After - Part Two

Happy Halloween!!

What a wonderful Halloween it is. So my surgery is today, and this is the last post I'm sending to you with my crippled hand. I'm nervous and excited! I'm hoping everything goes well and I recover quickly!

Also, I was up past midnight last night, doing my final read-through of After - Part 2. It was around 12:30 when I pressed the save button, tears in my eyes. It's finished. I hope I never get over that joy of completing a story.

And then it took forever for Amazon to get it listed, well, felt like forever. :)

Its finally here and I am so happy!

After - Part Two

And The Race Is On

Hey everyone! I've been missing, I know, I know, but it's for a good cause! I have pretty much been devoting every extra minute I have to making sure After - Part Two gets released in time! I will be working all night tonight on it, and I'm not super 100% sure that I'll be hitting the publish button tomorrow, but I'm damn sure going to try. The good news is, it will be out in a day or two becausseeee.....

I'm having my surgery on my wrist on Thursday, so I have to publishing it before then. Really, it's not that big of a stretch since I'm so close to being done. So exciting!

Also! Off the Beaten Path is on SALE right now! $.99 through Halloween! If you haven't grabbed it yet, better get it now!

Whew... Okay, short and sweet. It's back to polishing! My next post will be the announcement that After - Part Two is up, so be sure to give my Facebook page a like if you haven't yet. I'll be sure to post the link there as well!

Vacation!

So, short post today but I'll tell you what I'm doing.

I took today and tomorrow off so I can sit home, work all day, and play like I'm a full time writer! So here I go! Totally diving right into my manuscript right now. Let's see how I do without anything or one here to distract me!

I will come back to update if anything exciting happens, but it's pretty much just working out a few scenes for the final polishing. I just have 2 chapters to go!

A List of Winners!

I am sorry I didn't get around to listing the winners earlier. I had two giveaways going on at the same time, and both ending while I was traveling! What timing!

First, I'll list the Off the Beaten Path winners. This was the bigger give away. A special shout-out to Angela Roquet for orchestrating this all!

Grand Prize winner of bound book $10 Amazon card: Felicia T.
Triple winners of 2 $5 Amazon cards and Off the Beaten Path ebook: Tanya J. and Amy H.
Double winners of $5 Amazon card and Off the Beaten Path ebook: Teresa E.
Winners of Off the Beaten Path ebook: Tiffany M., Seth C., Kirsty E., and Tiffany K.
Winners of $5 Amazon card: Clare T., Jackie B., and Rose W.

And the two winners of the first edition paperback of After - Part One, which included a rockin' The Phoenix Curse pen (and not so rockin' key-chain) are...

Elizabeth C. and Nate A.

Thanks everyone for signing up, and for those of you who won, I hope you enjoy all the gifts!

Congratulations all!!!

Off the Beaten Path: Monica La Porta

Today's guest is Monica La Porta, author of Priest, the first book in The Ginecean Chronicles. She contributed Home Wet Home for Off the Beaten Path. Before we get to her inspiration for that, let's start with Monica’s Bio.

Monica La Porta

Monica La Porta is an Italian who landed in Seattle several years ago. Despite popular feelings about the Northwest weather, she finds the mist and the rain the perfect conditions to write. Being a strong advocate of universal acceptance and against violence in any form and shape, she is also glad to have landed precisely in Washington State. She is the author of The Ginecean Chronicles, a dystopian/science fiction series set on the planet Ginecea where women rule over a race of enslaved men and heterosexual love is considered a sin. She has published the first three books in the series, The Priest, Pax in the Land of Women, and Prince at War. She also wrote and illustrated a children’s book about the power of imagination, The Prince’s Day Out. Her latest published short, Linda of the Night, is a fairytale love story celebrating inner beauty. In her free time, she likes to build miniatures, sculpting, and painting. She also likes to go walking with her beloved beagle, Nero.

The Ginecean Chronicles is a very interesting series. Here's a more in depth blurb on Priest.

Mauricio is a slave. Like any man born on Ginecea, he is but a number to the pure breed women who rule over him with cruel hands. Imprisoned inside the Temple since birth, Mauricio has never been outside, never felt the warmth of the sun on his skin. He lives a life devoid of hopes and desires. Then one day, he hears Rosie sing. He risks everything for one look at her and his life is changed forever. An impossible friendship blossoms into affection deemed sinful and perverted in a society where the only rightful union is between women. Love is born where only hate has roots and leads Mauricio to uncover a truth that could destroy Ginecea.

Monica has some more intriguing stories on the table. Here's a little taste of those. For more updates, you'll have to follow her blog here.

I am writing Notturno, a fantasy novel set in a world where people are divided between nocturnals and diurnals. At the same time, I am also working with my two editors on three different projects. Two are companion books about the story of Gaia & Elios, a girl and an alien thrown together by fate and Etruscan findings. The third is Marie’s Journey, the final installment in The Ginecean Chronicles.

Here, Monica talks a little bit about how Home Wet Home came about, her short story featured in Off the Beaten Path.

The inspiration for Home Wet Home came from my fascination for anything aquatic. When I was a kid, I used to spend hours reading about the lost city of Atlantis, and I tried, without much success, to establish a colony of sea monkeys in a jar.

We all have those fun little stories of how our writing comes about. Here's one of Monica's from when she was writing Priest.

