Writing

On the Shelf

| rachelhamm

A couple of years ago, I wrote a post about my goal of seeing my own book on the shelf of a bookstore one day.  Well, today, I got really close.

When I self-published Twenty-Five in July of last year, I thought that maybe a few years (or a decade) down the road, I’d have developed a large backlist and possibly draw the attention of an agent or a big publisher.  That would lead to my dream of seeing my work on a bookshelf in a store.

Well, turns out, getting my book on the shelf of a library feels pretty damn good, too, and it only took eight months!

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I’m a member of a writer’s critique group that meets at Durham’s South Regional Library.  The leader of the group is one of the librarians, and when I published the book, he put in a request with the library to order a copy.  It took some time for the request to be approved, but he played up the local author angle and my good reviews on Amazon helped to gain the final approval needed and they purchased 2 copies!

After our group was over tonight, the librarian checked the catalog to see if the request had been completed and sure enough!!!  Going to find the actual copy on the shelf was exhilarating.  I couldn’t stop smiling.  The excitement of finding it, pointing to my name on a book sitting on the shelf of the library was probably one of the happiest moments of my life.

Next goal: Actual bookstore.

Cover Reveal: The Promise, by April Baker

| rachelhamm

My good friend and a great writer, April Baker, has just released the cover of her book: The Promise.  It’s GORGEOUS!  Check it out:

The Promise (2)

About the Book:

Genre: Paranormal YA

Armed with kick-ass shoes, can CJ stop a maniacal coven leader, save the town, and still get Mr. Melt In Your Mouth Gorgeous while surviving the darkness coming for her?

The smoke from the fire burned her eyes, its heat caressed her skin and the taste of fear choked her. She was going to burn just as her ancestor did all those centuries ago in New Salem Village. How could she have been so wrong about everything?

Cassie Jayne Bishop grew up the only non-believer in town of Coven. When a stranger comes to the sleepy town of New Salem, everything she thought was true unraveled around her. Ethan made her question everything, even her sister’s death. Clues start to pile up and Cassie is determined to find out if the Coven was the real reason her sister died.

What she uncovers terrifies her to the very depths of her soul….

The Promise is a mystery at heart, but it has a romance that will make your toes curl and your heart melt.

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Purchase the book:

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About the Author:

So who am I? Well, I’m the crazy girl with an imagination that never shuts up. I LOVE scary movies. My friend Chazz laughs at me when I scare myself watching them and tells me to stop watching them, but who doesn’t love to get scared? I grew up in a small town nestled in the southern mountains of West Virginia where I spent days roaming around in the woods, climbing trees, and causing general mayhem. Nights I would stay up reading Nancy Drew by flashlight under the covers until my parents yelled at me to go to sleep.

Growing up in a small town, I learned a lot of values and morals, I also learned parents have spies everywhere and there’s always someone to tell your mama on you. So when you get grounded, what is there left to do? Read! My Aunt Jo gave me my first real romance novel. It was a romance titled “Lord Margrave’s Deception.” I remember it fondly. But I also learned I had a deep and abiding love of mysteries and anything paranormal. As I grew up, I started to write just that and would entertain my friends with stories featuring them as main characters.

Now, I live Huntersville, NC where I entertain my family and watch the cats get teased by the birds and laugh myself silly when they swoop down and then dive back up just out of reach. The cats start yelling something fierce…lol.

I love books, I love writing books, and I love entertaining people with my silly stories.

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PS: DO NOT GET IN MY WAY IF THERE IS A SALE ON AT TARGET – my home away from home!

Book Review: Fate War Alliance, by E.M. Havens

| rachelhamm

book coverFate War: Alliance is the first book in the Fate War series.

Genre: Steampunk Romance

Overall **** 4 out of 5 Stars.  I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An arranged marriage between Prince Cole and Princess Samantha provides the alliance needed to defeat the Fate Army.

Prince Cole is your basic playboy-not-interested-in-being-King.  Princess Samantha is anything but basic.  When Cole’s brother is killed, Cole is forced to step into his place as next-in-line to the throne, but he doesn’t exactly go willingly.  Sam wants to escape palace life, but before she can, her parents send her to a “finishing” school and wipe out her uniqueness and free will.

