Konn Lavery's Blog: Posts from konnlavery.com, page 14

New Patreon Tier

Earlier this year I launched the Patreon page with the continuation of the monthly short stories based within The Macrocosm. A huge thanks to everyone who has supported it so far!

After some questions about the single tier, I am pleased to share the arrival of a lower tier titled: Rock on Konn!

What does the Rock on Konn! tier have?

Enjoy the writing, audiobooks, and transmedia art readily available on my site? Or how about The Macrocosm wiki?

The Rock on Konn! is for those who want to show their support at an easy to do level.
Your buck-fifty will get you the inside scoop of what I’m working on, early access to the author interviews, and extra monthly bonuses as they come. These bonuses can  include deleted chapters, work in progress, and character interviews.

You’ll also get a digital copy of Crusaders, the Mental Damnation prequel story found within the Into the Macrocosm collection.

This lower tier is set at $1.50 CAD a month.

Check out the Patreon!

The post New Patreon Tier appeared first on Konn Lavery.

Author Kathrin Hutson’s new novel, The Spellcast Gate, Accessory to Magic series

Want to read this?
To view this content, you must be a member of Konn's Patreon at $1.50 or more - Click "Read more" to unlock this content at the source

The post Author Kathrin Hutson’s new novel, The Spellcast Gate, Accessory to Magic series appeared first on Konn Lavery.

Lurking For Legends 021

Watch the full episode of Lurking for Legends below where I get to talk about my writing, The Macrocosm, and my design work. Hosts Christie Stratos and Richard H. Stephens ask a range of wonderful questions.

Watch on Facebook

The post Lurking For Legends 021 appeared first on Konn Lavery.

Pump the Brakes!

My horror novel, Rave, is officially released! We had a killer digital launch with a virtual gallery, reading, and music from the novel’s score. I’m incredibly excited to have shared the event with everyone who was able to show up. Rave has been in the works for three and a half years and was one of the most challenging books I’ve written to date. Just before Rave, I had finished up Fire, Pain, & Ruin in audiobook format. Before that, I had finished the Into the Macrocosm audiobook, and a little earlier, the short story collection itself was released in February 2021. That’s A LOT to do in five months. It’s time to pump the brakes.

Welcome to Another Edition of Unprocessed Thoughts

Alberta has had two lockdowns over the winter and spring of 2021. As I’ve mentioned in previous months, I used this as an opportunity to learn how to record audiobooks and finish up some new books. Now, I’ve reached the light at the end of the tunnel! Rave marks the 10th book published, and I am pretty relieved that I can slow down for the summer and enjoy the heat. This doesn’t mean I am done writing. Oh no . . . I have many more things in the works that I hope to share later in the year.

I’ve learned from self-publishing that the process takes a lot of time, commitment, and a budget if you want to do it right. Sure, you can release a book without any edits, with no professional design and no marketing plan just to say it’s done. However, you’re not doing yourself any favours to reach readers if you do not put a solid packaging, presentation, and promo plan in place.

Someone once told me – or maybe I watched it on our YouTube video – that you need about $5000 to launch a self-published book right. That includes everything from editing, design, and marketing. I don’t think I’ve ever quite reached that amount. I have come close with some releases. Making that return can be a bit of a challenge, especially now without conventions. All of the self-publishing does make me appreciate some of the small-press releases I have had. Maybe traditional is a direction for the future? Maybe.

The book signings and cons were my go-to, and I did well enough to come back the following year. In 2020, I had to quickly learn the e-book world that is constantly evolving. Let me tell you, I have learned SO MUCH about the e-book world over the past year, and it has become abundantly clear as to how difficult it is to market online vs in person. The marketplace for e-books is an entirely different beast compared to conventions. There was a lot of work for me to migrate over to this strange new market. There are perks to the e-book marketplace, such as being able to do it from anywhere. You also have access to a much wider audience. The problem is you do have to sell a whole lot more because e-books are drastically cheaper than print copies.

