THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMM...

Steve Alten. If you know me at all, by now you know he is by far my favorite author. He has several books under his belt, all wonderfully written, best-selling books. Meg was the first one I read. I picked it up at a garage sale, thought it looked interested, paid the quarter for it and took it home and read it that night. I was hooked. I immediately went out and found more books by Steve. All of which I have loved. Which is my favorite? To be honest, I couldn't tell you. They are all equally wondeful.
So you would think, me being his number one fan, I would run right out and leave a wonderful review for every one of his books. You would think. I mean, I harp on all of you all the time to go leave me reviews, right? So I should be leaving them myself, right? You would think. So today I decided I need to head over and do just that. You know what I found? This author, this wonderful, best-selling author, who writes these fabulous books and has been approached for movie deals has 1 and 2 star reviews.
I know in the group of authors in which I occasionally mingle, we constantly tell each other that you can't please everyone. There is always going to be someone who hates your book, no matter how good it is. Get past it and move on. We preach it all the time. But it still hurts when you get that not-so-good review. So to see someone who I rank right up there with Stephen King and Peter Benchley get all those bad reviews (on top all those AWESOME reviews, mind you) really makes a small time author like me feel much better.
I value those wonderful reviews I've recieved. I've been lucky to get great ones so far. But I've been waiting for that first bad one. I know it's going to be a hard pill to swallow. But, I am NOT going to let that first bad one get me down. Because this just proves to me you can write the best book out there and somebody out there is still going to hate it. As long as the majority says "It's all good!" I'll let those bad ones slide. For my fellow authors out there, let the good outweigh the bad!

BLOODLINES AND OTHER STUFF

No, I haven't started Bloodlines yet. But I've been brainstorming quite a bit the past few days. I think after the holidays are over I will sit down and start on this one. (After I have reformatted the paperback version of Phantom Rising)
I will be taking it slow, for two reasons. I don't want to do what I did with the last one and scrap the whole thing. Multiple times. So I want to think the whole thing through, have a good solid plan, and get it right the first time. Also, I plan on working on my short story for the Red Adept contest. I've done a lot of brainstorming on that one too, and I think I have what I need to turn it into a short story.
I'm excited about both projects and can't wait to get to work on them. Oh, wait. I forgot about the Eridhborn project. Gotta work on that too. And I have to work on the poetry book. If I ever figure out where I put all of my paperwork. (don't ask) I should probably stop coming up with new projects to work on.
I'm hoping to have some of this stuff done in time for the Ren Fair in the spring. It would be great to have some extra books to take with me.
In other news, I'm hoping to meet one of my fellow authors at the beginning of the year. I'm planning a trip to SD, and it just happens that J.C. Phelps, author of Color Me Grey, lives only a couple hours from where I'm going. So we are hoping to meet up. I'm excited. Not only is it fun to meet the other authors who've helped me out so much, but it is a real treat to meet someone from my home state. Yes, I'm proud of my little state, and I miss it every day. If you've never been there, you should go. You won't regret it.

WINNER WINNER!

I won! Author Debi Faulkner had a contest to name the city in her upcoming novel, and I won the contest. The city in her new novel will be named Gemini Falls. I'm so excited. Check out her blog.

Fun Stuff coming up!

Reining In will be featured on Daily Cheap Reads in late December or early January. Phantom Rising will be featured on Kindle Boards mid December. I've been notified of a few other places each book will be showing up. I'm so excited. I can hardly wait!

IN THE MAIL

I just got an email this morning that they have mailed out my proof copy of Phantom Rising already. I am so excited. In a matter of days, I will be holding the first copy in my hand and if I managed to catch all of my mistakes, I will be able to approve it for publication. I can hardly wait.
In other news, sales for Reining In have been off the charts all month long. I am only two books away from tripling my sales from last month, my best month ever. Two great things all in the same month. I can hardly stand it. Somebody pinch me please.

PHANTOM RISING ON KINDLE

I always forget to post my updates here. I need to work on that. Phantom Rising is live on Kindle. I'm hoping the paperback will be out next week. I have a little formatting left to do yet, and then it will be up and running. I'm so excited to finally have it done. To celebrate it's release, I've dropped the price of Reining In on kindle to $.99 for the rest of November.

NEW BOOK

At the request of my daughter, there will be another book coming out the same time as Phantom Rising. She wanted it for her book fair. I haven't decided yet if I will make it available to the public, because it's a little personal. It is a small collection of poems that I have been writing since I was in grade school. Some are good (in my opinion), others are a little goofy, and some don't make any sense at all. But that's what poetry is about, right? I hope to have it ready to go this weekend, along with Phantom Rising.

SPONSORSHIP

Reining In is today's sponsor at Kindle Boards. I'm happy to say that it has been great so far. Reining in went from #81,582 to #4,163 in the bestsellers rank for kindle. How exciting. Not only that, but I have sold more books today than I have in the last 6 weeks. I hope this does a lot to help get the book noticed. I have been considering sponsoring Kindle Nation, and after the success of this sponsorship, I think I will go ahead and do it.

