K.C. Sprayberry's Blog, page 105

Switch Up Promotion

Good morning and welcome to Sharing Saturday. Today, we’re discussing how not to stagnate… not in your writing but in your promotion.
Good authors will look over their promotion on a regular basis. They’ll wonder if it’s getting tired and it’s time to make a change. Their overriding concern is to put up promotion on social media that’s eye catching but not boring. This will take away time from writing your next book, but it’s necessary in order to keep your fans on the edge of their seats, wanting to buy your books, and ready for the new one once it releases.
How are you going over your promotion and making sure it’s not just good but great?
Most people will stare blankly at the screen at this point and wonder what I’m saying. After all, they spent a great deal of time creating the visuals for their promotion. They’re still getting clicks for likes and shares. Why in the world would they consider changing it now?
Now is exactly the time when you should be looking for new visuals to use in a promotion change. It takes time to find the perfect picture that will allow your cover art to stand out and also let you add a few words to attract attention. You can’t use the same excerpts. Nope. Time to change them too. Add in bits from reviews. Not just “this book is fabulous” but look for review excerpts that indicate your story leaps off the page, the reader is enthralled throughout the book. Those will get a lot of attention.
Think of your promotion work as advertising a product – your book. Now watch television commercials that advertise all kinds of products. With everything in our social media dominated world, those commercials change. They’re updated. The advertising companies make them different to follow current trends. This is how you should be advertising your book – with a new look, a different approach. Don’t keep the same visuals because you like them. Seek out new ways to make your book relevant to the current market.


About K.C. Sprayberry
Living a dream she’s had since she first discovered the magic of books. K.C. Sprayberry traveled the U.S. and Europe before finally settling in the mountains of Northwest Georgia. She’s been married to her soulmate for nearly a quarter of a century and they enjoy spoiling their grandchildren along with many other activities.
A multi-genre author, K.C. Sprayberry is always on the hunt for new stories. Inspiration strikes at the weirdest times and drives her to grab notebook and pen to jot down her ideas. Those close to her swear nothing or no one is safe if she’s smiling gently in a corner and watching those in the same room interact. Her observations have often given her ideas for her next story, set not only in the South but wherever the characters demand they settle.

Find out more about my books at these social media sites:
Facebook Twitter Website Goodreads Amazon Author Page 
Google + Pinterest Manic Readers AUTHORSdb 
Authorgraph Email 

Cooperation

Good morning and welcome to Friday Feeling. Today, we’re discussing cooperation. Before you lose your lunch and scream loudly that you do cooperate, think about the attitude most authors have. We’re arrogant. We believe we, and only we, know what’s best for our book. Our whole attitude is that we have a book or many books for the reading public and they will love, if only our production team will get up off their butts and do what we tell them.
Don’t be a diva with your editor, proofreader, or cover artist. They are giving you the best product possible. Being uncooperative with them only produces a book that’s less than perfect. Remember, you or your publisher hired these people to make your book publication ready. What you think is artistic license is to them some really bad ideas needing to be fixed. These people are professionals; let them do their jobs so that you have a book worthy of attention.
Before you wind up the author complaint that it’s your book, please remember this nugget… A book is only as good as the people behind the scenes working with you to make it that way.
One thing to remember. And I’ll always stress this when it comes to being an author. Yes, we all have massive egos. We have to, in order to survive those who will pull us down, but we are more than our egos. Those assisting us with preparing our books for release aren’t our slaves; they are comrades in arms, ready to fight the battle to put up a book that will put all other books in that genre to shame.  Cooperate and you’ll have a worthy book; be the author these support people loathe, and you will not be happy with the results.


About K.C. Sprayberry
Living a dream she’s had since she first discovered the magic of books. K.C. Sprayberry traveled the U.S. and Europe before finally settling in the mountains of Northwest Georgia. She’s been married to her soulmate for nearly a quarter of a century and they enjoy spoiling their grandchildren along with many other activities.
A multi-genre author, K.C. Sprayberry is always on the hunt for new stories. Inspiration strikes at the weirdest times and drives her to grab notebook and pen to jot down her ideas. Those close to her swear nothing or no one is safe if she’s smiling gently in a corner and watching those in the same room interact. Her observations have often given her ideas for her next story, set not only in the South but wherever the characters demand they settle.

