Blood Moon and Cover Art

Hey Everyone,

Just a few announcements.  First of all, Blood Rain is still on the Amazon store for those of you who would like to purchase it.   I'm telling you this because, I'm pleased to announce, very soon the second book of the series, Blood Moon, will be available.  Also, if you purchased Blood Rain and enjoyed it, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads.

Yes, to my few fans who are interested, I am currently working on the third and final book of the series, Blood God.  I'm hoping to be finished at the latest by Christmas, but we'll have to see how inspired I feel and how much time I have to write.  There's a possibility I might be done before then, but I'm hoping to make Christmas my deadline. (If I take longer, rest assured it'll be to make the book better.)

I have to include a huge thank you on this post for my artist and friend J. M. Lee for doing such a wonderful job on the cover art of the first and second book.  I've included the cover art here to make your search for the novels easier and because I think, whether you are buying the book or not, you need to see this artwork.  He has done a wonderful job and I highly suggest you check out his website to see the other types of work he does through his company Wolf &Fox Design Studio.

Also, if you'd like to learn a little about me, my writing, or to contact me, my personal website is now fully updated.  (I know, finally, right?)  Another huge thank you to my husband, Joel, for helping me with my marketing and getting the word out about these novels.

I guess that's it for now.  I'll keep you posted on the progress of Blood God.  Thanks for reading.  Here's the cover art for Blood Moon.  Isn't it beautiful?  I love it.

Weird Al is a National Treasure!

Well, in spite of all of the bad things that have been going on lately, I can say that this has been a good week, thanks mostly to Weird Al Yankovic (and to my sister and brother-in-law for getting tickets for us).  I saw his "Mandatory Fun Tour" on Wednesday here is SC and I haven't laughed that much in months.  I can definitely say I had more than mandatory fun.  As things turned out, I really needed a good laugh.  Getting out and having a good time has put me in much better spirits.  It's amazing what a little laughter can do.

I saw him the first time at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach.  He likes to make uncomfortable eye contact with people in the front rows, and then sing song lyrics directly to them.  He did this to me and my sister.  It was awesome.

As for this tour, his voice is still great, he moves like he doesn't get tired, and he is still making hilarious music.  I was surprised to find out that he's fifty-six years old.  I can't believe the amount of energy he brings to the stage.  You can really tell that he loves what he does.  I respect that in any musician and I've been listening to Weird Al since I was a child.  Don't get me wrong, I do like the songs that he parodies, but I think some of the Weird Al's lyrics will be remembered longer than those of the original song.  

I was surprised to find that we also had friends of ours that we haven't seen in a little while sitting next to us, so we got to catch up a with them little before the show.  That was nice too.  I expected we would see some of our friends there, but I didn't expect to be sitting next to anyone we knew.  It was a great night, and while people are allowed to disagree with me, Weird Al Yankovic is a national treasure in my book.  Speaking of my book, I've included a link to his song "Word Crimes" for your viewing pleasure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc

Blood Moon

Hey Everybody,

Just wanted to give you a writing status update.  I'm almost done proofing "Blood Moon" and am planning to put it on sale on Amazon soon.  My artist Joseph Lee has agreed to do another awesome cover.  Most of the preparations should be done sometime in October at the latest, if all goes well.  I'm very excited about it.  I hope that you enjoyed "Blood Rain."  This sequel picks up where the other book left off and follows Mercy through her journey to reach the Northern mountains to form an alliance against the forces behind the blood rain.  

I'm also finished with a rough outline for the last novel of the series, "Blood God."  The first forty pages are also done but need proofing.  "Blood God" should hopefully be available by Christmas, but only if all goes well.  Wish me luck and, if you'd like to show your support, please pick up a copy of "Blood Rain" and put a review on Goodreads or the Amazon store.

Right now, I'm concentrating on finishing the "Blood Rain" trilogy, but I still have other novels in the works.  I haven't heard from all of the agents I contacted about my young reader horror series, "Junior Investigator's Club."  I should've heard one way or another from all of them by the New Year.  If the first story doesn't have an agent by then, I'll probably submit the second story and continue to look.  I would like for my young reader books to be hard copies since most of the target audience probably won't be reading e-books, but we'll see.  I'm keeping an open mind.

