Megan Haskell's Blog, page 3
September 12, 2016
Sanyare: The Heir Apparent Available September 21!
Sanyare: The Heir Apparent, For Sale September 21, 2016!
Mark Your Calendars! Sanyare: The Heir Apparent launches on September 21st!Her secret is unraveling. One dangerous quest could end it all...
Rie thought she was an ordinary human. After she’s named heir to Sanyaro, the truthseeker and mediator of all nine realms, life becomes a lot more complicated. As she struggles to control her magics, Rie nearly falls prey to a brutal assassination attempt during a public ceremony.
Blamed for the chaos, Rie’s escort, Prince Daenor, is taken prisoner. While Sanyaro tempers the political flames, Rie must once again chase after the truth. As if the threat of another great war and the impending death of her lover weren’t enough, Rie uncovers a dark secret that threatens to crack the very foundations of the faerie realms. When allies fall, can Rie overcome the odds… and the opposition?
Sanyare: The Heir Apparent is a captivating dark fantasy adventure novel. If you enjoy thrilling adventures across nine unique realms filled with wise-cracking carnivorous pixies, then you’ll love the second installment of The Sanyare Chronicles from Megan Haskell.
Get your copy September 21 for the limited launch week price of $0.99. Or get it FREE with your Kindle Unlimited Subscription.In the meantime, Click Here to Read Chapter 1, Free!
September 2, 2016
The ARCs Have Been Released!
As of this morning at 8am Pacific time, the final edited Advanced Review Copies of Sanyare: The Heir Apparent went out into the world. If you're interested in becoming an advanced reviewer, sign up for The Sanyare Chronicles Launch Team!
In exchange for a free digital copy of the book, team members are asked to post an honest review to Amazon during launch week, 9/18 - 9/25. Team members who successfully post a review during that time will receive a set of signed bookmarks and a handwritten thank you note from yours truly. That's right, I'm going old school, baby.
(Your link to download the ARC will be emailed to you within 24 hours of signing up for the Launch Team...make sure you confirm your subscription to the list!)
August 1, 2016
The Covers Have Arrived!
Boom! Sanyare: The Last Descendant has a new look!
Over the past few weeks, I've been working with Deranged Doctor Design to rebrand the covers for Sanyare: The Last Descendant and Pixie Tamer. It's been a fun and exciting process, and I'm absolutely thrilled with how they came out!
And so does Pixie Tamer!
I highly recommend Deranged Doctor Designs. They not only produce stunning covers and promotional imagery, they have a professional work ethic that lends itself to a painless design process.
And, in case you're wondering, they've designed the cover for Sanyare: The Heir Apparent as well. I'll be posting more about that in a few weeks!
If you really want to stay up-to-date, make sure to sign up for my newsletter! It's the ONLY place to get early access to announcements, books, swag, free excerpts, and more!
Stay tuned!
May 28, 2016
Sanyare: The Heir Apparent is (almost) Beta Ready!!
I have been heads down, deep in edits for the last few months, but especially over the last week. Finally, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. And not just a pinpoint speck, a solid flashlight beam.
In three days, Sanyare: The Heir Apparent is due on the desk of my developmental editor. That means, I have to have the manuscript ready for readers!
And here's the good news for you:
Once I've sent it to my editor, I'll also be ready to send the book off to the first set of beta readers for additional feedback!
Now, if you want to be an early reader for Sanyare: The Heir Apparent, there are a couple of things you have to do.
Even if you don't want to be a beta reader, I highly recommend you sign up for the newsletter. Only subscribers get monthly excerpts and sneak peeks of my upcoming book(s), a chance to win a signed print copy, as well as first access to announcement, events, and other giveaways.
January 21, 2016
The Newsletter Is About to Drop. Have you signed up?
Hello blog followers! I have good news and bad news.
Good News:
I've been working hard on the 2016 goal setting and project planning, actually putting together a strategic writing and marketing plan. I'm trying to focus on writing and producing books by streamlining everything else. I've taken a hard look at what's worked and what hasn't. Changes are afoot!
Bad News:
The blog is on the bottom of my priority list, while the newsletter is at the top, just behind finishing the sequel to Sanyare and publishing it before the end of the year! I'll still post occasional updates and announcements, but mostly that information will be coming to you through the newsletter.
Conclusion:
If you haven't already, please sign up for my newsletter. You'll receive monthly emails with progress updates, announcements, snippets from upcoming releases, and more. New subscribers also receive a free copy of Pixie Tamer, the short story prequel to Sanyare: The Last Descendant, as well as two free deleted scenes exclusively available to subscribers who've already read Sanyare. And one random subscriber each month will win a free signed print copy of Sanyare: The Last Descendant. Really, there's nothing to lose.
I hope to see you on the list!
Megan
P.S. You'd better hurry and sign up if you want to be included in this month's drawing for a free signed copy of Sanyare. The newsletter will be sent out tomorrow night!
November 19, 2015
Elf on a Shelf Meets Sanyare, and You Could Win $10
Look what came in the mail this week! Bookmarks!!