In 2010, while I was writing Pax in the Land of Women, two characters, Rosie and Mauricio, came to life. I fell in love with them and thought their story deserved to be told, but Pax was already on its way to completion, and there wasn't any space left in it for them. November came along and with it Nanowrimo, the one month extravaganza where authors pledge to the insanity of writing until they drop. It was perfect timing and I immediately jumped at the opportunity to write 50,000 words around the slave and the President’s daughter.  During those thirty days, my husband and I settled on a nice routine, where he played Red Dead Redemption and I sat by him on the couch and wrote The Priest. To this day, I can’t read a word from The Priest without humming the songs from RDR’s soundtrack.

And now we'll finish up with all of Monica's contact info.

Blog: www.monicalaporta.com
Twitter: @momilp
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ginecea
Amazon Author page
Goodreads

Mailing list: http://bit.ly/worldsinwords

Well I hope everyone enjoyed the blog tour and all the featured post! I know I enjoyed working with all these talented authors on the Off the Beaten Path anthology. It has been a blast and a learning experience! I'm so glad I was able to participate and make some new friends along the way.

I'll be taking a brief break from blogging, so there will not be a Tuesday post this week. I will be back Thursday with the news I knew everyone has been waiting for.

Have a wonderful week!

Off the Beaten Path: Angela Roquet

Today's guest is Angela Roquet, who was actually the one that helped open the door for me to this anthology. A very big THANK YOU to her for linking me up with Jason.

Angela contributed Dearly Departed to the anthology and is also the one who has helped get the rafflecopter together. She's got some very interesting projects going on, on top of all the writing and promotions. I'll let her tell you all about it!

Books and upcoming projects: 

I'm currently taking a break from writing. In addition to the short story in Off the Beaten Path, I just released my fourth novel, a YA zombie comedy titled Crazy Ex-Ghoulfriend. 

I've organized a zombie themed prom in my hometown to celebrate the release and to raise money for a local library. We're calling the event the Prombie Apocalypse. It's been a lot of work, and it's definitely the biggest party I've ever been in charge of, but I think it's going to be a lot of fun. We're going to have a karaoke DJ and a photo booth, and we're also crowning a royally undead court and judging a zombie walk-off contest. 

The Facebook event page can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/PrombieApocalypse 

I'll be back at the keyboard some time in November to get started on Psychopomp, book 4 in my Lana Harvey series.

What was your inspiration for Dearly Departed?

"Dearly Departed" is set in the world of Lana Harvey, the protagonist of my urban fantasy series. It was an opportunity to take a glimpse into Lana's past. The twenties seemed like a fun era to explore, and the story also allowed me to shed some light on the origins of Lana's unambitious work ethic. I think quite a few Lana fans were hoping to catch a glimpse of Saul Avelo, Lana's deceased mentor, but the story actually takes place ten years after his death, which is still pretty fresh, considering the life expectancy of a reaper. I am hoping to feature Saul in a later short story though. 

Before you go, give us some of your thoughts on writing.

One of the most important lessons I've learned while writing is that spell check is not my friend. Spell check does not care if my characters empty their bowls or empty their bowels. It's always best to have a trusty team of beta readers to catch all those lovely typos.

Thanks for having me on your blog! It was a blast working on this anthology with you! : )

~ ~ ~ ~

Absolutely! Angela has a number of ways to get in touch with her. If you enjoyed her little taste of the afterlife in Dearly Departed, I guarantee you're going to want to take a look at her website!

Email: angela@angelaroquet.com
Website: AngelaRoquet.com
Blog: angelaroquet.blogspot.com
Facebook: facebook.com/adroquet
Twitter: @angelaroquet

Also, you can check out all her previous works on Goodreads and Amazon below.

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/angelaroquet
Amazon: www.amazon.com/Angela-Roquet/e/B0030CVZ72

~ ~ ~ ~

I'll be taking a break with blogging tomorrow, but will be back to finish up the tour next week. My next post will be on Sunday with some insider information on Monica La Porta! See ya then!

Off the Beaten Path: Sharon Sant

Today's featured guest is the lovely Sharon Sant. who contributed the chilling story, Soul Trading, to the anthology. 

Here's a little bit about Sharon from her author bio.

~ ~ ~ ~

Sharon Sant was born in Dorset but now lives in Staffordshire, England. She graduated from Staffordshire University in 2009 with a degree in English and creative writing. She currently works part time as a freelance editor and continues to write her own stories. An avid reader with eclectic tastes across many genres, when not busy trying in vain to be a domestic goddess, she can often be found lurking in local coffee shops with her head in a book. Sometimes she pretends to be clever but really loves nothing more than watching geeky TV and eating Pringles. She is the author of a string of YA novels, including Runners and the Sky Song trilogy.

~ ~ ~ ~

Sharon was able to answer a few questions for me, so without further ado, I present Ms. Sharon Sant!

Sharon, do you have anything you're currently working on, or are there any upcoming projects you can tell us about?

At the moment, I'm still promoting a fairly new book called The Memory Game, which is a YA paranormal. Along with the anthology, (Off the Beaten Path) this is taking up quite a lot of my time. I do have plans for the next book in my Runner dystopian series, which has been plotted out and hte first chapter written, and I hope to pencil some time in the diary to make progress with this soon.

What was your inspiration for Soul Trading for the anthology?

Soul Trading began with a simple idea - what if you met a man on a night out who wasn't actually a man at all? And if he wasn't a man, then what was he?

The story pretty much took shape all by itself as I wrote it, almost as thought it had a life of its own. As a kid, I remember my mum being fascinated by the idea of reincarnation and life after death, and all these memories came into play to help shape what I wrote.

