Sarah King's Blog, page 2
June 29, 2020
Of Inspiration…
Inspiration. A beautiful word, often taking form from a million different sources. For some a particular lyric might seed a new idea. While others look to art, movies, even dreams.
Often, my ideas sprout from the most vivid dreams. I wake remembering every detail, down to the finest blade of grass squashed under the boot of my protagonist. Wyn’s life sprang into being in just such a way. The opening chapter in Of Ash & Shadow, though grown and changed from where it began, was originally a dream. A dream of a girl in a vast forest, fighting off a Fae for some unknown reason.
I could taste her anger. Feel the burn of their fight in my own limbs. Waking the next morning, I knew she deserved to have her story told. But, there was no story past chapter one. At least, not that I could tell after getting those first pages down on paper. I eked out another chapter a week later. Then another a week or so after that, and then, the story stalled.
Lucky for me, at the time, I was a part of an amazing group of writers. Also known as the students of Seton Hill’s Writing Popular Fiction Masters program. I was graduating in the summer and knew Wyn’s story was important. I asked my friends for their opinions on the first chapter, pleased to hear positive reviews all around.
So, after graduation, and a sad breakup with my (now) ex-boyfriend over text message during my celebration dinner, I sat down with two of my closest friends from school – Jamie and Nikki – to plot Wyn’s story.
Jamie and Nikki are amazing friends and have listened to me whine about Wyn from the start. They helped provide me resources and subtle ideas I was able to turn into what is now hopefully an epic adventure for my protagonist. Without them, this story would be dead. And, for that, I’m forever grateful.
Once outlined, I began to write. Wyn’s story turned into a passion project. A project born of exploring my life post-anxiety. I used a good chunk of what I knew living with anxiety to guide the beginning of Wyn’s journey, and then let the lesson’s I learned post-anxiety to help lead Wyn to the end of her tale.
But, like for many, it all began with a dream.
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June 26, 2020
Of Ash & Shadow Publication Date Reveal!
Fourteen-year-old me would be hyperventilating and jumping for joy if she were here today. Twenty-nine-year old me is currently hyperventilating, but also absolutely terrified at the same time.
Why? You ask.
Because Of Ash & Shadow, first in my Triskelion Series, releases on September 15, 2020. 81 days from now. WHAT?!! Fourteen-year-old me was certain I’d be published long before now, but I know until now I wasn’t ready. Yet, it still feels absolutely surreal to be publishing my debut novel in less than ninety days.
What’s truly scary is how much I have to complete between today and September 15th. Releasing this post finalizes the fact that I MUST be done with all the work by then. Do I know I can do it? Yes! Does it make it any less anxiety-inducing? Nope!
That’s okay though, all good things are a bit scary.
I have severe social anxiety just fyi, if I haven’t mentioned that before (I talk about it, I’m not ashamed of it, and I hope my honesty helps fuel the removal of stigma around mental health). But, I got help for my anxiety and I currently take medication to manage it and I am the happiest I have ever been.
I told you this because going from living with anxiety to living without anxiety thanks to medication taught me a very important lesson. That lesson was relearning what truly terrifies me to the point that I shouldn’t do it, and what scares me, but is worth doing because the outcome could be amazing.
Now, every time something scares me I ask myself – Am I truly afraid? Or am I simply afraid of the unknown/potential outcome?
This helped me get my first tattoo. Helped me make friends. Helped me figure out I deserved a good man in my life! Helped me decide to finally step into the publishing world.
I am a serial editor.
I will edit a book until I’m dead if it means not taking that leap into uncertainty. It wasn’t until my amazing teacher, from the Margie Lawson Academy, read my first three chapters and wrote me back that I realized I’d been stuck in a loop. She said either I published this book myself or I found a publisher to take it on. She said STOP! And then, I broke the loop.
Stuck editing. Stuck doubting myself. Stuck on the edge of a cliff of which I had to take that leap of faith.