Find out more about my books at these social media sites:
Facebook Twitter Website Goodreads Amazon Author Page 
Google + Pinterest Manic Readers AUTHORSdb 
Authorgraph Email

Having Fun on Social Media

Good morning and welcome to Thursday Thoughts. Today, we’re discussing having fun on social media. This is an important element of being an author and also letting people know you’re a real person too.
You, the author, must have two pages on Facebook. Your personal page and your fan page. That’s a mandatory given. Why? Because you have to separate who you are as a person from your author persona.
Your fan page is where you do the serious work of promoting your book. On your personal page, you have fun. Lots of fun.
How do you do this?
Share silly and happy posts. Talk about what you’re doing with a book in little status updates too, but mainly focus on crazy stuff. Like memes about how the girls are in the state where you live. Tag people you know locally, so they can jump into the action. Talk about dumb stuff you pulled during the day, just like everyone else. You’re connecting with everyone on a level they understand. Instead of being THE AUTHOR, you are a normal person to them.
How does this help you?
Once people see you as a normal person, they’re going to be more interested in your books. They’ll respond to your posts about how hard your current WIP is, how you just can’t past a certain point, or the characters are being uncooperative. Your friends and family will soon become your biggest fan. Instead of bemoaning that your characters are being stubborn, post a cute, funny moment they experience in the book and talk about them like they’re real people. You’d be amazed at the reaction this gets from your friends. They’ll laugh, offer advice, let you know that you aren’t alone in this trouble.
“But these aren’t real people,” you protest. “They’re my characters.”
Yes, they are your characters. But they are real to you and if you make them seem real to your friends, who aren’t authors, they’ll chime in with information that can improve your book. You’ll get a perspective you need to make your characters more real, more like ordinary people are, and that will give you a new way of making your book more intense.
Social media is all about being friends with people all over the world. As authors, we need to connect with these people on a level they understand. We can’t be the untouchable person; we have to be the individual they can relate to, a person who appears as ordinary as they are, and they will love being part of your world!



About K.C. Sprayberry
Living a dream she’s had since she first discovered the magic of books. K.C. Sprayberry traveled the U.S. and Europe before finally settling in the mountains of Northwest Georgia. She’s been married to her soulmate for nearly a quarter of a century and they enjoy spoiling their grandchildren along with many other activities.
A multi-genre author, K.C. Sprayberry is always on the hunt for new stories. Inspiration strikes at the weirdest times and drives her to grab notebook and pen to jot down her ideas. Those close to her swear nothing or no one is safe if she’s smiling gently in a corner and watching those in the same room interact. Her observations have often given her ideas for her next story, set not only in the South but wherever the characters demand they settle.

Find out more about my books at these social media sites:

Facebook Twitter Website Goodreads Amazon Author Page 
Google + Pinterest Manic Readers AUTHORSdb 
Authorgraph Email 