After being forced to wed and then consummate the marriage in front of a room full of strangers, Cole and Samantha get off to a bit of a rocky start.  He wants to get to know her, but all she wants to do is please him, and the two wants don’t exactly compute.  Eventually, Cole is able to coax out pieces of the true Samantha: she’s a fast reader who retains everything she’s read, she loves horses, dessert is her favorite part of a meal.  But Samantha is constantly at war with herself, having been “taught” in the finishing school what a true lady is and Cole’s behavior won’t let her follow her what she’s “learned.”

When it is finally revealed that Samantha’s mother repressed her daughter’s genius in order to hide her paternity, Sam finally accepts herself for who she is and allows her true self to come to the surface.  Cole gifts her a tinker shop and she shows aptitude for battle.  When the Fate army begins closing in, she proves herself capable of of much more than building trinkets by leading the Alliance army to victory against the Fate.

This was my first foray into the steampunk genre and I quite liked it!  Because the world is based on something I was already familiar with, Victorian England (with some medieval elements), the world-building didn’t throw me.  It intrigued me.  Havens does an excellent job of dropping in phrases and technologies unique to her world while giving the reader the context clues needed to figure out what those references mean.

The heat between Cole and Samantha was ABSOLUTELY FANFREAKINGTASTIC.  Havens teases the characters and the readers and when things finally happen, it is well-worth the wait.  It’s sweet, it’s sensual, it’s loving.  And then, to top it off, the reader can tell the characters genuinely like and care for each other, beyond lust and love.

Character Development: **** 4.5 out of 5 stars.  Samantha is one of the most complex characters I’ve ever read.  Her constant internal battle is not only well-written and believable, it is also so unique.  She merges the two stereotypical female characters we’ve come to expect in Princess stories: the weak, damsel-in-distress, needing her Prince to be her Savior, with the strong, bad-assed, take-no-crap-from-anyone warrior, and she does it in a way that is not stereotypical at all.  I don’t think I’m explaining this correctly, but read it, and I think you’ll get what I’m saying.  I loved Samantha, because to tell the truth, I’m a little sick of female characters who are strong only because it is un-PC to write a female character who isn’t strong.  Samantha is weak AND strong.  Insecure AND confidant.  Subversive AND dominant.  But she’s not all obnoxious about it.

The other characters were also really well-written.  Cole started out a little cliche, but he grew on me, especially in his good intentions towards Samantha.  Zeb was amazingly well-done, and he was only featured in a few scenes, so I imagine he’ll have a larger role in the next installment.  Then there’s Jasper.  Oh Jasper. For a character who appeared only once and who didn’t technically say anything, he was incredibly interesting.  There’s mystery surrounding him – we don’t know if he’s good or evil, we don’t know why he joined the Fate army, we don’t know if he’s somehow controlling Samantha in her dark periods.  So many questions, but good ones!  I didn’t feel unsatisfied not knowing the answers to them, it just made me ready to read the next book.

Plot: **** 4 out of 5 stars.  A lot happens in this book.  We meet Cole and Samantha, they begin their married life, and Cole begins Samantha’s “re-education.”  Then there is the discovery of Samantha’s true self.  They fall in love.  Samantha finally enables herself to trust Cole and become intimate with him.  The Fate army draws near.  Samantha proves she’s more than just a pretty face by leading their army.  The progression of the plot is steady, the tension between Cole and Samantha perfect.  There were a few scenes of conflict between Sam and Cole that felt a little forced/contrived to me, which caused me to remove one star, but for the most part, it was beautifully plotted.

Writing Style/ Voice of the Author: **** 4 out of 5 stars.  Havens keeps it simple, which I really like.  The story was easy to read, the dialogue flowed well and felt natural.  The book is a breeze.  There were a few awkward scene jumps, but for the most part, I liked the pacing.  The author’s voice never intruded.  I said it in my review of Gone Girl, and I’ll say it again: nothing ruins the flow of a book like the author’s voice intruding.  Havens showed her story beautifully .

Favorite Lines:

“Although he had managed to cooperate as little as possible over the years with his father, King Arnold, his duties as Prince could no longer be ignored.  Duty.  He just couldn’t understand how societies so technologically advanced, and continuing to advance, could hold on to such archaic and simply barbaric traditions.”

“Sprocket Defend!”

“Sam found it wasn’t just warmth that soaked into her body from his touch, strength seeped in, too.”

