Announcement: General News

I've been really lax about my blog this week, which makes me feel badly but the truth is, though I enjoy the blogging, it always falls by the wayside when I'm really busy with other things. So what am I so busy with? Well, how about the following:

1. Creators is now available from other retailers! You can purchase it at Amazon, Kobo, or Barnes & Noble! For now, my other titles are still exclusive to Amazon, but that exclusivity expires on all three of them in March, so throughout that month I'll be adding the books one at a time to Kobo and B&N.

2. I'm working on a romantic dramedy serial called Committed, which will be released under my Anne Wentworth pen name. It'll be 8 episodes long, and it centers around Ella, who is a week away from her wedding day and busy dealing with a disaster each day leading up to her wedding. I'm working with the awesome Carrie at Cheeky Covers on the cover, so some of my time has been spent looking at designs and stock art for the perfect cover. I have a couple of advanced readers lined up, but I could use more eyes. If you're interested, let me know on my Facebook page.

3. I'm planning on releasing paperback copies of The Eye of the Beholder, and I've been tinkering with Createspace, trying to get a feel for it. I'm extremely happy to say that I'll be able to keep the original cover, but I'll need to give the designer some additional information about the size of the book, number of pages, etc. so that a print version of the cover can be created. Before I can do that, I have to nail down the formatting, so I'm planning on doing some tinkering with that over the next week or so. I'd like to have the paperback out by February.

4. Lot and lots of promotions. I was a part of Elle Casey's anniversary giveaway, and am in the process of contacting the winners of copies of Contributor and Creators. I have another promo coming up at the end of the month, this time for The Eye of the Beholder (be sure to check my giveaway page--more details will be coming soon). I've also been scheduling some promotions for Phoning It In.

5. Setting up my mailing list. It's ready to go at last! Subscribing to the mailing list will give you access to the following:

• Members-only giveaways
• Extended excerpts
• A quarterly newsletter
• Notification of new releases

There will be no spamming with my mailing list, just pure, awesome goodness. You'll receive less than 10 e-mails a year from it. I'll set up a separate mailing list for my serial so that I can let readers know as the episodes become available.

So, as you can see, my plate is pretty full of lots of good stuff.

One last note: I now have 11 reviews for The Eye of the Beholder on Amazon, and some of them have made me so happy. Last night, I saw this new one, and I am flying high. Disclaimer: I don't expect everyone to love my book, but every review I receive helps me to become a better writer. Plus, I can't say how much it means to me to see readers taking time out of their busy days to not only read one of my books, but write a review of it. You, dear readers, are awesome!

Monday Musings: Issues and their place in literature

When you write, there are inevitably some bits of your own life that seep into your work. While nothing I've written is directly based on either myself or anyone else I know, some of the characters and events I've written have been inspired by real world experiences. For example, I chose to write Phoning It In because I worked in a call center when I was in my 20s. I have a partially completed manuscript about a young woman who is a teacher because I wanted to write about the experience of teaching, to give readers a feel for what it's like to be in a teacher's shoes.

The one thing I don't want to do, though, is write a book that makes a reader think, "Oh, there goes the author, getting on her soapbox." I've read books like that, and I don't particularly enjoy them. As with anything, YMMV; sometimes I read a book and don't think it's particularly preachy, while other readers think the author is beating the reader over the head with the message, and vice versa. Since we all come at literature from our own perspectives, the issues dealt with in a book may have more or less impact because of our own experiences with those particular issues. I'm sure we all have those moments where we talk about a book with someone else and think, "Wow, how could they not see the author was saying X and Y? It was so obvious."

Given all this, I think that writing specifically about a particular topic can be one of the most nerve-wracking things to do. There are certain things that are important to me: education; equality for everyone regardless of gender, race, or sexual preference; social justice; etc. Sometimes I do tackle these issues obliquely in my books. Sometimes, as with Creators and Contributor, I tackle them a little more head-on. The worry in writing about certain issues is that they may be alienating to some readers. While I'm perfectly fine with the idea that my books just won't be for some people--just as some books aren't for me--I want to write books that might help someone step a bit outside their comfort zone and maybe walk away with a new perspective.

After all, I think this is essentially what books are for. True, we can choose to read books that fit only within narrow parameters that are comfortable for us, and that's fine. I'm not someone who thinks there's anything wrong with reading purely for entertainment. But we can also choose to read something that might challenge our own notions a bit. The books that have had the biggest impact on me are the ones that make me think more deeply about an issue, books like The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi, and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I read a lot of books and enjoy many of them, but the ones I'm most likely to recommend to others are the ones that stick with me.

Woo Hoo Wednesday: NaNoWriMo is coming!

Welcome to another installment of Woo Hoo Wednesday, where I take the time to celebrate the small bits of everyday happiness that make life so sweet.

My first woo hoo goes to my decision to return The Eye of the Beholder to the KDP Select program, which allows readers to borrow the book from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.  While I'm not so fond of restricting the number of outlets where my book can be purchased, the fact is that I get more lends than I did sales through other outlets, so it just makes sense to do whatever gets my book into the hands of the greatest number of readers.  I've already lent enough copies of The Eye this month that one more lend means I'll have exceeded my best month on Barnes & Noble.

Another big woo hoo goes to my serious productivity as of late.  I've been hitting the 3,000 words per day mark consistently for the past couple of weeks.  I'm now entering the home stretch with Phoning It In, so if edits go well, I'll have that book out before the close of 2012.  I'm looking forward to seeing how readers like my attempt at contemporary women's fiction.  I have to admit, I'm very, very fond of some of the characters in Phoning It In, and I hope my readers will be too!