It's Not My Fault

Good morning and welcome to wwwblogs. Today, we’re doing to discuss your sales, or the lack of them.
You haunt your sales venues from the day your book releases. There may be a few sales, or none. You’re certain people will love your book, if only they’ll buy it. What are you doing wrong?
First of all, have you made your book available on your Facebook fan page? Are you promoting your book on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or any other social media site? No? You’ve just discovered your first problem.
You are an author in the twenty-first century. Unless you’ve managed to be published by the Big Five, you don’t have a promotion team working day and night to let potential fans know about your masterpiece. Here are a few tips that will give you the exposure you need…
Be a social media maven. Learn on the fly how to manipulate these sites and make them work for you. This does not mean you blast out the news about your book many times a day, telling people they have to buy your book. That will have the opposite effect. Facebook will block you from posting in groups. They can even close your account if you’re too irritating. Twitter prefers that authors don’t just do “buy my book” tweets. You’ll need to intersperse other types of tweets between yours – puppies, kittens, positive sayings, even a coming soon notice for your new book, where you tease and tantalize readers. Google + is more lenient in how they operate their site but in order to attract readers, you’ll need to do more than bombard people with “buy my book” information.
“Bu… bu… but,” you protest. “That’s too much work. I’m an author. I must write.”
That’s right. You are an author. An indie author. We are a strong group of individuals who have opted to move away from the larger publishers. Some of us do have a publisher, but a small house not a large one. Others prefer the self-publishing route. What we all have in common is that we’ve committed to working a good part of each day to get our books noticed.
Our lessons we’re sharing with new indie authors have been learned in the wicked flames of social media. We’ve been “grounded” on Facebook. We’ve had our Twitter accounts temporarily suspended for any of a dozen reasons, but we have never given up. Not only are we promoting our books, we are in the trenches every day working on building our fan base and giving them intriguing stories to entertain them.
“It sounds so hard,” you say.
Whoever told you it was easy lied. Today’s indie author has to bust their backside twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. We can’t let an opportunity pass us by. We’re not just authors, caught up in plotting our next book, we’re also media mavens, publicists, and agents of our own work. We know that to make it in this business, we have to do all of this and more, with a smile on our face and a lot of makeup to cover the dark circles under our eyes. We know that to succeed in this business we can’t stop at the glass wall. We must shatter that glass wall and climb over those who say it can’t be done and prove it can!
“How can I get to this point?” you ask.
The moment you published your book, or your publisher did, you became an author. You joined the rat race of reaching for the stars. It’s never too late to promote your book, to grow your feeds, and to become the author whose name people recognize. You only have to do one thing…
Believe you can dive into the murky waters of social media and swim like mad.


About K.C. Sprayberry
Living a dream she’s had since she first discovered the magic of books. K.C. Sprayberry traveled the U.S. and Europe before finally settling in the mountains of Northwest Georgia. She’s been married to her soulmate for nearly a quarter of a century and they enjoy spoiling their grandchildren along with many other activities.
A multi-genre author, K.C. Sprayberry is always on the hunt for new stories. Inspiration strikes at the weirdest times and drives her to grab notebook and pen to jot down her ideas. Those close to her swear nothing or no one is safe if she’s smiling gently in a corner and watching those in the same room interact. Her observations have often given her ideas for her next story, set not only in the South but wherever the characters demand they settle.

Find out more about my books at these social media sites:
Facebook Twitter Website Goodreads Amazon Author Page
Google + Pinterest Manic Readers AUTHORSdb 
Authorgraph Email 

Historical Settings

Good morning and welcome to Tuesday Blog Share. Today, we’re going to discuss the importance of getting historical settings right. Why is this important? It all comes down to details. Having a historical setting in the ‘70s means you can’t have your characters using cell phones, as they weren’t available to the general public yet. This means looking up phone booths and how they were used. Imagine a time when you needed dimes, nickels, and quarters in your purse or pocket to make a phone call. It happened and not including information like this in your book can bring out reviews that you haven’t done your research!

The Case of the Scared Child Wildcat Crew 2 eBook
Blurb
The summer solstice has arrived. Being the sun worshipers they are, Wildcat Crew heads to the beach for a day of fun and a picnic. But first, Marnie gets a huge surprise. Her parents have replaced her Camaro, destroyed in their first case.
At the beach with thousands of other Southern Californians, the crew stumbles over a small, crying child. Instead of checking out the waves and working on their tans, they go on the hunt for the little boy’s parents.

The Case of the Scared Child Wildcat Crew 2 print book
Excerpt
Loud voices startled Luke Timmons. He could hear the ocean outside his open bedroom window and wanted to go to the beach. His mommy and daddy had promised him that he could pick where he spent his fifth birthday and he wanted to run into the ocean, build a sandcastle, and have a lot of fun.
“Where’s the stash?” Daddy yelled. “What have you done with it, Liz?”
Luke’s mommy’s name was Liz. His daddy was Brian. The idea of having his mommy crying and his daddy “sick” today made his tummy hurt. They had promised him a really fun birthday of going to the beach, and to get pizza later. Daddy even promised to buy Luke an ice cream cone for dessert if he was good all day long.
He sat on the edge of his bed, swinging his legs back and forth. Luke hated when his daddy yelled. He was waiting for his mommy to cry. She always did when Daddy got mad.
“You used it all last night,” Mommy said. “You and your friends spent all night on the roof getting high.”
“I did not!”
A loud crack startled Luke. He put a fist into his mouth so he wouldn’t make any noise. Noise was bad when Daddy was mad.
I just want to have my party, like Mommy and Daddy promised. 