Sharon, do you have a message, or anything you'd like to say to the indie community?

I love to interact with my fellow authors, readers, bloggers and general social media-philes, so look me up and chat away!

~ ~ ~ ~

Well, you heard her! Here is all of Sharon's contact information. If she's anything like me, she will absolutely love it if you reach out!

Webpage - www.sharonsant.com

Facebook - www.facebook.com/sharonjsant

Follow her on Twitter @sharonsant

And, last, but certainly not least, take a look at her Goodreads page to see all of her previous works!

Tomorrow will feature Angela Roquet! Be sure to swing back by to read her interview!

Off the Beaten Path: Jason Graves

Welcome back, today!


Here is my first author spotlight for Off the Beaten Path, the man that helped make this whole thing possible, Jason Graves. Not only did he get this project up and running, he also contributed his story, Great Plains, as well as edited the entire anthology.

A HUGE round of applause for Jason! Now here's a little blurb, straight from his Amazon Author page.

~ ~ ~ ~

Jason T. Graves lives in North Caroline with his family and a menagerie of small, domestic animals. He takes his coffee black, and, when he is not conducting mysterious, mad-scientist experiments with his students, he writes mysterious and beautiful fiction.

Many years ago, he was punched, only once and very lightly, by Muhammad Ali.

~ ~ ~ ~

Jason is also the author of the Noctivages Chronicle series featuring Blood Roses and Morning Stars.
See all of Jason's works listed here on Goodreads and visit his website here!

Be sure to come back tomorrow to meet Sharon Sant!

Off the Beaten Path: The Opening Festivities!

Alright folks, it's time to give your fingers some clicking exercises! And who wouldn't want to jump on this sweet giveaway? It's totally win win win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

But seriously, to everyone that signs up and supports the indie authors, it's truly appreciated. I'm glad that we have this opportunity to give back.

Be sure to check back everyday for the rest of the week! I've got interviews and spotlights for all the other authors that collaborated in Off The Beaten Path. It's gonna be great getting to know everyone!

5 Days Left

Hey guys!

Just want to remind everyone that there's only 5 days left to sign up for the After - Part One giveaway! Be sure to jump over there and enter before it's too late.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

After

by D.R. Johnson

Giveaway ends September 30, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

And now on to the topic of Off The Beaten Path. I was able to finish reading all the stories and they are wonderful! I recommend grabbing a copy as well as signing up for that giveaway too! I'll have lots of posts going up next week, full of features and spotlights of all my fellow authors.

Things have been truly crazy on the home front though. After - Part Two is still on schedule, but when I say crazy, I mean CRAZY! I don't know if I'll be able to hang on to my sanity through all this. My surgery probably won't be until the end of October, early November and I am not looking forward to that. We are also planning on putting our house on the market next month so we have a lot of little renovations going right now. Just bad timing.

Now for a little tidbit; part two has securely made it past the 70k word mark. I never expected it to grow this much during the rewrites, so I'm quite pleased. Some scenes are still being adjusted in the final edits and I only have two more chapters to go. Things are looking really good still, despite all the delays! Feels good to be back on track.

Well, that's it for today. Catch everyone next week! Mark your calendars, cuz this blogs gonna be hoppin!

The Fall

What does this mean? It means Autumn is right around the corner! Living in Texas, it's really hard to think of it being so close when temperatures here are still hanging around 95 everyday. I can't wait till that cool air gets here!

This is my favorite time of year. Yes, the cool air is great, but you also have football and all the season premieres!

And what else... Oh yeah! The release of After - Part Two!  How could I forget?

Just kidding...

Things are back on track and I'm really trying to get everything finished before the surgery. Just to give you an idea of where I'm at, I'm completely done with the rewrites and now I'm in the editing process and plan to have that finished by the end of September. After that, it's all polishing and formatting.

I ALSO have some exciting news for Off the Beaten Path. The first giveaway is now live! Be sure to sign up. If you miss it this go around, don't worry, there'll be others. More information on the book will be coming soon as we, the authors, dive into promotions. We'll have lots of little tidbits, ebooks, and paperbacks to give away!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Off the Beaten Path

Giveaway sponsored by Jason T. Graves

Giveaway ends October 15, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Edit: ACK!! I wrote this post Wednesday night and scheduled it to post Thursday morning as normal, but didn't actually publish it! So sorry it's late!

Seriously?

~back to edit~

Sorry about that tragedy of a post from my phone! I just couldn't let it lie. I had to come back and poke some life back into it.

So yes, I've had a few setbacks lately. Do I need to post a list? You don't really want to hear it.

I did lose access to my files yesterday so wasn't able to edit much at all. That was just one day, so I'll make up for that today. I've already got a good chunk done and will get right back to it as soon as I've got this posted.

Here's the other setback. It's such a sad story. So ya see, I print each chapter out for hubby to beta, and the last chapter I printed has been edited and ready for me to get the updates done. It's been sitting on my desk for a few days now, patiently waiting for my attention. Then... (DUN DUN DUN) Earlier today, it may have gotten a sippy cup spilled on it. :(

The edits are still legible, so no problem there. I just won't be able to save this in my folder with everything I printed from After - Part One and After - Part Two. See? I told you it was a sad story.

How about a wrist update? I did see the Doc on Wednesday and, yes, it's carpal tunnel. Surprise, surprise. I will be scheduled for surgery soon, but I think I'm going to put it off long enough to get After - Part Two out there. I'm so close to being done and able to type again... I can't let a little thing like nerve damage keep me down!

