Write Here, Write Now

This post comes with a warning - it isn't very fitting with my usual sunny vibe - but I'm hoping that taking the time to unload this crap from my head will help me feel better and back to normal in no time! So, you may have noticed I've been ... not away, but not as present as usual. Last week, I turned 30. Yeah, I know, no big deal, right? And it's not, I am a firm believer that age is just a number. But saying goodbye to my twenties hit me pretty hard. I am feeling the first stirrings of failure because I can't afford to live alone, I don't have the things most other people my age have, and I'm not sure where it went wrong. What happened? How am I THAT girl? When I first read Bridget Jones' Diary, I thought it was the funniest thing ever - but now I am at that age ... well, it's not so funny lol. Then there's the writing thing. I always wanted to write. I always WANT to write. But lately, I am plagued by this nagging doubt telling me I suck...

Yeah, I know ... three weeks early but If I Let You Go is now available! I am doing the KDP Select thing, so for a while, it is only available on the Kindle, but you can buy it for £1.02 in the UK, and $1.65 in the U.S! If I Let You Go - Amazon UK If I Let You Go - Amazon.com Just because there is an early release, it doesn't mean the bloghop is cancelled or moved - the details for that are still the same! If you want to sign up for it, there is still loads and loads of time! On October 22nd, I invite you to share some stories about letting go. Was there a time when you had to let go of someone or something? How did it make you feel? How did you handle it? Or if that's too personal - which I completely understand - how about writing a piece of flash fiction?  The only rules are - obviously - it has to be related to letting go, and please keep it to a maximum of 500 words. When the day arrives, I will hop around to all the entries, along with my i...

IWSG time! I'd like to start by thanking Alex J. Cavanaugh for this fab bloghop, and today in particular, it is just the motivation I need to get me blogging again! Today, I'm talking book sales. Now, I don't really know if there is any kind of "average" amount of books sales when you're an indie author. I don't know what is considered a good amount of book sales per month, or whether I am doing better or worse than others. What I do know, is that I am happy with the amount of books I've sold. I self-published because I want people to read my work - and people are reading it - yay! My concern is - what if the sales stop? I know after a time, everyone's book sales will slow down, but I have this fear that I'll check my sales every couple of weeks to find that nobody cares about reading my books anymore.The dreaded 0 will show on my Kindle sales, and I will plummet into a pit of despair. It hasn't happened yet, but Game On has onl...

Okay, where did that last two weeks go? It seems like only yesterday I was watching the Olympics and being nervous about the start of the blog tour, and now there is just one day left! I will save my enormous gushing thank yous for tomorrow's post, but I hope you all know how grateful I am for everything! Remember a week or so ago, I mentioned I had an idea for a book that came to me in a dream? Well, it's kind of taking over. Taking over, as in, I may end up releasing three books this year instead of the two I planned! It probably won't be novel length, more like a novella, but I am surprised by how quickly it's coming together. I know there are people who worry that self-publishers put out loads of books a year because they rush through them, and maybe the quality suffers. I don't want to be THAT person, so rest assured, I will work hard to get it right before putting it out there. If it doesn't get done in time, I won't force it - but just wanted to let...

I've been wondering about whether or not to publish Game On on Smashwords. Yesterday, I was asked whether it would be available for Nook, and I think the only way to make that possible is to publish on Smashwords as they distribute all over the place. My big concern is that, while doing research about whether to publish through Smashwords, a lot of people mentioned there is a huge risk of piracy. I don't necessarily believe my book is worthy of being pirated millions of times resulting in a mass loss of earnings, however, I am not crazy about the idea of my work being stolen. It happens a lot with my articles - and they are only a couple of hours work. I don't want it to happen with something I spent months on. :S Does anyone out there have any experiences they can share with me? I am very confused LOL! EDIT: Crap, I was in so much of a hurry this morning, I forgot to talk about the most important news of the day! *slaps self* My wonderful blog buddy Cassie Mae bagg...

