Gwen Gardner's Blog, page 11

Don't Miss These Reads!

Got a special treat for you today. You know it's special when I'm blogging in the middle of the week and it's not even Insecure Writer's Support Group day!

First up, just releasing today, is Angela Brown's FABLE RANGER: SUMMONS. It's a middle grade novel and something new for Angela. If you're familiar with her work, she generally writes young adult. But, you're in for a treat with this new children's book. I had the opportunity to beta read it early on and I knew some publisher was going to jump at it!

It's a mashup where you'll recognize many of the characters from your favorite fairytales growing up.

Check it out!



Take care of what you wish for. You just might get it.
Twelve-year-old Casey doesn’t think life could get anymore unfair. Plans for her special basketball tournament are tossed aside by her sister’s change in wedding plans. She even has to be a bridesmaid now, with all the lace and silk and - oh the horror! All she wants is an escape, but she never imagined she’d be swept away to a world of Mother Goose rhymes, fairy tales, stories of Arabian Nights, and oh, by the way, all but one fairy godmother is kidnapped.
Casey learns she’s been summoned as the Fable Ranger to lead the search and rescue of the missing wish-makers. She also discovers she isn’t the hero they would accept. In the world of fairy tales, damsels are not meant to swoop in to save the day.
Now all Casey wants is to go home, a wish easy to grant if the veil between worlds weren’t on lockdown. Taking fate into her own hands, she embarks on an airship flight to find the phoenix tears that can help open her way home. Her journey would’ve gone as smooth as the perfect layup if it weren’t for that pesky bounty the evil Dovetail placed on her head. Casey refuses to fail knowing it would allow the legends of Arabian Nights to disappear forever and leave her trapped in a world unraveling one fairy tale at a time.

Buy link: Amazon
Author Bio
Born and raised in Little Rock, AR, A.L. Brown now calls Central Texas home. She's a lover of Wild Cherry Pepsi and chocolate/chocolate covered delicious-ness. Steampunk, fantasy, and paranormal to contemporary — mostly young adult — fill her growing library of books. Mother to a rambunctious darling girl aptly nicknamed Chipmunk, her life stays busy. Her favorite quote keeps her moving: “You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

She is the author of the upper young adult paranormal Neverlove and its new adult follow up They All Fall Down of the Shadow Jumpers series, Frailties of the Bond and Atone of the NEO Chronicles: Characters Revealed series, andBeacon, the first action-packed title in the young adult urban fantasy series, Ripped Ties. Her debut MG (middle grade) title is coming soon from Dingbat Publishing: FABLE RANGER: SUMMONS.

You can find her on her blog, Dingbat author page, and Facebook.

Buy link: Amazon

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In the mood for something more suitable for the older crowd? I'm way behind with my TBR pile, but I did get the chance to read the first book in the series, The Rifters, by M. Pax. It was an excellent read, and sort of a mashup of Steampunk, a modern-day old-western town and a bit of sci fi, with some fun, quirky characters to boot.

A really fun read, and I highly recommend it!

Books I and II are free right now, so find the links below.

Check out the latest novel from The Rifters series, The Reader.





With the rift closed for the season and no more monsters to fight, Daelin Long gets bored as librarian in the podunk town of Settler, Oregon. A job interview and her brother’s arrival present a tempting opportunity to escape, until her brother and her best friend, a ghost, disappear.
While Daelin searches for them, more mysteries pile up: dead people coming back to life, portraits of the town founders replaced with strange white trees, and people on the other side of the rift returning. It’s impossible. The portal that allows monsters from other universes to come to Earth is sealed until next summer.
The Rifters, a secret group protecting our world, believe the troubles are nothing more than the tantrums of an offended ghost. Daelin disagrees. If she’s right, the evil hell-bent on destroying Earth has new technology making the rift more deadly.
Before the monster summons the next apocalypse, Daelin must find it and destroy it.
Book 3 in the Rifter series.
Need to catch up? You can read books 1 & 2 in the Rifter series for free by becoming an M. Pax Reader. ENTER MY DIMENSION


Author Bio M. Pax is author of the space adventure series The Backworlds, plus other novels and short stories. Fantasy, science fiction, and the weird beckons  to her, and she blames Oregon, a source of endless inspiration. She docents at Pine Mountain Observatory in the summers as a star guide and has a cat with a crush on Mr. Spock. Learn more at mpaxauthor.com.