I am proud of myself for leaping. Am I terrified about falling for another 81 days? Sure am, but I’m not going to back out now.
So watch the horizon, scan the bookshelves, write the date in your calendar…
Of Ash & Shadow, Book One of the Triskelion Series will officially release on September 15th 2020.
If you’d like to pre-order the ebook version, hop on over to:
Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BG8SVY2
Barnes & Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/of-ash-shadow-…/1137208245…
Of Ash & Shadow will also be available in Paperback on Amazon upon release. Select Hardbacks will be available through Barnes & Noble after release as well.
If you’re interested in keeping up with all my goings-on as well as book updates skip on over to my homepage and sign up for my Newsletter! The first of which goes out today!
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June 23, 2020
COVID, Murder Hornets, Writing…OH MY!
2020 has been a year. And it’s only June.
I think we can all agree we’re ready for 2021. But, that’s still months away and no way am I going to squander any of that time – even with the next five month’s spelling JASON!
Of course, after five months of nightmares, we get December – and at least for me – the happiest time of year aka Christmas.
Back to the here and now though, what do the next five to six months look like for me? I’m wondering just as much as you are, as past September I haven’t entirely thought about it…so here we go!
^You see that text above – I started writing it on Friday after premiering the cover for Of Ash & Shadow. I was excited, I was motivated, I was unsure what I was going to do.
Thankfully, this blog is not getting written in a day. Much the same way that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Because, my brother and sister-in-law came over for the weekend.
Why is this awesome other than the obvious reason that I love my siblings? Well, much like me, they’re a bit weird. Not to mention, we know a lot of random facts and tidbits about subjects most people don’t or wouldn’t care to know. So, after picking my sister-in-law’s brain about Marketing – a more mainstream topic – we switched to talks about plotting!
You see, I decided this weekend that Of Ash & Shadow is going to be a trilogy. I’d considered it in the past. Dabbled with a chapter of the second book. Yet, never came up with an actual outline or idea for what book 2 and 3 would be respectively. I’m sure you can understand that then making the decision to have OAAS be a series was a bit nerve wracking.
Where did I go from here?
Cue my wonderful sister-in-law who listened to me ramble for a bout three hours yesterday on all the various ideas swirling in my brain. None of which connected to make any sort of a plot. Thankfully, she’s very good at asking pointed questions that force me to sit there and problem solve.
After three hours of back and forth while my father and brother (her husband) sat outside smoking cigars and talking, she helped me deduce the plot/themes for book two. YAY! I’ve already informed her and her husband that I will be commandeering her for when book three needs an outline.
My secondary hope is to start reading more often again.
I became so mired down in the edits for Of Ash & Shadow, I stopped reading almost entirely, which is unheard of for me. My goal is to read a book every week or two – because life happens – and then review them here and across my various social media accounts.
My final goal for the year is to hopefully outline a whole new book to have two projects working simultaneously. Here’s hoping that works out.
Leave me a comment or hop over to my Facebook to let me know what your goals for the rest of the year are! Or, leave me a book recommendation! I do a Friday Book Club each week on my Facebook page to hear all about what you’re reading and share thoughts on the current book in my reading pile!
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June 19, 2020
Today’s the Day!
You heard that right! Today’s the day, the sun is shining, the tank is…wait, that’s not right! What I mean to say is…
TODAY IS BOOK COVER REVEAL DAY!
I am so unbelievably excited for ya’ll to see the cover. I promise, it’s below, you’ll see it in just a moment! But first, a little on the journey it has taken to get here. I first looked into publishing Of Ash & Shadow in March. I had no clue how to go about getting a cover, doing the PR work, or any of the various other things an author has to do when self-publishing.
Safe to say, there were some stumbles. My first attempt at a cover was with Photoshop by yours truly. And it’s safe to say it was absolutely terrible. I have some graphic design background. I am not as talented as the woman who made the cover.
