the sequel to Parallel, which is supposed to by out by winter, at the latest. But the ending to this book is so fabulous, you might want to give it a chance anyway.

In summary, this book is a winner and though it is still too short for my taste, I highly recommend it! Also, if you want to tag along on her blog tour, stop by Claudia's website for a list of all her appearances!

Happy Reading!

PS- Okay, ROWers, I'm up to 99,036. Yay me! I've been taking advantage of New Baby's early rising time to feed him and then write my fingers to the bone. I will finish this dang book!!

Feeling the Disconnect...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 22:30:00 +0000

Well, with a bit more optimism than I feel right now, I signed up for the year's final ROW80. I hesitate, especially after reading Kait Nolan's goal blog, to name a goal though.
Should I shoot for 1000 words a day? I know I can write that much, if I sit down and do it, but I also want the freedom to duck out, or hit the snooze button like I did today. New Baby makes me tired.
I could say, like I did last time, that my goal is to finish Aeris. However, when I did that, my life blew up and now here I am with a book that is 2/3rds finished.
So I guess my goal will be to write when I can, to try and finish Aeris in time for the Christmas rush on ebooks(which there will be, have you SEEN the new Kindle prices???), and to forgive myself for not attaining either of those goals.
New Baby just woke up, so I have to go. Good luck to all and Happy Reading!

PS- I'm up to 96,243.

Thoughts on Moving Forward...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:13:00 +0000

Looking down the long road of my inability to work on Aeris like I want to, I've been considering the feelings of success and failure. That's what they are, feelings. Like how you FEEL after you read a book and decide whether to love it or hate it.

As an author, I'm faced with failure every day. Like I said, Aeris in a state of failure for me, right now, failure to finish. There is also the failure to achieve... I didn't make the goals I wanted. I didn't sell the amount of books I'd hoped to. I didn't get the type of reviews I wanted.

My mom was up to help with New Baby and we discussed a friend of mine who supposedly wants to be a photographer. She has taken all the classes and bought all the equipment, and yet she has yet to book a shoot or set up her website portfolio. And when I talk to her about it, she as all these plans, and is enthused, but can't seem to make it past the start of the race.

"She's afraid of failure," said my mom and I couldn't help but agree.

Failure holds us back. It tells us we're worth nothing, that we'll never make it, that we don't have what it takes to be SUCCESSFUL. It is that shadowy plague that grips us and keeps us from moving forward.

I have faced down a lot of things that would make a normal person give up, maybe. My book has been slammed in some reviews. My very FIRST fan email was not a fan email at ALL, but a letter from an angry reader who felt like I'd insulted the people who lived in the area where the book takes place. Sad, huh? :) As I mentioned in the first story about Six Keys, it was the book that almost WASN'T, as I had a huge data loss right at the beginning of writing it. And now, during Aeris, I've had death, birth, hardship and loss of sleep interfering in my ability to write it.

But for me, failure is not trying. That sounds trite and it probably is, but man alive, I would rather have 50 one star reviews than not have a finished book. If I hadn't had the guts to finish Six Keys, I would never have started Compis, which is part of a series that I'm so passionate about writing (and finishing! hahaha).

I keep referring myself to that motto from "Meet the Robinsons": Keep Moving Forward. Learn from what you can learn from and use it when you start your next project. Face those stumbling blocks and use them as stepping stools and you will truly have made a success of yourself.

********Reader Goodies!!!

I just read two great indie books:

Gifts of the Blood by Vicki Keire -This is the story of Caspia, who is running herself ragged to support herself and her terminally ill brother. Descriptive, well-written, and much too short for my taste! hahaha 5 stars

Red by Kait Nolan- Told from two perspectives, Elodie's and Sawyer's, and is one of the best werewolf books I've read. It also made me want to read books with werewolves in them again, which I thought would never happen after I read Shiver. This got an enthusiastic 5 stars from me as well. (Read the review for a disclaimer from me, I got this book in a giveaway.)

I have another entry to write soon, about a book I was a beta reader for, Parallel by Claudia Lafeve, but New Baby calls, so I have to go.

Happy Reading!

Dark Skies for Writing By...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 11:01:00 +0000

It's 3 in the morning and I'm writing a blog post which must mean... New Baby Copeseeley has arrived. :) He is as enchanting as his brother and I suspect I'm going to be busy for quite some time. However, now that I'm up all hours of the night, perhaps I'll have time to finally finish Aeris, which believe me has been on my mind of late.

That's pretty much all the update you'll get from me. If ROW is still going, I'll post this to let everyone know where I'm off to, and I will, of course, keeping writing blogs. How can I not? There is so much great stuff going on in the world of writing and reading.

On a side note:
Started Vicki Keire's book Gifts of the Blood and thus far I am enchanted. Warning to new moms, though. Don't read this one unless you want to cry buckets through your hormones. hahaha

Read these great posts on JA Konrath's blog. Quick aside on Konrath... He is considered by many in MY neck of the woods to be the definitive voice in current happenings for indie writers. His writing is often volatile, opinionated, and unapologetic, but I have seen this man get it right OVER and OVER again. If you are an indie writer or just interested in the goings on of the other crowd of writers, I most highly recommend him. Here are the posts.