About K.C. Sprayberry
Living a dream she’s had since she first discovered the magic of books. K.C. Sprayberry traveled the U.S. and Europe before finally settling in the mountains of Northwest Georgia. She’s been married to her soulmate for nearly a quarter of a century and they enjoy spoiling their grandchildren along with many other activities.
A multi-genre author, K.C. Sprayberry is always on the hunt for new stories. Inspiration strikes at the weirdest times and drives her to grab notebook and pen to jot down her ideas. Those close to her swear nothing or no one is safe if she’s smiling gently in a corner and watching those in the same room interact. Her observations have often given her ideas for her next story, set not only in the South but wherever the characters demand they settle.

Find out more about my books at these social media sites:

Facebook Twitter Website Goodreads Amazon Author Page
Google + Pinterest Manic Readers AUTHORSdb
Authorgraph Email

Lasting Impressions

Good morning and welcome to Monday Blogs. Today, we’re talking about lasting impressions. How do you, the author, impress people when they meet you in public?
We’re all human. We have days when we aren’t fit to be around, but on social media and when out in public we must always present a façade of being the author. Even if you use a pen name, you must present this persona.
Why is that? you ask.
Our public has certain expectations from those they admire. Authors, in particular, are more vulnerable to this expectation. We don’t get to be crabby. We don’t get to toss on a ripped up shirt, disreputable jeans, and flip flops to run to the store. We must always be on display, giving those who might read our books the opportunity to say “I saw so and so today. You know, the author. He/She smiled at me. We talked. It was so thrilling!”
That’s right. You are a celebrity, especially in the area where you live. Don’t put on a hat and dark glasses. Don’t skulk from one display to another in the store, hoping no one interrupts your day. Never give the impression that you are unapproachable.
Embrace your celebrity. Smile at people. Offer to help them get things off a difficult to reach shelf. When they mention they’ve seen your posts on social media, happily engage them in conversation. Even if they’re negative, be positive. Let this all lead into the next step of book promotion…
Talk about your book/books. Ask them which ones they like. Have they read any of them yet? Have you made sure your books are available at the local library, even if you’ve had to donate them yourself? Engage grandparents looking for a gift for their grandchildren. But don’t be pushy. Instead, be the author they’ll remember fondly at gift giving time. Be the individual they can say to others, “I saw that author today. You know, Jane Bluemdahl. She was at the store, getting groceries just like the rest of us.” The person will pause for a dramatic moment before exclaiming, “She’s just like everyone else. I just have to get her books!”
This is how you build a solid fan base. Not by being the unapproachable celebrity but by being the open and smiling author!



About K.C. Sprayberry
Living a dream she’s had since she first discovered the magic of books. K.C. Sprayberry traveled the U.S. and Europe before finally settling in the mountains of Northwest Georgia. She’s been married to her soulmate for nearly a quarter of a century and they enjoy spoiling their grandchildren along with many other activities.
A multi-genre author, K.C. Sprayberry is always on the hunt for new stories. Inspiration strikes at the weirdest times and drives her to grab notebook and pen to jot down her ideas. Those close to her swear nothing or no one is safe if she’s smiling gently in a corner and watching those in the same room interact. Her observations have often given her ideas for her next story, set not only in the South but wherever the characters demand they settle.

Find out more about my books at these social media sites:
Facebook Twitter Website Goodreads Amazon Author Page
Google + Pinterest Manic Readers AUTHORSdb 
Authorgraph Email

Tackling a Mystery

Good morning and welcome to Sunday Blog Share. Today, we’re going to be talking about tackling a mystery. What are some of the elements that make up a good mystery? What do mystery readers look for in this type of book?
First, you need a strong hook. Teens solving what the police are having trouble with seems like a good start. The reader needs to be involved in piecing together the information. Yup, that’s very prevalent in the Wildcat Crew books. Are there red herrings? Oh, very much so. Is the dialogue suspenseful? I’d say so, especially when references are made to previous mysteries! Effective, descriptive mood and language are also necessary. Wildcat Crew handles that easily.
This new series of novellas is about a group of teens taking on mysteries and solving them without cell phones, GPS, or the internet. And they get the job done!



