C.M. Stunich's Blog, page 18
July 1, 2012
Request Sequel Section
I can write and edit a book in about three weeks. I do it because I love it, because I’m hungry to read my own work (why write something if you, yourself are not slobbering at the bit to get at it), and because I like to make my readers happy. Besides, I find it easier to write in a semi-trance state…weird, I know, but it works for me. It’s like meditation or something. I go to that world and I don’t come back for awhile. If I write over a longer time period, I end up picking things to death and bleeding the magic out of them. So…what the fudge am I getting at? If you want a sequel to ANYTHING for any reason, TELL ME! E-mail me @ author@cmstunich.com OR even better, POST YOUR COMMENTS HERE! This post will be left in the Sequel Request category (see the right side of the page for a drop down menu). This is no guarantee and I do often have several back up projects, but I want you to know that I’m listening. While you’re at it, tell me what you might want to see in the sequel. For example: “Dear C.M., please write a sequel to Made Up Standalone Book 1. I really want to see character X and Y go to the zoo and pet polar bears! Thanks!” While I can’t take every suggestion, I will do my best!
Thanks and best of luck, happy reading!
C.M.
Free Book Giveaway!
Enter to win a free copy of The House of Gray and Graves over at Goodreads!
Today’s Project: The Seven Wicked: Second Final Edits and possibly TSW: Third depending on time …
June 29, 2012
Good News, Great News, Wow News
The House of Gray and Graves
http://www.amazon.com/House-Gray-Grav...
The Seven Wicked: First
http://www.amazon.com/The-Seven-Wicke...
She Lies Twisted
http://www.amazon.com/She-Lies-Twiste...
Hell Inc.
http://www.amazon.com/Hell-Inc-C-M-St...
http://www.amazon.com/Hell-Inc-ebook/...
Yeah baby! Were are rockin’ the Fourth of July pre-week sale! By the fourth, there will be seven of my books in paperback AND eBook format!!!!
Still last minute crunch details need to be worked…Gonna be an all nighter I think…
Today’s Project: The Seven Wicked: Second Edits, Indigo & Iris
June 24, 2012
Overwhelming Odds
Sometimes I get so bogged down in all of the ‘Internet’ stuff. You know: Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, Google +, Blogs, Book Bloggers, ‘Tours’, Giveaways, etc., etc. I just want to write! Well, I suppose I don’t mind doing this, but wow. Sometimes I wonder, will anyone even read my books if I don’t do all of the ‘Internet’ stuff? Maybe. Maybe not. Thank goodness I have Sarian Royal at my back. We might be just a two person operation, but a one person operation has got to be tough. Amanda Hocking must seriously be one of the best multi-taskers in the world. I don’t know how she did it. There’s so much work to be done … Anyway, I suppose all I can do is write the best books I know and hope it all unfolds from there.
Also, She Lies Twisted is done COMPLETELY, both eBook and Paperback. On that note, so are The Seven Wicked: First, The House of Gray and Graves, and Hell Inc. Not too long to go now… Looking forward to seeing you on the other side!
In case you wondering, I haven’t forgotten that I promised my story, the one that made me do this. I want to write a long, drawling sort of a thing, so I’m waiting until all of my backup work is done. Thanks for the patience.
I also realized that I have never posted a picture on this blog and that blogs with pictures are awesome so here are some random shots of my hometown and a kitten that wandered in my back door last week and won’t leave.
June 20, 2012
Spending Days Writing Letters
I went to dinner with a friend last night, and she said to me, “I’m glad you’re doing this, glad you’re making it happen and not sitting there writing letters all day.” (Thanks Rhea!) Anyway, I just want to say that this is what all writers should be doing. We should be spending hours writing books not query letters. I can remember several times where I spent three or four days in a row, eight to ten hours each, working on a single query letter only to get rejected. And I never once, not once, had an agent or publishing house look at my writing. I never got past the query. Never got past a three hundred word blurb that tried to sell my book. But I’m not a salesperson, I’m a writer. I don’t write pitches; I write books. So today I’m sending three novels to the printers for proofs, having my fellow Sarian employee Amanda, finish the eBooks because the Fourth of July is fast approaching and I deliver on my promises. No politicians here, just storytellers, graphic designers, and people who are passionate about reading.
