Nikko Lee's Blog, page 12

Blog interview with Ian Smith y

Check it out at his website: http://ianiscurious.blogspot.co.uk/20...

Writing Worry #32: Finding my audience

Last night I had the opportunity to speak at the Ellsworth Public Library with Melissa Walshe. I was so glad to see some familiar faces in the crowd. There's nothing quite like having the support of your friends. With a radio interview on WERU with Linda Washburn planned for October 25 and another library talk Dec. 3 in Blue Hill, I'm looking for ways of getting Wolf Creek to the audience I wrote it for.

Who is that audience? Certainly, I think that people of all ages, genders and orientation will enjoy Wolf Creek. When I wrote Wolf Creek, I was writing to people who feel like they need to hide who they are just to find a place where they belong. It's a feeling I've struggled with like so many people. Specifically, I wanted to reach out to gay teens who may be feeling oppressed just like Josh.

Now that Wolf Creek is published, I'm left wondering how do I reach out to that audience. The reality is that I'm a nearly forty year old straight woman. I have no way of knowing if I've hit the mark with my target audience until I can put my book in front of them.

I'm going to try to find opportunities to promote Wolf Creek within Maine's LGBT community, the local high schools and colleges. This is an extra challenge compared to my previous publications that were largely aimed at my demographic. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.

Wolf Creek in print

There are few things as exciting for an author as seeing their words in print. I was fretting endlessly about making the nebulous quota to earn a print run for Wolf Creek. Imagine my surprise when my publisher asked me who many I wanted to order.

Ten days later the box arrived. So cool!

Dedham blueberry fields

One of my pre-baby activities was a Sunday dog walk with some friends from our local Dog Scouts chapter. Post-baby things are a little different.

The logistics of planning a hike around nap times, limited tolerance for being in a car seat and my desire to lug a near 20 pound baby plus pack +/- water don't always come together. However, on Sunday I was able to pack the car, load the Bean and lace up my hiking boots for an easy hike around the Dedham blueberry fields.

Like most northern New England states, Maine is a popular tourist destination during the fall for viewing the foliage. I was surprised to see out of staters lined up along route 3 taking pictures of scenery I pass ever time I venture up to Bangor. What they are missing out on is the colors of the blueberrie fields tucked away off back roads.

We hiked along an old washed out road for at most 2 miles through the blueberry fields. There were a few hills and a knoll we didn't get to the top of. We were treated to great views of the distant hills and there was lots of space for the dogs to run around. Unfortunately, the prospects of contending with an excitable dog while trying to get my daughter to nap on the way to and from the hike were too daunting. Bruno stayed at home but got an extra long way the day before.

Harlequin Ichthyosis

My day job involves reading a lot of scientific publication about research that uses mouse mutants to study gene function and model human diseases. It's a lot more interesting than that makes it sound. I've always been fascinated by disease and the genetic causes of hereditary diseases.

While I was pregnant, everyday I had a particularly sobering reminder of how fragile life is and how much we take for health granted. Even though a MaterniT21 test had cleared my lil Miss Bean of over twenty common genetic abnormalities, I knew there were far more that weren't tested for and wouldn't necessarily be visible on an ultrasound.

Recently, I was search for information to share about keratosis pilaris. It is a largely benign skin condition. Lil Miss Bean has it on her cheeks. I've been diligently cleaning her face with AHA containing cleanser and miniaturizing with coconut cream to reduce the white bumps that form when there is a build up of keratin around the hair follicles. Having suffered through a severe bout of eczema on my hands that left me with no finger prints as my skin scaled and peeled off, I'm sensitive to how painful not having an intact skin barrier can be.

During a Google search gone ary, I came across an image and video of a newborn with harlequin ichthyosis (HI). I was familiar with this disease because last year I annotated a mouse model of HI with a mutation in Abca12. However, I did know that HI babies survived being born with a layer of skin that is so tight that it restricts growths and forms plates that crack and fissure leaving them exposed to dehydration and infection.

I can't imagine the heartbreak of parents who would have no way of knowing their baby was even at risk for HI resulting in being born unable to be held directly and needed a lot of medical intervention to even have a chance at surviving.