Wildcat Crew 1 The Case of the Vanishing Girls eBook 
Blurb
Finally moving on from the horror of the Manson killings, the Los Angeles area has begun to return to normal. Until, that is, the small bedroom community of Monrovia skyrockets into the news. This sleepy little area, nestled up against the foothills, is probably best known for their football team, but that was yesterday’s news.
Three girls have vanished. Notes left behind have an “H” and a “S” with red dripping off them. People’s minds automatically go to the horror of 1969 and wonder if someone else is about to initiate “Helter Skelter.”
A group of teens, Wildcat Crew, doesn’t think so. Despite the police looking at a trouble teen, they focus on another teen whose past has some dark secrets. As the city moves toward the summer solstice, these intrepid investigators work diligently on solving this case before someone else vanishes into the canyon.


Wildcat Crew 1 The Case of the Vanishing Girls print book 
Excerpt
The moon hung low on a dark California night. June could be a mix of summer’s warmth with just enough of the coolness left over from spring to force the native Californians to retreat to their homes and huddle beneath blankets.
Fools they were, and The Mastermind would be the one to remind them of their folly. For he was the one who would wake them up from their quiet, peaceful lives and thrust them into the terror of his making. No one would rest easily until he had sated his hunger.
He crept along a quiet street. Homes were lit up. Images of families having an ordinary evening played through his mind. They had no idea of what he was about to unleash on them. His plan was very simple—no one had noticed his first attempt at fame a mere four years ago, because of the Manson Family’s rampage.
They will now. No one will ever ignore me again.

About K.C. Sprayberry
Living a dream she’s had since she first discovered the magic of books. K.C. Sprayberry traveled the U.S. and Europe before finally settling in the mountains of Northwest Georgia. She’s been married to her soulmate for nearly a quarter of a century and they enjoy spoiling their grandchildren along with many other activities.
A multi-genre author, K.C. Sprayberry is always on the hunt for new stories. Inspiration strikes at the weirdest times and drives her to grab notebook and pen to jot down her ideas. Those close to her swear nothing or no one is safe if she’s smiling gently in a corner and watching those in the same room interact. Her observations have often given her ideas for her next story, set not only in the South but wherever the characters demand they settle.

Find out more about my books at these social media sites:
Facebook Twitter Website Goodreads Amazon Author Page
Google + Pinterest Manic Readers AUTHORSdb 
Authorgraph Email

How Much Should You Have To Pay For Promotion?

Good morning and welcome to Sharing Saturday. Today, we’re going to ask a question authors everywhere want an answer to. Just how much should you pay for social media promotion.
This question is constantly bandied about. The day of the free social media site for authors is fast disappearing. You can still do free promotion on Facebook (although they do give you opportunities to promote your post for a price), Twitter, Manic Readers, AUTHORSdb, and Google +. Many authors still blog about their books, which only requires their time and building a fan base that will read them.
However, there is a steady and growing group of social media sites that don’t offer the author more than lip service, unless they pay a price. Those prices can be reasonable or they can seem outrageous. Bookbub, for example, offers authors a free page, but there’s little to nothing you can do with it. Your book pretty much sits there with all the other books from authors hoping to crack into this well-known site without destroying their promotion budget for months. If you do manage to qualify for one of their blitz promotions, you should expect to go out of pocket from a mere $66 - $462 for free books to be advertised in their email blitz to #569 -$3,983 for books priced at less than a dollar to more than three dollars.
Now, here’s my take on Bookbub. My promotion budget is tight. I suppose most everyone’s is. I cannot seriously afford their prices, even for the cheapest book deal, which is done by genre. Also, while they love to tout that you’ll soon have many new fans, I can’t afford that kind of output of funds with no guarantee that I’ll make a profit, especially with the top cost of #3.983 if my ebook is priced at more than three dollars.
One other thing the editorial committee at Bookbub wants is a lot of reviews. 90-100 is the current recommended number. Uh, I’m happy with one review. I dance in the moonlight if I get two. No, I’m not one of those authors constantly saying buy my book and leave a review. I’d prefer if you’d leave a pie – lemon meringue or apple is nice.
Ah, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, there is an editorial committee. And they are huge on professional covers. That’s another big cost, to add onto the cost of getting your book included in an email promotion.
Here’s my take on Bookbub. It’s good, if you have deep pockets and can afford to do everything they want. The deep pockets thing doesn’t work for most indie authors. And that professional cover? I’m sorry, but my covers look fabulous, to me, and many of my fans. No, I didn’t pay six arms and twenty legs for them. I don’t have that kind of budget. My cover art does the job of getting the story across without my having to file bankruptcy in order to have them made.
There is a new kid on the book promotion block… bookfunnel. I’ve heard several authors talking about them of late. Their payment plan appears to be on a sliding scale, starting at $20 for a first time author, but there are restrictions. Moving upward, you’ll soon see there are limitations, unless you pay more money. Again, not something I’m excited about. My promotion is for a lot of things, including assisting with a rural literacy program and preparing for appearances. So, since I don’t have a rich uncle in the backroom, whipping out his bank card whenever I publish a book, I’ll have to pass.
The down and dirty of the book promotion site field is very much a buyer beware situation. Look for hidden costs before you commit to anything. Ask questions, not just of authors, but from the site managers. Make sure you are comfortable with the hidden costs in addition to the slathering praise you’ll hear about these sites. Be real. If you have trouble keeping your bling around, never being able to order as much as you need, you certainly can’t afford to be hit with a $200 to nearly $4,000 bill to promote your book when there is no guarantee of continued sales once that promo is done.





