Vampires Rule You Drool

It's me again Margaret!! I had big plans in August. Things were going to change. I was going to be able to start posting again. I even announced it to the world which was my first mistake because the universe just laughed at me and said "Oh yea? Really? Let me see what I can do to change that" and it did. Sigh. I meant to post this last week. I had a whole series of posts lined up for last week. Their drafts sit in my unpublished folder. Waiting. Like me. Maybe September will be the month that I return. Shh!! Don't tell the universe though. So until then here is a great guest post from Kasi. She was originally published by Harlequin but  has jumped onto the Indie train. She has two books out, Vampires Rule and Crushed. You can read more of her shaningans on her blog, Ghost Writer. Thanks for stopping by Kasi!!!

It's All About Control

When I was asked to write a post on my experiences in self-publishing, I didn't know where to begin.  This is my fourth attempt.  The last three were dry, boring, and all over the place.  I finally decided to narrow my focus.  Today I want to talk about control; specifically, who has control over your book?

If you go the traditional route, which I did several years ago, you have to sit back and watch control slip through your fingers as other people take your book on as their project.  In some ways this is a good thing.  When I published with Harlequin, I had a team of editors going over my manuscript line by line.  That alone will give you real peace of mind, but you have to give up control.  It isn't just your baby anymore.

On my first book, the title was changed to something that makes me cringe even now.  I tried to offer my editor a list of new titles, but she was set on the one that I hated.  In the end I gave into pressure, half-afraid my book wouldn't be published if I didn't let them have their way.  On the second book, almost every single aspect of it was changed by the editors.  First, they wanted me to change my main character's name to something they liked better.  Then they wanted me to get ride of her family, move her out of town, and basically rewrite everything.  I think the only thing they liked about the story was the idea of it.  To this day the book feels like it is more theirs than mine.

But now I've self-published a book called Vampires Rule, a YA Urban Fantasy with a unique twist on the whole vampire thing.  I have total control over this book, which isn't always a good thing.  There were a few times when I wasn't sure if I should leave something in or take it out.  I asked a friend and she said, "It's your book."  Then one day the truth of it hit home.  It is my book.  I am totally responsible for how it turns out.  Not only do I have to make sure it's edited properly, I have to create the cover, format it as an ebook, and do all the marketing. 

It's been kind of rough to be honest with you.  There have been times when I thought I should forget the whole thing and stay in bed, but the book is available on Smashwords now.  I'm hoping to have it on Amazon someday soon.  The marketing, I think, has been the worst part.  Starting a blog and joining social networking groups like Facebook has left me very little time to write.  Sometimes I feel like I am going up to everyone in the world one person at a time, tapping them on the shoulder and asking, "Would you like to read my book?"

I am learning so much about the publishing business and about marketing.  It seems like I find a new and wonderful site online to help me with marketing every day.  For instance, yesterday I found Book Blogs, and my blog followers shot up by ten overnight.  Also, a few people have asked to review my book because they saw my blog on this site. 

I love it that I don’t have to just publish one book a year like with traditional publishing.  Vampires Rule hit the cyber-shelves in April, and Crushed was released a few weeks ago.  Now I’m getting ready to put out the second books in each of those series, Werewolves Rule and Witch Hunt.  Both should be available sometime this year.

I've given up time to write, sleep, and inner peace, but I have total control over my book.  If you want to know if it was worth it, ask me next year after I've had time to promote it some more.  I'll be able to answer you then.  Hope this was helpful.          

Where you can find Kasi:

Blog   http://kasi-kcblake.blogspot.com/

Kasi's Books:

 Click HERE to read a sample chapter

To view a sample chapter of Crushed click HERE

or you can buy on Amazon by clicking the links below

                      

Eye of the Crystal Ball

One of the things I have missed the most this summer is my Writer Spotlight. I always enjoy finding new books and meeting all of the up and coming new authors. Then when they are famous I can brag about how I had them on my blog way back when. So today I am handing my blog over to T.P. She has written a guest post and you can find out more about her book, The Eye of the Crystal Ball at the end. Take it away T.P. Thanks for stopping by!!!

