Kelly Hashway's Blog, page 69

Writer Wednesday: What Revision Really Looks Like

I've come to the conclusion that I like to embarrass myself. Today I'm sharing a video of what revision really looks like…if you're me. Just an FYI, my daughter watched this and said, "You're putting that on YouTube?" while giving me a "Mom, you're so embarrassing" look. Then she must have had a change of heart because she laughed and said, "Let me know when it's up. I want to watch it again and again so I can laugh at you." She's such a confidence booster!
So, without further ado, here is what revision really looks like when you're me. While the video is short, just envision this repeating on an endless loop until I finish revising a book. ;)

Did this seem familiar to you? What does your revision process look like?

Monday Mishmash 3/16/15

Happy Monday! Monday Mishmash is a weekly meme dedicated to sharing what's on your mind. Feel free to grab the button and post your own Mishmash.
Here's what's on my mind today:Looking For Love Releases Tomorrow!  Wow! That happened quickly! I can't believe tomorrow is the day. This is a new adult romance written under my pen name, Ashelyn Drake. It is book 4 in a series, but it's a series of companion novellas and each story stands on it's own, so you don't have to read the others or read them in order. You can pre-order it or grab it on release day here for only $.99. Embarrassing Video Coming!  This week's Writer Wednesday post might be a little embarrassing—for me. I made a video for you guys and you don't want to miss it. My street team, Kelly's Coven, has already seen it since they see everything first, but I'll be unveiling it to everyone else this Wednesday. Be sure to stop back then.Writing Tips  I'm working on some writing tips for the upcoming Writer Wednesday posts. Hopefully you'll find them helpful.Editing  I'm editing for clients again this week. My editing streak continues.Revisions  I'm working on revisions based on my agent's comments, and I forgot how much I absolutely love this book! That's it for me. What's on your mind today?

Friday Feature: The Great Timelock Disaster

AMAZON


There's nothing’s more dangerous than a wizard-in-training. And Pete Riley, has just proven it. He's worked a bad time spell--a very bad time spell.

No YouTube, no smoothies, no Manga. Not ever again. Not unless Pete figures out how to reverse his spell and free Weasel and him from Victorian England. 

He has until the next full moon. Only a few days.

Tick. Tock.



Here’s how the story starts, and it only gets worse.
One minute the clock was tick-tocking on the mantel and the next it was a smoldering mess.

“No,”

Writer Wednesday: The Value of Free

Recently I've come across quite a few debates about authors offering books for free. Some authors claim it's killing the book industry because readers won't pay for books when they can get so many for free. So basically, if you're book isn't available for free, readers will pass you by. Others argue that free books are a great way to get your work in the hands of readers who will hopefully love your writing and then buy your other books.
Until last week, I was firmly in the latter group. I have some titles that are perma free. My hope is that people will download those and then look to see what other books I have available for purchase. Does that actually happen? Sometimes. And other times I get emails from readers asking where they can get my other books for free. Now, I say my opinion changed last week and here's why. I got an email through Goodreads from someone I didn't know. They'd read one of my reviews and asked if I knew where to get the book for free. My initial reaction was to scream. This author is a friend of mine. Writing is her job. So, yeah, I got upset. Every day people spend countless dollars at Starbucks (Nothing wrong if that's you. I'm a huge coffee drinker.) for a coffee that will be gone in a matter of minutes. But they won't purchase a book that will entertain them for hours, even days—or in the event that they love it, over and over again for many years to come. That bothers me.
Now I get that money can be tight. I've been there. But here's what I did when I was in that situation. I went to the library. If I wanted to read a book that wasn't on the shelves, I put in a request for it. And guess what? The library will most likely purchase the book for you and others to read. It's a win for everyone.
So where do I stand on free books? I'm glad I have some titles available for free. I have no plans to change that. But if a book you want to read isn't free, please either purchase it or request it from your library. Authors work really hard, and everyone deserves to be paid for their hard work.