About K.C. Sprayberry
Living a dream she’s had since she first discovered the magic of books. K.C. Sprayberry traveled the U.S. and Europe before finally settling in the mountains of Northwest Georgia. She’s been married to her soulmate for nearly a quarter of a century and they enjoy spoiling their grandchildren along with many other activities.
A multi-genre author, K.C. Sprayberry is always on the hunt for new stories. Inspiration strikes at the weirdest times and drives her to grab notebook and pen to jot down her ideas. Those close to her swear nothing or no one is safe if she’s smiling gently in a corner and watching those in the same room interact. Her observations have often given her ideas for her next story, set not only in the South but wherever the characters demand they settle.

Find out more about my books at these social media sites:   Facebook Twitter Website Godreads Amazon Author Page 
Google + Pinterest Manic Readers AUTHORSdb 
Authorgraph Email 

AUTHORSdb

Good morning and welcome to Friday Feelings. Today, we’re talking about an up and coming authors website. You can join, list your books, and connect with a lot of fabulous authors in their many groups or just be part of the fun with status updates.
Have you discovered AUTHORSdb yet?
Are you kidding? You haven’t found this fabulous website that is an author version of  IMDB yet? You really have to zip on over there and set up your pages. There is so much going on.  Just what can you expect on this rapidly growing social media site…
Follow and friend your fellow authors. Like their posts, engage with them on a daily basis. Apply for and get that coveted blue check mark – your verification that you are an author to be seen and followed!
You can post status updates, join groups, link your blog to this site and let others see what you’re talking about in regards to your writing. Set up events, brag about your achievements and the badges you’ve received. You can even promote your books here without being told not to do too “buy my book” links.
Enter the annual cover art contest. Remember voting for a friend last year. If you voted for my entry, thank you so much. I received the silver badge for The Case of the Vanishing Girls Wildcat Crew Book 1. The winner’s badge looks fabulous on the cover, don’t you think.
Best of all, you are in a community of authors who know how you feel when the muse goes silent. They’ll cheer on your latest release. You’ll make new friends who understand why you’re up in the wee hours, struggling with a difficult plot point.
Check out AUTHORSdb now and see what’s waiting for you!




About K.C. Sprayberry
Living a dream she’s had since she first discovered the magic of books. K.C. Sprayberry traveled the U.S. and Europe before finally settling in the mountains of Northwest Georgia. She’s been married to her soulmate for nearly a quarter of a century and they enjoy spoiling their grandchildren along with many other activities.
A multi-genre author, K.C. Sprayberry is always on the hunt for new stories. Inspiration strikes at the weirdest times and drives her to grab notebook and pen to jot down her ideas. Those close to her swear nothing or no one is safe if she’s smiling gently in a corner and watching those in the same room interact. Her observations have often her ideas for her next story, set not only in the South but wherever the characters demand they settle.

