Category Archives: Writing Process

Lightning Strikes!

Fiction, inspiration, KINETICS, New Release Details, Publishing & Writing Career, Ramblings, Writing, Writing Process, , , , , , , , ,

Hey there, Vikans!

So, a LOT has happened lately for me, both in terms of personal and professional plotlines. In addition, my eyes opened wide about three weeks ago, almost as if struck by lightning, in an instant, I had my entire writing and publishing career figured out. Well, in basic, general terms and only in my head, at least. Here’s how this happened, and what it means for my readers and me.

Three weeks ago, I was 25,000 words into KINETICS 3, 13k of them written during the previous 8 days of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, for those that don’t know that acronym). I had decided to recycle characters from manuscripts that ended up in my “Manuscript Graveyard”, essentially, stories and novels that I didn’t think would ever see the light of day. By doing that, I make this ode to my best friend JV fully encompass my writing career from its very roots.

Two characters that will show up in Book 3 are named Chrissy and Ryan. They were the Hero and Antagonist from my first ever finished manuscript in high school. Over the course of middle and high school, I’d finished 2 full novel-length manuscripts, and started on the next three. Back then, I bounced between books in a single series, as it was a bit easier for my ADHD minded imagination at the time. Toward the latter half of high school senior year, I ditched this series for Terrara Vikos-related writing (aka-first book in that trilogy).

However, I dug it out again mid-college. Read through it. At the end, all I could think of is, “This is a piece of crap!” So, I decided to try a complete rewrite back in 2012. In fact, my first two short stories for my Creative Writing class critique in college were written with characters from my Chrissy and Ryan series, at the time named THE ENCOUNTER. I had hoped those stories would give me the boost to get that first book rewritten as similarly to the original as possible, just with better writing. And, hopefully, a domino effect would occur.

I stopped five chapters in.

And those five chapters went back into the Manuscript Graveyard.

Here we are in Fall of 2017, and Chrissy and Ryan decide to become a part of my KINETICS universe. When trying to figure out their back stories, my min wandered back to my original, action-packed story, with lies, secret identities, a heroine like Kim Possible, and magic that vaguely resembled Avatar: The Last Airbender.

I was a seventh grader coming up with this story. Get over it.

Anyway, I was trying to figure out their past that led up to their appearance in KINETICS 3. What would need to change? What would be different? That’s when I had a major, stray thought:

“What if I didn’t need to change a thing? What if, somehow, their story happened in some kind of relation to my KINETICS storyline?”

Then:

“What if ALL my series were interconnected like that? They’re basically the same type of magic system and abilities, after all…”

One thing led to another, and, one-by-one, connecting lines criss-crossed, and I had most of my major projects from the last decade of writing interlocked with each other. My adrenaline pumping again, I finally realized that this new universe would probably take my entire writing career to finish. Granted, a have a good chunk of those interlocked series either completely written or partially written, but I’d still need money for covers and editing and such, so I’ll have to space them out.

This universe I’ve created looks like a cork board with strings that a stalker or serial killer might have, just in my mind. I am tentatively named this universe the KNU, or “Kinetic Noveletic Universe”. Once I’ve got two more books or so out, I will put “(KNU)” at the end of each series title, making it easier on Amazon for my readers trying to find every story within this interlocked collection of worlds. Also, this might be fun for my readers, because there will be Easter eggs in each series that mirror or relate to something happening in a connected series. It’ll be fun, right?!

A few days after this revelation, I started working on Chrissy and Ryan’s story again from scratch. Remember when I said above that their backstory didn’t have to change?

Well it did.

A little.

…

OKAY, A LOT! GEEZ!

The story is completely different from the one I started with. The opening scene was salvaged from my 2013 rewrite, but the reasons and motivations were completely different. In fact, one of my main adult heroes becomes an antagonist, whereas my antagonist became my anti-hero, and the romance that was slow-paced and spanned three novels originally starts in Chapter Two.

Not digging any deeper than that, sorry. You’ll have to wait for it.