My family deserves a huge woo hoo.  I am so lucky to be surrounded by such loving, supportive people.  I thank them for putting up with me when I'm in one of my moods because I'm having trouble writing.  They deserve a resounding woo hoo for making me feel loved and special every day of my life, even when I'm being rather unlovable.

And, lastly, a giant woo hoo for the fact that NaNoWriMo 2012 is just around the corner!  I am seriously excited about it this year.  I've done it for the past two years (Contributor was the product of last year's NaNo), and I enjoy it every year.  I'm especially excited this year because I have writing buddies!  If you've ever hemmed and hawed about doing it, I have this to say to you: DO EEEET!  Trust me, hitting that 50k mark feel like a HUGE achievement, and you'll feel good about it for months on end.  If you need someone to be your cheerleader, feel free to add me as your buddy and I'll urge you on.  My username there is NCiacchella.

If you're looking for something to read this weekend, why don't you pick up a free copy of Creators, the prequel novella to my Contributor trilogy?  I'm running a free promotion Saturday, October 6th and Sunday, October 7th, so be sure to get a copy.  I'm very excited to see what you, my awesome readers, think of it!

Happy Wednesday and may your week be filled with many things that make you say, "Woo hoo!"

Woo Hoo Wednesday: It's fall!

Why am I so happy right now?  Well, friends, I am not much of a sun worshiper.  Sure, I love sunny days as much as the next person, but I really hate the heat and humidity of summer in Michigan.  This summer was particularly horrible, and I feel like I spent the vast majority of it holed up in the house with the air conditioning cranked.  Now that it's September, the weather has taken a turn for the decidedly fall-like, and I couldn't be happier.  Bring on the 60 degree days!  I've been able to actually open the windows and go outside to get yard work done!  What's more, I can wear hoodies and jeans again.  I'm sorry to rain on the parades of those who love summer, but I am all about this weather right now!

A big woo hoo for my new computer screen!  I wasn't very happy about my old monitor dying, and it pretty much goes without saying that I couldn't function without one.  I'd been wanting a bigger one for a while, so the good thing to come out of the hardware failure was finally getting a much larger screen.  It's amazing how much more I can see when I'm working in full-screen mode on Scrivener.

Woo hoo number three is writing related!  After some deliberation, I decided to put Infiltrator on hiatus for now and work on my contemporary women's fiction novel, Phoning It In, instead.  As much as I love the Contributor series, it's nice to have a break and to work on something that has a completely different flavor.  I've been extremely productive the last couple of days, cranking out more than 3,000 words a day, so I'm hoping to finish the manuscript by the end of this month and get some editing in before NaNoWriMo starts.  My goal is to publish Phoning by the end of the year, which will bring me to a total of four books across three genres.  I'm excited to see what the market is like for contemporary women's fiction, but don't worry--I'm not forgetting my other manuscripts.  For NaNoWriMo, I'll be writing the next entry in the Fairytale Collection series, and then it'll be on to Infiltrator, book two in the Contributor trilogy.

Most exciting of all, though, is how well sales of The Eye have been going this month and last.  I'm on the verge of a major milestone, and it looks like I'll hit it by the end of the month.  It's so exciting to see something that I hoped against hope would sell 100 copies in a year do so much better than I'd ever dreamed!  I'd like to get my other books off the ground as well, but right now I'm extremely pumped because, thanks to sales of The Eye, it looks like we'll be able to make a trip to Europe next year.  This is huge because my husband is from Belgium and all his family lives there, so a 2013 trip would be the first time he's seen his parents, brother, and nephews in three years.  I'm very close with my family and can't imagine having to go that long between visits, so it means a lot to me that my income is contributing toward making a trip home possible for him.

What's got you pumped this week, my wonderful readers?

Oh, and just because you're awesome and my last run went so well, I'm doing another free run of Creators today, September 19th, so get yourself a copy from Amazon!  I'm really looking forward to seeing what readers think of both it and Contributor.  Happy Wednesday!

(Psst!  On Friday I'll give everyone a sneak peek of Phoning It In.)

Monday Musings: What to write next?

One of the biggest challenges for me as an indie author is deciding what I'm going to work on next.  I have so many irons in the fire, so many ideas, that it's hard for me to decide which one to go with.  When you couple this with the business end of things, well, it really gets messy.

Of my three books, The Eye of the Beholder is my best performer.  It took off much more quickly than I'd expected.  Frankly, I didn't think anyone would want to read a fairy tale retelling.  I'm glad everyone who's purchased my book has proven me wrong!  Its success has inspired me to write a second fairy tale book, which will be my NaNoWriMo project for this year, and which I hope to publish early in 2013.  I love fairy tales, so I'm more than happy to write more now that I know there's a demand for them.

Creators and Contributor are proving much slower to take off.  This is so funny to me because I was convinced that the reverse would be true.  Just goes to show you that, when you do this self-publishing thing, you never really know how things are going to go.  Sometimes I feel like I spend 99% of my time flailing in the dark, angsting over what marketing (if any) I should do, what genre might prove to be the most reliable, etc.  I didn't go into this expecting to be a pro, but it is uncomfortable to feel like such an amateur at times.

My intention was to continue on with the Contributor trilogy, but now I'm really torn.  I resurrected an old partial manuscript for a contemporary women's fiction novel, and I'm strongly tempted to finish it first and then work on the next Contributor book once NaNoWriMo is over.  I'm very curious about how that book would perform, and having books across three different genres would probably also give me a better idea of what types of books are more successful.  Then again, another part of me feels like I need to stick to one thing and then branch out later.  I'm afraid if I'm spread out over multiple genres, I'll lose readers because, even if they liked one of my books, they might not necessarily care for the other genres I'm writing in.