Back to work!
Today’s Projects: Finish HoGaG, finish TSW: First ultra, final, last minute edits, Finish SLT edits.
June 18, 2012
Had, had, had to share this …
One thing I wanted to clarify – my writing speed. I’ve said this before, but I just want to make sure that you, my readers, are confident. I don’t sacrifice quality for speed. I just don’t. I’m just fast. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I have so many books in my head that just need to be written that I can’t help myself. I want to read my own books and since I have to write them first … Well, you get the idea. And I do grammar edit. If you haven’t checked out earlier posts, guess how many times I read through a piece for grammar? Thrice (and this is just for grammar, not content). And I use grammar editing software. Will I miss the occasional misplaced comma? Yes. Will I leave a word out once in awhile? Probably. But I do my best to make sure that quality comes through. The speed of my writing is fueled by my love. I can’t help it. I just write quick and that’s the way it is. Plus, I put in at least eight hours a day, seven days a week.
Wanted to put that out there … No, needed to put that out there. Tomorrow, I think I will blog my story. My full story. Why I’m doing this.
Today’s Project: HoGaG Climax (not sexual, sorry)
June 16, 2012
Don’t get lazy. Don’t get comfortable. Don’t settle.
If I could give any advice – about anything, not just writing – I would recommend you follow the above. Getting comfortable is probably the most dangerous. You think because what you have is okay, that you shouldn’t dare to jump. Jump! Run! Don’t even open your eyes, just go, because if you don’t, time will pass you by, and you’ll be left wondering, “What have I been doing all this time?” Mark the passage of time with events because if you don’t, you’ll have nothing to remember that it ever occurred at all.
An aside … got interrupted in the middle of writing this because the cats brought a bird in the house again! Third one this week, third one I’ve managed to save.
Today’s Project: Final edits for HoGaG (The House of Gray and Graves … I often abbreviate it like that, so if you ever hear me say, “Ho! Gag!” I am so not talking about one of the Kardashian sisters.)
June 13, 2012
One that keeps me going…
“You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.” -Beverly Sills
Today’s Project: Totally random stuff that has to get done.
June 12, 2012
Writer’s Block
I don’t know if I necessarily have writer’s block at this moment, but I am having trouble moving onto the next project. Sometimes, it’s just because I get so embroiled in one that when it’s time to move on, my head is still wrapped in another dimension and filled with the voices of characters past (or maybe I’m schizophrenic, either way … ). Hell Inc. edits are done, and it has been sent to the printer. I am having the proof overnighted so if the files get approved today, I will have it by tomorrow! Yay! The e-book is cooking, and the first chapter download and excerpt are posted.
July 4th crawls closer with each day, and my nerves are stretched, strung tight enough to play like a guitar. If the stress doesn’t get me, the excitement will.
See ya soon!
Today’s Project: Um … Uh … maybe She Lies Twisted final edits or The House of Gray and Graves final edits or … Eck! I can’t choose!
June 9, 2012
Jasmine Tea is the Blood of Life
I’m sipping Peet’s Jasmine Tea(I don’t get commission or anything, just trying to share the love) and wondering how the heck I’m going to pull all of this out in three weeks. I do work best under pressure. If I don’t have a strict timeline, I tend to do things at (as fellow Sarian Royal Employee and cover designer extraordinaire puts it, Amanda) an immortal’s pace i.e. very slowly. Still, my to do list is longer than the fine print on a credit card statement. Don’t worry though, things are still clunkin’ along. TSW: First print and Kindle versions are done. Hell Inc. print will be done today and the Kindle book will be done by Monday.
Indie Publishing is amazing, a rush of life, courage, and determination to do something better, but it is not for the faint of heart. There is a lot of work involved. Still, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Today’s Project: Finish Hell Inc.