A lot of people ask me when I came up with the idea for ”The Eye of the Crystal Ball”, and I answer them that the story is very new, but the main character - the gypsy-girl Sara – has been with me always. She appeared in my head when I was still a child.

Where did she come from? Well, my parents actually. It is kind of strange I admit, but I think it is part of the reason why I have such a great imagination still as an adult. The thing is, my parents (mostly my dad – but my mom didn’t contradict him) used to tell me that I wasn’t their child. According to their story I was left on the doorstep at their house as an infant. They found me there in a small basket with a note on the pillow telling them to take good care of me. They told me I was a gypsy girl and that my real parents were going to come and get me one day soon.

I know it sounds like a horrible thing for parents to say to their child, but it wasn’t like I was young enough to really believe them. But I loved the story, and it made me very interested in gypsies and whenever we went on vacation to the South of France – where we always went because we had an apartment there – I would always go out looking for gypsies and try to get in contact with them. I didn’t believe the story – but I think maybe a big part of me wanted to. And that is where I think my love for storytelling began. My dad would tell me vividly about the gypsy way of living (in order to prepare me for when I had to go back, he would say while winking his one eye) and I would get drawn right into these stories of the dark and mysterious people from distant and exotic places. Stories filled with music and dancing and fluttering skirts. And my new best friend became Sara, the gypsy girl in a long red dress that would dance in my mind and make me dream of being different, or at least something else than the pretty ordinary girl from a middleclass family in Denmark that I really was.

As I grew up she followed me. I knew in my heart that I would one day write her story, and after having written four mystery novels, three in Danish that are published in Scandinavia and Germany, and one in English, I finally realized some time this spring that Sara had returned and she was getting ready to go on a dangerous quest to find a cure for her little brother’s strange illness.

I told my parents that I had written the story and they laughed a lot about it. So did I. To their defense I can tell you, that they told my older brother that he came from the monkeycage at the local Zoo, so I would prefer my story anytime over his.

But to be honest I loved that they gave me a world of imagination and they made me believe that I could do anything. Even fly. Yes, you heard me. Fly. My dad told me that he could teach me how to fly and every weekend for a long period of time we would practice in the driveway. My dad would put me on our garbage can outside and then he would have me jump towards him while he yelled: Flap your arms, flap!

And I jumped, of course, and flapped firmly believing that I one day would fly over the top of the roofs and look down at the small world underneath me. Some small part of me still believes that one day it will happen. As long as I keep flapping … and believing.

Who is T.P. Boje?

T. P. Boje is a mother of two, a stepmother of another two and a hardcore cartoon lover, Tim Burton enthusiast, and enjoys any movie the Coen Brothers have made (with the big Lebowski being her favorite strongly followed by Burn after Reading). She is also a Y/A fantasy and mystery-writer. She is originally from Denmark but currently living in Florida, USA. Her books are translated into several languages.

To learn more follow her on Twitter, visit her fansite on Facebook or check out her web-page: http://www.tpboje.blogspot.com/

Synopsis of The Eye of the Crystal Ball:

When Sara was newborn her parents left her at the doorstep at Mr. and Mrs. Schneider’s house.

When Sara was ten she discovered she was telekinetic. She began to move stuff around when she got angry just by her will alone.

When Sara was twelve her real parents came for her and took her with them to live like the Gypsy that she was – or Romani as they like to call themselves. They told her she was going to fulfill a prophesy. That it was once said that out of the Romani people the greatest sorceress who had ever lived would be born.
When Sara was thirteen she had a baby brother and when she was fourteen he got very sick with a strange illness.

To save her baby-brother Sara sets off on a quest to find his cure – well knowing that it will cost her dearly.
Soon Sara finds herself going through the Singing Cave, crossing Wild Witches Valley, talking to a ten foot giant snail, rescuing the Beads of Souls from the Hell-hounds, escaping a spell in Vamila, the Forest of Vanity, visiting the king at the City of Lights before she finally reaches the Black Castle where she is told the Eye of the Crystal Ball can tell her how to cure her brother’s strange illness.

