Thoughts on Moving Forward...

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...

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

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.

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!

Quick Update:

For the curious:

No baby yet.  If this baby boy comes before August 24th, I will be extremely disappointed.  :)  And irritated.

Instead, my husband and I have found ourselves embroiled in not one, but two family tragedies.  Because of these, I haven't written in a week, my word count is stuck at 91,000 and we are both emotionally worn out to the point of exhaustion.

I don't want to call it quits on ROW80, but I don't know exactly how this is going to play out, so I may not be on here for a while.

Hope everyone is well.  Check out my newest reviews on Goodreads, I've read some GREAT books of late and it's worth knowing what they are.

Happy Reading!

PS- When the baby does come, I will have someone post an update here for me, so everyone will KNOW why I'm absent for so long.

ROW and How I Write Reviews...

First, just to get it out of the way, word count for Aeris is now at:  86,786.

A big topic of discussion, one that I've talked about many times, is reviewing.  More specifically, reviewing other authors and how I continue to do it, even though NOW I have my own books, that could be reviewed in return.  

I'm going to address that today and hold on, it will be a LONG entry. 

First, pretty much all my ratings and reviews are on Goodreads, so let's take a look at the Goodreads star key:

1 = Didn't like it

2 = It was okay

3 = I liked it

4 = I really liked it

5 = It was Amazing

I'm a generous reader, probably because I love to read and I'm always up for a good story.  A book has to be pretty bad for me to give it what would be considered a poor rating (2 stars or less).  Thus far, I have given two books a one star rating: Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and Alice in Wonderland.  There are 7 books on my 2 star list.  This is out of 156 books that I've taken the time to label as read and given a rating to.  (The actual number of books that I'd read before 2008, when I joined Goodreads, is in the thousands.  I've also read FAR more than 156 books since 2008, but I don't put every book I read on there, just books that I thought were worth talking about.)  I also want to point out, that I don't rate or review books I don't finish.

My percentages go like this: 1 star 1%, 2 star 7%, 3 star 17%, 4 star 33%, 5 star 40%.  So as you can see, most of the books I read I really liked or thought were amazing(73%)!  And those are honest ratings.  One of the reasons is because, by the ripe old age of 32, I've figured out what I like.  Which isn't to say I never try anything new, I just tend to read a lot of what I like.  I'm also pretty careful what I pick.  I don't usually pick up just any old book on the street.  I read reviews, I get recommendations, I take my time in getting to a book.  I read the cover blurb, I pick authors I've read before.  All these factors have led me to a mostly successful reading journey.

I think the confusion comes in when I give my reviews.  I give honest reviews.  Just because a book has a 4 star rating, doesn't mean I found it to be perfect.  Heck, even my 5 star reviews come with pros and cons.  That is just who I am.  I'm a reader, and there are always parts of a book I like and dislike.  I just try to give my honest opinion.

That is me, as a reader.  It's how I've always worked, as a reader.  Go back and look at my reviews by date.  I did it before, I do it now, and I will do it again.  So now we come to the nitty gritty.  

In December, I released a debut novel, Six Keys.  In April, I released the first book in a YA fantasy series, Compis (soon to be followed by Aeris, hopefully in Sept, but definitely next fall).  Now I'm an author too, and I'll be lying if I say that it hasn't effected my review style.  This blog is something I use, both as an author and a reader, so I post authory things and readery things on here.  I vent my frustrations about both on here.  I post a few reviews on here.

To answer the questions specifically:  I have yet to give an indie a poor review.  Not because I'm afraid that an author will give me a bad review in return -though several authors I know have that fear- but because thus far I've been fortunate to only read the good books.  But let me be CLEAR: I have not EVER been asked to give a book a review by another author (or publisher for that matter).  I would NEVER give a review to a book (any book) where I felt I had an obligation to an author or a publisher.  That would compromise the integrity of my reviews and my reading experience.

I've seen it both ways, to be frank.  There are book bloggers I've stopped reading because it's obvious they give good reviews to everything because they get free books out of it, from the publishers.  I'm also sad to say that I've seen "review" exchanges on some of the lesser known author boards.  I openly despise this practice and I think it's misleading to the people we share our reviews with.  I think of the people on Goodreads as my reader friends.  I give them reviews that I give my own family and friends.  I wouldn't lie to someone in my family about liking a book I didn't like, what would be the point?  Nor would I do that online.  Period.

