Katie Hamstead's Blog, page 65

Cover Reveal: Withering Hope by Layla Hagen

Title: Withering HopeGenre: Contemporary RomancePublishing Date: January 19 2015

Blurb for Withering Hope:Aimee’s wedding is supposed to turn out perfect. Her dress, her fiancé, and the location—the idyllic holiday ranch in Brazil—are perfect. 

But all Aimee’s plans come crashing down when the private jet that’s taking her from the U.S. to the ranch—where her fiancé awaits—defects mid-flight and the pilot is forced to perform an emergency landing in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. 

With no way to reach civilization, being rescued is Aimee and Tristan’s—the pilot—only hope. A slim one that slowly withers away, desperation taking its place. Because death wanders in the jungle under many forms: starvation, diseases. Beasts. 
As Aimee and Tristan fight to find ways to survive, they grow closer. Together they discover that facing old, inner agonies carved by painful pasts takes just as much courage, if not even more, than facing the rainforest. 

Despite her devotion to her fiancé, Aimee can’t hide her feelings for Tristan—the man for whom she’s slowly becoming everything. You can hide many things in the rainforest. But not lies. Or love.

Withering Hope is the story of a man who desperately needs forgiveness and the woman who brings him hope. It is a story in which hope births wings and blooms into a love that is as beautiful and intense as it is forbidden.

Dear readers, if you are interested in an arc (advance reader copy) of Withering Hope, please fill out this form. Also, feel free to enter the rafflecopter below for a chance to win a $15 GC or an arc of Withering Hope. Keep in mind that arcs will only be available at the end of November
Other books by Layla HagenLost Series·        Prequel Novella (Lost): FREE: http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Layla-Hagen-ebook/dp/B00IWD65I8/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1402565157&sr=1-1&keywords=layla+hagen+lost ·        Lost in Us: http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Us-Layla-Hagen-ebook/dp/B00IFEMIG2/ref=la_B00IFMJ7PY_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1402565099&sr=1-1 ·        Found in Us: http://www.amazon.com/Found-Us-Lost-Layla-Hagen-ebook/dp/B00M2F2F7C/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1413923502&sr=1-5&keywords=found+in+us

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Operation Chimera, by Matthew Cox and Tony Healey Blog Tour

Date of Publication:October 20, 2014.
Cover Artist: Ricky Gunawan (http://ricky-gunawan.daportfolio.com/)
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22590305-operation-chimera
Description:
Generations of war with the savage Draxx have left humanity desperate for a way to gain the upper hand.
A chance to turn the tide in their favor is all legendary Captain Nicholas Driscoll needs to hear to lead an expedition behind enemy lines to the Chimera Nebula - a region of space so unstable it remains largely uncharted.
Lieutenant Michael Summers sees an opportunity to matter, a chance to let future generations exist in a universe without constant war. He and other brave young cadets join the Manhattan for its first dangerous mission - to penetrate the Chimera Nebula and discover what it is the Draxx are doing in there.
But first the ship and her crew will be tested by enemies both outside and within…
Excerpt:
Chapter 2Captain Nicholas Driscoll was accustomed to the looks as he strode toward the airlock that would take him from Horizon Station to the Manhattan.He was more than familiar with the ship's design, but to see her with his own eyes―beyond the viewports, awaiting his arrival―was something else entirely. From the observation level of the station, where a half hour before he'd sat and had coffee, it had seemed impossibly large. However, the size was more a necessity than an act of showmanship on the part of the designers. The Manhattan was big because it had to be. Driscoll had never heard of a Terran Union ship carrying such a variety of starfighters before, nor in such quantity.Indeed, the Manhattan was a self-contained fleet.Driscoll approached the security desk but, as was so often the case, didn't need to introduce himself. As he pressed his palm against an ident scanner and waited for the Milsec security personnel to clear him for entrance to the Manhattan, he couldn't help but remember how he had thought his previous command―an Archon class called the Sonata―was impressively large. Next to the Manhattan, it paled in comparison. At the time, she'd been the biggest ship he had ever commanded. But now…“You're clear for entry,” the Milsec guard told him. “Welcome aboard the Manhattan, Captain Driscoll.”Driscoll nodded curtly and stepped through the decontamination jets. The torrent of ionized air buffeted him from all sides like a tingly mist till he set foot on the Manhattan's deck.Commander Robin Teague stood there waiting for him already, hands clasped behind her back.“Captain,” she said, and snapped to attention. “Welcome to the Manhattan.”Driscoll returned her salute, glanced left and right. Men and women hurried this way and that. Unlike station side, they barely noticed him there with his carryall. This was how he preferred it. Away from the pomp and protocol, he was just a man leading others. That was all. But given his exploits in the past, people outside of a ship environment treated him as something different―a celebrity.He hated it. “At ease, Commander.”“Yes, sir,” she said, almost embarrassed.“Walk with me.” He hefted his carryall and headed left. “See if I remember where they stuck my quarters.”“I believe we're headed the correct way, sir,” Commander Teague said as she fell in step with him.“Is everything on schedule, Commander?”“Yes, Captain. We're on target to depart within the hour,” Teague said. “Those were your orders, sir?”Driscoll nodded once. “Yes. Any problems I should know about? Anything come up in the last couple of hours?”“No, not at present,” Teague said. “Prep's gone well. Though I dare say there'll be a few hiccups, there always is.”Now Driscoll gave her an appreciative look. “I like that, Commander. It tells me you’re thinking ahead and know we'll have issues later. It's a given. I also like that you're not trying to blow smoke up my ass and feed me a load of bull. Keep it up. Tell me how it is. On the level.”“Yes, sir.”The Captain walked with determination, never breaking his stride. Crewmen and women swerved to avoid them as Commanding Officer and Executive Officer made their way toward the fore of the ship. Eventually they would be forced to take the elevator, but Driscoll seemed intent on covering as much deck by foot as he was able. The crew, for their part, paid little attention to who they were. They simply caught sight of the uniforms and made room.