But nothing is free in this world - and as Sara soon will know - everything has a price.

Get The Eye of the Crystal Ball on Amazon:

Saturday Spotlight- Rhian Williams

I hope everyone had a nice weekend last week. This week's spotlight feature is a bit different so I am super excited about sharing it with you. This week's Indie Author is Rhian Williams and she writes poetry. I was only 14 when my first poems were published so poetry has always held a special place in my heart. Rhi has a unique style of writing that comes straight from the heart. Here is a sample of one of her poems from her blog.  You can read more of Rhi's writing, photography, and poetry over at her blog, Bits and Bobs. 

She looked, sighed, dropped to her knees,
she waited, teased, kissing her hips,
the agony achieved in hesitation
from one woman to another
anticipation over skin and smiles.

Just wait, one more moment for her,
touching from heart to hips,
with swift, soft, fingertips,

Here's my Q & A with Rhi:

1. How long have you been writing poetry?

I wrote my first poem at 17, and I remember it pretty clearly, even if I don't actually have it. It was pretty awful, and after that, most of my poetry was cathartic, and out pouring of everything bad and terrible I felt, none of the good. I think this is something every poet has to go through, if not every writer, it's important to get everything out so you can grow and learn and find your style. I think I managed to get it all out by time I was 24, not that I don't write plenty of cathartic poetry, or poetry about the bad and terrible things in my life (or the world), but I can write in a way that is more accessible to the reader.

2. Do you feel promoting a collection of poetry is harder than a novel and do you have to do anything different from promoting a novel or is it the same?

It's definitely harder, but that's just the nature of poetry. Even if it were published by the big poetry publisher Farber and Farber it would be hard. Poetry is a niche market and then some, most bookshops here have one shelf for poetry and that's it. It's a bit like the forgotten sibling, overshadowed by Harry Potter and Dan Brown, even though it's older. More and more people may write it, but I see that as inevitable with the population increase of the world, and technology. So I've got a bit of a challenge ahead of me, and I'm not entirely sure of all the details to be honest, but it can't be any harder than therapy.

3. What types of poetry do you prefer to write?

 

I prefer to write freeverse poetry, poems with their own rhythm and rhyme scheme (if they rhyme at all), but I have experimented with different forms, difficult forms, like sonnets, sestinas and villanelles, but I always return to freeverse. As for subject, I tend to go through phases; I write about anything and everything, but I'll have periods of time where I will stick to a certain subject, a certain person or event.

4. What is your current WIP?

At the moment, I'm working on putting together another collection of poetry, as it turns out, over the years I've got a lot of poetry that's just sitting in a few disorganised folders on my computer. I'm also trying to finish my first novel, which I'm half way through or so, but it takes me a long time to do anything, so it'll be my work in progress for a while longer yet. Along with another four half started novels, a couple of half finished short stories, and some other bits and bobs, I always have something on the go, something to work on. To top it off, I will be going back to university in September to do a degree in English Lit. and Creative Writing.

 

You can purchase Rhi's book "I Love You like a Madman" in both print and ebook formats.

Ebook available at: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/55547

Paperback available at: https://www.createspace.com/3600315

 

 

 

Connect with Rhi:

site - http://scruffy-duck.net
twitter - http://twitter.com/anxiousgeek
facebook - https://www.facebook.com/people/Rhi-Williams/845245075

You can find past Saturday Spotlight features on my Writer Spotlight Page. Next week's featured Indie author is Cheryl Shireman.

See If You Can Find Me

Be our guest be our guest put our service to the test 

I am not here today. This is a recorded message to inform you that I am playing at Beverly's blog today. She was crazy nice enough to invite me as a guest over there. I talk about my success as a writer and the cha-ching I have got from it. So go check it out. She has nice pretty shiny playthings too. So go to Beverly's blog Writing in Flow I'll be waiting there for you.