I also just wanted to say thank you to those that have purchased a copy of "Blood Rain" and that it feels wonderful to finally see some results.  Books are meant to be read, and I have a lot of written books and ideas still in my head that need to find a home.  I'm glad to see this series is finally getting to reach a larger audience.  

I am a real writer...I am a real writer...I am a real writer

Hey Everyone,

Sorry, I need to write a little bit about my frustrations just to relieve a little stress.  In other words, I need to rant.  I'm going to touch on some messy topics like women in fiction, the constant search for agents, and my personal ineptitude when it comes to reaching out.  While some might not agree with my views, voicing a few things might make me feel a little better.

First of all, I mentioned before that my young reader horror series is currently being viewed by agents, but I found my agent search so far to be fruitless.  Most of my rejections have included the phrase "I can't get enthusiastic about this series."  I'm really not sure what to do to fix that or even exactly what that means.  Several of the rejection letters have said something to the effect of the story is good or the writing is good, but it just isn't "for" them.  It's very bittersweet.  Compliments do tend to give me hope and keep me going, but I want something concrete to go with them.  

I know for a fact, young reader horror is going to become big again very soon.  A "Scary Stories to tell in the Dark" movie is coming out soon, a "Goosebumps" movie came out recently, and Netflix has created a show called "Stranger Things" which is a throwback to the many horror TV shows from the eighties.  However, I think the problem is that horror hasn't become big yet, so even though the signs are there, no one is willing to take a risk.  I know my books are well written, and the timing is almost perfect.  My contact with Penguin really liked them and so has most of my test audience.  Horror is the genre which I've had the most success in writing, but if no one is willing to give me a chance, all my stories are doing is taking up space in my hard drive.  It's frustrating to say the least, especially when financially we aren't doing very well right now.

I would love to send to more agents, but I've run into a snag with that.  Namely, it seems that everyone wants me to write from the point of view of a female protagonist in any novel I submit.  Granted, the story I sent out does have a female protagonist, but I find this new trend very limiting and it annoys me.  I think there is a reason for it.  Statistically speaking, I hear that more women read than men, especially in young reader and young adult fiction.  However, I believe that some of my novels are better from a male perspective.  For some reason, I tend to be more comfortable writing from a male perspective as well.  That might seem odd because I am a woman, but I've always had more male friends than female, and I've been told frequently I'm not a "typical woman."  (I'm not sure if that is a compliment or not, but it is what it is.)

Anyway, to sum it up, here's what I'm wondering...why do I have to write from a female perspective to get any recognition?  Isn't it enough that I'm a female author?  Is this to be more "fair" so that women have more female leads to associate with?  Can women only associate with a female perspective?  I don't think so.  I think we're smarter and more imaginative than that.

One of the reasons why I chose to write from a male perspective in my Dark Crystal submission was because Gelfling society is matriarchal.  I did it to look at the perspective of someone who is an underdog trying to basically get a job that is traditionally done by a woman.  Sometimes, it's fun to write from the perspective of a man as well in young adult romance because sometimes even a female audience likes to read something from the perspective of a man.  It makes them (or at least makes me) feel closer to the male character to see what he is thinking, which is kind of important in romance in general.  Romance is definitely geared more towards a female audience, but doesn't have to be from a female perspective to be enjoyable.  

Finally, now my biggest frustration is that it seems that it isn't what you know or how well you write, it's who you know and the connections you make.  This has always been a problem with me specifically.  I'm not good at reaching out and making connections other than making a few friends here and there that are also writers.  In terms of getting noticed by more than my general friend base, I just don't have common business sense.  I have to have people to tell me things like, "join goodreads" and "go to writing workshops," or "enter contests" before I even think to do something like that on my own, especially since I don't really enjoy writing on forums.  I've gotten a little better, but am still very limited by my lack of direction.  Maybe that's something you can help me with, whoever is reading.  If you can think of something specific that might get my books noticed, please tell me.  Throw me a bone, need the info...