Monday Mishmash 3/9/15

Happy Monday! Monday Mishmash is a weekly meme dedicated to sharing what's on your mind. Feel free to grab the button and post your own Mishmash.
Here's what's on my mind today:Editing  I'm still booked with edits. I've been a busy editor this year.Taxes  My taxes are finished! Yay! I hate sitting through having them done, so I'm glad this is over for the year.Looking For Love Blog Tour  This weekend I finished my posts for the Looking For Love blog tour. I can't believe this book is releasing in 8 days!Good New I Can't Share Yet  I know that's cruel, but I have good news. No, it's not a book deal. This is different, but I'm equally excited about it. I'll share as soon as I can.The Darkness Within Trailer  Last Friday, Spencer Hill Press released my new trailer for The Darkness Within. Here it is if you missed it: That's it for me. What's on your mind today?

Friday Feature: Don't Forget To Breathe

Sixteen-year-old Leocadia arrives home from school to find her mom’s bloody body. Unaware that the killer still lingers, she rushes to her mother’s side, only to be grabbed from behind and then everything fades to black.
After a year of retrograde amnesia and battling personal demons, Leo’s dreams are getting worse—she’s starting to remember. More bodies are discovered and they seem to be oddly linked to her mom’s unsolved homicide.
When Leo allows her friend, Henry to drag her into the haunted Lucien Mansion, misty ghosts appear, ghosts that just might lead to her mother’s murderer.
Will Leo let her memories threaten her into a relapse or, will she fight to find her mother’s killer – only to become his next victim?
Anyone else in love with this cover? I am!
Excerpt:Moonlight played tricks with my eyes as we circumvented gravestones like an obstacle course, and pluming fog licked our legs as misty ghosts danced on marbleized stones. My breath shuddered as Henry bypassed me, leading the way. “Hurry—” he whispered and nudged my shoulder.I picked up the pace and cranked my head to the left. Dark moving shapes appeared in the distance and moaning floated past my ears, probably the wind or just my imagination? Goose flesh pebbled my skin as I stumbled over an urn. Henry lugged me up urging me on.“What are we running from?” I gasped quietly so not to wake the dead. “Them—over there.” Henry jerked his chin, the lenses of his glasses captured raining moonbeams. “I think it’s cops.”His hand reached back, palm up. I latched hold. “Why would police be patrolling the cemetery?”We whipped around a mammoth tombstone, a squared foundation for a glorious angel. He halted and threw me unceremoniously to solid concrete. My heartbeat migrated up my esophagus. Henry covered my mouth with his hand. “Sh-h...don’t breathe so loud.”Buy it on Amazon.

You can find Cathrina here:Amazon Page Goodreads TwitterFacebook PinterestTsu

Want your YA, NA, or MG book featured on my blog? Contact me here and we'll set it up.

Writer Wednesday: Wattpad

2015 is the year of branching out for me. I'm trying new ways to reach readers. My latest venture is with Wattpad. I wasn't very familiar with this platform, but I know a lot of readers are there grabbing free samples of books. So I thought why not?
I joined and got permission from the very awesome people at Spencer Hill Press to upload my two FREE Touch of Death series companions, which are also available on the SHP website. 
The first is Curse of Death, which is the myth behind the series. It shows why I love Medusa and feel she was wrongfully cursed.  The second is Kiss of Death, which is a prequel novella told from Alex's POV, because I just love Alex and his story needed to be told pre-Jodi.
So what does this mean? I'm not entirely sure yet, but I'm hoping to reach new readers and introduce them to my work. I'll keep you posted on how it's going. In the meantime, feel free to follow me on Wattpad here and to read my free stories.
Are you on Wattpad? Feel free to leave your link in the comments so I can follow you. If you aren't, what do you think of a site that allows you to sample an author's work?