PHANTOM RISING COVER

Can't believe I forgot to post the Phantom Rising cover here. (I have too many blogs, I think) Ronnell changed the cover a little from the one he sent me last week. It's subtle, but the change definitely makes the difference. I hope it's not too close to the cover for book one. But in looking at the three covers, there was a definite pattern that I almost like. Book one and two have very similar covers, while book three has quite a different cover. Normally, this wouldn't be such a great idea. But, book one and two are very much alike, while book three will be very different. To start with, the third book is not told from Khalida's point of view like the first two are. The character that tells the story is very different from Khalida. I am hoping that it will bring a fresh new perspective on the series.

WELL THAT WAS FUN

I made it home safely tonight. It was a long trip, but it was worth it. The book talk/signing was a blast. Everyone there was so nice and did their best to make me feel comfortable. Once we got going, I wasn't nervous at all. No, really. I actually enjoyed it very much. If only speech class were that fun, high school would've been so much better. Seriously, though, everyone was great. It was really neat to hear the reactions of the people who have read the book. It's hard to tell what your readers are going to feel after reading your book, so to talk to someone who has and then to realize they interpreted it the way you meant it to be is such a rewarding feeling. (<---- Run-on sentence, maybe?) They get it! I think that means I did it right. Right? But more importantly they liked it, and that is exciting for me. I hope the wonderful people in Coalgate know what they did for me last night. They brought me out of my shell. Well, part of the way, anyway. I won't be doing an major speeches any time soon, but I am ready to go forward with this promoting thing. Bring on the fairs, the book talks, the signings and anything else you can throw at me. I'm ready for it. Who knew this would be the fun part of writing a book?

NO FEAR. YEAH RIGHT!

It's been an interesting week. Or stressful. Maybe chaotic. Not sure what word I'm looking for. Guess I need to go pull that thesaurus back out. Whatever it is, it hasn't been a normal week, that's for sure. It started out in a bad way when I was informed that the book fair my daughter has been working on for months might get canceled. The location that they had secured was suddenly not available anymore. Turns out that the principle booked the school for two events on the same day. The book fair and a class reunion. So I helped her start looking for a new location. Not as easy as it sounds. The local libraries wouldn't allow it because we have vendors. (we're raising money for FCCLA. Of course we have vendors.) Every other place we called or visited charged more than the kids could afford. They literally don't have a budget. It was starting to look pretty grim. We made a plan to approach some of the other schools to see if we could use their facilities. They weren't as great as the first one and their tables were bench style, which was going to be hard to use. But it was better than nothing. Today was going to be the day to drive around and find a spot. Well, it didn't happen. Why, you ask. Because the class reunion committee kindly postponed their date so we could keep ours. (thank you class reunion guys! I mean it) So the fair is back on. I am relieved. Not just for the kids and the hard work they did, because that really is important. But also for all the authors who are participating in one way or another. I will have a table for my books, as will another fellow author who is driving here from Salina. Almost 20 other authors have donated books and other items for the book fair. There is a lot riding on this, and I would feel terrible if it all fell apart. So I am relieved and almost stress free. Almost.
Well, not quite. You see, tomorrow is my first ever book signing, and let me tell you my nerves are shot. I am so nervous. I'm not a good speaker. When I get in front of a crowd, I freeze up. I forget what to say, I don't speak loud enough, and I am always scared to death. Nervous doesn't even begin to describe how I feel. So I hope that this isn't the beginning of the end as I stumble all over myself in front of potential fans. Hopefully they are forgiving and don't walk away wondering what the fuss was all about. Silly girl. Thinks she's an author. No really, I am excited. But it is scary, and weird. Weird because they are making a big deal of it. Press release, signs outside with my name plastered all over it, like I'm some kind of big celebrity or something. I'm not. It's a little overwhelming, and to someone as shy as I am, just a little embarrassing. So, I guess tomorrow night we'll all find out if I'm cut out for it or not. Wish me luck, because I think I'm gonna need it.

IT'S HERE

The proof with the new Reining In cover is here and it is AWESOME. Ronnell did a great job and I think anyone who buys the book with the new cover will agree. Now I can't wait for the Phantom Rising cover.

ONLY SEVEN DAYS TO GO

September 23rd is coming up quick, and I'm finding myself completely unprepared. Nervous is hardly the word for it. I'm freaking out. It's odd, because I don't feel the same way about the book fair in October. Well, it's farther away, you say. Sure, but that's not it. Really. I've always been nervous about this event. It's just gotten worse as it gets closer. I think I know what it is. It's the exclusiveness of it. This is all about me. I will be the one talking and doing everything, and that scares the crap out of me. Anyone who knows me knows that I am terribly shy around people I don't know. Public speaking is not my strong point. So this is going to be extremely hard for me. The book fair is different because I won't be there alone. One of the authors from my group will be there, as well as some local authors. Not to mention all the kids that hang out at my house will be there cheering me on.
Well, between now and next Thursday, I'm gonna have to figure out how to do this without freezing up or running out of the room screaming. Don't get me wrong. I'm excited. This is huge for me. I mean look, they put my name in the paper and I didn't even have to break the law. You have no idea what a kick I get out of that picture. Now if only he'd send me the real thing so I can see what it says about me.