Purchase Fate War: Alliance

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HeadshotAbout the Author:

Who is E.M. Havens? I’m a lot of things. The word that seems to define me most at the moment is mom. It can be all consuming. Not only am I a mom of three (one of them is a teenager…pity me), but I also home-school (pity me more). I share this awesome responsibility with the love of my life, best friend, and soul-mate husband.

Add to that, the twenty-five chickens, twelve turkeys, ten guineas, nine pigs, three barn cats, two Great Pyrenees guardian dogs, a Chihuahua, a house cat, and a goose, it makes for one crazy, full, and certainly entertaining life.

Somewhere in there I find the time to write.  I started out young writing poems, then moved on to songs. I actually have a Bachelor in Music with a secondary in Science because I can’t stand English. Yes, the writer hates English.  I like to read the story for the experience of reading the story, not to nitpick each letter and comma. But I digress.

I eventually found blogging and really enjoyed sharing my life that way. When an unfortunate turn of events separated me from my music equipment, I decided to use my overactive imagination, my love of reading, and my new found hobby, prose writing, to release some of my creative energy.  I wrote my first novel and loved the experience. Fate War: Alliance is actually the second novel I wrote and the first to be published.  Now I’m working on my third and several sequels to Fate War!

So that’s pretty much me, sitting in the Arbuckle Mountains of Oklahoma, reading, writing, collecting eggs from the coop, and being a schoolmarm. It’s a pretty great life.

E.M.’s Blog

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Author Interview: E.M. Havens

| rachelhamm

E.M. Havens is the author of the Steampunk Romance series, Fate War.  The first book in the series, Fate War: Alliance is available now, and I spoke with E.M.  about the book, being a writer, and a few other random things.  Come back tomorrow for my review of Fate War: Alliance.

I don’t know much about the Steampunk genre – can you explain some of its characteristics for my readers?

Steampunk generally refers to a story/movie set in Victorian or Wild West era with alternate fantastical, steam powered technology. The ascetic is usually lots of brass, silver, and gold with gears, cogs and of course steam. While the 1800’s London or America is the norm, steampunk can be done in other centuries and in made up places, though hardcore steamers might balk. Fate War is a bit of a hodgepodge. It’s a fantasy world loosely based on Victorian England, but I’ve thrown a little medieval in and there will also be many surprises in the next installment.

You write in a couple of different genres – do you have a favorite genre to write, and why?

I write in different genres because I’m a new writer and I haven’t found my niche yet! LOL! I think my favorite genre is just whatever happens to be fueling my passion at the moment. When a story won’t leave me alone, it doesn’t matter what genre it is, it’s my fave.

Your characters are very well-written.  Do you base them on people you know, or do they spring from your imagination?

My characters are not based on any one person. They do exhibit characteristics of different people I know and interactions I’ve experience with others. Mostly, I just try and see life from that characters perspective and they seem to come alive. There are actually a few chapter after Sam’s big reveal with the Queen that were not in my outline because when the truth came out, Sam just didn’t react how I imagined. It was very disconcerting for me as a new writer. I tried to write the next scene I had planned but Sam just wouldn’t/couldn’t carry on the way I had envisioned. I finally just went with her and eventually we came back to the story line. So, to answer your question, it’s a little of both.

Tell me about the next book in the Fate War Saga.

Wouldn’t YOU like to know! I’m being pretty tight lipped about it, but I’ve left clues on my facebook page every now and then. Without giving too much away, I will say that we continue to follow Sam and Cole as they settle into their new roles…and it’s not going to be easy. As a matter of fact, there is much I’m dreading about writing a few scenes because it’s going to hurt. We will get an answer to “What the heck is going on with her freakin’ eyes!!!???” I promise. We will also get answers about Jasper and the Sovereign. In addition, we will follow some other well loved characters such as Captain Jensen and Hope. There will also be a plethora of new characters and love interests to keep things steamy!

I talk a lot on my blog about becoming a “real” writer.  When did you feel like a real writer?

I think it was just last weekend. LOL!  It was the strangest thing, for the first time in my entire life, when someone asked me, “what do you do?”, I answered, “I’m a writer.” It actually shocked me. I usually just say, “I’m a stay at home mom.” But it just came out. Then when they said, “Ohhhh….well are you published?” I answered yes and they proceeded to check out Amazon and download my books! I felt….real. LOL!

Tell me something completely random about yourself that has nothing to do with Fate War or writing.