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About Matthew Cox:
Born in a little town known as South Amboy NJ in 1973, Matthew has been creating science fiction and fantasy worlds for most of his reasoning life. Somewhere between fifteen to eighteen of them spent developing the world in which Division Zero, Virtual Immortality, and The Awakened Series take place. He has several other projects in the works as well as a collaborative science fiction endeavor with author Tony Healey.
Hobbies and Interests: Matthew is an avid gamer, a recovered WoW addict, Gamemaster for two custom systems (Chronicles of Eldrinaath [Fantasy] and Divergent Fates [Sci Fi], and a fan of anime, British humour (<- deliberate), and intellectual science fiction that questions the nature of reality, life, and what happens after it. He is also fond of cats.Find Matthew Cox Online:Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads 
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About Tony Healey: Tony Healey is a best-selling independent author. Born in 1985, he has lived his entire life in the city of Brighton, UK.In 2011, he found his fiction published alongside Harlan Ellison and Alan Dean Foster. A year later, his sci-fi serial FAR FROM HOME became a best-selling sensation, followed by similarly successful sequels. Since then he has collaborated with authors Bernard Schaffer, Matthew Cox and William Vitka on various projects. He has also had work published by Curiosity Quills Press. He is married and has three daughters.For the latest on Tony's various projects, visit his site www.tonyhealey.comFind Tony Healey Online:Website | Facebook  | Twitter  | Goodreads

Review: Unrequited by Emily Shaffer

From Goodreads: In the town of Belle Ridge there are doctors, lawyers and teachers... but there is only one vampire. Will Leighton has become an expert in making a life for himself amongst the unsuspecting small-town inhabitants, as the high school history teacher. He has spent hundreds of years crafting an identity and routine that make him feel almost human, but he is always missing that important final element, love.

Ashton Wallace is beautiful, smart, and angry. She was forced into an eternal existence, and now her family has moved her away from everything and everyone she knows. In Belle Ridge she is supposed to finish high school and start her life again, but how do you make plans for the next several centuries?

Will has never met another of his kind, and is immediately intrigued by Ashton. He longs to show her that the perceived vampire lifestyle, so popular in storybooks, is far from reality...but will she let him be a friend and guide in this new existence? Can Ashton accept Will into her life, or will she be led astray by a dark stranger with whom she shares an unknown connection?

My thoughts:
I just couldn't get into this one. The writing was heavy and made the momentum of the book drag, and the characters were kind of bland. With a mounting TBR pile, I just couldn't find the motivation to finish this.

DNF.

Curse of the Granville Fortune by Kelly Hashway blog tour: Creating Sympathetic Characters

When I got the idea for Curse of the Granville Fortune I had a vision of a young boy in my head. On the outside, he was your typical nine-year-old boy. You wouldn’t know the torment he endures—unless of course you witnessed one of his mind-numbing visions that makes him shake and sweat uncontrollably. Jack “J.B.” Beaumonte is afraid he’s going crazy. Ever since he was four years old, he’s struggled to keep his secret from the world. The hardest part is not letting his own family find out about the visions. In short, he feels like a freak. He doesn’t know why he’s different or what’s actually happening to him. I fell in love with poor J.B. because I wanted to help him and tell him he’s not a freak.What’s really wrong with J.B. is that he’s cursed. And he’s not the only one—though he’s felt that way for five years. J.B.’s entire family is cursed, only it affects each family member in a slightly different way. The curse preys on a person’s biggest fear. For J.B., that’s being different. Not just different though. He’s afraid of losing his mind. Why? Well, J.B. has always been good at figuring things out. Got a puzzle you can’t solve? J.B. can probably help. But lately, his visions are getting worse and he’s afraid he really is going crazy.My hope is that readers will feel for J.B. the way that I do. J.B.’s biggest concern isn’t saving himself from the curse. It’s saving his family. Even though he’s enduring physical and psychological pain, he wants to protect those he loves. I couldn’t help but root for him throughout the book. To me, he’s a character you can sympathize with and cheer on.
It’s tough to balance a character’s strengths and weaknesses at times, especially when they overlap like J.B.’s. But I think that balance is what makes J.B. so likable.