If you haven't yet, make sure you head on over to Goodreads and sign up for the giveaway. The book is just a collectors edition, but the pen is AWESOME! I handed a few out to some friends for us to test out and it works really well. Anyway, here's the link. No obligation, just fill out the form quick and sign up. Enter to win!

Okay, I feel a bit better about this post. Going straight back to the edits!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Open Minds - By Susan Kaye Quinn

Sorry this post is a little late today. I may have gotten caught up in the first Monday night game of the season and then passed out early.

So I do have a review for today. I totally swept through Open Minds this weekend, and I'm so thankful I found a book that captured my attention so effectively.

The book eases you into the story and starts off slow as we get to know Kira and her world. It's an odd, futuristic world where something in the water has turned everyone into a mind-reader. Everyone, except for a lonely few that are referred to as 'zeros.' That would be Kira.

Open Minds

Zeros have a hard life because no one trusts them. Why would you trust someone when you can't read their thoughts? It's to easy for them to keep secrets and tell lies. Zeros can never be productive members of society.

This is how Kira's story starts. Once it gets going, though, it's pretty action packed. It kept the pages turning and was a very easy read. As soon as I turned the last page, I immediately bought the second book.

This book was really good and I only had a few issues with it that knocked it down to a 4 star review.

First was the way the slag words were used. The author did an excellent job creating all this new jargon and slang terms to give her world depth, but there were moments when it felt like it was over used a bit. Not a big deal, though.

The biggest reason why this book didn't rate a full 5 stars for me was the lack of emotion I felt for the characters. People could die and I didn't care. Now, I'm an emotional person and I cried like a banshee when I read the Hunger Games, but for some reason, I didn't have a connection with the characters in the book. I couldn't begin to tell you why, either.

I wouldn't let any of that stop you from reading this book, though. It's pretty minor stuff compared to how excellent the story is.

Also, here's the book trailer, which I think is pretty awesome!

You can find more info on Susan and her books here.

Will be back on Thursday!

Giveaway!

Oh no! I almost forgot! The holiday has me all thrown off and I almost let Thursday get away from me.

For starters, I hope everyone was able to enjoy Labor Day in some way, shape or form. I spent some time at the lake, hit up a couple birthday parties (one for a toddler and the other had some mad karaoke!) and made plans to remodel the master bath. Woohoo! Now I need a weekend to just relax!

As promised, here is the link to the Goodreads givaway for the two books I have just sitting here on my desk. Go ahead! Sign up! It's free and no obligations at all. This is just to promote the first book before the release of part two, which will be coming soon!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

After - Part One

by D.R. Johnson

Giveaway ends September 30, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

And do you want even more exciting news?

Well, I have some!

Off The Beaten Path

I am very pleased to announce the upcoming release of an anthology that has been in the works for some time. This book features short stories from 8 authors, including yours truly! The book is entitled Off The Beaten Path and is set to release on October 1st. My contribution, To Darkness I Fall, is a short story of seduction and revenge. A very satisfying tale, if I may say so myself.

Make sure to add it to your Goodreads list and keep in mind this anthology will only be available for a limited time.

A brief note on a more serious subject, the state of my wrist. It's still painful but I'm getting back to normal. Editing has resumed at a slow pace and I have a doctor's appointment next week. Wearing the wrist brace at night seems to help more than anything else I've tried. I'll just have to see what the Doc has to say and hope it's all good news!

With my down time, I finally found a tale to cure my book hangover. Open Minds, book one of the Mindjack Trilogy. I finally got a few chapters in and Susan Kaye Quinn has managed to capture my attention. I expect that will be my next review.

Everyone, go have a safe and happy weekend! Read a book, watch a movie and unwind before Monday rolls around again. Season premieres will be upon us soon, not to mention the cooler weather and FOOTBALL!! My favorite time of year!

Unavoidable Problems

Hello!

I'm sure that you've already noticed, but I had no Tuesday post. I apologize for this, really I do, as I had something planned, but I found I just couldn't write it. I have two reasons for this.

1: I was originally planning to write a review. This review was going to be on The Companions, R.A.Salvatore's latest Drizzt novel. I finished this book on Sunday and have suffered from book hangover ever since then. I have attempted to wash this away by starting another book that I was quickly bored by, so I started yet another book and discovered that the books weren't the issue. I just couldn't manage to pull myself out of the land of Faerûn. I need more Drizzt! (I realize I might have a problem.)

2: The second reason I was not able to write a post for Tuesday just so happens to be a bit more serious and a lot less fun. I have somehow managed to injure my right wrist. I'm not exactly sure what happened, either. Sunday was going along well, normal activities, nothing out of the ordinary, but by Sunday afternoon my wrist was killing me. Yes, it feels like nerve damage. I am worried this might be the onset of some form of carpal tunnel. See what I get when everything is going so well?

Not to worry though. I am already attempting to schedule an appointment with the neurologist but, as my husband found out with his issues, it could take several weeks before I'm able to be seen. So, I am coping.

I have made the decision to restrict the use of my right hand and keep activity to a minimum to assist in the healing process. That means no heavy lifting, no mouse clicks and, worst of all, no typing. Now, as you can imagine, I type quite a bit. I've been typing thousands of words a day for years. I really doubt that the typing is what caused this. Rather, the culprit is probably the mouse and poor sleeping habits. More often than not, I've started to wake up with a sore wrist and tingling fingers, verging on numbness. So, I bought a brace.