Right now, I am leaning toward working on the contemporary novel.  I had some more ideas for it this morning, and I'm anxious to tackle it.  Maybe I need a little space from the Contributor saga.  Either way, I'll be in front of my keyboard again tomorrow morning, working on my next novel.  I've had a bit of a break and now it's time to get back to work.

I also want to announce that I'll be doing another free promo with Creators on Wednesday, September 19.  I was excited about how successful the last promo was, and I'm hoping to reach even more readers with this next promo!

Monday Musings: The importance of routine

It's everyone's favorite day of the week again!  While I don't hate Mondays like I did back in the days when I wasn't fulfilled by my job, I am sorry to see my husband go back to work.  The truth is, I kinda like to have that guy around.  But what I do like about Mondays now is they mean it's time for me to focus on my passion: writing.

However, there's not much writing going on here at the moment.  This is partially because I just published Contributor and, friends, I need a bit of a break once a book comes out.  It's hard to describe how completely it takes over my life, but suffice it to say that my brain needs a bit of a rest before I put my nose to the grindstone and start working on the next book.

What I have come to realize throughout this endeavor, though, is how important routine is.  Since I started staying at home with my kids, I admit that I pretty much hate routine.  I want to roll out of bed when I feel like it, drink some coffee, and ease into my day.  Granted, that's tough to do when you have kids, but I do get a chance to indulge in some of that during the summer and on the weekends.  But the fact of the matter is, when I do have a routine, I get more done.  Without routine, my attention is fragmented all over the place and, half the time, I can't even remember what I did all day long.

My intent for next week is to start settling into my routine.  I want to establish a regular schedule for when I write, when I blog, when I do social networking, etc.  My biggest challenge over the summer was finding the time for all of these things and, now that school is in session and I have someone coming to clean my house, I don't really have any valid excuses for not being more organized and productive.  Unfortunately for me.  I may be a perfectionist, but I'm also a procrastinator.  It's like the two sides of me are constantly battling, and it ain't pretty.

I want to take a second to thank everyone who downloaded a copy of Creators during its free run on the 7th.  At one point, it reached #69 on the top 100 list of free books in its subcategory, which frankly shocked me.  I felt like I was in one of those dumb movie scenes where the unattainable boy points at me, and I do that thing where I turn around to see if he's pointing at someone behind me, but find he's actually pointing at me.  OMG!  *squee*  Seriously.  Forgive me for being a super nerd here, but it really shocks me in a fantastically awesome way when I realize that people are buying my books.  Hopefully you're liking them too, because that's even more important to me.

I also want to give a big thanks to everyone who has purchased my books.  It's 100% the truth that I couldn't do this writing thing without your support.  So thank you very, very much for giving me a reason to sit in front of my PC all day angsting over each and every word I type.

Starting on Friday, I'm planning to post some tidbits from my latest work in progress, Infiltrator.  It's the second book in the Contributor trilogy, so there may well be some spoilerific moments if you read the excerpt without having read Contributor.  For that, I sincerely apologize, as I'm one of those people who really hates it when the surprises are spoiled for me.  I'll try to keep the giant revelations under wraps.  Happy Monday!

Contributor, Now available for purchase on Amazon!

I'm extremely happy to announce that Contributor is now available for purchase on Amazon!  If you're a Prime member, you can also borrow the book for free and, as always, my books are and forevermore will be DRM-free!

Don't forget--tomorrow, September 7, you can download a free copy of Creators from Amazon!

Woo Hoo Wednesday: It's finally done!

Right now, the temptation is strong in this one (10 points to Gryffindor if you get that reference!) to run around in circles pumping my fists in the air.  Why?  Because I just finished hitting the button to upload Contributor to Amazon!  For some reason, I feel like I've been working on that book for the last three hundred years.  Then again, I guess I get like that with all of my books, when I've spent months doing copyedits.  I reach a point where every last word in the book looks like it's made up or misspelled.

So, now that I've put the book to bed, I'm pretty sure I'll go about twenty-four hours before I start feeling like I need to chain myself to my desk and finish the next book.  That's the sad thing about me as a writer--and I don't think I'm alone in that.  With my old, traditional jobs, there was a clear line between when work started and when it ended.  Not so much with writing, where I feel this compulsion to be doing it almost constantly.  Or maybe I'm just the world's most exacting boss, who knows?

Another big woo hoo goes to the fact that school is in session and the cleaning company is coming to clean the house this week.  While I had a fun summer, it'll be nice to have some time to buckle down and do some serious writing, particularly with NaNoWriMo beginning to appear on the horizon.  Ah, I can hear the siren's call of the annual November insanity already!  Soon I'll be snarfing bites of turkey while banging away at the keyboard.  Who's with me this year?  I need some more people to share in the pain joy!

Last but certainly not least, an absolutely ginormous woo hoo shall be shouted from the rooftops because of my August sales.  Seriously, my readers are awesome.  I still can't believe you're paying actual, real money for something I wrote.  I'm not exactly making a living wage at this point, but August has been my best month yet, and my sales have increased every month by at least 25%, so I'm definitely not complaining.  It feels absolutely amazing to make ANY money doing something I love so much.  I mean, I'm getting paid to play around in my imagination all day long.  How cool is that?

I'm just going to leave this here while Amazon is in the process of publishing Contributor:

As they say in Contributor-land: Have a productive day!

(Psssst: Don't forget that Creators will be free on Friday, September 7.)

Tuesday Teaser: Sneak Peek at Contributor!