Buy links:
Amazon
AmazonUK / AUS / CA / DE / FR / ES / IT / NL / JP / BR / MX / IN
Bookcessories
iBook / Nook / GooglePlay / Kobo / Smashwords / inktera / Scribd

IWSG: First Drafts

Here's my monthly post. Sad that it's always for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Seems a monthly post is all I can handle right now. Ah well, at least I'm writing. Some.
Thanks to Alex Cavanaugh and his co-hosts for putting this on every month. If you're a writer and would like to join, click on the above link.
Here's something I always notice about my WiP: why, oh why, is the first draft always so darn bad? I know, I know. Perfection comes with the editing. I'd never actually claim the perfection part. The final draft is always loads better than the first draft, though.
But you know, back in the day, authors such as Charles Dickens wrote by hand and when you see copies of their manuscripts with some scratching out and words added and such--the original first draft isn't that bad.

How did they do it?


Do your first drafts get better with experience?
Or is it the modern day, quicker process that allows us to zoom on through the first draft only to pick up the pieces in the editing?

IWSG: The Mystery of The Missing Year

The first Insecure Writer's Support Group post of the year (a little early!). Thanks to Alex Cavanaugh and those who help to host this event every month!



I do love a good mystery, but this one is just plain baffling...
What in the world happened to 2015?!
It went missing somewhere around March...
Few traces of its whereabouts are left behind...
It's only trace evidence, but here's what I know for sure: 2015 went on its own merry way and didn't invite me along.  Poof! It was gone, just like that.

I should have completed three novellas. Instead, I did a lot of studying on the best way to structure a novel. Here are the brief results:


Dan Wells' 7-Point Story Structure ( It's simple and straight forward. Each "point" names the required element: Hook, Plot Turn 1, Pinch 1, Midpoint, Plot Turn 2, Pinch 2, and Resolution. Name what each one is, fill in the blanks, then just keep building on it. What I like about this is that it covers every element you need in the novel and tells you where you need to put it.)James Patterson's masterclass outline (Let me just say that James Patterson is the Master Outliner. When you take the class, you receive a copy of his outline for Honeymoon.  I love how detailed the outline is and how he just keeps building and adding to the outline until he nearly has the novel complete by the time he finishes the outline. His classes are on video, each one short, amusing and well-explained. A deal at $99.) Blake Snyder's beat sheet (Snyder is the king of breaking it all down in detail. He's the father of Structure and how to make sure every detail is placed exactly where it needs to be to make the right impression at the right time. It's meant to be for screenplays, but is more than relevant for novel writing. It is a must-read. Having sung its praises, though, I found it too complicated because I had to keep going back to look at examples and finding it all a bit forced for my likings. You know, the square peg being forced into the round hole. Again, though, lots of good information. It really got me to thinking about the necessities of what goes into the structure of a good novel.) Other modified beat sheets (Self explanatory).
What I did accomplish  this year is writing two shiny new outlines:
For my Brother Bart series, I used Dan Wells' 7-Point Story Structure to start, then used it to write a detailed outline. For my Saving Marley series, I used Blake Snyder's beat sheet which I turned into a detailed outline. For me, I know I have to work from an outline. My crappy memory doesn't allow for anything else. I enjoyed using the 7-Point Story Structure more than the Beat Sheet.
The real question is, which one is more successful at helping me to write a novel?
We shall see!

I know this for sure: I'm going to keep a tight rein on 2016 so it doesn't go walkabout like its predecessor!

My 2016 goals? Finish first drafts of both outlines. What are your goals for the new year?

IWSG: The Dreaded, No Good, Very Bad Review

It's Insecure Writer's Support Group day, the final one of the year! No worries, though. It's continuous, just like clockwork, and occurs on the first Wednesday of every month, every year, all year long. If you want to join, go HERE. Thanks to Alex Cavanaugh and this month's co-hosts, Sandra Hoover, Mark Koopmans, Doreen McGettigan, Megan Morgan, and Melodie Campbell! 


Do you have your mediation ears on? Okay, here I go!


I got my first 1-star review on Amazon and it was a bit devastating. It made me doubt myself and my writing abilities. I know I'm not the best writer out there. I'm still a work in progress. But the reviewer was a bit unkind. 
First, she made fun of something I didn't write: 

Let me be clear. The writing is trite...please find a different way to say "right before my very eyes." As opposed to what? My NOT very eyes...my sorta eyes?