I have definitely improved since Sunday and feel like I could get right back to typing, but I really want to make sure my wrist has time to heal.

But, Debra, your typing this long blog post!!!

No, I'm not. This post has been brought to you by Dragon NaturallySpeaking. I actually love Dragon and use it quite a bit for my first drafts. So why not blogs? It does seem to be working well but I haven't gone back to check for typos, and sometimes weird stuff just happens. Hopefully you catch my meaning though.

So, before I get to the good stuff, has anyone else out there suffered from carpal tunnel? Just curious about everyone else's experiences.

Now the exciting news that I told you about last week. Well, at least I hope you find this exciting.

I have two first edition After - Part One paperbacks that I am going to give away through Goodreads. Signups for the giveaway will run through the month of September. Now, these are collector editions since they will never be printed again, so they're special! Along with the books, the winners will receive a Phoenix Curse pen and a Phoenix Curse key-chain. Exciting, right? I really hope so!

I will be sure to post the signup link here and on Facebook when it goes live on Sunday.

Looking forward to the extra long weekend!

Paperback Blues

I have been busy, busy, busy this whole week, working on revisions, edits, blog posts and finally getting around to updating the paperback of After - Part One to the new version.

Sad Kitty doesn't like doing revisions.

Yay me, I've been so productive... Right?

Heh... So here's the story.

I finally buckled down last weekend and took on the daunting task of updating my paperback of AP1 on Createspace. I had been dreading doing this since before I even had the edits done, but it was time. I just couldn't hold off any longer.

When I started, I found out that all that procrastination was pretty much well founded, because editing the paperback is SO MUCH HARDER than the digital version. Blargh!

Yet, I dove in and soldiered through it, getting the edits done in an afternoon. This time, I opted to start from scratch instead of the Createspace template. Not saying anything against the template, but I found this to be so much easier and a lot less frustrating. There were some things I was wanting to do with the book that the template just wouldn't allow.

Once I was finished, I did have to upload the file a few times after making some minor adjustments. That included adding a blank page at the end of some of the chapters so that all new chapters would start on the right-hand page. I had read that some book publishers do that and I thought, 'Why the hell not?'

What I didn't account for was me being an idiot. I should have some alarm set someplace for myself to just slow my ass down when I start to rush things. This is now, and pretty much always been, my biggest downfall, and it happens far to often.

Brilliant me didn't think to go back and check the Table of Contents after I had made my page adjustments. So I get the 'proof' in the mail today--and I say 'proof' because it's not a proof, it's the live version because I'm just that errantly bold--and only happened to check the TOC as an afterthought.

Oh, Debra... When will you learn?

So the TOC is all jacked up. This is clearly my fault because I knew better. The other issue I have with the book is the cover. This I didn't think I would have to redo because I only changed a few things but apparently a few pages does make a difference. The text on the spine is no longer centered.

Other than those 2 cosmetic problems, the new version is BEAUTIFUL! I love it! I adjusted the font a little and was quite happy with the other adjustments I made to the book.

The best part of it all is, I added the deleted scenes to the back! Woohoo! Now I have to go back and do that for the digital versions, but I'll be putting that off for awhile. I only have time for so much right now and that doesn't really fall high on my priority list. The digital version aside, I'll probably get the the revision to the revision uploaded for the paperback this weekend, though. I think that's pretty important.

And where do I stand on the subject of AP2? I'll let Harry Zidler tell you.

Yeah, that's right! October is still looking good for the release. Now that the beast of Amarillo is out of the way, the edits are going so smooth and I feel like I'm flying through everything. I won't hold my breath though. I know that can change in a heartbeat. It's funny how I can clear 2 scenes in a day, then get stuck on one scene for a week. I just never know what's going to happen.

That's all I have for you this week. Be sure to check back next week because I'm already working on some more exciting news for everyone!

Author Spotlight, Featuring Kelly Samarah

Beneath The Blood Moon

Hello, hello everyone! I hope everyone's week is off to a good start.

I have a very exciting post today! Please welcome Kelly Samarah to my blog, my very first author spotlight! I hope this is the first of many to come.

Kelly has a brand spankin' new anthology releasing on August 25th, Beneath the Blood Moon: Six Terrifying Tales. Sounds like my kind of book. I can't wait! It will be available on Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes & Noble.

Without further ado, I give you Kelly Samarah!

1. Why are you a writer and when did you first start writing?

I write because I have stories to tell. As simple as that. There are characters in my head, waiting to be put down on paper, and I'm doing them an injustice if I don't follow through. 

I've been writing since I was very young. My second grade teacher told me I had a gift for words, and I knew then I wanted to tell people stories. It's always been about trying to show people what's inside my head, and writing has been a way for me to communicate little pieces of myself to others.

2. What will you tackle next? (If you are writing a series, what will you write after the series is over?)

With my horror shorts being released, I have more time to focus on my book, the first of a trilogy about a boy who learns he is a warrior from an alternate universe. I post my rough draft chapters each week on my blog. Readers can read along while the story is in it's rawest state. I thought this would be fun, to watch a story come to life, and for readers to see just how much changes from the first time that pencil hits the paper to it's absolute, final draft. And hopefully, give them a better appreciation for how much work author's actually go through from start to finish. How involved we become, how tortured and doubtful and frustrated we can get with making it "perfect."