Another Google search led me to a Facebook HI awareness page (visit and like to show them some live). Imagine my surprise when I saw Brenna's smiling face. She has her own Facebook page (Blessed by Brenna) if you want to learn more about her amazing story. This little girl and her family are an inspiration not only for having to deal with a horrible disease but for reminding the world that no matter what the hardship and challenges sick children and their families face they are still people just like you and me.

Consumption

The Erotica Reader and Writer Association has an amazing online critique group. Recently, they sent out a prompt for La Petit Morte to blend erotica and horror. I couldn't resist. Here's my contribution, a rare poem by yours truely entitled Consumption.

Blog Interview

A big thank you to Jean and Lisabeth for letting me talk about Wolf Creek at Beyond Romance.

Why reviews matter to me

Reviews are always a double edged sword. I wait for them with fear and anticipation. Will the reader like the Wolf Creek? Will he or she hate it? Will it be a recommend or an avoid?

It's not that the reviews will change anything about the current book. I try not to let reviews steer my next project. The importance of reviews for me is in informing the next potential reader.

I look at the reviews when I am trying to decide whether or not to buy a book. The low reviews are as informative as the three stars. I tend to avoid the fives star reviews because they are generally by fans.

Once I've read and reviewed a book, I like to compare my review to others who had the same reaction.

Not every reader is going to like my book. I don't like every book I read. And Wolf Creek is not without it's flaws. But I'd rather someone trying to decide if Wolf Creek is right for them knows what he or she is getting into.

If you've read Wolf Creek, please consider posting a review. Even a sentence or two goes a long way toward tempting a potential reader.

An apology to my hiking boots

I'm sorry we didn't make it to the trail yesterday. It's been a long summer with far too few miles covered. I'm sure you were looking forward to tasting the trail and getting dirty. I know I was.

It started 19 months ago in the middle of winter. Nausea and fatigue kept us apart. I made an effort to break you out of the shoe rack even as my body grew and joints ached. We even made it too Katahdin last summer and kept putting mileage on the treads as lil Miss Bean grew and refused to make her appearance on time.

Then she was here and it was winter. I put you away with dreams of the hikes we would share the following summer when lil Miss Bean was older and more weather tolerant.

Summer came and we made it to a few trails. Hiking after work was clearly not going to work with a baby that needed to be fed and had a 6:30PM bedtime.

Weekends. We could hike weekends. Nap times started to get further apart and I felt a little more like my old self. But still not enough to travel too far. Summer also brought a renovation project to the house that took up all of my hiking partner's time. Sadly, I managed little more than short walks that required only sneakers.

So you sat on the shoe rack patiently waiting.

Yesterday I had every intention of hiking. Despite feeling overwhelmed by motherhood, I was determined to get out. I threw the packs, diaper bag and everything else I needed in the car. I took you off the shoe rack in preparation of a quick escape once lil Miss Bean woke from her nap.

But lil Miss Bean decided she didn't want to nap at her normal time. So we missed our hiking group. When she did wake up, I had already started helping my husband out with the siding project that is now stretching into fall with prospects of being a race to the finish line of winter.

I put you back on the shoe rack with a heavy heart. You will taste the trails again. We will have many more adventures. Just not yesterday and probably not today. But soon.

[image error]

Writing Worry #31: Getting the book to readers

Wolf Creek is now published. Hurray! Now the real work of sellling Wolf Creek to readers begins.

With so many books being published every day. It's a real challenge to get one book to stand out and to convince readers to part with their well-earned cash for a new author.

In the weeks leading up to Wolf Creek's publication, I've been working hard to come up with a variety of ways to get Wolf Creek in front of potential readers. Prizm Books has a complete marketing package that includes garnering reviews, a press release, promotion on their social media sites, blogging opportunities, a Twitter take over and a bunch of other suggestions.

On top of that I've been using Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr to promote Wolf Creek's release. I've recruited my beta readers to be advanced readers and post reviews on Goodreads.

I even whipped out iMovie and put together a basic video trailer.

Library talks have been scheduled with my local libraries. Emails have gone out to my favorite podcasts to try to get a mention.

Having published a novel before, I know how important this next step is. If I can't garner enough attention to get Wolf Creek noticed, it will fade into obscurity and the sequels will never get written. Even while Safe Word waits for a re-write and ideas for Wolf Creek's sequel float to the surface, I've got to keep one eye out for ways to promote Wolf Creek.

A book only comes alive when it's read.