Wicked Wildfire Readathon

Stephen King once said that, "If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."

Below, I will update the books I have read during the WWRaT, June 20 - 24. Join me in reading as much as you want of whatever you want!



Day 1: June 20

It's 10 p.m. MST, midnight EST, time to start reading. I think I'll start with Facebook friend Joana James' Alana & Alyssa's Secret: Rise from the Ashes

11:30: Just finished A&A. Good story, Definitely not bed-time reading for my 5-year-old, though. One scene in the book would give the movie an R rating.

Next book: The Vampire Handbook by P.J. Jones ... Yes, I know, my Kindle collection is extremely eclectic. I love me my indie author Facebook friends. :-)


8:45 a.m. MST: Just entered my first WWRaT contest.

Rebecca at KindleFever posed this challenge:

“A wildfire is quickly coming your way! What thing/s do you grab when you only have a few minutes to make it out?”
(I’ve saved any people or pets in there already!)

 

My answer:

After kids, husband, and pets of course, and some food and water, that won’t leave a lot of room in the car–we have a dog, three cats, five fish, a hamster, and 10 chickens. Next on the list would be the Kindle and the laptop–or at least the USB stick with all my WIP files–so I wouldn’t lose any of the books I’m working on… and so I could be able to update my blog. Then if I still had time, I’d see how many of my son’s library books I could grab. I’ll definitely need to borrow books from the library after returning home and starting over. :-)

Day 2: June 21

Well, the longest day of the year is now over. The days will begin growing shorter, but the weather will be getting hotter... interesting how that happens. No matter, any weather's good reading weather.

Finished The Vampire Handbook. A must read for anyone who cannot stand sparkly vampires and neutered werewolves. Started reading Marianne Slot's Viking's Blood series. Book 1: Viking Blood 1: The Assault . It's an interesting read. I've always been a fan of historical fiction, but have never really been a fan of telling a story from the present point of view (this one is omniscient present voice). Well, off to read....

Finished Book 1 and am 33% through Book 2:Viking Blood 2: Secrets (As you might have guessed, I'm choosing shorter books so that I can finish even more). Very interested in seeing how the story progresses. There are a few typos in the ebook editions, but not enough to distract from the story, and could very easily simply be artifacts from the ebook conversion.

Don't know how much reading I'll be able to get in today... Today will be full of yard sale prep as we're selling off a bunch of stuff Friday and Saturday. :-)

Published Again -or- Who Wants A Free Book?

One of the hardest things for a writer (okay, so maybe it's just me) is to let yourself be finished with a story. Perhaps it's just me, and my perfectionism, but being okay with "it's done enough" is very difficult. After having spent months (or years) getting to know your characters--like your children--you have to send them out into the cruel world to fend for themselves. This is difficult. You wonder if they're ready to fend for themselves. Can they walk on their own yet? Have you given them the tools they need to survive? The only thing you can hope is that you have prepared them enough to stand up for the things they believe in and help others that need it.

Every parents has to allow their children to leave the nest and fly on their own, and every writer has to do the same with their stories. But, unlike parents, authors are also supposed to promote their books after the book is sent off in order for their "children" to fulfill their life's purpose. Whether the book is published traditionally, independently, or by the author him/herself the book needs to be promoted and marketed.

When my first book was published, I--like many authors--thought I could just sit back and let the royalties just roll on in without any work at all. This, however, didn't happen. All that time and effort of writing my first book netted less than $30 in royalties in the last eight years. My second book--which, because of the birth of my son a few months after its release I was not able to adequately market--did even less in sales. I could make excuses about not having time (which I didn't), not having the resources (which I didn't), and not having all the same tools we have now (which we didn't), but frankly the main reason I didn't market the book is that I didn't know how. So, I learned about marketing, created all kinds of social media accounts, author pages, and everything else I needed to help promote this book as much as I am able to on my limited budget.

Part of that marketing is, of course, making the book available to people who will pass the word along. So, in honor of the publishing of "Karis," the first in the "My Life as a Superhero" series, I am giving out 25 free e-copies. Please just comment with your name, email, and format (Kindle, Nook, etc.).

If you like the book, feel free to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, really anywhere. It makes all of our blood, sweat, and tears worth it to hear that someone liked our story.