I was in show choir in high school. It was really fun, but nothing like Glee…NOTHING like Glee. Okay, a little like Glee. Friday’s were spirit day’s and our director wanted us to wear shirts to support our group. That’s all well and good…and we did…but we were ridiculed relentlessly. Not because we were the show choir geeks, but because some idiot did not have the foresight many, many years ago when they named the group, that it might be a little awkward for a bunch of kids to walk around high school all wearing shirts that said, SWINGERS.

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Thank you, E.M. for stopping by and introducing me to Steampunk.  Now everyone, go and buy her book!

Purchase Fate War: Alliance

Kindle

Paperback

About the Author:

HeadshotWho is E.M. Havens? I’m a lot of things. The word that seems to define me most at the moment is mom. It can be all consuming. Not only am I a mom of three (one of them is a teenager…pity me), but I also home-school (pity me more). I share this awesome responsibility with the love of my life, best friend, and soul-mate husband.

Add to that, the twenty-five chickens, twelve turkeys, ten guineas, nine pigs, three barn cats, two Great Pyrenees guardian dogs, a Chihuahua, a house cat, and a goose, it makes for one crazy, full, and certainly entertaining life.

Somewhere in there I find the time to write.  I started out young writing poems, then moved on to songs. I actually have a Bachelor in Music with a secondary in Science because I can’t stand English. Yes, the writer hates English.  I like to read the story for the experience of reading the story, not to nitpick each letter and comma. But I digress.

I eventually found blogging and really enjoyed sharing my life that way. When an unfortunate turn of events separated me from my music equipment, I decided to use my overactive imagination, my love of reading, and my new found hobby, prose writing, to release some of my creative energy.  I wrote my first novel and loved the experience. Fate War: Alliance is actually the second novel I wrote and the first to be published.  Now I’m working on my third and several sequels to Fate War!

So that’s pretty much me, sitting in the Arbuckle Mountains of Oklahoma, reading, writing, collecting eggs from the coop, and being a schoolmarm. It’s a pretty great life.

E.M.’s Blog

Author Facebook Page

Fate War Facebook Page

Twitter

Write What You Know

| rachelhamm

One of my co-workers said to me today that it was hard separating me from Abby in Twenty-Five.  She said reading the book was like reading my journal.  And she’s exactly right.  It took a long time for me to allow anyone I knew in real life to read the book because she hit the nail on the head – I poured my emotions into Abby’s story.  Her feelings are my feelings.  The things that happen to her haven’t happened to me, but the way she feels about them is.

You have probably heard the old caveat, “Write what you know.”  That’s what I did with Twenty-Five.  I wrote about the person I knew best in the world – myself.  It’s embarrassing and liberating at the same time.  The book was written five years ago and I’ve changed even more than Abby does in the course of the story, but it doesn’t change the fact that at one point in my life I was feeling very vulnerable, frightened that I would never amount to anything, a hundred percent sure no one would ever love me.  I’ve moved past some of those things, and some of them I’m still working on; knowing that I’ve exposed myself to the world, though, is freeing.  I don’t have to hide my fears.  I don’t have to hide my morals.  They are who I am.  And that’s what I wrote.

Author Interview: DelSheree Gladden

| rachelhamm

DelSheree Gladden is the author of the new YA Urban Fantasy series, SomeOne Wicked This Way Comes.  The first book in the series, Wicked Hunger is available now, and I spoke with DelSheree about the book, being a writer, and a few other random things.  Come back tomorrow for my review of Wicked Hunger.

In Wicked Hunger, we get a very dark YA tale – what was your inspiration for Zander and Van’s family secret?

One of my favorite writers is Jim Butcher, and I was reading one of the Dresden Files books, and he used the term godling hunger to describe how one of the characters feeds on of those around him. It sparked an idea in me and made me wonder how a character would cope with having an uncontrollable hunger they didn’t know the source of. How would the they survive trying to suppress such a basic part of themselves? The idea for the story of Vanessa and Zander Roth’s struggle to control their hunger and find out where it came from developed from two words that caught my eye.

We want to know about Book 2!  What can we expect in from the next chapter of the SomeOne Wicked This Way Comes series?

Right now it’s tentatively planned for release in January. The second book will be titled, Wicked Power. The final book, Wicked Glory, will hopefully be ready by the end of 2014, but I’ll do my best to keep readers updated on any changes.