ABOUT CURSE OF THE GRANVILLE FORTUNE:
Title: Curse of the Granville Fortune (Granville Fortune #1)Publication Date:  October 21, 2014Publisher:  Tantrum BooksAuthor: Kelly Hashway
Find the fortune, break the curse!
The hunt is on for an ancient treasure tied to nine-year-old J.B.’s family history. He’s been having visions that make him sweaty, lightheaded, and certain he’s turning into some kind of freak—or worse, going insane. But things are worse than he imagined. The visions stem from a family curse. An ancient ancestor was accused of stealing the massive Granville fortune, and now J.B.’s entirely family will suffer.
To break the curse, J.B. must find and return the Granville’s stolen property. But he’s not the only one searching for the treasure. As he sets out on his journey through a dark and foreboding forest, he’ll battle his worst fears and fight terrifying creatures along the way. And when he meets two others who share the missing pieces of his visions and suffer from the same curse, the three soon realize they need to work together to break the curse before it’s too late.

Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Chapters Indigo! | TBD | iBooks


ABOUT KELLY HASHWAY:  
Kelly Hashway grew up reading R.L. Stein’s Fear Street novels and writing stories of her own, so it was no surprise to her family when she majored in English and later obtained a masters degree in English Secondary Education from East Stroudsburg University. After teaching middle school language arts for seven years, Hashway went back to school and focused specifically on writing. She is now the author of three young adult series, one middle grade series, and several picture books. She also writes contemporary romance under the pen name Ashelyn Drake. When she isn’t writing, Hashway works as a freelance editor for small presses as well as for her own list of clients. In her spare time, she enjoys running, traveling, and volunteering with the PTO. Hashway currently resides in Pennsylvania with her husband, daughter, and two pets.
Author Links:  Website  | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreadsa Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal: Uncross the Stars by Janell Rhiannon

Publication date: TBA

Synopsis:
Fiona Lavender is the new girl at school. She has a chip on her shoulder and a pension for poetry. Dario Martinez is the star quarterback, and the most unattainable guy on campus. Their stars cross when they are paired to study Romeo and Juliet for a senior English project. Their connection is fragile and undeniable. But, Dario is afraid of what love will do; and Fiona is waiting for love to claim her.
Will they uncross the stars and find the love they both need to heal their pasts?


Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23303079-uncross-the-stars

AUTHOR BIO:
Janell has been writing since she was in grade school. In high school, her 9th grade English teacher suggested she consider a career in writing. After a decade in college and a Master's degree in history, she settled into teaching.

Writing never stopped. Stories never stopped. READING fiction never stopped. Now, she writes and publishes on-line. Invisible Wings is her first YA novel, a compilation of short stories centered on teenage life triumphs and tragedies. She believes being a teenager is difficult and wrote Invisible Wings to let teens know they aren't alone. That they matter. That even though life is rough, they can still find beauty and love.

Beside the YA stories close to her heart, she adores Mythology and Fairy tales. Anything magical and mystical. And dragons. And gargoyles.

She currently lives in CA.

Visit her at Facebook @Janell Rhiannon Author. If you want to see what projects are in the works or find out more about the her, visit
Author links:http://www.janellrhiannon.com/https://twitter.com/theravenangelhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Janell-Rhiannon/1540075102889479?ref=hlhttps://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5414689.Janell_Rhiannon

Fall Into Fantasy Week #9

Welcome to the Fall Into Fantasy Tour, where we are keeping your mind off any end-of-summer blues and welcoming the cooler weather by introducing you to some incredible fantasy reads to curl up with and giving you plenty of chances to win awesome prizes!