Oh, and next week’s blog post should have long-awaited details on KINETIC 2, as well as a few details on my above mentioned series with Chrissy and Ryan, tentative series title is “CASTERS”.

See ya on the flip side, Vikans!

Keep Faith!

Wild News Wednesday (2017-06-21)

#ChaosAccounts, KINETICS, New Release Details, Publishing & Writing Career, Writing, Writing Process, , , , , , ,

So, my second #WildNewsWed now begins!

So, actually a lot has been going on since last Wednesday’s post. Unfortunately, most of it I can’t reveal yet. I will be able to soon, but that information is classified.

 

Classified_TomCruise

 

However, I can give you a few updates, that hopefully can tide ya’ll over a bit.

1) Kinetics, Book 1, titled “KINETIC REBIRTH”, is now nearing the end of post-production. Thanks to some swift money decisions and management techniques, I can now manage a longer pre-order gap! If you asked me a week or two ago, I would’ve said, “I *might* be able to start preorders three weeks before release day…”, and probably averted my gaze and bit my lip in nervous hesitance and disappointment.
NO MORE!!!
I now have the ability to have preorders ready before summer’s end (sometime in August or so). I’M SOOOOOO BEYOND EXCITED!!! This novel is my proudest accomplishment. It is my favorite out of the group of ten manuscripts I’ve finished since starting my writing journey back in March 2004. I am so excited to share this new world I’ve created with you guys! It came so naturally, thanks to the inspiration behind it: my best friend JV. The idea came to me a few weeks after her passing, and the manuscript was done within the next month and a half. So, edits are now done, covers are *underway* (*coughcough* details later *coughcough* I promise *coughcough*), and post-production nears its inevitable completion.

2) Just to tease ya’ll a bit, I’m going to have a short story releasing within the next few weeks, via Instafreebie and Wattpad. Somewhere along the way – not sure if before or after KINETIC REBIRTH’s release – I will be making it available all ebook platforms. Leaning more toward post-Book 1 release. But, keep your eyes peeled on my Facebook Author Page [here] for news in the coming weeks.

3) So, a brief notice about THE CHAOS ACCOUNTS. I know Account #3, “Account of Friendship”, left off at an unfortunate cliffhanger. I have a two-parter story for Account #4, which will resolve the cliffhanger I left before. However, I currently am wrapped up in KINETIC REBIRTH production and marketing, so THE CHAOS ACCOUNTS have taken a back seat. Just wanted you all to know I haven’t forgotten about Blaine, Luz, and Division 3, and that those next two stories will be written and released as soon as things die down a bit.

4) Oh, and Book #2 in the KINETICS series started a few weeks ago. Just FYI. 😀

And, to finish off, below is my #TeaserTuesday for the week.

Keep Faith, Vikans.

And October 19th is less than 4 months away. Just in case you didn’t realize that. : )

 

TT-Rebirth_2017-06-20

 

 

 

 

 

Catching Up // Before Ravencon 2016

Advice, Career, Out in the World, Writing, Writing Process

Howdy do there!

Yeah, I know, I know, I’ve been quiet for a while. Life grabbed me and shook me and threw my world into dizzying, spinning spirals. This post will outline everything that’s happened, and update you for my plans in the future.

For starters, I’ve been on an exercise/eating regimen. It started with me dropping my soda habit at the end of Feburary, and, within 7 weeks, dropped 18.5 pounds and gone down almost two pants sizes. Talk about an image change, huh?

About those Affirmations… Working on supplying those in an alternative way. That’s all I can say now. But, you will be getting a lot of them. A VERY BIG lot of them.

At the end of March, I returned for the annual Smoky Mountain Writer’s retreat, a small, week-long getaway with about 20 author friends filled with intensive writing sessions every day, reading segments afterward, and alcohol. Lots and lots of it. No worries though, no alcohol for me. Or, at least other than a small milliliter of pineapple moonshine in a mouthwash cup. Which, for alcohol, was really good.