You have several series published – what is it about series that you love writing?

I’ve never been very good at the shorter forms of writing like poetry or short stories. I guess ideas just take a while for me to put together! I really enjoy reading series, also, so I think that plays a big part in how I like to write as well. If I find an author I like, I don’t want the story to end. Hopefully some of my readers feel that way about my books!

Are you self-published or trade-published?  Why did you go that route?

I’ve done both. Escaping Fate and the Twin Souls Saga were self published. I was frustrated with how few publishers and agents were willing to work with new authors at the time, and after I spent some time researching the process I decided that it was the best option for me. I went with traditional publishing with Inquest, but the experience was incredibly frustrating and I ended up going back to self-publishing for the rest of the series. With Wicked Hunger, I had planned to self-publish again, but ended up crossing paths with Kitty Bullard with GMTA and decided to try traditional once again when she offered me a contract for the series, and I’ve had a much better experience! Either option can be a great path.

I talk a lot on my blog about “Becoming a Real Writer.”  When did you feel like a real writer?

I think it was probably when I got my first piece of fan mail. I was so excited that a reader enjoyed my book enough to send me an email and tell me how much she liked Twin Souls. It really made me feel like I was doing something worth while.

What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Connect with other writers. You can learn so much from other writers about not only writing, but every aspect of the book market. Even more, the support of other authors can help a struggling writer push through a tough piece of writing or deal with rejection, even celebrate with you when you sign a contract. I think that’s something every writer needs.

Tell us something completely random about yourself that has nothing to do with writing or Wicked Hunger.

One of my favorite painters is JW Waterhouse. I did several master study paintings of his works in college. I don’t have much time for painting lately, but it’s one of my favorite hobbies.

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Thank you, DelSheree for stopping by!  Now everyone go and read her book!

Purchase Wicked Hunger on Amazon:

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Sheree SmallAbout the Author:

DelSheree Gladden lives in New Mexico with her husband and two children. The Southwest is a big influence in her writing because of its culture, beauty, and mythology. Local folk lore is strongly rooted in her writing, particularly ideas of prophecy, destiny, and talents born from natural abilities. When she is not writing, DelSheree is usually teaching yoga, coaching gymnastics, reading, painting, sewing, or working as a Dental Hygienist. Her works include Escaping Fate, Twin Souls Saga, and The Destroyer Trilogy. DelSheree’s newest series, The SomeOne Wicked This Way Come series, follows Vanessa and Zander Roth, siblings with an uncontrollable hunger for pain and suffering that will either gain them limitless power or lead them to their deaths.

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A Day in the Life

| rachelhamm

So, I am not an author every day.  I have a full time job and a social life when I can swing it, so sometimes my author life gets pushed to the side.  But some days, a lot of author-y things happen.

Like today.  I got up early and submitted information to ten websites that promote free Kindle books (my next free days are coming up at the end of the month).  I plan on submitting to a lot more over the next two weeks and hopefully one (or two or three) will bite and actually feature my book.  Increased exposure leads to more downloads, which can lead to a higher ranking after the promo ends, which leads to more visibility, which *hopefully* will lead to more actual sales.

After the tedious task of filling out form after form for those websites, I headed over to a photographer to get my professional and official Author Headshot taken.  We had a lot of fun with different poses and backgrounds, even some props!  Don’t worry, though, nothing cheesy!  I can’t wait to see how they turn out.  She said she should be able to get me the images to look over by next week and I’ll post the ones I like for you all to ooh and ahhh over.

From the headshot shoot, I went straight to work.  No author stuff there, but as I am not making enough money writing to support myself yet, it’s kinda author-y because my paychecks enable me to you know, eat and stuff, while I’m working on my next book!

And after I post this I’ll be leaving to meet with my critique group.  They are getting chapters 7 & 8 of The Maidening Ceremony.  I hope they are ready to just GUT it.  My first drafts are so terrible – I really depend on my critique groups (online and in person) to tell me what sucks and what is passable and what is actually pretty good.

When I get home, I’ll obsessively check my sales (AGAIN) on Amazon and CreateSpace and probably stop by the KDP forums to see if anything new and helpful has been posted.  And THEN, if it isn’t too late, I’ll either do some critiquing on TheNextBigWriter, or I’ll actually write!  Whew.

And that’s a day in the life of a new author.