Anyway, I found myself recently banging my head against the keyboard chanting the mantra, "I am a real writer...I am a real writer...I am a real writer..."  And, I am a real writer, but I'm hoping and praying that sometime in the near future, I'll see some results that will help me believe it.  In the meantime, the work horse from "Animal Farm" in my head is chanting "I will work harder."  We all know how well that worked out for him, let's hope I don't end up in the glue factory in the end.  Only time will tell and I've spent enough time ranting.  Time to get back to work.  Wish me luck.

Shadows of the Dark Crystal Review

Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to post a review of "Shadows of the Dark Crystal" by J.M. Lee.  I've just finished reading it, and I must say that I'm very impressed.  I figured that I would like it, but it was everything I hoped it would be and then some.  I'm going to attempt to write this review without spoilers because I highly recommend that you read this book yourself.  You will enjoy it, especially if you enjoyed the movie.

The characters are very likable and have excellent motivations for what they do.  Their arguments and bantering flows very naturally.  At the end of the book there are even some surprises about the motivations of certain characters that I didn't expect.  It was great to see the differences between the various clans of Gelfling.  I'm hoping that in future books we'll be introduced to the remaining clans as well.  The differences between the cultures fueled many interesting conversations with the characters, and it was wonderful the way they banded together to face something greater than their differences.

I was pleasantly surprised with the dark tone of the book.  One of the things that most of us remember about the Dark Crystal was that the movie terrified us as children.  I'm pleased that these books can frighten a new generation in the same way.  The Skeksis are far scarier than the ones in the movie.  This might be because they're younger and stronger, but there is another element that makes them particularly terrifying in that they are the ones capturing the Gelfling themselves.  They actually kill some of the main characters by the end of the book.  (No, I'm not telling you which ones...)  Also, the character of "The Hunter" essentially the bogeyman of all Gelfling, and was written in such a way he lived up to the part.

The descriptions of the various settings are very good, as with the descriptions of the characters.  Even without the beautiful pictures (and the pictures are gorgeous), you get a very good idea of what everything looks like and there are very few confusing descriptions, especially for a book based in a fantasy universe.  While there is a glossary in the back, it's hardly necessary since most of the analogies the characters make are clear enough to get a good idea of what they're referring too, and the "real world" references are at a minimum which shows Lee's experience as a fantasy writer.

I highly recommend this book.  It took me only two days to read it because I couldn't put it down.  From those of you who read this blog, you know I have two children, so finding time to read this within two days means it had to be exceptionally good.  ;-)  Well done, Joey.  I'm looking very forward to the next one.  I knew they picked the right person to write it.

Go buy this book right now!

https://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Dark-Crystal-Jim-Hensons/dp/0448482894/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470153352&sr=8-1&keywords=Shadow+of+the+Dark+Crystal

Blood Rain

Hey Everybody,

Well, it's been awhile since I've blogged and awhile since I've had anything new to report.  I'm glad to say, that I finally decided to put "Blood Rain" on sale on amazon as an e-book.  As those following this blog know, I started this book series a long time ago and it's been though a great deal of editing and reworking over the years.  I decided a few days ago, it's finally ready for the public eye.  If this goes well, I'll also be selling "Blood Moon" and "Blood God," thus putting the entire trilogy up on amazon.  I hope it works out.

It's been very exiting to finally be publishing something.  Even if it's something I'm getting off the ground myself, I'm very happy that people will finally have the opportunity to read my books.  Even though I wrote "Blood Rain" long ago, I feel like it actually withstood the test of time and got better due to all of my editing instead of getting worse.  I don't intend to let anyone see many of my earliest books, but I enjoyed writing "Blood Rain," so I'm glad it was different.  I just hope it's good enough for those kind enough to read it.