I pushed myself so hard I was almost in a deep breathing fetal position by the end. But, I ended up writing 36,000 words on a brand new WIP within six days. The view was gorgeous as well, overlooking a chasm deep in the Smoky Mountains of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I also went for a 3 mile hike up and down steep inclines on my free day (so hot and out of breath by the end).  My mentors (yes, Tee and Pip were there also. They were the ones that forced me to go last year. I regret nothing at this point) went with two other Smokies (Katie Bryski and Hugh O’Donnell) to the Titanic museum, which apparently was a blast!

We all had an amazing time, and the first day we were all home and back to reality and day jobs, Alex White (amazing cover photographer/designer, check him out if you want a personally photographed cover), who is the organizer, coordinator, and resident leading bad@ss, had already picked tentative dates for next year’s retreat. At the same cabin. That had a hot tub AND a giant Jacuzzi. Yeah, it’s that cool.

Anyway, got to hang with tons of old friends and make lasting new ones. And, to me, they’re not just friends anymore. They’re family.

I’ve booked plane tickets for me and my boyfriend to go to Las Vegas and Arizona next month to see his mother, who he hasn’t seen in over two years. I’ve got a surprise in store for him, which he’s knows I have one in store, but doesn’t know all of it. I’m excited to do this, and he won’t know until we get on our plane in Chicago. Can’t wait for his reaction.

In other news, I know I’ve mentioned this briefly in other posts, but I am going to be an author guest at this year’s Ravencon, a fantasy, sci-fi, and horror convention. This year is the first year being located in Williamsburg, Virginia, at the newer Doubletree. I’ve got my panel listings, though I looked it up on my own at the con’s website, which is www.ravencon.com, in case you want to explore the other stuff happening::

Friday, April 29th

10:00 PM – How to Self-Publish on a Budget // Moderator: Alex Matsuo

 

Saturday, April 30th

10:00 AM – Self-Publishing Doesn’t Mean Solo Publishing // Moderator: ME; Other panelists: Doc Coleman, GB MacRae, Alex Matsuo

3:00 PM – Writing a Strong Teen Protagonist // Moderator: Bill Blume; Other panelists: Charity Ayres, Darin Kennedy

6:00 PM – “Kill Your Darlings” // Moderator: ME; Other panelists: Bill Blume, Will McIntosh, D. Alexander Ward

 

Yes, you’re seeing correctly. The first-time author guest and fairly-new-to-publishing-world author with social anxiety has to moderate TWO panels.

 

*Deep breaths*

Just have to keep telling myself I can do this.

 

I can do this.

… I can do this, right?

I sure hope so.

Anyway, I hope to be updating this blog with posts about each of the panels I’m on, as well as some of the panels I will be sitting in the audience at. If you’d rather see it live or recorded as video, like my author page on Facebook (link). I am planning to Facebook Live parts of the convention, so you guys can keep up with the action.

Did I forget anything? No, don’t think so. Wait… Right, right. There will be big news hitting the blog soon, hopefully by the beginning of June. Stay tuned, and, if you want to have advanced preparation, go to the “My Works” tab here on Terrara Vikos, and download/purchase the stories and/or prequel. For future reference, the stories go in time order (#1-4), ending (so far) with The Protektor’s Reality prequel novel.

Wish me luck, guys! I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Keep Faith, everybody!

The Waiting Game: Take Two

Dear Diary, Ramblings, Writing, Writing Process, , , , , , , , , ,

Last time you saw the words “Waiting Game” here on my little slice of the Internet, it was to talk about waiting for news on a project and what to do to not stress. This is in the same vein, but more a story than an advice column.

Last time I attempted to publish a novel, I succeeded. It became what is titled The Protektor’s Reality, and I am so happy I finally got a published book. Waiting was the hardest part though. Not only for betas/edits, but covers, layout, the delay in instantaneously being able to throw your greatest achievement out into the throngs of people with confetti and flying money. Does matter if that waiting takes only 1 day or five months. Waiting is HARD.