On the opposite side of that, I have never and WILL NEVER ask another author to review my work as some kind of publicity or as a deal for both of us.  If someone enjoys my book, and takes the time to tell me, I encourage them to post their feedback online.  I never ASK authors to read my work, either.  Every single author who has read my books has done it because they chose to, without prompting, and generally it was to my pleasant surprise.  I don't expect it and I don't ask for it.  

I don't promote myself around author's pages.  I've never done a guest blog.  I've never asked someone to do a guest blog and I don't think I would.  This blog is about me, not anyone else.  Although, if George R. R. Martin emailed me and was like, "Hey, Kate, you have a seriously cool blog, can I post something on it?" I'd probably faint, squeal, and say "YES!!!" instantly. hahaha

Sometimes it IS uncomfortable for me to review on my blog, or on Goodreads, for that matter.  I have done two recent indie reviews, which were both 4 stars -indicating I really liked their books- where I had the authors comment on my reviews.  Which always make me blink, because I think, who in the heck cares what I have to say??  :)  Both of the authors were super cool -as most indies are- but it makes me dread the inevitable crap book I read.  Argh.  And like I said, I AM frank, probably to a fault, about what works for me and doesn't work for me in a book.  Even when I really like the book.  So I'm not sure how people feel about that.

As for my own reviews... well, I just look at authors who I consider to be far superior to me: George, Orson Scott Card, Barbara Kingsolver, Jane Austen... look at their reviews on Amazon. I'm bound to (and have gotten) some interesting commentary in my reviews.  Some of it make me glow with happiness and some makes me wilt.  I'm going to get my fair share of ones, twos, and threes.  Also, I'm a new author, so I have a lot of growing to do in my storymaking.  That can only come with time and experience.  Some of Tamora Pierce's early stuff, while among my favorites, are still pretty raw.  But that's okay.  Hopefully, along my journey as a writer, I will find my audience.  Those are the people I write for.  People like ME, who like strong female protagonists, love stories that take more than a minute to happen, non vampire, non love triangle, non first person present tense.  :)  

Not everyone will like what I write, it's a big world.  Heck, judging by my taste in books compared to others', there are a HELL of  LOT of people who will probably hate what I write.  Thems the breaks, kid.  The people who DO get what I write are the ones who make it worthwhile to me.  Because I think that's all writers really want —the chance to tell a story that other people will enjoy.  :)

And speaking of stories people enjoy, Smashwords is having a HUGE indie sale until the 31st of July.  I just picked up the rest of the Demon books by Penelope Fletcher FOR FREE(Also, quick note, just checked and Demon Girl is still free on Kindle, too.  So you can read the whole series)!!!  I urge you to get over to their site and get yourself some free goodness!!!  I also picked up another Stacey Wallace Benefiel(She calls herself S.W. Benefiel in that one) book, since I liked the last one.  Very exciting, indie readers!!!

Happy Reading!

Look, I'm useful! ROW Check-in.

Sooo... my car is still limbo and I'm getting a ride back to my house with my sister, who is going to stay for a few days.  Our only other vehicle besides my husband's work car is a GIGANTIC van that we use to haul our trailer around.  As you might imagine, it's a joy to drive.  Anyway, hopefully we can get it fixed soon and I will be saved from the beast. hahaha

Writing was about as successful this week as it was last week, with no respite in sight.  I have busy mornings next week, busy afternoons next week, and busy evenings.  I'm now hoping, hoping, hoping I will have this book finished in the next two weeks.  I mean, I still have editing to do, for heaven's sakes!  At this point in time I basically keep the file open on my computer and write in it whenever I get a free minute to write.  I'm at 80,000 words for Aeris right now, and I've got at LEAST 30,000 to go.  Good luck to me! :)

And now I have to go pack, but being my useful self, I wanted to leave you with a couple of links from around the internet that I found interesting this week.  Nothing too dramatic this time. :)

The first is a link to some videos on formatting for a POD novel (like Createspace) using Open Office.  I'm a big fan of OO, because it's FREE and open source(for you geeks).  I also highly recommend the blog it's linked to, for its usefulness to anyone who is a writer.

So here is the link: http://write2publish.blogspot.com/2011/07/layout-help-for-print-on-demand-books.html

The next link is one I found interesting because it's an honest discussion with traditionally published writers who are making the move to self publishing.  It's one of the better conversations I've seen, since there is no anger or derision toward EITHER option.  The pros and cons of each are discussed with an honesty that I find refreshing.

Link here: http://howtowriteshop.loridevoti.com/2011/07/new-york-authors-self-publishing/

That's all for now.  Sorry it's short, but that's all I've got for now.  Maybe Wed. will be better.

Happy Reading!