Christine Rains's Blog, page 101

Friday Five for January 4th, 2013

1. It's been an unhealthy start to the new year in my house. Everyone is coughing and grumpy. Our holiday stay-cation wasn't much fun with the sickness.

2. Yet the new year started off really well with Fearless popping back up into Amazon's top 100 for fantasy paranormal. I've also won two books and a crochet bag in giveaways.

3. My son woke up this morning and immediately started talking about a big black cat in the kitchen climbing the walls. He was excited about how big this cat was. When I asked what the cat was doing, he said it was looking for food. "Really big food." This made me happy, because it's the first time the boy has told me about a dream and we both know it was a dream.

4. I'm slowly catching up on everything. If I buckle down, I can get back on schedule. I panicked a little lot with how much time I've lost to being sick, but it's not something I could predict or control. It's better for me to rest and take it easy. I can work when I'm feeling fine. That's difficult for me to do. I push myself a lot.

5. Only nine more days until the release of 1302 - The Alpha, the second book in the 13th Floor series. I have a great tour lined up. Hope to see you there. Have a great weekend!

Weighted review

Blurb:
The Great War of 2185 is over, but my nightmare has just begun. I am being held captive in the Queen’s ship awaiting interrogation. My only possible ally is the princess, but I’m unsure if she is really my friend or a trap set by the Queen to fool me into sharing the secret of my gift. A gift I keep hidden even from myself. It swirls inside my body begging for release, but it is the one thing the Queen can never discover. Will I have the strength to keep the secret? I’ll know the answer soon. If the stories are true about the interrogators, I’ll either be dead or a traitor to my people by morning.

My review:
Raeth Arteres is at the mercy of the cruel interrogators aboard the Queen's ship. There's information they want, but she cannot talk or it might mean the destruction of all her people. The Queen won't let Raeth go into the arms of her parents in the land of the dead, though. Whatever it takes to make Raeth talk, they will find a way. Raeth's only hope is Princess Semara, but is she truly an ally or is she pretending to be to learn Raeth's secrets?

I was immediately hooked with the first paragraph. This steampunk novella thrummed with tension and kept it tight from beginning to end. I couldn't stop reading. Though Raeth is narrating the story, she's a mystery even to herself, and I was enthralled by her people's plight and her strange gift. For such a short story, I became emotionally invested quickly and ached for Raeth's escape. Semara also fascinated me. She and Raeth are two unlikely friends. If they are friends at all!

A veil of dread covered everything. The setting was frightening and exotic. The writing was brilliant. Such amazing detail! Why was this book sitting on my TBR list for so long? I highly recommend Weighted to everyone. Bravo, Ciara!

Visit Ciara Knight's website and blog.

You can purchase Weighted on Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, and B&N.

Insecure Writer's Support Group for January 2013

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

I was going to write a post to cheer everyone on in the new year. A new year with new stories. So many possibilities. But I'm finding myself getting nervous about the goals I've set for myself. I tried to be more reasonable with them than I was last year. Actually, it's only keeping to the schedule with the 13th Floor series that has me worried.

I've set deadlines for myself. Are they set in stone? Yes. No. Maybe. Ack! I'm self-publishing. It means I can do what I want when I want. Right? Yet I've let everyone see the schedule. I've set up dates for blog tours. I don't like to disappoint people, and I know how generous people are to host me on their blogs.

If I glue myself to the chair in front of my computer, I can do it. It's going to take some hard work, but I can do it. But what if ....?

Those dreaded what ifs.

How do you deal with the dreaded what ifs? How do you deal with it when you can't make a deadline? 

Happy 2013!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
May your year be happy, healthy, andfull of good books!
Join me and all of the other brave writers tomorrow for the first IWSG post of the year.
Only 12 more days until the release of the second book in the 13th Floor series,The Alpha.  

My 2013 writing goals

The 13th Floor series: This is going to be my main focus for the year. I have four novellas to write, five tours to run, and all the promoting that comes with it. I put myself on a tight schedule for it. Maybe too tight? Being sick has already put me behind schedule. I keep telling myself it will be okay if I'm not rigid and strict with myself, because life happens and self-publishing gives you flexibility. That's why I decided to take that path after all. So yes, you'll be hearing A LOT about the 13th Floor series from me in 2013. How convenient the year matches my series!

The A to Z Blogging Challenge: You may have noticed I didn't schedule a book release in April for this very reason! *winks* I love the Challenge. It was incredible last year. So many original posts from people. I wrote Fearless, and I self-published it. It's been a huge success. (Almost 700 downloads just this month!) I've gotten a lot of requests for another book. You might scream and protest, but Abby, Demetrius, and Tawa's story is done. I'm not going to do another with them. BUT I might do another story about a different Fearless. There are hundreds of these warriors around the world saving children from the monsters. I haven't any ideas yet, but I'm a pantser. It'll come to me!