Regardless, I am excited to pump the brakes for the summer. Other aspects of my life may be changing over the next year, and I need to focus on that. I’ve been freelancing for seven years as a graphic designer and web developer. The industries have changed here in Alberta, and so have my clientele base. Time to update the portfolio and think about big-picture life stuff! Like, “why am I here?”

Summer will be a good time to decompress from the weekly and sometimes daily deadlines. Deadlines from clients and producing a weekly audiobook and blog posts brought me pretty close to another burnout. I do plan to cut back on some of the online releases I have been doing. This does include the newsletter. I wasn’t exactly sure what to do with it until now. I’ve decided it won’t be a monthly release. I will only be sending the newsletter out when I have a new release to free my time.

The Unprocessed Thoughts will be where I share most of the writing updates. There is also the Patreon that I will be expanding now that Rave is out. There’s plenty of opportunities to grow there and if you haven’t checked it out, definitely do.

So, keep watch for more writing updates. Do check out my new novel Rave. I’ll be kicking back with a new beer and pumping the brakes from all this publication. Lots for me to think about, and I’m very much looking forward to diving back into the craft of writing and not worry so much about the business side of everything for a few months.

Beer note: Ravens Brewing Co. Smooth Jazz Neilson Pale Ale

For this month, I tried another pale ale. Yes, that is my new preferred type. The beer is exactly as described, smooth. It comes in a four-pack and only sits at a 5.1% alcohol level. The drink didn’t have a bit more of a sting from what I’d smooth. But still, it was far smoother than your average pale ale and quite lovely to drink on a warm summer evening.

The post Pump the Brakes! appeared first on Konn Lavery.

Nature���s Design

Want to read this?
To view this content, you must be a member of Konn's Patreon at $5 or more - Click "Read more" to unlock this content at the source

The post Nature���s Design appeared first on Konn Lavery.

Nature’s Design

Want to read this?
To view this content, you must be a member of Konn's Patreon at $5 or more - Click "Read more" to unlock this content at the source

The post Nature’s Design appeared first on Konn Lavery.

Rave Online Book Launch

MAY 19, 7PM MST
Join me as I launch my new novel, Rave, with an online event covering:
– About the Book
– A Live Reading
– A Virtual Gallery & Novel Score Stream
– Q&A

Sign Up and grab a SIGNED Copy

On May 19… DO NOT go in the woods. [image error][image error]

“Filled with murder, mayhem, and uncanny,
the award-winning Lavery’s unsettling latest takes readers
on a thrilling journey into grit and horror.”
★★★★★ The Prairies Book Review

“Rave is a disturbing and foreboding story
that has all the makings of a new cult-classic.”
★★★★ Indies Today

The post Rave Online Book Launch appeared first on Konn Lavery.

Early Access: Rave Novel Chapter 3

Want to read this?
To view this content, you must be a member of Konn's Patreon - Click "Read more" to unlock this content at the source

The post Early Access: Rave Novel Chapter 3 appeared first on Konn Lavery.

A Talk with Award-Winning Horror Author Jennifer Anne Gordon

We welcome back award-winning horror author Jennifer Anne Gordon to discuss her writing process and upcoming releases. Previously, Jennifer Anne Gordon talked to us in January about The Hotel series finale, When The Sleeping Dead Still Talk, along with the first book, From Daylight to Madness.

She has been quite busy over the few months, and I am thrilled to have her back with the new interview format, which includes an audio portion, allowing us to know Jennifer Anne Gordon a little more.

So, let’s welcome Jennifer to the blog!

Jennifer Anne Gordon, welcome back! You’ve been busy since we last chatted, like being on the cover of The Reader’s House. Tell us, what’s new?

Hey Konn! Thanks for having me back! I was lucky enough to be on the cover of Top Shelf Magazine as well as Reader’s House Magazine, both of these happened in a month! It was very surreal. I have also been busy finishing up final edits for my new release coming this summer (July 13!!). Other than that, my podcast Vox Vomitus as well as co-host duties on Writer’s Showcase have kept me very busy. I also have been in the process of getting the audio books of my three published novels out.