For The Protektor’s Reality (hereby abbreviated “TPR”), I had a few edits I waited for over the course of five months. First one I sent out go it all back to me within a month. Luckily, she enjoyed it so much, she said she is always willing to read more. In fact, you’ll hear a bit more about her later (in relation to the reason for this post). The other edits weren’t so quick, but I eventually got them back. Waiting for those edits, even the one-monther, were absolutely nervewracking. At the time, I was still in school, so I could study and hang with friends while I waited.

That no longer applies.

Granted, I do have a full-time job now, which takes up a majority of my day. However, during down times at the office, my mind shoots back to what I am waiting on, if they’ll like it, if I’ll like what comes out of it, what that will mean for the future of my book, etc, etc, until I drive myself crazy and have to force myself to do the work that suddenly gets slammed on my plate.

I’ll lay it out, plain and simple.
Waiting.
Sucks.

We all have to do it, though. In fact, we all wait on a regular basis. For food to cook at home, or be prepared at a fast food establishment or restaurant.  For our favorite TV show to come back on after commercials. For the car in front of you to stop driving 30 in a 60 (on dry roads) and get their butt moving. For us to fall asleep at night.

Granted, a lot of these might frustrate various people. However, we writers aren’t only stressed by waiting, we are terrified. Why do you think that is?

Worry we won’t ever hear back.

Anxiety over our writing not being good enough to succeed.

Maybe fear over rejection or dislike.

Whatever our reasoning, as writers, we are terrified of waiting. Our work (or pieces related to it) seem to be in a state of unreachable limbo, and we feel so much fear it will never come out.

When I finally released TPR into the wild, a huge weight lifted off my chest. I breathed a sigh or relief, sunk into a comfy chair, let life start to go back to normal-stress levels. Soon after, though, came the big realization.

This wasn’t over.

If I wanted a future career as an author, one which I’d already started down with the launch on TPR, I would need to keep creating and publishing books.

With a wating game.

Every. Single. Time.

My stress shot through the roof. It wasn’t over. And, for us as authors and writers, it will never be over. But, that’s okay. Because, we are still doing what we love: creating stories, and sharing them with the world.

Currently? I’m in a waiting game again, and will probably be for a majority of 2016. I’ve sent off my betas, one of which being the one who read the TPR before its release. All my betas are reliable and have a considerable amount of willingness to make time to read, because they trust this will be a good read. Then, after that, I’ll make my personal edits as quick as I can, and send off to an editor. Then wait again. Once that’s back, make my final edits, send off stuff to layout and cover designers. Wait. Get all that back. Upload to self-publishing company. Wait. Receive proof on mail. Read and make sure everything turned out correctly. Hit Submit. Write another book. Send to betas.

Repeat.

It’s a neverending, vicous cycle of waiting in the author world, but, once we accept it as a part of our writing/publishing journey, it becomes easier.

What to do in that time frame?

Read this.

And, do what you do best.

Write.

 

Re-editing the Past

Advice, Writing, Writing Process, , , , , , , , , , ,

Lookie here! Posting after only a week! Woo!

I made a few commitments this new year, instead of resolutions, as inspired by my amazing mentor, Tee Morris (link). The idea is that we always believe that it’s okay for resolutions to fail, so,  when ours do, we shrug it off. Tee suggests instead making commitments, ones which we feel obligated to see through. One of mine is to blog more frequently.

Another is to get my next book published.

Yes, this is my earliest alert. It’s not certain yet (There will certainly be a blog post once I know definitely when it’s happening), but it’s my commitment to myself, so I will see this through to the best of my abilities.

One of the things I’ve always struggled with was editing my manuscripts. Writing the stories themselves comes easy. Tweaking it (or, in the case of wanting to be published, cutting out its heart with a spoon), is a much more daunting task. My novels are my babies, as many writers and authors out there can attest to. We put our heart and soul into creating these universes and characters and plots that always take a huge amount of love and care to create and maintain. But, then, in order to be the most competitive, we need to rip it to shreds, because, apparently, it’s not good enough as is.