I'm back from my end-of-the-summer hiatus, raring to focus on my fall writing schedule.  On the agenda: book two in the Contributor series (which I've already started), and my NaNoWriMo project, which will be my alternative take on Sleeping Beauty.  I'm really excited about both of them, and am looking forward to getting back into the fairytale genre in November.

However, before those two is the upcoming publication of Contributor.  I've got an amazing cover for it, and am working on polishing up the last bit, but I'll be sending it over Amazon's way tomorrow, which means it should be available for purchase on Thursday!  Also, to celebrate the release of Contributor, I'm running a promotion: download a copy of Creators (the prequel novella to the series) for FREE on Amazon on Friday, September7.

To whet your appetite, I thought I'd offer a little taste of Contributor.  I hope you enjoy it!

*****

“As for you, Apprentice Morrow,” Andersen said, bringing her work up on the screen.  Her throat constricted and she could barely breathe.  “Your solution was quite ingenious.”

Surprised, Dara hazarded a glance at Letizia, who gave her a searing glare.

“It’s unfortunate that you made such an inexcusable error in the beginning,” Andersen continued, staring at her.  She felt like sinking down in her chair, through the floor, and continuing on down into the depths of the earth.  “Had Apprentice LeTour not caught it, your solution would have resulted in even more extensive damage.  An innovative mind is a useless quality in an engineer who makes stupid errors, errors that could cost Magnum millions.”

Dara went completely numb.  She felt as though her fingers and toes had turned to ice, and she feared they might begin to crack, shattering her into a million tiny pieces.  Still, that would probably be far less painful than the public dressing down she’d just received.

“Cheer up,” Javier murmured as they left the room.  “He did say your solution was quite ingenious.”  Surprised, Dara glanced at him.  He grinned crookedly at her.

“Um, thanks,” she said.

“No problem.”

Warming up to him, she smiled ever so slightly.  “Thanks for what you said to Ryan too.”

“Don’t think that means we’re on the same side, Dara.  There can only be one of us left at the end, and I don’t like you that much.”  He winked.

Feeling her spine stiffen, Dara nodded curtly and increased her pace, leaving him trailing in her wake.

Sample Sunday: Creators: The protests begin

What if you had to choose who will live and who will die?

*****

“There isn’t enough food, is there?” Mei asked quietly.  The angry expression had faded, replaced by one of concern, and Liang knew she was worried not just about the decrease in the food supply, but also about him.

“No, there isn’t,” he admitted.  In a way, it was a relief to unburden himself at last.  He felt lighter for not having to conceal the knowledge any longer, but rather than making him feel better, this made him feel worse.  How could he be relieved to know that his sister would now have to be as burdened by the awful knowledge as he was?

Mei picked up her napkin and toyed with it, winding it around her fingers.  “I suspected as much.  I’ve been doing calculations, and I knew the numbers weren’t adding up.”

Liang paused in his pacing and smiled ruefully at his sister.  “I should have known you’d start calculating.”

“I’ve also been calculating the yield from the hydroponics, and I know those numbers don’t add up either.  So what next?”

Righting his chair, Liang dropped into it, suddenly exhausted.  “We step up production on the domes and activate them ahead of schedule.”

He sat quietly, watching the emotions play over his sister’s face as she worked out what this meant.  It seemed she, like him, was trying to reject what was becoming apparent.

“So, that means…” she began, but her voice faltered.  She bit her lower lip, and tears welled in her eyes.

“It means that the leadership team has to do an evaluation of all our Contributors.  It means we have to place every last one of them on a scale, from necessary to dispensable,” he said, the words bitter on his tongue.

His sister stifled a sob and turned her head away from him.  He looked away as well, unable to bear her pain.  It reminded him too much of his own.

“But…but how…  What are you going to say to people?” she finally asked, breaking the heavy silence.

“Nothing.  Nothing at all.  There will be no announcement to the public of what we’re doing.  Instead, people will be moved into the domes in stages and, after the last stage, the domes will be sealed.  And I’ll have to live with the knowledge that I condemned thousands of people to death without saying a word to them.”

“You can’t be serious!  The Job Creators can’t just keep people in the dark like that!” Mei cried, rising from her seat.

“Think about what would happen if we told them.”  He softened his voice, trying to get her to calm down.  Her shoulders tensed and then collapsed, and she sank into her chair.

“But it’s not fair.”  Her protest was a mere whisper, and Liang responded to it with a bitter laugh.

“Not fair?  It’s cruel, is what you mean.  We’re leading people to believe we’re conducting more dome tests and then, when the doors are permanently sealed and the realization of what’s happening to them sinks in, those of us who were lucky enough to have a ticket to the inside will go about our business as if millions of people aren’t dying right outside our doors.”

Mei sobbed, and Liang was stricken that he’d spoken so baldly.  He had desperately wanted to protect his sister, then he had given her the truth in such harsh terms.  But was there any gentle way of delivering such news?

They sat silently for a long time, their food untouched—which only served to make Liang feel even guiltier.  Here they were, the world on the brink of a famine that would kill billions, and he was wasting food because he didn’t feel like eating.  The thought made him sick to his stomach and he doubled over, wrapping his arms around his midsection.

“You know, I used to be so jealous of you,” Mei said softly, her voice startling him out of his miserable reverie.  “I used to wish that I was the oldest, that I could be the CEO of Zhang Agritech.  But now…now that I know what’s going on, Li, I…I don’t even know what to say.  I wouldn’t want anyone to be in the position you’re in, least of all you.”

“Someone has to make the decisions,” Liang said, clutching his stomach.

“That’s the really horrible part, isn’t it?”

I'm a featured author.