Here's a brief rundown of my thoughts when I started reading my proof copy of Game On. YAY! This first chapter rocks! Haha, I love it when I make myself laugh! Oh ... there's an extra space between those two words, but nobody will notice, it's not worth editing the whole file just for that. Hmm, I think there could be more in this part, it's a bit lacking in feeling. CRAP THERE IS A GIGANTIC ERROR!  This book sucks, and I've already sent it out to a bunch of people - I am so screwed. Trust me, I have proofread this book until my eyes bled, and it's still not right. I know, I know, striving for absolute perfection is probably a waste of time because you can't please everyone. I just thought that I would be pleased by now. *sigh* It's really not a disaster. It's just ... if I can fix those little things now, before the book goes on sale, I will be much happier. To the fab people who have advanced copies, I hope you can see past the errors, ...

Haha, I can't believe I am typing this post! I actually have a completed book, and a front cover and all I need to do now is get it ready for publishing! My cover was made by one of my best friends, Roberta Leite, who has a super talent for digital drawing. I cannot thank her enough for all the work she put in to it, and for her patience. I am pretty fussy, and I must have driven her insane with all the little tweaks I asked for! :D So ... here it is...   After swapping her small town life to work for a top U.S soccer team, Leah Walker thought she could finally leave the ghosts of her past behind. However, when she meets serial womanizer, Radleigh McCoy, the memories of her old life come swarming back, and she is forced to ask herself whether she has really changed at all.  So ... what do you think? Also, let me know if that synopsis is terrible - it may still need a little work before publishing! I am looking at a tentative release date of J...

Happy IWSG Day! This genius idea created by Alex J. Cavanaugh is a place for all of us insecure writers to gather together to talk about our worries, and cheer each other on. Check out the full list of participants here ! Think right now about your favourite writers. How do you feel when you know they have a new book being released? It's usually something like, "HURRY UP, I CAN'T WAIT ANYMORE!" right? And also, think about when one of your super talented blog buddies announces they've got a book coming out soon. That is even more exciting because it's someone you know, someone you may have seen struggling to reach their goal of publication. Someone you've seen go through the rough times, and have finally made it to where they want to be. I can tell you that when Jolene Perry, or Nyrae Dawn announce a book release - I bounce up and down like a crazy person! These two awesome ladies are writers I absolutely adore for their ability to write so natural...

I still can't believe I signed up for CampNaNo - or that it starts tomorrow! But, I'm ready. I know my story, I know where it's going, where it ends, and most of what happens in the middle. All I need to do is get the words on the page without wasting time over-thinking everything. THAT is the biggest challenge with my brain still in edit mode. I'll tell you more about what I'm writing for CampNaNo next time. :D I literally just finished final edits for Game On around five minutes ago. Yeah, I know I said it was finished before, but then some small but important things were brought to my attention so I had to go back over some of the chapters again. NOW, I'm done, yippee! :D When I originally wrote the story it was complete at 154,000 words. Now, after cutting endless amounts of useless words, the final word count is ... 85, 851! To me, that is insane! Obviously, I am a brutal editor, but there really was a lot of crap in it such as scenes that didn't pr...

Is there anything more awesome than getting work back from a CP with nothing but awesome comments? I mean, there was constructive advice too, but for the most part - my feedback has been nothing short of amazing! Much love to Leigh Covington for making me do this this morning: Also want to say thanks to Clare Dugmore and Morgan Shamy who have given me equally awesome pointers and comments. You guys rock! So, now all I have to do is get my final (FINAL!!) edits done, format correctly for Kindle publishing, figure out all the tax drama (I'm halfway through figuring it out, and I'll post about it once I'm done), get my book cover finalised, and publish this bad boy! Okay, there's still a lot to do but I'm one step closer and that is making me very happy!

I am having a mini nervous breakdown trying to understand the tax information for non U.S publishers on Amazon. Is there anyone out there who has dealt with it who can give me an idiot's guide to what it all means please? Is it as complicated as it looks, or am I just really, really stupid? LOL! Any help would be muchly appreciated, thanks1