Thorns Of Glass

3. Who is your favorite character that you have created and why?

I love (and in some cases, hate, where it is a given) all my characters. They are all pieces of my personality in one way or another. But right now, my favorite character is Sam, from my book, Thorns of Glass. There are so many aspects of his character that touch strings in my emotions I would rather ignore. He truly became something tangible as I wrote about his tragic life. He feels like a real person to me.

4. What is your favorite genre and author to read?

This question is always so hard for me. I like a good story. In my experience, I've found some of my favorites in the horror, paranormal, and fantasy genres. Stephen King is an all time favorite, as well as Lois Lowry. Recently, I have enjoyed the work of John Hart, Neal Shusterman and a very twisted and original book of horror shorts by Claire Farrell.

5. What about movies and TV shows, (or if that's not for you) How do you relax?

I relax by sleeping. There's too much to do in my life sometimes to find a time to relax besides then. I'm a single mom and have a 15 and 10 year old at home. I also work full time besides writing and marketing, so it's not often I get to veg out in front of the T.V.. But when I do, you can find me watching The Walking Dead, True Blood, Sons of Anarchy, American Horror Story, and all those reality T.V. ghost hunting shows. I also love to read and paint, and try to fit those in when I can.

Bio: Kelly Samarah lives in the small logging town of Molalla, Oregon, nestled in the foothills of the Cascade Range near the Mt. Hood national forest. She enjoys reading, writing, painting, cooking and spending time soaking in the beautiful Oregon countryside.

~ ~ ~ ~

Everyone, mark your calendars! We only have a few more days left to wait. Here are a few links to keep you up to date with everything Kelly's up too!

Kelly's Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

And remember, if you like a book, please leave a review! You have no idea how it brightens our day.

Catch everyone on Thursday!

Deleted Scenes

And, as promised, here are the deleted scenes for the very beginning of part two. Remember, the story line is still accurate but, in the published book, this scene will be through Joss's eyes, not Ali's.

http://www.thephoenixcurse.com/p/after-part-two-deleted-scenes.html

This past week went really well. I finished up the Amarillo chapters and was sad once I wrote those final words. They are now in the done pile and I have moved on to rework the other chapters of part two. It's going well! 

I'm still expecting to hit the October deadline but I don't have an exact date worked out just yet. Hopefully there will be no more setbacks between then and now but I really don't foresee anything like that happening. I hope I don't jinx myself by saying this but it looks like smooth sailing from here! It's on to Boulder City.

Well, I will leave you with that since I know you guys have a little extra reading to do today. ;)

Happy reading! And to my indies, happy writing!

Have a wonderful, wonderful weekend and I will be here next Tuesday with a new and exciting post!

Amarillo By Morning

This week has just been totally awesome. I feel like me again and I've been able to fully focus on my writing and, once again, I'm so happy that things are back to normal!

For reference, I'm writing this post on Wednesday night to auto post tomorrow morning.

So, I had a moment today. It's one of those moments that every writer loves to have. It's when inspiration gets behind you and just launches you forward. The story grabs you, takes hold of you and starts running away while you're furiously typing as fast as you can, doing everything you can to keep up. You're nothing but a spec of dust in the face of a hurricane. The story has control.

And you type, and you type, and you type.

And an hour and 3k words later, you look up to face reality and wonder what the hell just happened.

It. Is. Magical.

Now, this was not my first moment and I love it every time it happens, (the feeling is indescribable) but this time it was so important because of the surrounding circumstances.

I've been trying to tie Amarillo to Boulder City now for two months. For those of you that have been with me since the very very beginning, who actually downloaded my NaNoWriMo manuscript from Smashwords last November, knows that Amarillo simply didn't exist in my first draft. It was only a vague idea that never got written. When I made the decision to flesh out the world, Amarillo was back in.

And then I got stuck.

The original plan for Amarillo was only supposed to cover two scenes but, as I wrote, the story began to demand more time. Things went into flux and I had to rewrite scenes and perspectives, and now I'm looking at two full chapters for Amarillo. These are not stretched-out filler scenes, mind you, but action-packed adventures.

This morning I started the last Amarillo scene, thinking it would just be a hop, skip and a jump to Boulder City. I've had a foggy vision of how this would play out in my head for a while now, so figured I would get it over with fast and continue with the editing process.

And then things... happened...

I was mid sentence, trying to figure out my wording, when I thought to myself... What if? and BAM! The scene unfolded in my brain as the fog cleared and I went into a daze. An hour later it was like I woke up from a dream. Just a few more shots fired and Amarillo is complete... And it's not even Friday yet!

I just can't wait to see what the weekend brings!

Oh, and just as a reminder, that first deleted scene for Amarillo will be posted next Thursday! It's purely optional if you want to read it. The scene will be accurate to the story line, just in a different perspective than what will actually be published.

Have a wonderful, wonderful weekend!

Ready Player One - By Ernest Cline

Yay! Happy Tuesday! So glad to be back and ready to write. Once again I apologize for how brief my last update was, so I am hoping that this makes up for it.

I do want to mention again how I rate my reviews. I really don't care about the occasional typos or grammatical errors every now and then. We all have them, so that is no reason to knock a star off a rating. If the errors are every other sentence, then it might be a problem but, otherwise, I tend to overlook those.

Also, if I choose to read a book outside my typical genre, I'm not going to knock a book because a horror was too horrific, or a romance was too heavy on the romance. That's not being fair to the author. It seems that this should go without saying but I still see this very thing happening in reviews quite often. I don't understand why people do this. Just seems so silly and only hurts the author.

