Auryn Hadley's Blog, page 10

Why are women supposed to be “good girls”?

It seems like every book I read has a girl in it that is kind, sweet, and relatively innocent about the world. The women who aren’t always come across as broken, being snarky to protect themselves, or such. It’s social conditioning that we’re not even aware that we’re doing to ourselves. Considering that most writers AND readers are women, this might be a problem.

I write books that I want to read. I try my hardest to write the kind of books I never found, but went looking for. My goal is to...

Why do the gamer girls cuss so much?

In Challenge Accepted, the main character has a mouth that would make a sailor blanch. It’s one of the most common complaints against the book, but thereis a reason. It’s a mask made of words to keep others away.

Riley is nothing but extremes. From her neon colored synthetic dreads to her tattoos and favorite past time, her entire life is meant to prove that she’s not a victim. Part of this includes refusing to let anyone in. Except for her best friend and near-sister, the rest of the world i...

Without writing, I die a little inside

I have oodles of books to finish up and publish. About 28 more to go. The problem is that there’s a very big difference between creating a new story and polishing one that’s finished. Maybe not for everyone, but it is for me.

When creating, it feels like I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole and found myself in a wonderland. I get to learn the nuances of this universe, to meet new characters, and to delve into their complicated situations. I have the power of a god – to alter the fate of humanity,...

I have a secret…friend

Long, long ago, a dear friend of mine dared me to write a book about all the things we both love: hot geeks, horses, and video games. I accepted the challenge, and thus, Challenge Accepted was born.

Now, here’s the secret part. I didn’t write it alone. I had a whole lot of help from an aspiring author. She was convinced that her writing wasn’t ready, that she couldn’t do it on her own, and all of those things most new authors fear. When it came time to hit publish, she was adamant that she DI...

Let’s talk about making cheap covers!

Most indie authors are working on a budget. Usually a very tight one. We still want a cover that’s good enough to make sales. I’m going to show you how to do it on the VERY cheap.

My first book, One More Day, was an experiment. I wasn’t sure I wanted to commit to this whole indie author thing. I certainly didn’t want to spend a few thousand on an attempt that might go bad. I also happen to have a whole lot of experience in marketing and advertising design. In other words, I was pretty sure I...

As a Reader…

I love books. I always have. Even now that I’m writing them, I still love to read books by others. Like, a lot! This means that most Saturday mornings I shop my Twitter feed to see what other indie authors are offering.

Today, I wanted to bang my head against a wall. This is HORRIBLE people.

Grabbing the first free stock photo you see that’s close enough, cropping it to the right shape, and slapping some Arial 48pt font across it with standard leading is NOT how to make a good cover. If it ta...

It’s not a yacht.

Being an author means we get cool things, right? All too often, I see people talk about making enough from their book sales to buy a yacht. I don’t want one. Instead, I got a house.

Ok, so I already owned it, and it’s certainly not a mansion. Our little dream home is a one bedroom cottage in a lovely, quiet town. It’s also a wreck, but my husband I see the potential for lovely evenings on the porch with our laptops, enjoying crazy storms and mosquitos while the puppies play at our feet. To do...

A secret about being an author

I write books. I have these ideas in my head and the roll around until they spill out my fingers and onto the page. The craziest thing is that some people actually like them. Because the stories I write are all made up, that makes me an author.

But, no matter how many times I do this, no matter how many people love or hate my books, I always get nervous about it. Releasing a book into the wide blue yonder of the world is one of the most terrifying experiences ever. I can never tell if the pu...

The world of the Iliri

Every so often, an author stumbles into a world that is so real in their minds that they can almost smell the dust on the breeze. For me, that is Ogun, the planet where the iliri reside. Yes, in my head it has a name. No, I don’t use that name in the books for a very long time because it’s not important to the stories.

Now, if you do a small amount of searching (which I’ll spare you) then you’ll see that Ogun is an African deity of war and iron. On a world where metal is hard to come by and r...

The mindset to write (and when not to)

There are times that an author shouldn’t write. Well, not on their story, at any rate. Today is one of those days for me. You see, I have a cold. I took something to make it all better. My head is swimming, my reason has flown the coop and I’m basically stupid.

Anything I put down today would be a waste of time. It would likely pull my plot(s) off track, alter character perceptions, and just derail everything. Being sick kinda sucks, but it made me realize something.

I didn’t get where I am...