Find out more about my books at these social media sites:
Facebook  Twitter Website Goodreads Amazon Author Page 
Google + Pinterest Manic Readers AUTHORSdb 
Authorgraph Email

Twitter A-Thon!

Good morning and welcome to Thursday Thoughts. Today, we’re going in a different direction. A good friend of mine, another author, is working with someone she met on Twitter. They have this fabulous idea on how to present their books in a Twitter-A-Thon similar to a television series.
She and a fellow author, Sean R. Frazier, are going to be taking over Twitter on Thursday nights around 6:30 Pacific time, making it 9:30 Eastern time, and the middle of the night over in Europe and the next morning for those on the other side of the international date line. You can join in on the fun by following these great authors @DaughterHauk for Kate and @TheCleftonTwain for Sean, or by looking for the hashtags #finsmagic and #amari for their current episodic developing story. Comment, share, and have tons of fun.


Welcome aboard, Kate. Tell us a little about yourself:
How did you decide to become an author?
I’m an avid gamer, and we’d played in a D&D group for over 2 years. Without warning, our DM (person who runs the game) killed or imprisoned everyone. It didn’t sit well with me, so I wrote a short story to change things. It woke my muse up! I didn’t set out to become an author. Rather, I didn’t want my kids growing up thinking it wasn’t worth taking risks if you find something you love to do. The best way for me to teach them that lesson was for them to see me go through the submission process and deal with rejections.
Do you plot your stories or are you a panster?
Definitely a pantser! LOL. I know where it’s starting, a good idea of the end, and I let the characters and story tell me what comes in between. The road can be straightforward or have twists I didn’t expect.
How do you balance writing and real life?
Very carefully! I tend to push writing to the bottom of my to do list, which means I’ll go weeks without writing. There’s also been times where I’ve gotten into the zone for a good 3 hours and my family’s ordered pizza for dinner. LOL
Tell us about Guarding Charon…
I was working on another story when I woke up and had the entire first chapter of ‘Guarding Charon’ in my head, including dialogue! When the muse talks THAT loud, I listen. LOL. For me, the story was a way to explore a part of mythology that doesn’t get much thought. It was also my first urban fantasy story. Working in a modern-day setting is a lot different than high fantasy. I spent more time doing research to make sure details were right. If I said it took 10 hours to fly from Texas to Maine, for example, readers would know I was wrong and roast me in reviews.
Why did you decide on this type of book?
I didn’t plan to write it. It came to me differently than most of my plots do. I do like the genre, though, and think there’s a number of other stories I could add to the world I created in this one.
How much research do you do before and while you’re writing?
For high fantasy, not much. This one, being urban, required some. Mainly making sure that towns didn’t actually exist in the states I was using, how long it took to fly between locations, travel from a major city to where the town would be, stuff like that. The second book required a little bit more delving into Greek mythology. Oh, and learning how to swear in Latin. LOL. I’m working on the 3rd book, and there’s one chapter I just finished writing that takes place in a specific location. That place took a good month or more to research (and I had 5 tabs open to various websites while I typed).
All authors have a connection to their characters. How do you connect with Grace and Charon?
Grace, at the start, is me trapped in a small town where she really doesn’t fit. Her parents have certain expectations of her, some of which are counter to her own ambitions. As she changes and grows, becoming Amber, it really reflects my own journey to finding out who I was. Not just finding out who I was, but getting the inner confidence to let myself be that person. Charon’s my religious/spiritual self in a lot of ways. There’s a part in all of us that wants to be devoid of emotion and be able to look at things in terms of right or wrong, I think.

What more can we expect from this group of characters? Are there more stories available/coming soon?
The sequel, ‘Guarding Amber’, released back in January. I’m working on the 3rdbook, ‘Guarding William’, now. I know it’ll be done in 2018! But not exactly when. LOL


About KateMarie Collins
Born in the late 60's, KateMarie has lived most of her life in the Pacific NW. While she's always been creative, she didn't turn towards writing until 2008. She found a love for the craft. With the encouragement of her husband and two children, she started submitting her work to publishers. When she's not taking care of her family, KateMarie enjoys attending events for the Society for Creative Anachronism. The SCA has allowed her to combine both a creative nature and love of history. She currently resides with her family and three cats in what she likes to refer to as "Seattle Suburbia".You can find KateMarie at the following sites:
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