Nicole MacDonald's Blog, page 11

Help for the novice Indie author

As someone who's been there and done that (and still doing that ;p) I'm aware that there never seems to be enough info out there for indies. So my newest page on this blog is essentially the do's and don't's that I've learned in the last couple of years. I'm sure I'll end up adding to this page as I go *lol* but life is a learning experiment! I've also added a contact me page in case any one has any questions that they don't won't to post for everyone else to see *grin*Have a fabulous weekend peoples!Take care all!Nic The Arrival, available for free right here on this blog!Awakening on Amazon or UK Amazon or in Epub format right here on my blog (the bright yellow buttons on left!)

Is formatting ebooks your idea of hell?

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of it either ;p So I've added a page to this blog to help newbies out there who are stuck with their formatting. It's just all the things I've learned through trial and error while getting my three pieces up onto Amazon. I hope this helps some of you!
Take care all!Nic The Arrival, available for free right here on this blog!Awakening on Amazon or UK Amazon or in Epub format right here on my blog (the bright yellow buttons on left!)

Something fun! Friday Funnies

It's nice being able to get back into my blogging : ) I am very grateful to no longer have the due date for Awakening looming and daydreaming/plotting for Feel the Burn is lots of fun! So I thought I'd get back into my Friday funnies and kick it off with bad (or rather awesome ;p) fantasy moments - via those infamous LOL cats.
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Take care all!Nic The Arrival, available for free right here on this blog! Awakening on Amazon or UK Amazon or in Epub format right here on my blog (the bright yellow buttons on left!)

Let's play make-believe! A renewal of the characters of the BirthRight Trilogy and who would play them

You know, when Peter Jackson (naturally! Like I'd let anyone else near the story *lol*) calls to option the Trilogy... Well dreams ARE free people! So, to go hand in hand with my somewhat extreme dream, I thought I would re-do the Characters of the BirthRight Trilogy page and we'd better start with Catherine! Here is Cat's little bio and who I think could potentially play her. Suggestions, thoughts, opinions are all very welcome, as are questions about any of the characters in these blog posts as I get through them all.
Do you have a nagging question about a character? Or a 'what if' scenerio you've pondered? Any questions are welcome, except of course there's NO WAY I'm giving away details from book three. So feel free to ask about it but I will totally skirt around those *grin* Hope you enjoy these posts!

Catherine

Catherine is the main voice of the trilogy and great fun. A curvy (DD bust and a US size 6 ) pale skinned, red head, with beautiful green eyes. Cat, as she is known to her friends, is a fun loving and lively Leo with a decent temper if roused. She adores her friends and is extremely loyal, always ready to drop everything for them if required. Cat has a huntaway dog called Audrey (Audi for short) who is rather like her mistress in some ways. A bit noisy, loves to talk, but at the same time needs her solitude. Cat takes Audi everywhere she can and the two often go for runs or excursions to Cat's family's cabin in the bush.
A natural flirt, Cat turns head's easily but remains oblivious to it most the time due to being in her 'own world'. Her friends are always amused at how she manages be innately graceful and yet totally klutzy at the same time. Partially due to her being short-sighted and partially because she's daydreaming but being a bit of an actress (more often comedic - whether she intends it or not) Cat tends to play it up as she loves to make people smile and laugh.
Cat loves to sew, read, and go horse riding and practice martial arts and archery. With a born instinct of flight not fight, yet a strong sense of courage, Cat has spent years training the flight instinct out and is proud of her ability to defend herself.

Who could potentially play Cat in a film (dreams are free remember!)
Emma StoneScarlett JohanssonSara Rue

Take care all!

Nic

The Arrival, available for free right here on this blog!
Awakening on Amazon or UK Amazon or in Epub format right here on my blog (the bright yellow buttons on left!)

