S.E. Ellis's Blog, page 3

$0.99 Kindle edition sale!!!

This weekend (2/3-2/5) the Kindle edition of Hestia the Dreamwalker is only $0.99!!!

A thoughtful book about family, death, companionship and perseverance. HESTIA grows from an insecure girl to a confident young women. She overcomes obstacles throughout her spine-thrilling adventures; moving between two worlds. This book is geared toward young readers. However as an adult, if you enjoyed Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, you will love this story!

—Amazon reviewer

Letters from the 4th grade class

Last week I received a huge manila (not vanilla) envelope full of letters (about 100!) from the 4th grade class at Centennial Academy of Fine Arts Education.  I was so touched I felt like crying.  It was so amazing for me to read them and see that I had actually “gotten through” to them and that they understood and were enthusiastic about what I had spoke with them about.  It was fascinating to me to see which things stuck with the children.  One of the big ones was that I mentioned that one author I know (Sara C. Roethle) has a goal to write 7,000 words a day!  (My personal goal is 4,000).  Many of the kids asked if I had ever read The Chronicles of Narnia.  Obviously it made an impact on those children that had read it!  A couple of them asked what my next book would be about, which was difficult to answer without giving away too much not only from the second book, but from the first for those that haven’t read it yet.

The number one thing that resonated with the children was how important it is to nourish your imagination; to gain inspiration from other books, music, artwork, poetry, sculptures, and dancing (yes, dancing).  And how I believe that just like there is a nation in which we live in, there is also a place called imagiNation where all the stories live before we write them.  And that when stories “pop” into our minds they’re coming from imagiNation.

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I thought it would be fun to respond by reading all (yes all) of the letters and answering the questions in a YouTube video.  I was not expecting it to be 50 minutes long.  I think that’s too far long (especially for 4th graders) so I wrote the teacher back an email with my answers to the questions.

Mentioned in the local newspaper

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Author Visit

Today I had the pleasure of speaking at Centennial Academy of Fine Arts Education in Littleton, CO.  It was so unbelievably fun!  I spoke to 100 fourth graders in the Library about being an author, and more importantly, about writing.  I had a slideshow that helped organize my talk on (what I feel) are the most important topics related to writing:  Perseverance, Reading (lots and lots of books from diverse authors in diverse genres), Practicing (including fun writing games), Learning (new words, new skills, new techniques, etc.) and Inspiration (as both motivation and enthusiasm).  And yes, Perseverance is the most important skill to have as a writer (or in any vocation) in my opinion.

I was so surprised when the students started filing into the Library because they were all smiling, pointing and waving at me!  They were all excited and the teachers had to calm them down before I started speaking.  I made sure that I engaged the children throughout, asking them questions like “Do you get really excited and look forward to brushing your teeth?”, “Has anyone here heard of Harry Potter?”, “Would you eat McDonalds for every meal every day?”, and “Would you eat this Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwich?” (pointing to a picture of a jar of Peanut Butter, a jar of Jelly, smashed between two pieces of bread).  The kids were so awesome.  Not a single one of them was rude, and they never interrupted me (or each other!) and the biggest thing you could say was that a few times they got so excited and enthusiastic about what we were discussing that the teachers needed to calm them down.

The question & answer session after my presentation was so rewarding for me.  A lot of the questions were asked by kids who “got the message” of what I was trying to say.  They told me how they were practicing to achieve things, like being a ballerina or writing a book.  They asked me about how long it takes to write a book–because they wanted to know if they should start writing theirs now!  They asked what the book was about, what inspired me to write it, and where they could buy it!  One child wanted the copy that I brought along with me to show!

I feel so honored that I had a chance to talk to all of them and get them excited about writing and creating in general.  I told them they now had to create their stories, their artwork, their music, and their dances so they could share them with me and everyone else!

A New Amazon Review

Bonnie S says:

First off, let me say that this is a page-turner. The first time I read it, I did so in a single sitting. I’ve read it two more times since then.

Want conflict? You got it! The internal conflict of the main character, the conflict with her family and others, and ultimately the conflict with the antagonist(s). From start to finish this book was filled with tension. (Which is why it’s so hard to put down)

I would say that at its heart this book was about our shared humanity. We’ve all lost loved ones, we’ve all had burdens thrust upon us before we feel we are ready, expectations we feel we can’t meet, twists of fate that seem entirely unfair, and yet…we go on. While this theme is best exemplified by the main character, I love how the book also explored this through the antagonist(s).

