Rae Miles's Blog, page 2
February 23, 2019
Random Update
Hello again!
So yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here. Quite honestly, I don’t feel like my life or my thoughts are interesting enough to share. But for the one or two of you that may have the slightest interest, I suppose I can come up with a few things.
As some of you may know, I’m a crazy cat lady. My debut, Successor, is dedicated to my three furry beasts. Anyone who knows me personally wasn’t surprised by the dedication. They just shook their heads and laughed. Well within the last several months, tensions between my oldest (Isabeau, a.k.a. Bobo) and my youngest (Achilles) have rocketed. As anyone with male cats probably knows, boys tend to be rougher players than girls. Bobo has never been fond of Achilles and tends to growl and hiss at him most of the time. They’ve been together for about five years, and you would think she’d get over his presence by now. Nope! And it doesn’t help that he’s turned into a bit of a bully when it comes to her. He knows he can easily get a rise out of her and takes full advantage of chasing her when she runs from him. Then comes the growling, the hissing, the screaming. It hasn’t been a good situation, to say the least. A large part of it was due to the fact that I lived in an apartment the size of a closet.
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Tight quarters + agitated cats = STRESS!
The remedy? I moved!
Literally across the hall, no more than eight feet door-to-door. Easiest move in history! While my new apartment isn’t huge, it’s definitely more space than what I had before.
The cats still annoy each other, but at least here Achilles has a little more space to run and burn some energy. And some days, Bobo doesn’t totally despise his presence. I give you Exhibit A:
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Before I forget…
I’m going to be narrating audiobooks! I’ve been in talks with the head of the audiobook department at my publisher, The Wild Rose Press. If you’re not familiar with them, they publish primarily romance novels and novels with strong romantic elements in them. I’ve recently started dabbling in voice-over work, and I’m still getting the hang of the equipment and software. But if all goes well, I’ll be getting added to their list of narrators for their audiobook line. It’s an exciting new venture, and I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
So that’s pretty much everything that’s been going on with me since my last update. On the writing front, things are slow going with Successor’s sequel and the other project I’m working on. But I’m making progress little by little. I’m definitely not one of those writers who can put out multiple books in a year! Just the thought is exhausting.
Speaking of writing, I should get back to it. Thanks for reading, if you made it this far.
Until next time!
Rae
October 27, 2018
Successor is OUT!
It’s finally happened! Successor, my debut YA fantasy novel, released last Wednesday, and I can now say, after all these years, that I am a published author. Publishing a book has been my top goal in life up to this point, and I can’t believe I’ve accomplished it. It really is a dream come true.
Now comes the tough part: not getting bummed when people say they don’t like it. It’s a hard, unavoidable truth to accept that not everyone will like what you create. Everyone’s tastes differ, and that’s perfectly okay! So I will just try my best to be happy they gave it a shot in the first place. Hopefully they’ll find at least a small bit they enjoyed. That’s the best I can hope for.
So with that being said, it’s time to focus on what’s next—the sequel! It’s still in the planning stage with bits and pieces of scenes written down, but it’s coming! There’s also another story I’m working on at the same time, so let’s see how I do writing two at once.
Have your copy of Successor? Already read it? Let me know what you think!
Happy reading!
October 17, 2018
October 15, 2018
Time for a playlist!
I think most writers have some kind of playlist they come up with during their writing process. They might play the songs while they’re writing to further enhance the experience and find inspiration, or they might hear a song at random that fits something in their story. However their playlists come about, music can make the story a more fulfilling experience for both writer and reader.
With that being said, here’s my playlist for Successor. Some of these songs go along with certain scenes, and others just fit the mood of the story as a whole. If you read the story, I’d love to hear your thoughts on which song you think goes with which scene!
In no particular order, here you go:
World Collapsing – Revolt Production Music
Searching for the Curse – thenewno2
Everlasting – Brand X Music
Always Trust Your Father – Sean Callery
No Hope Left – Brand X Music
Pompeii – Clinton Shorter
The Glade – Trevor Jones
The Kiss – Trevor Jones
Stay With Me – Clint Mansell
Cold Lamb Sandwich – Thomas Newman
Statues – Alexandre Desplat
2-1 (Instrumental Version) – Imogen Heap
Sacrifice (Alternate Version) – Christophe Beck
I Will Find You – Clannad
Surrender (feat. Haley) – Bassnectar & HAILO
Ebudae – Enya
The Power of Love – Gabrielle Aplin
Now We Are Free (Maximus Mix) – Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard
Saving Josh – Trevor Morris
Godspeed – Klaus Badelt
Elope – Thomas Wanker
Don’t Let Me Go – RAIGN
No Time for Caution – Hans Zimmer
Ancient Voices (Extended) – Russ Landau & David Vanacore
September 20, 2018
Did you know?
I’m creative! Well. Obviously you knew that to some extent because I’m a writer. But I like doing lots of other stuff, too! I grew up learning to crochet. I taught myself cross stitch. I can freehand pencil draw Disney characters. And I love coloring! Especially with colored pencils.
My newest obsession? Painting!
I’ve been trying to figure out what type I’d really like to do, and I think I’ve finally found it. It’s called a few things, from what I’ve seen, but some names it goes by is pour art, flow art, fluid art, and dirty pouring. I think that last one is because you combine colors in a cup. But it’s a super simple technique, and with a few tutorials, you can get awesome results.
Here’s my first attempt!
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Not bad, eh?
I’ve tried a couple other kinds of painting, which I love those, too. I’ll even share them!
Enjoy!
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September 15, 2018
Preorder! Get your preorders in!
SUCCESSOR is now available for preorder!
By happy accident, I just happened to be on Successor’s Goodreads page, and out of curiosity, clicked on the Amazon button under where to “GET A COPY”. And there it was! My little story on an Amazon page all its own.
I was even more excited to find there’s also a page for it on Barnes & Noble’s website. So far it’s only available for preorder at those two sites, but I can’t knock it since…I mean…well, they’re those sites. So, I proceeded with a happy dance. In my chair. Because it’s Saturday, and I had no motivation to stand up. That’s just how it is some days.
Anywho! Here are the links to those two beautiful pages. Take a peek if you’ve got a sec!