How was the process working on audiobooks? How did you find a narrator?

I used ACX as a service which was so easy and made everything very user friendly. Through that site you can audition narrators! I was lucky that I had one incredible narrator recommended to me (Aaron Smith) and I ended up hiring him for the narration for Beautiful, Frightening, and Silent, as well as for the second book in my Hotel series, When the Sleeping Dead Still Talk.

The Hotel series is complete now. What has been the consensus that readers have given regarding the final book?

I think my favorite review was “this read like 200 pages of pure nightmare. So as a horror author I feel good. Other consensus was that people would like a book about my character Agnes, and though the Hotel series for Francis and Isabelle is “over”, I can see myself at some point doing an Agnes novel.

Last time you mentioned a prequel centring around the antagonist Dr. Hughes, another story focused on Agnes, and a new literary speculative fiction story. Care to share more about your recent writings?

Oh so, yes. I did write and complete my new novel Pretty/Ugly which is hard to stick into a genre. It is literary fiction, with a dash of body horror and speculative/dystopian elements. I am incredibly proud of this novel! It will be released in July 2021!

I have also been dabbling in some creative nonfiction essays as well as a couple short stories.

I am at the moment in the VERY early stages of a new work that is completely different for me. Not horror, but I can’t say anything else about it. My agent, Paula Munier at Talcott Notch, has sworn me to secrecy!

Your background in theatre has helped make your characters believable. How do you transcribe the stage’s creative process into the literary world? Are they similar or quite different?

They feel similar on an emotional level to me. I think I put the same amount of “homework” in for creating a stage character or a character in a book. The main difference I have found with writing as opposed to acting is that a lot of that homework can be shown to the audience, they can read the backstory, feel the emotions, be inside my character’s heads. Being on stage there will always be some disconnect with the audience; they are not feeling your feelings. A good actor can make you feel things but it’s through their lens. In a book a good writer can blur the lines completely between reader and character thought.

Okay . . . writer’s block. Do you think it is a real thing?

No. I think sometimes we can be blocked with a section of what we are writing, but I don’t consider that writers block. Sometimes it just means you are forcing something you are not ready to write, or that you should not be writing. I say look up some random writing prompts and open a blank document and do a quick 14-minute writing sprint. It’s freeing.

[image error]Do you research a lot when coming up with a premise? And how much does research influence where the story goes, if at all?

I did a fair amount of research before I wrote the Hotel series, but I try to do research as I am writing so I don’t get too bogged down. The Hotel was historical, and the island is based on a real place, so I wanted to just get the feel of the island right, and a feel of the way life was in the 1870’s. For my new book Pretty/Ugly, I had to do some medical research and other “science” stuff. That is not my strong suit, so I definitely asked a lot of questions to someone who was much smarter than I was in ways of naming Virus types and understanding how to describe stuff from a hospital worker or paramedic’s point of view.

That being said I am a “pantser” so I think sometimes the research leads to discoveries and that can shape the story in someway. I know a good chuck of Pretty/Ugly takes place in Italy, and it was a place in Italy I have been, but just when I was looking at the train lines and what other possibilities could come from that, it did lead me to some interesting places (terrible pun) for the characters to end up emotionally.

Let’s thank Jennifer Anne Gordon for joining us to talk about her new novel When the Sleeping Dead Still Talk!Jennifer Anne Gordon’s Novels

Website – http://www.JenniferAnneGordon.com

Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Gordon/e/B0854PYTXX?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000

Jennifer Anne Gordon on Social Media

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/JenniferAnne...

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/jennifergen...

Twitter -https://twitter.com/JenniferAnneGo5

Thank you to Creative Edge!https://www.creative-edge.services/

The post A Talk with Award-Winning Horror Author Jennifer Anne Gordon appeared first on Konn Lavery.

Early Access: Rave Novel Chapter 2

Want to read this?
To view this content, you must be a member of Konn's Patreon - Click "Read more" to unlock this content at the source

The post Early Access: Rave Novel Chapter 2 appeared first on Konn Lavery.