She quoted me on "right before my very eyes." I did a search of the final manuscript, even checked every sentence where "eyes" were mentioned, and it wasn't there. Nothing even came close to it. 
Apparently, here is the crux of the problem:

The story is good. I would have been willing to buy a new story had this one actually had an ending. I just hate being manipulated. This story and all others by the author are hereby banished from my kindle.

Even though the writing is "trite" she thought the story was "good" and would have been "willing to buy a new story". So the story wasn't actually that bad, she was just mad about the ending or what she considered the lack of an ending. 

Here's the dealio: I released the Afterlife series in three separate novellas. I tried to give each novella an ending for that particular story, while at the same time letting the reader know that there was more to the story and they'd have to buy the next book to get the full story. Second Death, the first book and the subject of this review is perma-free (so she didn't buy it). 

I sort of get where she's coming from, but I certainly didn't think in terms of "manipulation" when I set up the marketing strategy, i.e. read the first one for free, buy the other two if you're interested. 

I really do want to be fair, though. I want my readers to be happy and of course I always, always, always want to do the right thing. 

So, here are my questions for you:



Is this a bad marketing strategy?

Should I take books II and III down and only sell the series as a whole so that there is an "ending" readily available?

Thanks so much for your help!


What are your insecurities this month?

IWSG: Social Media Marketing Stats

It's Insecure Writer's Support Group day! The first Wednesday of every month is when members of the Group post about our writerly insecurities. If you want to sign up, go HERE. Thank you to Alex Cavanaugh and his co-hosts for making this event happen every month.

Last month I posted about Marketing and what a nightmare it is and how fearful I am of doing it. Well--that hasn't changed. But I did a lot of marketing in October, making one book free and the next two discounted.

I also bought Twitter and Facebook Ads and a lot of you expressed an interest in how it went, so I'll share it here.

Facebook Ad for 2 weeks $5/day budget up to $70.00: 365 new followers. I was able to target a certain age group so now I have some age appropriate followers whereas I had mostly writer friend followers before.

Twitter Ad for 1 month of book (my freebie) promo: Spent $12.00

Twitter Ad for 1 month of follower promo: Spent $22.00 ($2/day budget): 593 new followers

Total Free Books given away: 270

Total Books Sold: 18

RESULT:

Spent $104

New Twitter Followers: 593

New Facebook Followers: 270

I made less than $10 on royalties.

So you can do the math. It didn't do much for me sales-wise but I did pretty well on new followers.

So will the exposure have done anything for me? Being realistic, I doubt it. I'm writing in an in-between age category (tween/teen) that's tough to sell.

Also being realistic, I pulled out of the IWSG Anthology short story contest that I was going to enter. I could have written a story and entered it, but it wouldn't have been my best. Just not enough time for a slow poke like me.

But I'm moving on. I'm working on two outlines (one that I was going to enter in the contest but decided to take more time on it) that are nearly done. One for a novella and one for a novel, both adult. I have high hopes.


I'm just going to keep on writing until I get it right. 
You're going to see new books from me next year!

Have you ever paid for promo? How'd it go?
Entering the IWSG Anthology Contest?
What's your current insecurity?

IWSG: Marketing Mojo

It's Insecure Writer's Support Group day! The first Wednesday of every month is when members of the Group post about our writerly insecurities. If you want to sign up, go HERE. Thank you to Alex Cavanaugh and his co-hosts for making this event happen every month. 
Marketing. Doesn't the word strike fear in your heart? It does mine. If you're an indy author or with a small press then you know the agony of marketing. You're expected to do it yourself. But of course, you can't really do it by yourself. You need help and you have to ask for it. You have to ask bloggers to host you and share your books. It's a lot of social media. Blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Wattpad.

That's why I've done virtually no marketing of my books this year. The push and the grind of trying to get sales is stressful. I just didn't want to do it. Blogging has been part of that push and grind for me too. So I took a break.

But, well, I really want to be a writer. A successful writer. So I'm starting to come back around. I'm getting those stirrings where I'm sort of caring again. About writing and even marketing. And maybe when I really get back into the writing (I've only been outlining) I'll care about blogging again and sharing what I'm working on.

So--since I write paranormal and this is October, the most paranormal month of the year, I went out on a limb and took things in hand a bit. I made Second Death free (which wasn't easy, but I'm pretty sure it was the hour I sat at my laptop pasting in the free link from B&N at Amazon so they'd price match) and put books II & III on sale. AND , I'm doing Facebook and Twitter sponsored ads. We'll see how it goes *shrugs*

OH! And I decided to be a real author and start a NEWSLETTER . It'd be awesome if you subscribed up at the top in the sidebar--and receive a free book (See? I've got marketing mojo!).