I'm really excited to be a featured author today on Aside from Writing.  It's a really great blog devoted to promoting indie authors, and each day you'll find features on various authors and books, along with giveaways.  It's a great site if you're looking to discover some amazing new indie authors and books.  I also can't say enough nice things about my experiences working with the blog's founders.  They were sweet and absolutely a joy to work with!

Tomorrow, my Sample Sunday post will feature an excerpt from Creators, and I'm really excited to share it.  Writing the Contributor trilogy is turning out to be such an amazing experience for me.

Lastly, I want to just thank all of my readers.  Whether you've picked up a copy of The Eye of the Beholder or a copy of Creators (or both!), I just want you to know that you're helping me to live my dream, and that is priceless to me!

Woo Hoo Wednesday: I have a new book!

A big thanks to the amazing Darian Wilk for introducing me to the idea of Woo Hoo Wednesday.  It's a weekly opportunity to take the time to celebrate the goodness in life, an idea that I really love.  I have a habit of being a stress bunny, so it's a good thing for me to stop and think for a few minutes about the things I'm excited about and grateful for.  Feel free to chime in with your own weekly celebrations!

(By the way, if you haven't watched The Legend of Korra, do eeet!)

My biggest Woo Hoo is reserved for my new book, Creators, which is a young adult post-apocalyptic novella.  Ever since I published the first, I've been dying to get another one published, so I am really excited that I met that goal.

My second Woo Hoo is for the fact that I have worked my way up to 45 minutes on the elliptical.  It should be stated that I am not one of those people who loves to exercise, so this is a huge deal for me.  While I do like to go hiking, I generally look at exercise the way many people look at shots.  Still, I can't complain too much.  My elliptical has a little ledge that's perfectly sized for my Kindle, so at least I get some quality reading time while I'm working out!

I also just have to give a general Woo Hoo for this summer--though I could do without all this awful heat.  Still, I've already been on a trip to the beautiful Traverse City with my family, and we had an amazing time.  I'll also be going there again in a matter of weeks with just my husband, so I am really looking forward to that!  In addition, we spent some time in Oscoda, right on Lake Huron.  Michigander that I am, I always love to pay homage to the Great Lakes.

As if the vacations weren't enough, my husband and I are going to two concerts within a matter of days of one another.  First up is Cold Play, followed six days later by Train, one of my all-time favorite bands.  We just saw Train last summer, but as soon as I saw they were touring again, I was all over those tickets.  Hey, they released a new album and they are just awesome in concert.

That about covers it for me this week.  Hope the rest of you are having plenty of Woo Hoo moments this summer!

Motivational Mondays: From one book to the next!

Happy Monday!  This is pretty much the summer of vacations for me.  I went on one at the end of June, came home for a week, and then left for the next.  The end result is, my house is desperately in need of cleaning and I am so not motivated to do it.  However, I've been really productive in the book department, so I'm happy about that!

What I’m working on: Now that Creators is finished and published, it's time for me to turn to Contributor.  I entered it in ABNA this year, so I'd already done several rounds of edits, but I'm going to put it on my Kindle and do another round of edits.  I've found that doing this is a really effective way at catching small errors (i.e. using "or" when I meant to use "of"), and it also lets me see how the book will look once it's finished.  I'll also give that one a spin through SmartEdit as that program was extremely helpful when I was doing the edits on Creators.

What I hope to achieve: This week, I'm scaling back my expectations because I did just publish another book.  The problem I find with writing is that I feel a sort of compulsion to work constantly.  If I'm not writing, I'm feeling guilty about not writing.  However, as with any job, it's also important to have some down time and to do other things like reading or exercising or cleaning my house.  If I don't take the time to relax, I start feeling really frazzled and stressed out and that really does nothing to improve my writing.  So, for this week, I'll maybe read a few chapters of Contributor.

What are my challenges: House cleaning.  Seriously.  It takes up so much time it's unreal.  Also, as I mentioned, I need to give myself permissions to just relax once in a while.

What freaks me out: I'm not sure if it's because The Eye of the Beholder has already been out there for a while, but I'm not quite as terrified of bad reviews this time around.  Granted, I know it'll be tough to get bad reviews, but I think publishing that first book was the point where I really stepped off the cliff.

My one big worry about writing a trilogy is maintaining consistency.  I never thought about how HUGE writing a series is until I start writing one.  Now I worry a lot about readers contacting me saying, "In book 1, character A says this but, in book 3, they do something that totally contradicts it."  I once read there was an editor whose sole function was to read all of J.K. Rowling's books to make sure the spells were consistent throughout the series.  It seemed kind of strange to me at the time, but now I totally get it.

What’s making me happy today: Having another book published, of course!  And the fact that I've already had my first sale.  I'm also very pleased that The Eye of the Beholder continues to sell a few more copies each month.  Progress is good!

Teaser for Tuesday: Tomorrow I'll offer a first peek at Contributor.  Though Creators is part of the universe, it's a standalone story, so Contributor will offer the first look into the meat of the trilogy.

I've published a new book!

I'm really excited to announce the publication of my new book, Creators!  It's a prequel novella to my forthcoming Contributor trilogy.  It's a YA post-apocalyptic novel--very different from The Eye of the Beholder.  It's been really fun for me to tackle a new genre.

Without further ado, I give you Creators:

When the imminent collapse of the world’s food system threatens to all but eradicate the human race, it’s up to nineteen-year-old Liang Zhang to determine which of his company’s employees will live and which will die.

Liang and the other Job Creators have only weeks to choose which of their staff and families to move into the domes, the last refuges on the barren planet. Despite their best efforts, the Job Creators are unable to keep their selection project under wraps, spurring violent protests against the privileged few.

Now, Liang must race: against starvation, against insurrection, and against his own conscience. 