Ready Player One
By Ernest Cline

Now on to the review!

I actually read Ready Player One last month, or... June. I forgot it's already August. I just lost so much time last month due to vacation, Tradeshow, and getting sick. It was a crazy July. I'm glad things look to be getting back to normal.

Again, the review.

When I first started reading Ready Player One, I was so sure that it was going to get a 5 star rating from me. The book started off excellent, had an excellent premise, was written from a gamer's perspective for a gamer, was full of wonderful 80's references and I absolutely loved it.

However, it wasn't without it's flaws and I ended up only giving the book 4 stars. The issue that I struggled with was the massive information dumps. There were parts where the pace of the book was slowed down to a crawl while we got some 80s history, but I was really craving some action by that point.

Aside from that, it was wonderful. The book is set in a dystopia world where people plug in to a virtual reality called the OASIS on a daily basis to work, go to school and, of course, have fun. The main character gets involved in the game of a lifetime that's centered around finding the Easter egg of all Easter eggs. It was a great ride.

I was not aware of this when I was reading the book but there are Easter eggs within the book for the reader to find. I didn't even pick up on them. I do know that Will Wheaton voiced the audio book and I'm seriously considering buying it from Audible. Maybe I can catch some of those Easter eggs while I listen.

So there is the review that I've needed to write for a while. The next one will probably be on The Companions since that released today and I'm going to battle my reading addition just to get my word count in.

Ahh, it's so good to be back!

Rough Weekend

The post today is going to be fairly short. A viscous stomach virus has been making its rounds through the house this past week and I am completely drained. I hate those!

R.A. Salvatore's first book in his newest trilogy is being released next Tuesday and I am super excited. I will probably have The Companions purchased before I even get out of bed that morning.

I know this post is so lacking but it's difficult to even set at the computer right now. I'll make up for it next week, I promise!

A New Version

Sheesh, is it Thursday again already? Time is just flying by.

This week has been very productive on all fronts. I got in some much needed edits for After - Part One and they should be available now on Amazon and Smashwords. If you downloaded from Nook or Sony, it may take a little longer for the updated version to be sent out from Smashwords but there really aren't a lot of changes. Mostly just typos and grammatical errors...

Oh, and that one HUGE continuity error... Sometimes it sucks writing in the present when the future scenes are still wispy ghosts not quite fully formed in your head. I hate the fact that it slipped by. It wasn't an error during the first writing but things do change.

If anyone would like to read it, just update to the new version. I believe both Amazon and Smashwords have this functionality but I can't speak for Nook or Sony. I did briefly consider posting the text here but decided against it. Spoilers, ya know? It's in Chapter 5, Scene 1. If you don't want to update and wade through all the chapters, you can always drop me an email at drjpublishing@gmail.com and I'd be happy to send you the single scene. It really isn't that big of a deal but it does effect a scene I'm currently writing in Dreamland.

I guess that's my big news for the week. I have submitted the deleted chapter to my beta reader (that's just a fancy title for my darling husband) for final edits. Expect that to go live on my blog on August 15th. The Prologue and real Chapter 1 are also ready for the final edits but I'm holding on to those until I have a bit more to go with it.

I also finished up my Facebook timeline artwork yesterday and I have to say I am very pleased as to how it turned out. Feel free to hop on over and take a gander. Oh, and toss me a 'like' if you haven't yet. I sure appreciate it.

What... to blatant? I know, I'm shameless. :)

https://www.facebook.com/DRJohnsonwriter

I'm still exhausted from the rush of last week and trying to cram everything into what few hours I have to myself. I can't wait to relax! Everyone have a safe and happy weekend and I'll be back on Tuesday with another review!

Resurgence, by Johi Jenkins

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope everyone's week has started off well.

I have two books I need to review. Ready Player One that I finished a few weeks ago and Resurgence that I just finished yesterday. I decided to go with what was fresh in my brain (I'm sure the post title gave that away) and I'll catch Ready Player One next week.

So, on to the good stuff.

Resurgence, by Johi Jenkins

Resurgence is the first novel by Johi Jenkins and right up my alley for my monthly indie-book pick. First off, it was not what I expected at all when I first cracked open the ole' kindle. Perhaps it was the cover that had me thinking of something more seraphic but that's my own fault. I am a total sucker for angel books but we'll break into that some other time.

I guess I should start off by saying how I felt when I read the final words. The book kinda blew my mind.

I'm normal not very indulgent in the romance genre so this was a very nice change of pace. The epic love shared between Brielle and James was wonderful to read about. The connection they have with each other is very strong (that's putting it mildly) and pretty much leaves the reader basking in the glow of their love.

But is it just a love story? No, and this is where the 5 stars come in. I've never come across a book with this type of premise before and I found it very intriguing and engaging. As you know from my previous reviews, I generally don't like stories surrounding time travel due to all the plot holes, but the time travel concept in this book was an amazing theory and I enjoyed reading about it as the mystery surrounding it unfolded. The reveal at the end was simply beautiful.

Supernatural powers manifested throughout the book and the reader gets to see through the eyes of Brielle as she first figures out she has abilities, then how she deals with it as she is able to control them as they get stronger.

I thought the side characters were well written and very defined, and the main plot came around full circle to be resolved nicely at the end. I would definitely like to see a second book set in this world because I just wasn't ready to let it go.