And...I'm thinking about writing a short story for the A-Z Anthology contest. Not that I'll win, not with all the other awesome authors and submissions, but I think it will be a good experience for me.

How are your marketing skills?
Have you even run ads?
How do you promote your books?

First Impressions and a Revealing Day

   Despite the old saying to the contrary, everyone knows you really CAN judge a book by its cover. I'm nearly always attracted by a cover first. Of course I have to like the blurb about the content, but the cover is the first impression. AND,  I am very impressed with these two covers! Check them out...      Coming soon! From Amazon bestselling and popular science fiction and fantasy authors comes Mayhem in the Air, a supernatural anthology of ten thrilling tales. Meet hot robots, hungry winds and the goddess of chaos. Explore alien planets, purgatorial realms, and a shocking place where people bury the living with their dead.  Mayhem in the Air is the second, long-awaited story collection from the dynamic and inventive Untethered Realms group.    
 
Stephen Tremp writes speculative fiction and his fourth novel, Salem’s Daughters, is a supernatural thriller. A four hundred year old evil is unleashed when souls of the daughters of those killed during the Salem Witch Trials find a new generation of people to murder at a popular modern-day bed and breakfast. For a full synopsis and to pre-order a copy of Salem’s Daughters for $2.99 (price goes up to $4.99 soon after release) Click Here.

 Are you ready for some Mayhem? How about a little witchy business, hmmm? 

IWSG: Someday Minus The Snort Factor

It's the first Wednesday of the month which coincides with the Insecure Writer's Support Group day, and my monthly post. Thanks to Alex Cavanaugh and this month's co-hosts for all the work they do on our behalf. Stop by their blogs and say hello to Alex Cavanaugh,  Heather M. Gardner,  Christine Rains, Dolorah at Book Lover,  Julie Flanders  and Murees Dupé if you get a chance.

Since I have nothing new to say about my writing insecurities, I thought I'd share about my hopes and plans. I've been working on an outline for a new book/series. It's taking a loooong time. Strangely, I'm okay with that. I want it to be right. 

But I am still really excited to get started on the writing part!

I'm hoping that once I start the writing that I can share bits and pieces of it with graphics here on my blog and on Twitter and Facebook. Maybe build up some interest in the book while it's still in the writing process. And, you know, sort of act like I'm catering to those avid readers who can't wait for my next book to come out. *snort* Someday I hope to say that without snorting.

But mostly I want to enjoy the whole process without feeling the pressure to publish and just take my time to make sure the writing and story is as good as I'm capable of producing.

I might even try to blog once per week instead of once per month!


What are your hopes and plans?   Any particular insecurity this month?

IWSG: Self Doubt

  It's the first Wednesday of August and time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. If you'd like to find out more about it or want to sign up go HERE. Thanks to Alex Cavanaugh and the wonderful members of the community who volunteer to make this event happen every month. This month the volunteers are Nancy Gideon, Bob R Milne, Doreen McGettigan, Chrys Fey, Bish Denham, and Pat Garcia! Stop by to say "hey" if you get a chance.

I've taken a huge step back this year and have written very little. I wrote a short story for the anthology with my Untethered Realms group which is a prequel to the series I'm planning. I've written two chapters for novel #1 in the series to get a feel for how it will go and am maybe halfway through with the outline.

I've always written from an outline, but...

After taking James Patterson's Masterclass and paying close attention to the section on outlines and receiving his actual outline (eeep!) for his novel, Honeymoon, I'm trying to follow his model by making my outline more detailed. Patterson's outlines are numbered and each one is a chapter/section. His method focuses on story, and each section is like a movie scene. Just tell the story. Go back and fill in the blanks. Keep fleshing it out, then get rid of anything that doesn't move the story forward. Put in some twists. By the time you're done, the story is set and all you have to do is write it. His method, to me, is more straight forward and less mechanical than other craft books I've read.

So--I'm hoping to write a better novel than I've ever written before!
But I'm riddled with self doubt!  Yikes!  What are you working on?

Ghost of Death *shivers* and IWSG

You all know how I love my ghosties, so I'm thrilled to have Chrys Fey here today with a guest post in celebration of her new release, Ghost of Death!

It's also (almost) Insecure Writer's Support Group Day so I'm going to combine the two. Gotta have some good stuff (Chrys's new release) along with my same old insecurities!