You can purchase the novel or download a sample on Amazon.

Tidbit Tuesdays: The beginning of the end of life as they knew it

Creators is making its last appearance in the Tidbits Tuesday feature, because it is no longer the work in progress.  Next week, I'll be offering up a taste of Contributor, the first novel in my postapocalyptic/dystopian trilogy.  I hope you enjoy this opening scene from Creators!


They were losing the war, this much was obvious.  Standing and surveying the fields, Zhang Liang swallowed against the lump in his throat.  As far as the eye could see, the crops were dying.  Liang crouched and grabbed a handful of earth, feeling his own impotence as it trickled through his fingers.  It was so depleted it could no longer sustain life, as evidenced by the dessicated plant stalks waving forlornly in the hot breeze.  No matter how much they tinkered with the soil, Zhang Agritech Systems was unable to successfully replace nutrients in the soil.

Wiping his hand on his thighs, Liang stumbled over to a vivid green patch.  In a blind rage, he began yanking plants out, feeling a vicious sense of satisfaction as he tore their roots from the earth.  Even so, he knew it was an empty gesture.  No matter how valiantly the corn and soybeans fought, they were helpless against the onslaught of the virulent pigweed, horseweed, and countless other so-called superweeds.

A sudden pressure on his shoulder reminded Liang that he wasn’t alone, and he looked up into the sober gaze of Anya Ragulski, his second-in-command.

“The collectives are no longer viable,” she told him, her voice so soft it was almost lost in the drone of machinery trying desperately to provide enough water, enough of a precise chemical cocktail to support the crops needed to feed millions.

“But without the collectives…” Liang began, but the thought was too horrible to contemplate, and the words died in his throat.

“There will be widespread famine,” Anya finished, her voice so collected that Liang stared up at her, caught between horror and admiration that she could remain so calm.  However, as he studied her face, he realized there were tears in her eyes, that her expression was rigid.

“Maybe we just need more hands.  We could institute another selection process, bring more field workers into the collectives.  There are more than enough candidates,” Liang suggested, the words falling out of his mouth faster and faster, as he tried to cling to this one last surge of hope. 

Just this morning, throngs of people had stood outside the secure, electrified, razor-wire topped gates of the collective, their starved faces staring avidly at his armored motorcade as it glided by on nearly silent electric motors.  Though life in the collectives involved a great deal of grueling, back-breaking labor, its workers went to bed with a full belly every night, something about which many people could only dream.  The first ten years after the launch of the collectives had been rough because it had been so difficult to find people willing to spend hour after hour toiling in the blazing sun, but conditions on the outside had deteriorated to the point that there were now more people desperate to work the collectives than there were jobs.

“If we increase the number of hands, we won’t be able to provide them with food in exchange for work, let alone supply those who don’t work the collective,” Anya reminded him, her patient tone cracking around the edges.  She’d told him this already, but the knowledge refused to enter his head.  The more he tried to accept reality, the more his brain fought to reject it.

“Then why did you bring me here?”  Liang was unable to keep the bitterness from his voice as he pulled himself up from the ground.

“Because I knew you had to see it.”  Anya studied him with an unwavering gaze until he turned from her, yanking his protective goggles from his face and pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes.  She was right; he wouldn’t have believed numbers on a report, would have rejected the graphs and projections. 

After several moments during which Liang stared unseeingly at the hands toiling at their fruitless labors, Anya finally spoke.  “We knew this day was coming.  You know we’ve done all we can, Liang.  Our scientists have been working around the clock—but I’m not telling you anything you don’t know.  You’ve seen the data.  You know how many of them have collapsed from exhaustion, how many have had cardiac episodes due to the stress.”

Unable to speak, he simply nodded in acknowledgment of her words.  Yes, he’d seen the data, but how could anyone be expected to process the beginning of the end of life as they knew it?

Motivational Mondays:

Happy Monday, everyone!  Hopefully the horrible heat wave has ended in your neck of the woods.  I know I could use some cooler weather!  Still, the heat does make it appealing to sit in my darkened, air-conditioned office with the ceiling fan going full blast while I plug away at my latest manuscript.

What I’m working on: I'm in the middle of final edits for my Creators manuscript, with a targeted release date of July 21st.

This time around, I had the idea of putting a rough copy of my manuscript and editing on the Kindle, and I was very happy with the results.  This not only gave me a feel for how the formatting looks, it also helped me to spot some additional errors.  I can only stare at my PC screen for so long before small things begin to slip by me.  With the Kindle, I could highlight the problem areas and make comments on the fly.  Bonus: I could do editing while lounging on the couch!

I also found a link to a great program called SmartEdit.  It's an amazing tool that analyzes your document and then gives you a report detailing things like how many cliches it found, how often you use adverbs, which words you use the most, etc.  This is a real boon as it's sometimes hard to notice these things in your own work.  Best of all, it's free!  I highly recommend checking it out, even if you're not a creative writer.  It would also be great for analyzing papers, work reports, etc.

What I hope to achieve: I hope to put the finishing touches on Creators and finalize the cover design.  I'm also hoping for a few more reviews of The Eye of the Beholder, and I certainly wouldn't mind a continuous uptick in sales!

What are my challenges: I'm continuing to work on how to best market my novels.  I've been really inconsistent with my blog, and I'm determined to try to make better use of it.  Overall, I really just need to get more organized.  It would be great for me to establish a schedule so I make the most of my writing time without allowing marketing time to dominate my days.

What freaks me out: I'm still dreading negative reviews but, overall, I'm feeling really positive.  Though I am by no means a best selling author at this point, things have been going better than I expected, and that's always a good thing!