And inspiration comes flooding in

It's bizarre weather in New Zealand currently. Not that I'm really surprised but normally we can guarantee a decent amount of sunshine in summer. At least enough to make us all begin moaning for rain. But at the moment we have lots of heat and one day shine, the next torrential rain. At the moment we have massive gales and here on the 21st floor, we're swaying, just enough to trigger my motion sickness ;pIt's making my morning runs rather sporadic as I like running in the crisp morning air. 19ºc is NOT crisp!! It's just sweaty on top of sweaty—so very far from attractive *lol*But when I did get out for my run (just once, Sable is not happy with my slackness!) wow did the ideas flow. And tears. But it's allowed me to work through some of the tricky scenes that I knew vaguely what I needed, but couldn't yet see the details. Now the details are lots more clearer and I think I need to go caving… either that or watch The Descent. But as that is a horror movie and I'm more than a little bit of a wuss with horror movies—caving sounds FAR easier *lol*I'm really, really excited too as we've just decided to do our first overseas trip in March!! Yes our first, yes we're slack (better late than never) so now comes the exciting part of planning. It's just over to Aussie (Pixie, we're coming your way! Have to do dinner *grin*) to the Gold Coast and we'll do the obligatory theme park visit and the zoo. I'm kinda nervous about the plane flight… for any of you who have read The Arrival, the bit were Cat gets the nervous smile and insane giggles while flying, yeah that's based on my first hand experience (Glenn found it rather amusing). I have managed to dull that down to the occasional monster smile so I'm hoping I'll be able to resist that too *hee* It's weird too, cause I love helicopter rides, they don't bother me at all, but planes. Ahh well ;pTake care all!Nic The Arrival, available for free right here on this blog!
Awakening on Amazon or UK Amazon or in Epub format right here on my blog (the bright yellow buttons on left!)

Ugh - writing the HARD scenes

For those of you who have read Awakening, you can probably understand why I'm having trouble starting Book Three. I really hate writing the painful scenes! I know they are necessary and of course I know where they go. But they are still SO hard! Already it's involved lots of tears and Glenn fleeing the room after first cautiously approaching at the sight of me in self-inflicted misery. The code words 'method-writing' explain all ;pHow do other authors do it I wonder? This book really is going to take me to hell and back. I've known that from day one. But it is a fascinating journey! It makes all those endless hours of daydreaming away classes/car trips/long walks/boring days etc etc suddenly valuable as I imagine every inch of the journey that my characters have to take. And what a journey. There are just sooo many things to show! I really do wish I was a person who could make sensible lists and plan it all out in a sane, easy to follow manner (easy for me to follow and write that is).
With each book I write I seem to follow a slightly different method and I'm not 100% sure of what method I'll adopt while writing Feel the Burn.With The Arrival it was, write in a straight line.With Awakening it was, write all the scenes that pop into your mind in any order you like, and then bridge them together.I think Feel the Burn will end up being a mix of those two methods ;pAnd now I'd really better stop skiving off, doing other things and get cracking on that first draft *grin* have a fabulous weekend peoples!Take care all!Nic The Arrival, available for free right here on this blog!
Awakening on Amazon or UK Amazon or in Epub format right here on my blog (the bright yellow buttons on left!)

A new year, another goal

Awakening is up and selling well. The seemingly massive goal I set myself last year—of writing a novel in 12 months—is done. I say, seemingly massive, as The Arrival took me 18 months to write. But for a first time novelist *grin* I don't think that's too bad. I'm very proud of Awakening and I know, absolutely, that it's better than The Arrival, but then that's me as the author speaking and every subsequent novel really should be an improvement in some way or another.Starting on the third installment of the trilogy, Feel the Burn, is exciting and scary. As I've mentioned before, I've had the basic plot mapped out since day one, so it's sorting out how to get the characters to those plot points. But that's just the major points; the minor points are building themselves in my mind at the moment and drawing themselves into the major points. It really does feel like I'm weaving some large and elaborate tapestry, where, if I get a thread wrong the whole thing will fall to pieces. The plotting is very exciting and has me watching a fair few documentaries on various subjects *lol* I can't wait to start the actual writing though, I may even start tomorrow! Here's a pic of my current inspiration on my corkboard at home. I hope your New Year's went well and for all those reading Awakening, I hope you're enjoying it!
Take care all!Nic The Arrival, available for free right here on this blog!
Awakening on Amazon or UK Amazon or in Epub format right here on my blog (the bright yellow buttons on left!)

Present time!

[image error] After my momentous previous post and a continuing frustration with Amazon NOT updating all the old copies of The Arrival as they have on three separate occasions promised, I have decided to make The Arrival permanently free on this blog.
Crazy - possibly. But I spent 18 months writing it and guess what! I'd much rather it be read and enjoyed than spending my time hunched over my computer, watching the rankings while muttering 'my preciousss' in a deprived and disturbing voice...
So feel free to take a copy and if you want to pass it around, go right ahead. I can't say I'm being completely selfless - I'm keeping Awakening on price, and Feel the Burn (when it is published in Dec 2012) will remain on price too. I guess this feels more fair to me, if I'm asking you to take a chance on an Indie author—then I better step up to the plate too *grin* And of course for all those people who did purchase a copy, and haven't yet got the new, updated and most importantly—pretty—version, then do re-update your e-reader/mobile/computer with this version. The free buttons are on the left below the cover picture of The Arrival.

Take care all!Nic The Arrival, available for free right here on this blog!
Awakening on Amazon or UK Amazon or in Epub format right here on my blog (the bright yellow buttons on left!)