NaNoWriMo 2013: I considered doing Camp NaNo instead, but November wouldn't be the same if I didn't participate in this challenge. Besides, I have a book tour in June. I have no idea what I'll write, but that's okay. This is one thing I want to do every year for the rest of my life. It doesn't matter if I publish every book or not. It's the rush of the challenge and the creation of a new story.

Short stories: I'm not going to do the write 1 / submit 1 this coming year. It was an excellent exercise and I encourage writers to try it, but I need to concentrate on the 13the Floor series. Yet if I am inspired, I still would like to try to do six in 2013. I would love to get something accepted by a SFWA approved publication. That dream hasn't faded.

Revise and query one novel: I have several completed novels. All of them need to be reworked and polished. I hate revising but love writing first drafts! I want to find them homes. I'm not sure which one I'll work with. This won't be until the latter half of the year after all my work with the 13th Floor series is complete.

What are your writing goals for 2013?

Books read in 2012

The number surprised me too. I know I'm a fast reader, but I didn't think this fast! That's just over ten books a month. This doesn't include any short stories or novels I've beta read or critiqued.

I'm not going to set a goal for next year, but I'd still like to read 100 books. It doesn't seem unreasonable to me now. Most of these books were print copies. I rarely get the chance to use my Nook or sit at the computer to read. I'd love to be able to read more ebooks, but it's difficult with a toddler who loves gadgets. Maybe when he's a bit older and doesn't have to have every toy Mommy is playing with.

How many books did you read this year? Are you fast or slow reader?

How I did with my 2012 goals

Short stories - write 1 / submit 1 every monthI did it! My stories have gotten shorter as they year went on, but I'm happy with how they've turned out. I've learned a lot about writing short stories and flash fiction this year. Even if I don't get any more accepted, I feel I'm a better writer for having done this challenge. Paranormal romance seriesThis is my 13th Floor series. I originally intended to write the first drafts of all six novellas this year, but you can never predict how life is going to change. I have the first two written. I planned to write the third this month, but with the holidays and sickness, I'm not going to make it. I'm very happy with how they're turning out and how the overall concept is coming together. This is the series I'm going to use to represent me as a writer. So it's probably for the best that I didn't rush into writing all six of them.
NaNoWriMo 2012Yay! On November 26th, I reached over 50,000 words! I'm a 2012 NaNoWriMo winner. I wrote a superhero story called "Super Famous." I'm not sure I'll do anything with it, but it was a lot of fun to write. Witch's First Rule revisionsThis is a paranormal romance novel. The first in a completed trilogy. I queried the book three years ago and it got a lot of attention, but in the end, agents and publishers passed on it. I could never figure out why. Recently, I realized I was marketing it all wrong. The story started in the wrong place too. I've done two major revisions. The first chapter has been rewritten five times. But I had to put it aside. I still wasn't completely happy with the new beginning. It's starting in the right place now, but I'm not wild about the first chapter. I'm giving myself some time apart from it and maybe next year when I come back to it, I'll be able to write a first chapter that will wow me. I believe the protagonist is unique and her story fantastic, but I need to get it right before I start to query it again. Projects I didn't planFearless. Well, I did plan to do write it for the A to Z Challenge this year, but I never thought it would be so popular or that I would publish it. I'm very happy that everyone encouraged me to do so. Fearless continues to do very well. Thousands of readers have picked it up.
L'il Gal Al and the Zombies of Amarillo. I never thought I'd do anything with this story either. It was originally a short-listed story for an anthology, but was rejected in the end. Since it is on the longer side of short stories, I had trouble finding it a home. I wanted to get another story out there before I started publishing my 13th Floor series, and I wanted something different than paranormal romance. L'il Gal Al was perfect for the job. Join me on Monday for my 2013 goals.

The Winners of The Marquis Giveaway

Thank you to everyone who entered the big Marquis giveaway. I wish everyone could win. Here are the three winners:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As the first place winner, Lynda as won a digital copy of The Marquis,an ARC of The Alpha, and a signed copy of Fearless.
As the second place winner, Rosemary has won a digital copy of The Marquisand an ARC of The Alpha.
Finally, as the third place winner, Trisha as won a digital copy of The Marquis.

Emails have been sent to the winners.

Another big thank you to Shannon Lawrence for hosting the giveaway for me.The wicked neighbors post was so much fun!

Last day for the big Marquis giveaway

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We had a nice, quiet day. It took the boy two hours to open all the presents. He'd open one, play with it, and then move on. He was very excited about the playhouse we bought him. He played in the garage a lot yesterday.

A mean little virus has taken me down today. I can't think. I can barely look at the screen. We're snowed in and there's a state of emergency. I hope it isn't something dire!

There's less than 11 hours left to enter the big Marquis giveaway! There's three awesome prizes! Check out my guest post on The Warrior Muse's blog and tell us about your experiences with bad neighbors. The giveaway is open to everyone around the world.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Christmas 2012!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!  There's my gorgeous son sitting with Santa.He was happy to sit on his lap this year.I just wish the photographer centered the photo properly!
Have a wonderful holiday season.