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/08/whats-wrong-with-sex.html I laughed my butt off over that one. "Four pages!" hahaha

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/08/end-is-nigh.html Very thought provoking commentary on how the industry of writing is really opening up for authors and giving them more power.

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/08/who-wants-whom-dialog-between-ja.html Another interesting post about how the power dynamic is shifting in the writing industry. Good read, but long. :)

Happy Reading!

Choices, Choices

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 20:13:00 +0000

Some interesting things in the world of authors and artists today. I saw this one buzzing around the internet and I was frankly astonished at this one.

I'll summarize and you can look up the links for yourself, if you find it interesting enough.

There is a writer, LK Rigel who wrote a book, called Spiderwork, the second in her Apocalypto series. When she finished it, she hired an artist, Nathalia Suellen from Brazil, who painted her the most AMAZING cover. Some time later, Sasha Illingworth of Harper Collins approached Nathalia about her cover. She wanted to buy it for a book in development for her own house: Bewitched by Alex Flinn. Let it be here noted that Illingworth did not act on orders by Flinn. Flinn had no idea.

Nathalia refused the $4000 offer to buy her cover, for the simple reason that the cover had already been purchased by Rigel. She felt it was selfish and underhanded for someone from such a large publishing house to try and buy a cover that was already being used by another author.

To make matters worse, Illingworth also asked several questions about Rigel —her country of origin and her genre. Perhaps seeking for their purchase to go unnoticed?

When Alex Flinn revealed the new cover of her work in progress, several people were shocked to see it was a very close replica of the original work that Nathalia had created. So close, in fact, that she was sure someone had been hired with the sole purpose of copying her original work.

As you can imagine, a firestorm erupted. Everyone was talking about it. How could a large publishing house like Harper Collins do something so underhanded? Nathalia had all the correspondence to prove what their original intent was. I don't take the same attitude that Big Publishers think they are better than the lowly independent authors, but several others have mentioned it. I DO think that Sasha Illingworth should be fired, because I have a hard time believing that any of her managers would have approved of what happened.

And now Harper Collins is having to deal with the fallout. Well, as soon as Alex Flinn heard about what happened, she pulled the cover (or HC did). But that hasn't stopped the story from getting out. I feel bad for Flinn. How mortifying. She was so excited about her new book and had NO idea the cover was someone else's, essentially.

Here are the links:
Nathalia Suellen's Blog
The Passive Voice
Dear Author
Goodreads commentary from Nathalia

In a quick ROW summary: 94,000 words for Aeris. I've been sick, so my words have been few. Hope to make up some ground next week, but there's only 1 week left till my due date, so we'll see.

Happy Reading!

Just another update: writing, ROW, and life.

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 23:08:00 +0000

Things are better in our household than they were a week ago. Thank you all for the kind words. We had family staying with us for about two and a half weeks, but now the house is quiet (relatively -I have a 3 year old, after all). Nothing is normal or will be normal for a while, but at least now I'm not privately freaking out about sending myself into preterm labor from the stress. So that's good.

Stress relief around my house? I wish I could say it was writing. Sorry, ROW, I'm failing miserably here. I'm at 92,500 for Aeris and no closer to the end of this book. The good news is, I've been writing again. The bad news? I just can't see where this book is going to end. It's kind of become a joke among my friends and family. "How many words is it now? How much closer are you to the end?" I think I will have some major, major editing to do to get this thing down to a size that people will actually want to read. hahaha

On a happier note, stress or not, the garden keeps growing, and I keep harvesting from it. Basil, garlic, potatoes, squash, beans, even some sad little tomatoes! I am also the youngest Suzy Homemaker alive, in that I just put up a dozen jars of apricot jam, another dozen of peach apricot, and some applesauce from an early apple tree. This week I'm looking at doing a batch of plum jam, YUM. I love plums, but I've never done plum jam before.

I have to get all of these done now, because pretty soon (2 weeks or so from now, I still can't believe it!) there will be another child around here demanding my attention! So excited to have my stomach to myself. I think I'm probably the only person I know that detests being pregnant. I love being a mom, and all the mommy stuff that comes with it, but pregnancy is just the pits. hahaha

I have done a lot of reading. There have been a lot of nights of no sleep, so I've put in some hours there. I won't list everything I've read, because not all of it even got a review from me, but here are a few I enjoyed and wanted to share:
Glimpse by Stacey Wallace Benefiel (I kid you not, this is the first time I haven't had to look up her name!) 4 stars (Also picked up a book from her other series to read)
Fire by Kristin Cashore got a rare 5 stars
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly also 5 stars (I didn't even mind that it was first person present tense!)
Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card got 4 stars

All worth reading, depending on what genre you're into.

Recently purchased books, that I can't wait to read:
Cross my Heart by Katie Klein
Gifts of the Blood by Vicki Keire
Days of Sacrifice by Stacey Wallace Benefiel
Divergent by Veronica Roth
A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

Hope to have better news of my word count on Wednesday. In the meantime, Happy Reading!