Monday Mishmash 3/2/15

Happy Monday! Monday Mishmash is a weekly meme dedicated to sharing what's on your mind. Feel free to grab the button and post your own Mishmash.
Here's what's on my mind today:Migraines  Last week I had two awful headaches. One was a migraine that left me unable to do anything and up all night sick from the pain. I'm hoping this week passes without any headaches, because I have work to do.Editing  More edits on my plate this week. :)Taxes  My tax forms took a long time getting to me this year. I'm usually finished with this process by now. I need to schedule an appointment soon.FREE Monthly Newsletter  My free monthly newsletter goes out this evening. If you aren't signed up but would like to receive one, click here.Thunderclap  I still need help reaching my goal off 100 supporters for my Thunderclap campaign for Looking For Love. Click "Join this Thunderclap" on the image below and sign up to allow Thunderclap to post this message for you. Once you're signed up, you don't have to do anything else. It's that simple. I hope you'll consider signing up. If I'm short of my goal, the campaign won't post. :( 
That's it for me. What's on your mind today?

Friday Feature: Love, Lattes and Mutants by Sandra Cox

Finding love is hard, even when you aren’t a mutant.

Like most seventeen-year-olds, Piper Dunn wants to blend in with the crowd. Having a blowhole is a definite handicap. A product of a lab-engineered mother with dolphin DNA, Piper spends her school days hiding her brilliant ocean-colored eyes and sea siren voice behind baggy clothing and ugly glasses. When Tyler, the new boy in school, zeroes in on her, ignoring every other girl vying for his attention, no one, including Piper, understands why…
Then Piper is captured on one of her secret missions rescuing endangered sea creatures and ends up in the same test center where her mother was engineered. There she discovers she isn’t the only one of her kind. Joel is someone she doesn’t have to hide from, and she finds herself drawn to the dolph-boy who shares her secrets. Talking to him is almost as easy as escaping from the lab. Deciding which boy has captured her heart is another story…


Buy the book:EKensingtonAmazonB&NKobo


Multi-published author Sandra Cox writes YA Fantasy, Paranormal and Historical Romance, and Metaphysical Nonfiction. She lives in sunny North Carolina with her husband, a brood of critters and an occasional foster cat. Although shopping is high on the list, her greatest pleasure is sitting on her screened in porch, listening to the birds, sipping coffee and enjoying a good book. She's a vegetarian and a Muay Thai enthusiast.



Find Sandra online:
BlogTwitter Facebook
And Sandra has a giveaway with some awesome prizes:
A Piper-approved necklace and $10 Starbuck Card
A Piper-approved braceletEnter on the rafflecopter form: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want your YA, NA, or MG book featured on my blog? Contact me here and we'll set it up.

Writer Wednesday: Thunderclap

If you're like me, you're always looking for new ways to promote your work and reach more readers. Well, I've taken part in supporting several authors via Thunderclap campaigns before, but I've never done one for a book of my own. Until now.

I decided to try Thunderclap for my upcoming release, Looking For Love (an Ashelyn Drake contemporary romance). If you aren't familiar with Thunderclap, here's how it works. You sign up for an account, which is free. You can upgrade and pay for more services, but I honestly didn't see the need to do so. My free account was approved in under an hour, and it was up and running after that. I was asked to give a short bio—only a sentence or two—name my campaign, give a description of the book I'm promoting, and enter a tweetable message. Simple.

Here's where the tricky part comes in. Thunderclap asks you to find 100 people to support your campaign. In order to support they have to agree to let Thunderclap display your tweetable message on their FB, Twitter, and/or Tumblr account on the date you pick. People can choose to support you on all three platforms and that will actually get you more entries. BUT…and this is a big but, if you don't find 100 people to support you, nothing happens. :( Yup. It's either a success or nothing at all.

The theory is that by sending out this message across 100 platforms at once, you are reaching a much bigger audience than you normally would. In theory it's great. Will it work for me? I have no idea, but I'm hoping so.

Want to help me reach my 100 supporters? Click "Join this Thunderclap" on the image below and sign up to allow Thunderclap to post this message for you. Once you're signed up, you don't have to do anything else. It's that simple. I hope you'll consider signing up.
Have you used Thunderclap? What do you think of this method for sharing information?