I have five hundred of these lovely ladies to give away. So I'm thinking, let's have a reverse scavenger hunt, and leave a trail of bookmarks all over town, and the internet! And, as a little extra incentive, you could win a $10 gift card to the book retailer of your choice!
All you have to do is leave the bookmarks in fun and creative places, take a picture, and post to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest, tagging me with my username and the hashtag #Sanyare. You could leave it at a coffee shop gift card display, in the grocery store holiday candy, or on the treadmill magazine stand at your gym. The pictures don't have to be holiday themed, but that's a bonus. Be creative!
On New Year's Day, I'll pick my favorite photo and the winner will get a $10 gift card from the book retailer of their choice!
To get your bookmarks:
If you haven't already, please subscribe to my newsletter. I'll send you an email welcoming you to the list and giving you a free copy of Pixie Tamer, plus once you've confirmed you've read Sanyare, you'll get two additional free deleted scenes! Send me an email with your physical address so I can send you a set of 11 bookmarks: 10 to give away, and one signed one to keep for yourself! You can either reply to the welcome email or use the contact form. [NOTE: I respect your privacy. I will not keep your physical address on file, and will only use it to send the requested bookmarks.]I'm really looking forward to seeing where Rie ends up. So let's get started!
October 30, 2015
Tinker Bell? I Think Not! Guest Post on My Guilty Obsession
Today, Ali at My Guilty Obsession posted my final Halloween blog post. This time, it's all about the pixies. Who are they as a species? As individuals? What do they look like? What do they do? You can find out all of this and more!
Plus, it's your last chance to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for a signed print copy of Sanyare: The Last Descendant or one of five digital copies. The Rafflecopter closes at midnight on Halloween, so make sure to get your final entries in the pool!
One last thing...all new mailing list subscribers will automatically "win" a digital copy of Sanyare! Just a little trick-or-treat surprise! Look for it in your inbox on Sunday, November 1!
a Rafflecopter giveawayOctober 22, 2015
Character Interview with Rie! Plus a #Giveaway!
Yesterday, I was a featured guest over on bestselling YA/NA author Kimber Leigh Wheaton's blog. It was a Q&A with Rie, where she answered the following five questions:
1. What's your favorite weapon?
2. Which of the nine realms is your favorite?
3. What's your number one tip for traveling the nine realms?
4. What's the scariest monster you've ever come across?
5. Do you believe in ghosts?
If you want to find out Rie's answers, head over to Kimber Leigh's blog and take a quick read. If you comment, you'll also earn three entries into the Rafflecopter giveaway for a free signed print copy of Sanyare: The Last Descendant!
a Rafflecopter giveawayOctober 18, 2015
October 2, 2015
The Ups and Downs of Life and Writing
Last night I was up until 1 am with a wide awake baby. She wasn't really crying or fussing, she just wasn't tired. She wasn't tired at 9 pm when I wanted to go to bed. She wasn't tired at 10:30 pm when I put her on a blanket to play with some toys. She wasn't tired at midnight when I paced the house trying desperately to encourage her eyes to close while keeping my own open. No, it wasn't until a little after 1 am, that she finally fell asleep while nursing and I was able to shut my own eyes.
She woke up twice more to nurse during the night.
And woke up for the day at 7 am.
I am tired.
Those of you who know me personally, probably know that I don't do very well on too little sleep. Sure, I'm used to being tired now as a parent, but I still need at least four or five uninterrupted hours of sleep to function properly. Without that, I'm cranky and short-tempered, easily frustrated and forgetful (which adds to my frustration).
Today, I will do my best to take a nap. I will also drink coffee. It will help, but it won't fix everything.
I tell you this not to complain -- I love my life and am lucky to be able to stay home with my daughters and still pursue a career in writing -- but to highlight a fact of this writing/parenting life.
Sometimes, things don't go to plan, and the only thing you can do is plod forward, one step at a time.
It's the same with writing. I am currently wading through the vast middle of Sanyare Book 2. I'll be honest, I don't know where the characters are going right now. I have a few goal posts in mind, some idea of how the book will end, but I have no idea how they're getting from one point to another.
The middle is hard. It was the same with Sanyare: The Last Descendant. I start out with every intention of following a rough outline, but somewhere around page 100, the train runs off the track. Usually, this happens because I get a new, better, more exciting idea that changes every aspect of the book. This means that I will probably be deleting, or at a minimum drastically re-writing the first third of the story.
Oh well, I've been there before.
But there are also days, like today, where the writing feels like a slog through a tar pit. I just can't get excited about the story. I've lost all sense of the characters, the setting doesn't feel real, and the dialogue makes no sense.
It doesn't help that I received my first truly mediocre review (haha, the writers out there are laughing, because I really shouldn't complain about having one mediocre review...it wasn't even bad, just not good) and have been turned down by several other reviewers in my quest to get a bit more visibility for Sanyare: The Last Descendant.
All of this makes me question my basic competency as a writer.
It's a down day.
But it won't last forever. There will come a time when the words flow through my fingers like water, and the end of the first draft will be in sight. I'll get a great review from a book blogger, and feel on top of the world. Those days happen. They do.
I just have to keep moving forward, doing the best that I can.
And take a nap.