At first, this was a hard thing for me to accept. When I started my journey into becoming an author almost twelve years ago, every bit of poetry/story I wrote was praised. Most couldn’t believe a middle school/high school student could write that well or that maturely. It built up my confidence in my writing abilities, one of the only things in my life I have confidence in.

The upsetting fact is that we are biased. When we write our first draft, we are blinded by this amazing world and in-depth, painfully-realistic characters we created all by ourselves. We have to come to the realization that, yes, this is a wonderful story, but is it the best for us, or the best for the story itself? It’s hard to come to terms with, because we can only see things from our own perspective, the one which created the story we fell in love bringing to life in text.

That’s when three things come in handy:

  1. Beta Readers

Beta readers are one of the best resources you could have. You can get help from people who you can trust will give you an unbiased review, with advice and tweaks in plot and flaws. The best part about these guys is the fact that they can look at it with fresh eyes. They have never met these characters before (or, in the case of a second or third book, never seen the situations they are about to), and can give a perspective of your prospective readers. You want your prospective readers to like it, right? take their advice then. Now, you don’t have to accept all their advice, but give their ideas and views a serious think-over before deciding on the edit.

2. Editors

They can be your best friend, or your mortal enemy. But, they have the best skills necessary to pound your precious baby into a strong, believable novel that will appeal to many (hopefully). That’s right, I’m talking about the cursed EDITOR.

Now, don’t get me wrong, some of my nicest friends are editors. But… They scare me! I’m terrified of editors, because you hear about the fatal pen all the time as a starting out writer. With all the marks of the Red Pen of Death, destroying everything you’ve poured a bit of yourself into. However, an editor just wants to make your work better. Their goal, believe it or not, is not to tear you, or your story, down. It’s just to help it be the best it can be. And, sadly, the best story it can be is not your first draft. Also, just like betas, you don’t have to accept every change they make. And, most will not be offended. In the end, you know what’s best for the story as a whole, but sometimes, it takes a skilled, outside opinion to gain a new perspective on the greatness your manuscript can become.

3. STEPPING AWAY!

This is the best advice I can give. When you are so blinded where you can read your story over and over again and see nothing wrong but a few missed commas or an capitalized T, you need to stand up and walk away for a while. My current project I’m editing, I haven’t touched since May of 2015. Back then, it had been five months since the last edit, and I apparently went to town on it. I didn’t even remember making immense edits on it until I opened the document this week to do more. In fact, the first chapter, the very FIRST paragraph, had things added that I hadn’t remembered even thinking of adding. The best part?

IT MADE IT BETTER!

And, if the prologue was made better after a five month break between December 2014 and May 2015, imagine how much I can make my story better after an eight month hiatus. In fact, just this week, my word count has been fluctuating, and I’ve been tweaking and editing, because, while I still love my characters and the universe I’ve created, I am not blinded by the stadium lights of a deviously tricky first draft.

My goal is to publish the best story my novel can be. In order to achieve that, I need to edit. We ALL need to edit. In the end, our opinions don’t really matter. Our readers do.

And, no matter how many edits we make…

The story will still speak for itself.

Social Media From a Dummy

Dear Diary, Ramblings, Writing, Writing Process, , , , , , , , , ,

(This is in honor of the release of Social Media For Writers, a self-help book by Tee Morris and Pip Ballantine, now available on Amazon (click title above for hyperlink)(cover to the left)

Social Media hurts my head. Most of the functions are easy, and, if you don’t understand them, a plethora of resources are at your fingertips. Easy enough, right?

For me?

No.

It’s not due to the difficulty level; I understand how most work just fine. It’s on a more personal level. I’m the type of person who cares too much about what people think of me. When contemplating a response, if there is even the slightest chance someone might not like it, I usually don’t do it. It’s because of this that I seem antisocial or shy most of the time. I spend too much time debating on the perfect response, only for everybody to have moved on to something else.

I need to change that.