Shills and unscrupulous reviews - please fellow Indies, DON'T DO THIS!

Don't get stung!
It can seem so innocent—I'll review your book if you review mine. The problem is that the reviews are very rarely honest, more a 'pump up the numbers' and indie authors are getting caught in their own webs—whether or not they meant to weave them.As some of you may be aware, it's not easy being an Indie author. Sure there are the extreme success stories—Amanda Hocking, and John Locke, for example. But most of the time an indie author is a person who loves the story they've written and wants to share it with the world. Unfortunately due to the hype and publicity of the extreme success stories, places like Amazon and Smashwords (which filters on to Barnes & Noble, Sony, Apple etc) are being inundated with badly written—pop a book out a month—authors who are writing for profit alone, quality/story be damned. This 'wham, bam - thank you ma'am' style of writing is leaving MANY disgruntled readers in its wake. And that, in turn, reflects on those innocent writers who are genuinely producing works of love. That's not to suggest all indie writers are good, but one person's trash is another's treasure.Normally, honest reviews are a fantastic way of finding out if a book you're considering purchasing is any good. But more and more of these types of sites are popping up. Site's where—for a minor fee—an author can 'purchase' fake five star reviews or even have links to their book placed in reviews of books doing well in the book rankings. I've actually experienced that one first hand!On my erotic short, A wet & wild night, some cheeky buggar has added a link to another erotic short in his 'review' of my book. How do I know this review is fake? Because it's changed three times since it was first posted. The first time it was posted as a 5 star, then it dropped to three stars and then they essentially copied another review my story received and gave it 1 star.It hasn't affected my sales in the least; but it does annoy me. I did complain to Amazon and while they agreed that it looked like a 'shill' review (the term for fake reviews) because there was nothing to prove it, they couldn't do anything about it. I've decided to be flattered by it *lol*But the big problem with these paid-for-reviews is it does fool those speed buyers who don't take the time to read the sample. This is turn results in those disgruntled readers I've mentioned. Those readers are then making a damn good effort to bring such authors to their knees. Which I understand and even applaud; we really don't need indie's like that giving the rest of us a bad name. However a number of those annoyed readers are making a very big effort to bring down anything they consider a shill review. This includes those reviews by friends/family/fellow bloggers etc etc.I'm going to be honest and say I don't fully agree with that. If my parents want to buy my book and review it—they're entitled. That said, my mother can't stand my book *lol* and I suspect my other relatives will only read it if it comes out in hardcopy and I buy a copy for them (and then tie them down and forcibly make them read it… it really ain't worth the effort!!)What I'm trying to get at (in this incredibly long-winded post ;p) is that if you are going to offer a 'I'll read/review yours if you read/review mine' make SURE that it is for an HONEST review. A five star review in this situation will do you no favours; only rile the vigilante readers against you and your works.My personal suggestion is put your book up free for a time. You will likely get a stackload of downloads—many from people who would never, ever have read your book otherwise—and this pretty much guarantees at least a few honest reviews. But be warned, this method can result in some scathing reviews from those who, if they'd taken the time to read the sample, would never have bought and thus reviewed your work.It's a double-edged blade either way, but the only method I've found for genuine reviews in a short space of time. Otherwise patience is a virtue and good, enjoyable books at reasonable prices will sell. And please don't let anyone you know pay for 5 star reviews!! It could easily ruin their name.
Take care all!Nic The Arrival, on Amazon or UK Amazon
Awakening on Amazon or UK Amazon or in Epub format right here on my blog(the bright yellow buttons on left!)

Buy Awakening in Nook/Sony/Apple format on this blog - that's right!

After a few days of serious research and a nice measure of cussing (as goes most my technical ventures with blogger/html/google) I have finally got my buy buttons up for Awakening!! Now any Nook, Sony, Apple e-reader owners can purchase Awakening on this very blog (see the oh-so-subtle bright yellow buttons on the left) and very soon I hope to get The Arrival on here and A Wet & Wild Night. All thanks to the very clever e-junkie site. All purchases go through Paypal and are safe and secure : ) so no worries there! It's a massive sigh of relief for me because as I previously mentioned, Smashwords is a major pain in the @#% for me, with payment issues, formatting issues and just the time it takes for things to update *groan* It's fantastic to know readers anxiously waiting for book two will be able to read it - right now if you want!I hope all your Christmas' went well, ours was fab *grin* and now, as it's after midnight (hell! It's 1am - when did that happen??!) I shall attempt to go and sleep after my victorious internet/html struggle ;p
Take care all!Nic The Arrival, on Amazon or UK Amazon
Awakening on Amazon or UK Amazon