So if you love a good romance to go along with your paranormal fix, I recommend giving this book a shot. As of this review, Johi currently has it on sale for $.99. Well worth it.

Johi Jenkins has her own blog. You can find her here.

**From information on Johi's blog, she will be revealing a new cover for Resurgence soon. This post will be updated at that time.

Social Media

First, I need to vent a little. It's Hell Week at work, (otherwise known as the annual Tradeshow week) and I have been run ragged to the point of dissolving into a puddle of goo as soon as I get home. My brain has been total mush, so I am very sad to report that no real progress has been made on the rewrites since Monday.

However, up to that point, things were going spectacular! I have Chapter 1 (both of them) in the mostly done pile and that's no small feat. My plan is to get a few edits in tomorrow and Friday, then really make up some time this weekend. I'm waiting to hit that point of revelation where everything falls into place. That still might be just a little bit down the road.

Okay, so here it is.

Social Media

It really took me awhile to warm up to the idea of trying to juggle 3 social media sites as well as write/edit my book AND work that full-time desk job, but now I think I'm ready to give it that ole college try. I know how important it is to get myself out there so I can spread the word for The Phoenix Curse and I love the interaction that I have with my readers. So this is my goal. Opening up more avenues for you guys to find, follow and, most importantly, talk to me! I read every comment and email I've gotten and I respond to all, so don't be shy!

I'm ready to unveil my bright, shiny and new Facebook page right here.

Facebook.com/DRJohnsonwriter

Also, if you're more of a twitter follower, then here ya go.

Follow @Twitter

My twitter page has been running for a while although it might be a tad neglected. Honestly, most of my updates come in blog form (right here!) but I will probably start to utilize them both more often. I am, as always, excited to take another step in my journey and very glad to have you all with me!

One last thing before I shut down for the night. I know I've been needing to do this for a few months but just haven't forced myself to make a plan. However, since I have my new outlets of Facebook and Twitter, I'm going to implement a blog schedule in hopes to make it easier for all of us.

Regular status updates will now come on Thursdays. This will be all the juicy TPC info, along with any other project I'll be working on.

Reviews will be posted on Tuesdays when I have one. And I have one, I just haven't had time to write it yet. I need to get to it before I finish the book I'm currently reading. I didn't think I would get so behind!

OH!! And one FINAL FINAL thing, (I promise this is it, for real this time,) I have a decent sized conjunctivitis cyst on my right eye. Yup, nice little souvenir I picked up from that wonderful vacation during the 4th. It's rather irritating, so off to the Dr I went. The plan is to have it scraped (shudder) on Tuesday. I will be a one-eyed pirate for the rest of the day, so it's not ALL bad. I'm interested to see how much editing I can get done though!

Alright, there's my spiel for the week! Have a fabtastic weekend!

Stuttering

Obligatory vacation picture.

So vacation was a much needed break from regular life. I was super happy to get home though. I think everyone knows that feeling. I jumped right back into the rewrites the night I got home. It felt like I was so far behind!

An interesting thing about being away from the actual writing for a while is I had time to think about the story; the character interaction, the scenes, the plot, the intricacies. It helps to let everything dance and mesh around in my head for awhile because I came back with a solid plan to fix some of the things I thought were wrong.

Like Chapter 1.

I realized this one vacation night while I was tossing and turning in my unfamiliar hotel bed. The story line of chapter 1 isn't wrong and I was VERY happy with everything I had written which is what made the decision to do a rewrite so hard. The idea had been gnawing on me for a while actually. I tried to avoid it but the eventuality of it finally settled in and I accepted it's fate.

The problem was simple. Chapter 1 was written from Ali's eyes when it needed to be from Joss's.

Since I've been back, I've been furiously correcting this and I'm almost caught back up just after a couple days. Rewriting a scene from a different POV wasn't actually that hard and I found it to be a good exercise. It's been fun drawing sharp lines between the different ways Ali and Joss see, feel and interact with the world around them. It's just another learning experience in my writing journey.

Now, the interesting news I promised. Hopefully everyone will find this exciting.

I can't bring myself to trash Ali's chapter. I know I can't put it in the book, it no longer has a place there, but I can't let it go. I will continue to edit it, and will post it on the website as a prelude to the release of After - Part Two. 

Perhaps that will smooth over those that weren't such a fan of the cliffhanger ending of Part One. My daughter falls in that group. She texted me as soon as she was done reading and was quite unhappy with me, to which I cackled with glee. My goal was to make the reader feel for the characters and leave them wanting more. Mission accomplished, at least where she was concerned.

However, if I didn't get this part quite correct, I apologize. I will make a solid attempt in the future to avoid leaving my precious characters in dire straights. Sometimes the story does what the story wills, though. I'm just the goofball with the pen in my hand.

Back Home

I am back home and glad to be able to get back to work! It may sound odd but I have missed the writing. Feels so good to have the creative juices flowing and be productive again!

This is just a short hello. I'll get a full post up by Thursday with some interesting news. Until then, trust that I firmly have the editing pen in my hand to make sure I get Part Two out on time!

On Vacation

So, as you may have guessed by now, I did not get a chance to get a post in before leaving town. After a fun filled day of shows at Seaworld, I'm taking a break to get in a quick update.

I did get some work done on After - Part Two last week that I'm very happy with. Still working on outlines for Dreamland and will be working on that pretty hardcore during Camp NaNoWriMo.

Such a brief update, but I'm on my phone! Now it's time to head to the beach. Will post once I get home and settled!