What’s making me happy today: I'm really excited at the thought of releasing two more novels.  Every time I check Goodreads and see that someone else has added my novel as "to-read", it's a thrill.  Ever since I was a kid, I've dreamed of becoming an author and having people read my book, and I can honestly say that the reality is better than any fantasy I ever constructed.

Teaser for Tuesday: Tomorrow's post will offer one last preview of Creators.  It's a prequel novella to Contributor, a YA trilogy set in a postapacolyptic/dystopian future.

Tidbit Tuesdays: Making difficult choices

It's now time for Tidbit Tuesdays, a weekly feature in which I post an excerpt from my current work in progress and discuss some of my thoughts about that particular section.

I hit a milestone this week by finishing the rough draft of Creators, so that was a very good feeling.  I'm taking a short breather because I always need some space between me and my work, and then it will be time for the dreaded editing process.  (Did you hear that ominous music in the background?)  So, without further ado, here is this week's excerpt:

*****

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I was led to believe that the dome technology was still untested on anything larger than a prototype scale,” one of the smaller Creators spoke up, looking around meekly as if waiting for the major Creators to pounce all over him. “What are the risks of enacting this technology now without running a few more scaled tests?”

“We don’t have time to do more scaled testing,” Sylvie said, bluntly. The other Creator’s face blanched, and Liang could see he was not the only one who looked uncomfortable. Despite Sylvie’s formidable presence, murmurs began to sweep through the room.

“I’m sorry, I think my numbers may be off,” interjected one of the other small Creators. “During our last meeting, we were told a total of thirty of the domes were being built, and that each dome could support a maximum population of 250,000 people. The current population of the Midwestern region is…”

“We are aware of the current population of the Midwestern region,” Sylvie interrupted. Her voice was calm and her gaze was steely as she surveyed every other person in the room. “When we met last, we talked a great deal about maximizing our resources, if you’ll recall. I called you all here today so we could begin laying out plans for how we will go about evaluating our resources over the course of the next several months.”

“Wait, maximizing resources… You don’t mean that we’re going to have some sort of a…what…selection process?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”  

*****

Thorny moral questions like this always interest me.  I think it's a good idea to sometimes pose a morally difficult question to yourself and think, "What would I do in this situation?"  The more difficult the question, the better, because it really forces you to analyze your stance on an issue, and I think that kind of self-evaluation is always a good thing.

Much of my writing comes about because of thoughts like these.  More than anything, I tend to be interested in characters, in how they think, feel, what they like, etc.  When I write, I try to really inhabit them and think, "How would this particular character react to this situation?"  

There was a lot of that going on throughout the writing of Creators.  Because so much of Contributor deals with the thoughts and feelings of characters who are caught up in the system the Creators devised, I wanted to explore why that system had been created, and what effects creating the system had on those who had to establish it.

End-of-the-world scenarios like the one in Creators are interesting precisely because they represent such an enormous test to our morality as human beings.  In no situation is a person put more to the test, and at no time do their true colors come shining through than in a moment of calamity.  I think this is especially true of the characters in Creators.

Motivational Mondays: Good reviews bring great joy!

Well, it's Monday again, so here's hoping none of you are having a case of the Mondays!  For those of you new to the blog, Mondays are the day where I talk a little about what's motivating me for the coming week.

What I’m working on: I'm still working on Creators, which I plan on finishing today.  I'll then begin the editing process and try to get everything ready for a late June release. 

I'm also planning on going back and reading through Contributor one last time.  I did extensive edits on it before entering it in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards, so it's pretty much ready to go, but I did cut one chapter that I'm thinking about reinserting.  Having had some distance from the work is a good thing, as I think it'll help me make a good decision as to whether or not that chapter is really appropriate any longer.

I am really excited about releasing Creators and then Contributor.  I've really enjoyed writing them!

What I hope to achieve: I hope to make good headway with the editing of Creators.  I'm also hoping to work some more with my cover artists on the art for both Creators and Contributor.  I'm also hoping to see a bump in my sales of The Eye of the Beholder, and I think the fact that I now have a couple of reviews should help.

What are my challenges: This is the last week of school, so finding a good routine and rhythm over the summer is going to be a challenge--but I'm not saying anything any other parent doesn't already know!

In addition to having both of my kids at home with me, I've also got a couple of trips planned and the usual summer festivities such as graduation parties.  Summer is always such a busy time, so trying to be disciplined about my writing is an especially high hurdle in the summer.

What freaks me out: I'm feeling more relaxed this week, so I'm not as worried.  I got my first couple of reviews under my belt, so at least the stressful wait for feedback is over! 

Naturally, I am still dreading the first negative review.  As much as I like my novel, I know not everyone will, so I'm trying to keep that perspective.  I also want to keep my head on straight so that I can learn from my negative reviews.  If I have one mega-fear, it's that I will stop growing and improving as a writer.

What’s making me happy today: I am over the moon about getting my first two reviews for The Eye of the Beholder.  One was a five star, the other a four, and they're both really beautiful and made me feel great.  There are few things more gratifying than working really, really hard to make a work the best you can make it, and to find out that others enjoyed it.  As much as I appreciate my family and friends reading my work and giving me feedback, it's even sweeter to get positive reviews from people who don't know me because they are more objective.

Teaser for Tuesday: For tomorrow's Tidbits Tuesday post, I'll be featuring an excerpt from my work in progress, Creators, along with a little commentary on it.

Tidbit Tuesdays: Fun with agriculture

Today, I am debuting my new feature, Tidbit Tuesdays.  On Tuesday of each week, I'll post an excerpt from my current work-in-progress, along with some of my thoughts about the excerpt.

