Auryn Hadley's Blog, page 2

The art of being slightly overwhelmed

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I don’t know if most people’s lives follow the seasons, or if it’s just mine.  Winter tends to be productive, spring is for organizing, in summer all my planning goes out the window, and when autumn comes back around, I spend all my time trying to catch up and get ready for winter.

And now that I’m an author, years seem to move a little faster!

Some days, it feels like I’ve been running since dawn, only to find that by midnight I’ve still done basically nothing with my latest book.  Oh, I’ve...

What exactly is a Cliffhanger?

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Lately, I’ve seen people talking about cliffhangers when a book is complete.  In reality, what they’re referring to is a subplot or device used to maintain interest in a series: a lead.  Possibly even a hook.

You see, just because you want to read the next book doesn’t mean the last one ended on a cliffhanger.  Take my Rise of the Iliri series as an example.  Each book ends with an epilogue that sets up the next book in the series, making it clear what’s coming next.  In this series, every n...

THE SERIES IS COMPLETE

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This is it!  The final installment of the Wolf of Oberhame trilogy is now live!   Come, see how the story of the Gladiator Queen ends.

I know that many of my fans waited for far too long for this book, but I promised you this book, and so here it is.  Writing it wasn’t nearly as easy as I’d hoped.  The first rendition had 90% cut and restarted, but I think what came out of that is better than I could have expected.  Then again, I might be biased.

This low-fantasy saga of betrayal, love, and...

Forbidden Fruit

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Now that I’m waiting on the last stage of When We Were Crowned (yes, a release announcement is coming SOON!) I’m taking a mini-vacation.  Mostly reading, a little plotting, and a lot of playing.  So, in this time off, I’ve come to a realization. I will probably write something that will offend you. Yes, YOU, my favorestest of all readers. Although, I promise I’m not doing it to piss you off.   You see, I write to examine the human condition.  That means for every topic I show in a negat...

Nature Abhors a Vacuum

I will admit it, I took a week away from any serious writing.  I dabbled, I mowed the lawn, and I mourned my sweet Tristan.  And because I live on a farm, well, cats happen.  Where one adorable lap-cat left me mourning, two fuzzy and precocious kittens have helped make it better.

[image error]No, they don’t have names – not yet, at least.  This pretty little grey thing is the boy.  He started it all by laying in the barn being adorable.  My husband, the cat man, couldn’t help himself.  He had to love on t...

The Curse of WoO #3

 

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It seems the curse has struck again.  For some reason, Wolf of Oberhame 3 seems to hate me.  Every time I sit down to work on this novel, things happen that make it hard to actually WRITE.  It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just Murphy’s Law jumping in with a whole lot of special effects.

It started with my father having sudden shoulder surgery.  Driving him to medical appointments didn’t do much for typing out words.  Then a pet got sick and needed almost constant attention.  Somewhere...

How we can all make it a little better

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I didn’t know the artist who was bullied to the point of giving up.  I still know her pain.  Many of us do.

I don’t blame her for what she did, and I will never judge her for trying to escape.  I just wish I could be there for her – and I am if she ever needs it.  The problem is that she doesn’t know me, and I don’t know her, but I’ve been in her shoes.  That’s why I’d drop everything to just listen – because there are some things we can’t do on our own… like survive.

I will never forget the...

You know I’ve been waiting for that book, right?

[image error]One of the most asked questions I get about my books is, “When will the next one be out?”  Fair question.  I totally get it, and I do my best to answer as honestly as I can.  Here’s the thing, though.

Sometimes, I’m wrong.

When We Were Crowned is a perfect example of this.  I’m SO far behind schedule on it (and I’m sorry!) but I’ve realized that this is my Cursed Book.  While working on it, just about everything that can go wrong has.  From my father having surgery, my dog destroying a box of...

The unfairness of hair

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When my hair started to turn grey, I embraced it.  When the grey came in patches, I tried to convince myself it was cool.  Then, I realized that I looked kinda like I had mange, and admitted it was time to fight this whole aging thing a bit.  But, keep in mind, this is me.

So, I decided that doing the normal thing and trying to match my natural hair color (which is mousey blonde/brown grossness) wouldn’t happen.  I doubled down and dyed it a lovely dark brown color with some neon red streaks...

How to make it believable

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Recently, I had a discussion with a friend that went something like this, “Well, then why didn’t she say anything sooner?”  I’m sure you have all seen or heard something similar, right?  But when we try to explain the fear that comes with speaking out, it’s dismissed as being stupid.  Doesn’t matter if that’s speaking up about sexual harassment, rape, or just bad service.  The reality is that most women get this, and a very small segment of men do not.

It’s called privilege.  One of my frien...