Auryn Hadley's Blog, page 12

Insta-Love

It’s a trope we see all the time. The cute, vulnerable girl runs into a strong, well-positioned man and is instantly in love with him. There’s no sensical reason for the relationship. The reader doesn’t get the joy of watching the tension turn into emotion. Nope. Instead, it’s just “told” that they are perfect together, and we, the readers, are expected to believe it.

Some of my astute readers may look at the picture to the left, think of a newly released fantasy book they recently read and b...

Beauty and Romance Novels

In romance novels, we expect our hero and heroine to be beautiful. Maybe not traditionally so, but at least to their love interest. Recently, I’ve seen a lot of “larger” women in stories, as well as big noses, horrible hair, or other traits that could be seen as less than perfect. Typically it’s the female characters who can be imperfect and still get Mr. Hot-As-Hell. I get it. The readers are women who seethemselves as less than perfect, so this makes sense.

So, Can I take it a step further?...

Waiting for Reviews

Sometimes, as an author, it feels like I’m all alone. I work on the next book. I stress over the cover. I try to think up a blurb that is accurate and still enticing. Between all of that, I wait.

Just me, looking at my phone, my tablet, or my monitor, hoping a review comes in. Wondering if all those people who read the book even liked it, or if I need to seriously look at what I’m doing. Hoping that I can getsome kinda of hint about how the public feels about my writing.

I’m not alone. I know...

Must Focus

In my head is a war. It’s part perfection, part creativity. One segment of my mind is screaming that I need to get the iliri series completed, out, and available to readers. I’ve already written it, so I need to complete all the polish and shine that these books deserve.

The other part of my mind is wandering through my library. Oh, there’s that book about the world after global warming. Right, then there’s the one about the gamers. Oh hey, what about that romance that you’ve almost finished...

The “joy” of reading things written long ago

The Rise of the Iliri series was written quite a while ago. 2013, to be exact. Books 1 – 5 took three months to fly off my fingers. When book 5 hit 250,000 words, I had to pause. Anything over 100,000 words is a pretty thick book, and it was well beyond that point. In other words, I had to rethink my entire plot, break up the book into two, and somehow make the story have an ending. (I absolutelyhate cliffhanger endings).

And so I moved on, learned some things, and wrote some other books. Tod...

Tick Tock

Writing. Day job. Marketing. Editing. Publishing. Cover designs. Day job. Friends. Family. Pets. Writing. Editing. It’s a never ending list.

The more tiny tasks I add to the list, the more they add up, the more they play in my mind, the harder it is to just focus and write the next book. I think time is the one resource that I forgot to account for.

In my rush to get everything done, stay on the schedule I’ve set, I always forget a few very important things: sleep and friends. I stay up late...

Ever get shocked by a book?

[image error][image error] I found a book. I found a good book.

I managed to find a book that shocked and awed me, while pulling me so deep into the character’s miserable life – yet giving me a tiny glimpse of hope to hang onto – that I couldn’t put it down.

The Color of Rain, by Cori McCarthy is stunning. The prose is gorgeous. The writing is emotionally compelling. The situation is dire. The ending is bittersweet. Everything about this book made me yearn for more. It made me want to keep reading. This book made me h...

We have all been trained

How can you know if a book is good before you read it? How do you know if that money you are about to spend is worth it? When you meet an author, how do you know if they are impressive? What is the “thing” that clues you in?

For generations now, we’ve been taught that it’s the big name publishers. We’ve been carefully socialized to accept that someone with a contract with a big money press is better than the “starving artist” who tries to make it even when the world is against them. We just “...

What it means to be strong

Is it the smart mouth, wise cracks, or flippant attitude that makes someone strong? Is it possible all of that attitude is just a mask to hide the fear and insecurity inside?

Is it the courage to charge headlong into danger, the knowledge of how to maim and kill, or the blind dedication to the cause that makes someone strong? Could all of that be a shield to hide past failures or the inability to refuse any request?

In other words, what makes someone strong? What traits do readers find and th...

All she wanted was control of her own life

Salryc Luxx is iliri. Humans say her species are little more than animals, bred to serve and protect. She wants to prove them wrong. Unfortunately, for an iliri, that’s not an option. She can live as a slave or die as a military conscript. The closest to freedom she can get are the dangerous missions of the elite units – but her kind aren’t considered good enough for that. It doesn’t mean Sal won’t try. Even a “scrubber” has the right to apply; they just don’t have to accept her. But people...