So, without further ado, may I present to you an excerpt from Creators, my prequel novella to the upcoming Contributor trilogy:

They were losing the war; this much was obvious.  As he stood and surveyed the fields, Zhang Liang swallowed against the lump in his throat.  As far as the eye could see, the crops were dying.  Crouching, he grabbed a handful of earth, feeling his own impotence as it trickled through his fingers.  It was so depleted it could no longer sustain life, as evidenced by the dessicated plant stalks waving forlornly in the hot breeze.  No matter how much they tinkered with the soil, Zhang Agritech Systems had been unable to successfully replace nutrients in the soil.

Wiping his hand on his thighs, Liang stumbled over to a vivid green patch.  In a blind rage, he began yanking plants out, feeling a vicious sense of satisfaction as he tore their roots from the earth.  Still, he knew it was an empty gesture.  Though the corn and soybeans fought valiantly, they were helpless against the onslaught of the virulent pigweed, horseweed, and countless other so-called superweeds.

*****

My thoughts: When I began working on Contributor during NaNoWriMo 2011, I thought a lot about what kind of dystopia I was creating.  Why did it exist?  What did it look like?  How did the society function?  These are all questions I tried to answer in Contributor without doing it in info dumps--which can be quite challenging.  Still, I'm happy with the end result and feel that lots of writing and editing have led to a Contributor that creates a good sense of the society it examines.

Still, I couldn't find a way of exploring the origins of the dystopia without doing some sort of info dump or faux history lesson within Contributor, and I didn't want to do that.  Then, it hit me: write a novella.  Just like that, Creators was born.

The first question I needed to answer in creating the dystopia was why did it exist in the first place.  I'm a big fan of speculative fiction, and I've read many great authors who root their dystopia in a current truth, which makes it feel all the more ominously possible.  I wanted to do the same thing, so I asked myself what might make a society grow so dependent on a certain structure and the answer I kept coming back to was food.

I'm not shy about stating right up front that food safety and security is an issue of particular importance to me.  I read everything I can about food production, and I've watched many documentaries on the subject, and all of these things have led me to this ultimate conclusion: if we don't carefully examine our current system and fix its flaws, we may back ourselves into a corner.  The population on this planet continues to grow, but this planet only has finite resources.  How can we best utilize them?

The real trick in writing Creators is writing it in a compelling way.  Though I often find reading articles about farming practices and GMO crops fascinating, I know that not everyone feels the same way.  I wanted to create a face-paced story without making readers feel like they were sitting through Crop Sciences 101.  Hopefully, with Creators, I've reached that goal.

If you're interested in the topic, here are a couple of articles I found particularly interesting:

NY Times op-ed about Congress's revamping of the farm bill 
Mother Jones article about the rise of so-called superweeds

I also suggest reading and watching the work of people such as Jamie Oliver and Michael Pollan.  Though this is by no means a complete list of people who are instrumental in driving the conversation about food safety and quality, they are a good starting point.

Motivational Mondays: Are pantries organized in dystopian universes?

Because I’ve been so inconsistent with my blog, and because I want to put it to better use, I’ve decided to do regular posts on weekdays, and each day will have its own theme.  Today, I’m debuting my Motivational Monday theme.  It’s my hope that this post will get me geared up for a week of productive writing, as well as encourage some discussion.

What I’m working on: I’m plugging away at Creators, which is a prequel novella to Contributor, the YA dystopian novel I’m planning on publishing in July.  Creators stands alone, so it’s not required in order to understand Contributor, but it does explain the origins of the world that is portrayed in Contributor.  I’m really excited about Creators and the direction it’s taking.  I think it’s going to help make the Contributor universe even richer.

What I hope to achieve: I hope to finish Creators and begin the editing process.  I’d like to publish it sometime this month, and I’m currently working with someone on some concepts for cover art.  I can hardly wait to see what those will look like!

What are my challenges: My biggest challenge right now is finding the time for writing!  When I sit down to do it, I want to be able to focus and just pour my heart out into my writing, but that can be difficult with kids at home.  It’s almost time for summer vacation, so this is going to be even more of a challenge for me in the upcoming months.

What freaks me out: Two things:

1) Getting my first review for The Eye of the Beholder.  I want to be clear that I do want reviews because I am honestly eager for feedback from my readers—and not just the positive kind, though that is admittedly the nicest kind.  In some ways, though, the negative kind is the best because it helps me to determine what I need to do to improve, and I never want to stop trying to improve.

2) Worrying about whether I can turn my love of writing into a full-time job.  I’ve been scribbling ever since I was a kid, and being an author has always seemed like a pipe dream.  I really want to make it my reality, though, so I have been working harder at this than I’ve ever worked at anything before, and I feel so fortunate to have a wonderful support system at home, as well as to have found several places where I can network with like-minded people.  Writing is my passion, but it’s also my business, and I want to make it the best it can be.

What’s making me happy today: Seeing how much my daughter loves her new room setup.  My husband and I spent hours working on it yesterday, and all she wants to do is hang out in it!  Everybody needs a space of their own, so it’s good to know my little girl has found it in her own room!

We also put in a new pantry, and I’m really excited that it’s finally organized so that I’ll be able to find things quickly.  The pantry used to be the place half-finished bags of chips went to die, but now I’ll know they’re there!  It’ll also make it easier for me to indulge in my passion for cooking, because I won’t have to dig around to find the ingredients I need.  I know.  I never thought I’d be such a boring adult either!

Teaser for Tuesday: Tomorrow I’ll be debuting my Tidbits Tuesday feature.  This week, I’ll be featuring an excerpt from my work in progress, Creators, along with a little commentary on it.