Just because I may seem weird, off, or offensive during one second doesn’t mean the seconds after will remain the same. Now, that doesn’t mean blurting out the first thing that comes to mind. Experience has proven to a multitude of people that that strategy fails quite frequently. But, the truth it, I shouldn’t be afraid to be myself.

As of today, I am going to make an effort to put myself out there more. This includes social media. I’ve had a Twitter account for a while, but rarely tweeted. I’ve had this blog/website for two years, and rarely posted. My LinkedIn hasn’t been touched in almost a year, while my Tumblr hasn’t been used in so long that I can’t even remember what my username is. (Note: Tumblr is one of the few that confuse me.) And, while my personal Facebook thrives, my author page has sat on lockdown for months.

NO MORE!!!

I will make my author page on Facebook live sometime tonight. This blog post marks the second in 24 hours. Twitter will be picking up speed in the next week or two (you know, hopefully). LinkedIn and Tumblr will probably stay static for a few more months until I get the hang of this whole “Be-Yourself” strategy.

Below are the links and details to my various social media accounts. I am including this website, just in case someone can’t read the URL box above.

***FYI- BIG NEWS: COMING SOON***

Website/Blog: http://terraravikos.com

Twitter/Periscope: @discoverywritin

FB Author Page

Email: terraravikos@gmail.com

E-Newsletter Sign-Up Form

I am also looking for people that might want to host me on their own blogs sometime in the December/January time frame, after I’ve announced my “Big News”. If you might be interested, shoot me an email or contact me through my FB page or Twitter handle.

Until later, Keep Faith, everyone!

Journey of Legends: The 2015 MoPO Kickstarts

Career, Out in the World, Ramblings, Writing, Writing Process, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

WOW! What a month it’s been!

Wait…. You say I haven’t posted in over a month? How long? About six months? Yikes. Sorry about that, readers. I have no other excuse for that other than big plans for the future have taken up most of my time. That, and the day job, and having to take on the responsibilities of an adult. (Why must I adult? Can I not adult today? No? Okay then.)

Those big plans will have an announcement of their own in the near future, once details have been finalized. But, I guarantee you, they are BIG. At least for me. 🙂 I’m planning on writing on here more frequently, but don’t hold me to it. I may have a sprained wrist from all the typing I’ll be doing soon.

The AMAZING journalists

Anyway, this post isn’t about me. It’s about two writers, with a hope, a dream, and a Kickstarter. These two writers are Tee Morris and Pip Ballantine. They are not only my friends and mentors, but also my role models and idols. (Lucky me, huh?) They initiated a Kickstarter in the hopes of self-publishing book 5 in their popular Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series, titled The Ghost Rebellion. While I have loved their writing pre-Ministry, the MoPO series has always had a close place in my heart. I love the characters (the main characters are my favorites. Wellington, because I think he’s cute when he’s nervous. and Eliza, because she’s a fiery loose cannon who doesn’t care what others think [a trait I wish I had]. Just my opinion though), I love the intricate plots, and I love the firepower (explosions, gun fights, advanced cars that certain characters underestimate at first *coughcough*Eliza*coughcough*). The storylines are so well written and had me hooked during that first scene in Phoenix Rising, with my chills mirroring the ones the characters were having in that cold tundra.

Their Kickstarter was mainly made with the just the 5th book as their main goal. They had stretch goals that included special models for covers, publishing the SIXTH book, AND a deviously inappropriate novella entitled Countless Hues of Crimson, which has connections to the main series, but I am sworn to secrecy as to the details (Not really; I only know how it connects, and pretty much anyone connected to MoPO knows that). I told them from Day One: “You will make it to that last goal. I don’t doubt it for a second.”

They said: “We’ll see.”

Anyway, the Kickstarter started out strong. They had bursts here and there, with some weekends gaining upwards of a couple grand between Fridays to Sundays. They actually reached their initial $6000 goal, which ensured the publication of The Ghost Rebellion.

I said: “See? You got that far that quick! I am positive you’ll reach that last goal!”

Them: “We’re going to be cautiously excited. You can be overly excited for us.”