My last few posts for the IWSG have been about the lack of time, the stress of not writing, and lots of studying of the craft. And so nothing has changed. It's a slowing down and learning year for me. I've given myself permission. Right now I'm taking the James Patterson Master Class (we received a copy of his outline of Honeymoon! Eeep! It's 27 pages long and I can't wait to dig in.)

But moving on...

For more information on the Insecure Writer's Support Group, click on the link.

 Ever give yourself permission to take a step back? How's your writing going? *** And now on to the best part of this post, Chrys Fey!

I love to watch ghost movies, specifically ones about real ghosts...not poltergeists or evil entities. Real ghosts are the kind of ghosts I also like to write about, like Jolie Montgomery in Ghost of Death, my newest short story. For fun, I am sharing my top ten favorite ghosts from fiction.
My Top Ten Favorite Ghosts:1. Casper2. The Grey Lady (Harry Potter)3. The Ghosts from A Christmas Carol (Past, Present, and Future)4. Sam Wheat (Ghost)5. Susie Q (Played by Amy Jo Johnson)6. Penny Halliwell (Charmed)7. Barbara Maitland (Beetlejuice)8. Ellen Rimbauer (Rose Red)9. Samara Morgan (The Ring 1 + 2)10. Bloody Mary

QUESTION: Do you have a favorite ghost?
 Title: Ghost of DeathAuthor: Chrys FeyGenre: Supernatural/SuspenseFormat: eBook Only
Page Count: 41 (short story)Release Date: April 22nd, 2015Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Blurb:
Jolie Montgomery, a twenty-one-year-old woman, wakes up in an alley next to her corpse. She has no memories of her murder or the night she died. She didn’t even see the killer’s face before he or she took her life. Wanting justice, Jolie seeks answers in the only way a ghost can...by stalking the lead detective on the case.
Avrianna Heavenborn is determined to find the person responsible for a young woman’s death. She gets closer to the killer’s identity with every clue she uncovers, and Jolie is with her every step of the way.
But if they don’t solve her murder soon, Jolie will be an earth-bound spirit forever.


Book Links:Amazon US / Amazon UK / The Wild Rose Press / NOOK / KOBO


Excerpt:
            With the sound of her mom’s grief wafting up to her, Jolie came to terms with her present state. I’m dead and now my mom knows it. She eyed the door in front of her. She hadn’t yet walked through a door, but if her hand could pass through metal then she knew she could move through wood.      If I have to be a ghost then I’ll be a damn good one. All across the afterlife I’ll be known as the Ghost of Death! And I’m going to start by walking through this damn door!            She would’ve taken a deep breath to brace herself if she could have, so she mentally pumped herself up instead. You can do it! Easy-peasy. Nothing to it. And she took a step forward. Solid matter slipped around and through her form. On the other side, a familiar site confronted her: a black and white bed, the bright green shag carpet in the middle of the room, and a white desk.             Stepping up to her desk, Jolie eyed her ancient desktop computer, the one she used before her dad gifted her with a laptop when she announced she was accepted to the local university. Wanting to send out the first ever tweet from the afterlife, she pushed the button to bring the device to life, but her finger poker straight through it. Resigning to her Twitter-less fate, she moved toward the full-length mirror hanging on the wall. She saw nothing. Not even a shimmer in the air hinted at her presence.             Being a ghost sucks!

Also Available:

Blurb:
Detective Reid Sanders doesn’t believe in the supernatural, but when he’s faced with a crime scene that defies the laws of nature, he has no other choice but to start believing. And solving a magical murder involves working with a witch.
Liberty Sawyer embodies the look of your classic evil witch, so, it’s no surprise when she uncovers the murderer is a witch that she becomes Reid’s number one suspect. If she can’t convince him otherwise, more people could lose their lives to dark magic, including her.
Book Links:Amazon US / Amazon UK / The Wild Rose Press / NOOK/ KOBO


BIO:
Chrys Fey is the author of Hurricane Crimes and 30 Seconds. She is currently working on the sequel to Hurricane Crimes that’ll serve as book two in the Disaster Crimes series.
When Fey was six years old, she realized her dream of being a writer by watching her mother pursue publication. At the age of twelve, she started writing her first novel, which flourished into a series she later rewrote at seventeen. Fey lives in Florida where she is waiting for the next hurricane to come her way.
You can connect with her on Facebook and her blog, Write with Fey. She loves to get to know her readers! 


Author Links: Facebook / Blog / Website / Goodreads

Thank you all for visiting and hopefully commenting. ;)