I for one, am sick and tired of reading the same tired worn-out tropes in fantasy and was so happy to find something new and original. Thankfully the main character wasn’t stereotypical: she had panic attacks, she daydreamed, (had the occasional outburst), and she didn’t spend the book pining for one of the male characters. But she also persevered and felt empathy with and for the other characters in a way I haven’t seen before in a fantasy novel. She was intelligent, observant, witty and adventurous. I felt like she and the other characters were all real people.

I loved the slow deep immersion into the world. No “infodump” here! As the story progressed through the perspective of different characters, I learned more about dreamwalking, the dreamworld, the shamans, the wolves, the Shadow, etc. Through it all, the world and characters created were believable and relatable. (And a personal bias, it was refreshing to me to read a fantasy book that did not have elves and orcs in it, ahem)

From start to finish, I was captivated by the story. As soon as I started reading, it was hard to put down. Engrossing plot, well developed characters, great pacing with no spots that stand out as too slow or too fast, I was extremely impressed with this author. I can’t wait for the next book in the series!

The Goodreads Giveaway has ended!

Congratulations to the winner!  As soon as I’ve confirmed the recipient’s address I will be sending off a signed paperback copy of Hestia the Dreamwalker.

The experience of the giveaway has been interesting to me.  It’s has definitely had its ups, its downs and its lessons.  I’m happy that 244 people added the novel to their Goodreads to-read list.  My friends & followers on Goodreads has grown by leaps and bounds too.  I’m guessing it’s related to the giveaway, but my Instagram followers has exceeded 300 and my Twitter (which I continue to struggle with) has grown to over 90 followers.  I know those numbers are embarrassingly low.  I think your typical 14 year old girl could get those numbers in a single day.  But hey, I’m trying.  A total of 588 people entered the giveaway contest, which for a single book is a decent (but not great) number.

I don’t think I’ll ever do another giveaway through Goodreads though.  This one was free, but starting in 2018, Goodreads is charging (yes, you read that right) upwards of $600 (not a typo) to do a giveaway.  I think I speak for almost all authors when I say that for $600 I can find many other ways to market with a much greater return on investment.

I’ve already browsed to find other giveaway websites and there are some pretty good ones out there.  I’ve actually been excited to see these alternatives as many of them have options such as “Follow me on Twitter to enter” or “Sign up for my newsletter to enter”, both of which are going to benefit me as the author much more.  If I can find one that makes sense for what I need I’ll definitely do another giveaway in 2018.

 

Interview on Follow A Journey In The Young Adult Fantasy Realm

My interview with L.M. Durand is now up!  You can read it here.

I am extremely thankful to L.M. Durand for giving me this opportunity!  As silly as it may sound, I was not prepared to answer some of the questions.  I had to really sit and think before I even attempted to articulate my response.  The questions regarding advice to writers was especially meaningful to me as I will be doing a talk for one of the local elementary schools on exactly this subject!  But all in all, a very enjoyable experience.  I hope all my readers have a chance to read the interview and spend some time checking out her blog.

My first interview

That was an interesting experience!  While I had an idea of the types of questions L.M. Durand would be asking me, I ended up surprising myself with some of the answers I gave.  It was definitely an exercise in introspection for me.

I do hope that readers will find the interview enjoyable to read.  For those new writers looking for advice I have a feeling I’ve said the same things that most authors have:  you must persevere.

I will update this post with the link to the interview as soon as Ms. Durand has updated her Follow A Journey In The Young Adult Fantasy Realm website with it.

#8 on Amazon!

“Hestia the Dreamwalker” ranked #8 in New Releases in Amazon’s Teen & Young Adult Wizards & Witches Fantasy category!

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Amazon updates their ranking hourly, so I was happy to catch a screenshot at the time!  Never in a million years did I think I would see my book doing this well!

Cover Artwork

This is the artwork that was used for the cover (before being cropped and without the title bar).

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I don’t know the exact date, but one weekend me and the kids hopped in the car with the camera and drove up to Disguises costume rental store in north Denver.  We found a perfect outfit and then drove up into the mountains.  As we reached the foothills, the western horizon was dark with storm clouds.  Deciding we were far enough into the mountains for the scenery we wanted, we pulled off the highway and into Chief Hosa campground.  There were a few areas that were fenced off with signs that warning, “No unauthorized personnel past this point” so we jumped the fence and ran down the hill hoping nobody saw us, figuring it would be a perfect place to take photos without other people in them.  We did about 50 photos before the storm finally came in, the wind and rain becoming too much for us to ignore.  With the photos taken, we drove straight back to Disguises and returned the costume.

I’m very pleased with how the photos turned out, but after receiving the first set of proofs from the printer I decided to apply a “watercolor effect” to the photos to make them look more like a painting.  Happy with the result, I used those on subsequent cover submissions.