As the Kickstarter progressed, they reached their first Stretch goal, to get specific cover models for TGR, very soon after.

Me: “I KNOW for a FACT you will get that ultimate end goal.”

Them: “We might, but we’re not going to get too excited. I looks like it may be a possibility though.”

Last Sunday, they reached their next stretch goal, which, my friends, was to be able to publish the SIXTH and FINAL book in the MoPO series, OPERATION: ENDGAME!!! It wasn’t until then that the Ministry ‘journalists’ started getting excited. Via Periscope, they uncorked champagne, made a fire pit, and lamented the lack of marshmallows. They started talking about Countless Hues of Crimson, with vague, interest-peaking details coming to light. That goal would become reality at $20,000, a full 5 Grand from their Operation: Endgame goal.

Me: “You still have a week for that last goal. I know you’ll get there. 100% positive!!”

Them: “Operation: Endgame is a definite. We don’t know if we’ll get to CHoC, but at least we have that. It’s definitely a nail-biter though.”

……

Can you imagine my eyeroll of disbelief? I have told them for YEARS how big the Ministry was. You’d think they’d know by now, but they still doubted their abilities to write an unbelievable story full of twists, turns, and the adventures of two unlikely agents. Remember, I told them from DAY ONE that they had enough support that they could do this and THEY STILL DOUBTED!!

Guess what?

Yesterday afternoon, I get a chat message from Tee:

“And $20k.”

“And 5 hours to go.”

“You told me so.”

Followed by an appropriate GIF.

I have not let him forget it in the last 24 hours. It’s actually kinda fun, and though I know it annoys him, I do it for a reason. I want him to remember this amazing, unbelievable victory whenever he doubts his writing. I want him to remember earning over 21k in 30 days using nothing but the power of the MoPO fans and the epicness that is the internet and social media.

As Lucian would tell him, “Keep Faith.” All he has to do is keep faith and know that what he does has made a difference in not only his life, but has made an impact in the lives of many others, as seen by the results of this journey.

It’s been a wild ride, and it’s only going to get wilder.

To Eliza and Wellington, I can’t wait to see the end of this adventure.

To Tee and Pip, congrats on such a sweet-tasting victory.

Oh, and  I told you so. 😉

MoPO 2015 Kickstarter Victory v3

Optimistic Heart

Dear Diary, Ramblings, Writing, Writing Process, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

131007-093034I’ve been thinking about lots of stuff lately. Between work picking up pace, my friends and sister getting ready to graduate, and a death in the extended family, I’ve decided to reevaluate my life.

My life as a new author has been rough. I’ve been monitoring my sales page, which has been very depressing for the past few months. It made me wonder if I made a bad decision in self-publishing this novel. I’ve also thought about sending copies to review bloggers, but my mind does something to me every time I debate about an action.

Imagining the Worst Case Scenario.

I read some of these bloggers’ submission details, and when it says they post their reviews everywhere, both positive and negative ones, all I can think is, “What if it’s negative? What if my writing isn’t as decent as I had hoped? What if I get a bad review, and that scares others from even giving my novel a chance? That could ruin my shot at getting bigger…”

I have this OCD trait where I want everybody to like me. It doesn’t matter if I see or talk to someone for a few seconds in my entire life; I want that person to like me for those few seconds. It’s become such a paralyzing problem, because then I second-guess my thoughts. I walk on eggshells, trying to ensure that each person I meet or interact with doesn’t have negative thoughts about me and my behaviors and mental/emotional state.

TheProtektorsReality_400x640_115dpiThe thing I’ve come to realize recently, is that you can’t please everyone. You will always have haters, especially if you put your work out for the world to see. It comes with the job, and it’s something I’ve struggled with since Day 1.

I need to refocus on my dream, what I want, and how to get there, and not focus on the negativity that my mind creates for me. Being a pessimist has always come easy, the true challenge is getting past that. Despite the scenarios my imagination creates to scare me, I have always been optimistic about my dreams. I have always hoped to be partially-successful as an author. I always hoped I would sell tons of copies of my books, to prove to myself that I’m a good writer and that others enjoy the stories I have created.