Many thanks to Joey for the cover art.  It's beautiful.  He was very kind to work on it for me given that he doesn't have very much time right now, himself.  (Good luck at Comic Con, man.  I'm very happy for you. Wish I could be there to see you speak.)  Also, many thanks to those of you who have read it and critiqued it for me.  I took a lot of suggestions on this story and it's better for it.

In other writing news, I'm still working on the young reader horror series.  I've sent it to several agents now and am basically waiting to hear something.  I really have enjoyed working on the series and am up to book four.  Wish me luck.  If I don't have any luck finding an agent with this series, I'm definitely going to publish it somehow.  I just feel it would do better as a softcover than an e-book, but we'll see.  Also, I still feel strongly that horror, especially young reader, is making a comeback right now.  There is a definite lack of it in the stores, and I want to be able to help fill that gap.

Well, I'll keep you posted on any new developments or ideas I have.  Thank you to everyone who bought my book, and thank you for those who decide to critique it.  I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.  There might be a few more e-books in the future, if nothing more than short story compilations.  I want some of my homeless stories to at least be seen.  Knowing that these are finally out there warms my heart.

Thank you for reading.  

Full Circle

Hey Everyone,

Wow, it's been a long time since I wrote a blog.  I just wanted to let you know that I'm still alive and doing okay, all things considered.  There are a few personal things going on that are stressful, but I'm handling it pretty well.  (Mostly involving an unstable job situation which we're hoping will be resolved by the end of the month.)  The children are doing well, so I'm very grateful for that.  Pretty soon Faith will be walking and Eva has started potty training.  It feels like time is really flying by.

I've come to terms with my thirty fourth birthday.  I know that thirty four isn't that old, but for some reason my birthday really got to me this time.  I think it's because I realized my body is more achy than it used to be and, for a short time, I felt as though I was losing who I was to parenting.  Don't get me wrong, I love my children, but I don't want to lose sight of what makes me who I am.  Thankfully, I a have wonderful and supportive family and good friends that got me through it.  My sister, brother in law, and husband took me to Charleston to see Phantom of the Opera while my Mom watched the kids and it was just what I needed.  

In writing news, a few months ago my one contact in the publishing industry said that he really liked my mid grade horror series.  It seemed like I was finally going to get published, but the editor and chief couldn't get excited about the series.  It was the best rejection I ever had.  It's hard to explain, but having a "good" rejection is more painful than someone just disliking the story, but at the same time it feels so much better, like there's definitely hope for the future.  He said he liked the writing style and the story itself, basically telling me that it was very good and that I should get it published somewhere else.

So, long story short, once again I'm searching for agents.  Things are coming pretty much full circle, so I decided to own it.  I'm submitting "Scarecrow," the first book of the series, and I've already written two more and started the fourth.  In the meantime, while I'm waiting to hear something, I'm revisiting an old YA fantasy story I wrote years ago, "Everburn."

Everburn has a steampunk setting, but is definitely the fantasy genre.  It's mostly about a strange race of winged creatures that can summon elemental spirits.  There's a heavy romance element to the first book, so I decided to change the protagonist to female and am completely rewriting it.  (Don't get me wrong, I know some men enjoy reading books that are fantasy but have some romance as well, but I didn't really like my original main character and, admittedly, more women enjoy that than men, especially in YA.)

If/when I decide that I'm done with Everburn (assuming I have no representation for the mid grade horror series) I'm also going to revisit my "Blood Rain" series as well.  I need to finish the last book.  However, my husband brought up a good point that I might have to concede.  He told me I'm a better writer now than I was when I first started that series and thinks I should re-write the first and second book.  I have to admit, I'm more concise than I used to be and the books are probably overwritten, not to mention that there are some scenes I could probably cut and better scenes I could add.  Either way, before I revisit the series I need to think about it and decide what I want to do.  

I intend to continue writing mid grade horror, but I don't want to burn myself out on that series.  So far, I think it's some of my best writing and I want an agent to represent it.  If I can get one, that will be the best motivation for me to pick it back up.  I do my best work with just one word of encouragement.  Please, wish me luck and be praying for me.  I could use some good news right now.

Anyway, keep reading and writing.  I'll stay in touch.