After failing miserably, I turned to Fiverr as I had heard good things about the site in the past from my boss who often went there for logo mock-ups. I contacted a cover designer. She created a good cover, but I realized I wanted something else. Not because the cover wasn’t good. I had no clue how to convey what I wanted in a book cover. So, what I got, wasn’t what I wanted.
Never judge a book by it’s cover.
That’s what everyone says and yet that is exactly what we do. A good book cover is the perfect lure to get a reader to give your book a chance. To even consider reading the back cover blurb, let alone the first few pages before purchasing.
I need to learn what a good book cover consisted of, what my preferences were in covers, and what was traditional of my genre – and fast!
That’s when my wonderful brother – Erik – suggested checking out 99designs. It is here that I found Elementi.Studio! Rossi was amazing to work with from start to finish. She was easy to talk to and took all of my hodge-podge ideas and condensed them into one solid, beautiful cover.
I saw the first cover and I was speechless. And she wasn’t even finished! As any artist and writer knows, there is always tweaking to be done. It. Was. Perfect! But, the small touches she added to the final draft took the cover from wow to WOW.
Containing my excitement has been next to impossible. I have been dying for ya’ll to see this cover since it was finished up last week!
Without further ado…
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Let me know what you think in the comments!
And, again, the biggest ever thank you to my new friend and wonderful cover designer, Rossi, of Elementi.Studio!
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Friday Book Club: Alpha Night by Nalini Singh
It’s our Friday Book Club!!
I’m currently nursing a book hangover after reading Alpha Night by Nalini Singh. You will probably hear me talk about her often and loudly as she is one of my favorite, if not #1 favorite, author. Alpha Night is the 19th Book in the Psy-Changeling Series (4th in the Psy-Changeling Trinity Series which is the continuation of the other series as it explores a new arc).
Here’s the back cover blurb:
“Alpha wolf Selenka Durev’s devotion to her pack is equaled only by her anger at anyone who would harm those under her care. That currently includes the empaths who’ve flowed into her city for a symposium that is a security nightmare, a powder keg just waiting for a match.
Ethan Night is an Arrow who isn’t an Arrow. Numb and disengaged from the world, he’s loyal only to himself. Assigned as part of the security force at a world-first symposium, he carries a dark agenda tied to the power-hungry and murderous Consortium. Then violence erupts and Ethan finds himself crashing into the heart and soul of an alpha wolf.
Mating at first sight is a myth, a fairytale. Yet Selenka’s wolf is resolute: Ethan Night, broken Arrow and a man capable of obsessive devotion, is the mate it has chosen. Even if the mating bond is full of static and not quite as it should be. Because Selenka’s new mate has a terrible secret, his mind surging with a power that is a creature of madness and death…”
Swoon!!! Alpha Night was everything delicious and steamy about Nalini Singh’s romances with enough tension, humor, and intrigue to have me switching seating positions every time the story took a new turn.
What get’s me every time I read a Nalini Singh novel is just how well written, well thought out, and well-executed her stories are. She’s been writing this series for nineteen books straight and not one book has fallen short of the high bar she has set. Once again Ms. Singh shows that she is a powerhouse when it comes to weaving not only an amazing romance full of heart, grit, laughter, and tears but an interesting mystery that the main characters must solve before the end of the book.
On top of that, she’s got an over-arching story which continues to build upon itself creating a complex world and political climate rife with twists and turns I never see coming – which is not typical.
Though she is listed as Romance, and her novels are very much romances, there is so much story within each novel that categorizing them solely as romance would be a disservice to her series.
Romance is amazing, please do not misunderstand me as this is not a knock on Romance writers, I love romance and the writers who can bring so much love to the page.
But, in my opinion, Nalini Singh, walks a beautiful line between Romance and Urban Fantasy that will satisfy readers of both genres who might be hesitant to step outside their genre comfort zone.
What about you? What book have you read lately that you couldn’t put down? Tell me in the comments below or head on over to my Facebook page and leave a comment there!
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