The following lyrics are from a song that was released only a few days ago, by an AMAZING Youtuber named Tyler Ward. It’s an original song he wrote (and he had another video showing him going through the songwriting process for this very song), and it was perfect for what I had been thinking about for the week prior.

“So I’ll blame it on my Optimistic Heart,

At least I’ll have stories for my scars,

American Dream my life away,

When all of my dreams cry, “MAYDAY, MAYDAY!”,

I may lose my heart,

But one day I’ll be a star.”

So, for the others of you out there that have regret your decisions or lose faith in your dreams, “Try not to care what others think,” and have an Optimistic heart. Just keep trying. You’ll get there someday.

Good luck, Dreamers. “One day, [you’ll] be a star.”

 

-Insert Obligatory New Year Post Here-

Out in the World, Ramblings, Writing, Writing Process, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So, running a little behind on my New Years post. Here we are, five days into 2015, and I’m running the past year’s events through my head. I was Phi Beta Lambda’s (last minute) Relay for Life captain, and raised over $1,000 in the month I was in charge. I got to travel to Nashville, TN and win fourth place in the nation in a Project Management competition. My grandmother got married to an amazing guy. And… I PUBLISHED MY FIRST BOOK! These are the ones that stuck out to me, but there were many other good memories that were made this past year.

However, 2015 is sort of a clean slate. I have 360 days left to do whatever I so desire (within reason). So many options, and a decent amount of time. I was considering making some New Years Resolutions, to keep me on track. However, I saw a statistic that said that a good chunk of people drop their resolutions within the first month or so. I actually know this from experience.

So, what else should I do? I want to have goals and changes in my life, right? So, I’m proposing a new New Years tradition: New Years Objectives. You are all welcome to join me. The premise behind this is make a list, like you would with the Resolutions, but they’re just GOALS, meaning you can move between them should time constrain you. If you want a hiatus from your Objectives, feel free. The idea is that you TRY to reach these goals by year’s end, whether you take breaks from them or not. This way, you don’t feel like having to commit to it all year, then be disappointed when it doesn’t last past February.

My list?

– Edit 2 books

-Query a TON of agents

-Work on one or two of my WIPs, and attempt to finish one.

-Get a new job [Just graduated almost a month ago from college 🙂 ]TheProtektorsReality_400x640_115dpi

-Network, Network, Network

-Promote my new book, The Protektor’s Reality (in print and ebook versions; if you want a summary, either click the link or look on the My Works tab above)

With these Objectives in mind, I will plunge into the unknown 360 days left. Now, it’s time to look toward the future.

2015, BRING IT ON!!

IT’S HERE!!!!

Advice, Fiction, Uncategorized, Writing, Writing Process, , , , , , , , , , , ,

So, if you can’t tell by the title, I’m EXTREMELY hyper!! My paperback book was officially released on November 25th, with the eBook versions out five days later. This dream was ten years in the making, and when that book was in my hands, I started tearing up. I may not be as far as my final goal, but this is the first step toward it.

This book was one of my favorites writing. It is a prequel to a trilogy I had completed TheProtektorsReality_400x640_115dpibefore starting to write this one. My goal is to get that trilogy traditionally published, hopefully sometime in the near future. This whole saga – which includes 4 short stories, 1 novella, the prequel, and the trilogy – is a project I started about four years ago. In fact, two of the four total books in this saga were NaNoWriMo wins, one in the traditional November NaNo, and the other during Camp NaNoWriMo.

Those of you that have a dream, don’t stop reaching for it! Though you may lose faith along the way, if you continue to pursue your dreams, I can guarantee you will not be disappointed!

Check out the tab for my works to find the synopsis and links for The Protektor’s Reality. I’d really appreciate any support I can get, including buying or reviewing! It is available as a print book on Amazon, Kindle eBook, and also on Smashwords in all eBook formats, online reading, and also PDF file.

And don’t think this means I’m done. My journey is just beginning.