I HAVE A MUSE. HER NAME IS CRAZY

It's funny how my muse works sometimes. She's a little bit crazy, probably riddled with personality disorders, including multiple ones. But I kind of like her. Because when she works, she works overtime.
This weekend has been idea after idea. There's the new ending for Phantom Rising, and then of course the new name, which just feels so much better. There are the two or three books I have lined up now because the ideas just hit me like a brick. But best of all, I have a PLOT. Yes, that's right, the third book has a plot.
As you may or may not know, I changed the name of that book, too. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Given what it was about, the name seemed to fit. Well, now that I have something to write about, I feel even more that it fits. The cover fits. Everything fits. I love it.
So plans have changed again. I will start work on book 3, now called Blood Lines, immediately after Phantom Rising is completed. While I still want to work on the other books that have been patiently waiting for me, this one wants to be completed first. Who am I to argue?

SLOW START, BUT GETTING THERE

Well it wasn't as productive of a day as I hoped it would be. I started early, but I got interrupted so many times that I couldn't keep a straight thought for most of the day. I was hoping I would've made as much progress as yesterday. I would be almost done if I had. I am happy with how the story is going though. It seems to be headed in the right direction at least. Now for the good news. I thought I would have to delay everything because my editor was in the hospital. They sent her home, but she is on bed rest for the next couple of weeks. I didn't want to send work over to her while she was feeling ill, but last night she asked me to send it over. She's bored and looking for something to do. I love that girl. So the first six chapters are in her hands as we speak! I will be sending more over to her in the morning, and hopefully will have the rest completed to send to her before Tuesday rolls around. If she gets through it fairly quickly, it should be with my beta readers and then ready for submission before the week is up! (and uploaded to kindle before then.) Keeping my fingers crossed on that one!

CRUNCH TIME

It's 8:42 AM and I'm hitting the keyboard again. I'm sure my children look at me and think "Mom - Fail". Our most recent conversation. "Are you going to make breakfast or what?" "You're almost 17 years old, I think you can make yourself breakfast. And make some for your sister while you're at it." Yeah, I suck. Meanwhile, my husband feels completely neglected. A whole weekend has gone by and I've talked to him twice, for about 3 minutes. But I am so close to finishing this, and I now have a deadline. I want copies to bring to the book fair. After having to order a 2nd proof for the new Reining In cover, I don't want to come in at the last second for Phantom Rising, and not leave myself time to correct any errors. With my biggest fan base being located right there in that school, it has to be ready for them. They have waited patiently for the past year, and well, I owe it to them. Those kids are the reason I continue to write. So, for the next few days, I officially win the Worst Mother EVER award as I lock myself away in my office. Sorry girls! You'll thank me in two days when you get to read it.

WINNER, WINNER

Lane, the winner of our t-shirt contest, sent a picture of his t-shirt. Since I had it shipped directly to him, this is the first time I got to see it. I have to say, it turned out pretty great! Time to order one for me.

PROBLEM SOLVED

Ronnell is making a new cover for Phantom Rising and we are using the other cover for the third book, Blood Lines. If you're looking for cover work, look this guy up. He is awesome!

WHAT TO DO?

Well, I'm in a bit of a bind. After changing the ending of book 2, I decided to go with a different name. It was more fitting of both the book and the genre. I loved it. I don't want to change it now. But I just got the cover art from Ronnell with the original name, Finding Hope, and I love it. I REALLY love it. I would ask him to just change the name, but the artwork really doesn't go with the new name. It would look great with book 3, so I'm hoping he will go ahead and use it for that, and create something else for book 2. That would be a great solution. But I also feel really bad about asking him to do it. (of course he gets paid more, so bonus for him, but still) I guess I will wait and see what he says and pray for the best. Everything else with this book just fell into place, so hopefully this will work out too!

NEW COVERS, NEW ENDING, NEW NAMES

Alright, it's official. I'm changing the name of book 2. Phantom Rising fits the story as much as Finding Hope did, but it is more fitting of the genre I write. So that's what I'm going with. It is also more fitting with the new ending, which was inspired by Ronnell's cover design. With the new covers, I think both books will have a more professional look. I can hardly wait. The countdown is on. Only a matter of days before I send it over to Michelle. I know I have taken a long time, but the new ending will be worth the wait.
In other news, Imogen has shared her secret on where I can have a hard-cover with a case wrap printed. These are not for sale to the general public, but I will be ordering a few copies of Reining In in the near future for giveaways. I guarantee you guys will like them. I have a hard-cover of Portal with the case wrap and it is beautiful.