Week 9: Salvation by James Wymore


 A man wakes on a frozen battlefield when a scavenging couple finds him among the dead. As they nurse him back to health, he is struck with the horrible realization he can’t remember who he is or anything about his past. Taken in by the kind pair, he begins helping with their farm. She even takes him to meet her family, especially her single sister. The ideal life offered in the high mountains of Winigh is shattered when he sees a transport bringing enemy monsters to the shores below. Cut off by high snow on the pass, their fate will soon be the same as the town his company failed to protect in the last battle, if this estranged soldier cannot help them fight off the next wave of invaders. Even worse, the people of the town don’t trust this Selene soldier. He has a strange resistance to their folk magic which some say make him as dangerous as the enemies preparing to destroy them.
Buy it from: Amazon  Barnes & Noble  KoboOr add it to Goodreads






ABOUT JAMES WYMORE
On a lifelong search for fantastic worlds hiding just out of sight, James Wymore writes to explore. With three books and six short stories in print after just one year, he continues to push the boundaries of imagination. Journey with him at http://jameswymore.wordpress.com
Find James online: Website & Blog  Facebook  Twitter

Want to get involved with the Fall Into Fantasy promotional tour?
Don't forget to join us at the Facebook party here! If you are interested in joining up as a blogger, you can always sign up here. We are happy to welcome more bloggers into the fold as the promotion continues. If you are an author or blogger and want to sign up to help with the party, please fill out this form.a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal: Altar of Reality by Mara Valderran

Today is the cover reveal for Altar of Reality, the first book from Shifted Realities--a brand new series by Mara Valderran. This YA dystopian is set to be released January 31st, 2015 by Curiosity Quills Press. Mark your calendars, and be sure to add the book to your Goodreads list! Want to stay up to date on all things Altar of Reality? Sign up for Mara's newsletter so you don't miss a thing!

And now...the moment Mara's we've all been waiting for...


When sixteen-year-old Madeline suffers her first grand mal seizure, she finds herself in an unfamiliar reality, surrounded by strangers wearing familiar faces. Her best friend, Brandon, tells her that the world has fallen to chaos, the aftermath of World War III ten years ago. Madeline doesn’t remember anything from this life— especially not the explosion four years ago that killed her parents and landed her in a coma, or the Lord Commander; a zealot leader of the Southern Territories now searching for her.

Madeline barely has time to process everything before waking up to the life she’s always known. As soon as she dismisses it all as a strange and vivid dream, she finds herself back there once more. Unsure if she’s truly caught in the middle of a brewing rebellion, or teetering on the brink of insanity, she finds herself flipping between the two lives. Her heart becomes torn between two versions of the same boy and the lines between her realities begin to blur as she struggles to save her lives in both worlds.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Mara Valderran is an author of young adult and new adult books, but she's more than just a madwoman with a writing box. She is an avid reader and fan of all things sci-fi and fantasy. She loves roller skating and movies, though typically not together. She lives in Las Vegas with her husband and demanding cat. She hopes to one day meet Daniel Jackson from SG1, or at least the actor who played him. When she’s not writing, you can find her reading, playing video games, or counting down the days until DragonCon.

Find Mara Online: Website & Blog  Twitter  Facebook  Google+  Goodreads  Amazon
Be sure to check out the Heirs of War, Crown of Flames blog tour going on right now! There are excerpts, interviews, a giveaway, and more. You can find the tour calendar here.

For the Love of Historicals!

Originally from Aussie Owned and Read...
I love, love, love, love love, love, love historical fiction. Yes, I am weird and a closet nerd. I'm coming out, just for you. For as long as I can remember I've devoured books with historical settings, and with the last book in my NA Historical Romance, the Kiya trilogy, now available I want to talk about History! I read the Horrible Histories books as a middle grade reader.In high school, I read a book about a Native American girl who wanted to prove herself a mighty warrior and great leader for her tribe. I also read a novel about a convict girl in Australia and how she managed to make a better life for herself.... I just wish I'd paid more attention to what they were called!Religious historical novels I've read are the entire Work and the Glory series, and Orson Scott Card's Women of Genesis.I've read books on WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War. I've read about the Tutors, the Gregorian era, Victorian era, King Arthur.I have a myriad on non-fiction books covering ancient civilizations from the western and eastern hemispheres. My parents took me to see the Terracotta Soldiers, and Mummies on exhibit in Sydney as a treat.Now I'm rambling.
The point is; I love history.

Now I'm fully aware how dry historical fiction can be. It can also be daunting if you have no prior understanding of the setting. That is where carefully selecting what you read is important. One of my favorite historical reads is The Sword of Attila. Okay, yes, it's not exactly a light read, but I found it fascinating watching the Roman Empire clash with that of the Huns. I lean toward ancient history, so it worked for me. A historical I read recently that I enjoyed is Echoes of Dark and Light. It's a story set during the American civil war, with a great heroine and a fantastic love interest.I believe history can teach us so much about ourselves and how to be better. Historical fiction can make these lessons entertaining, and bury into our hearts the lessons they have to teach without forcing it down our throats. History is where we have come from, and learning about our past can make our future better. Historical Fiction is amazing if you take the time to "get it".

God’s Play by H.D. Lynn Blog Tour: 5 Things I learned writing God’s Play

Date of Release­­:September 18, 2014Cover Artist: Alexandria Thompson
Goodreads
The review tour is scheduled for 10.06.14 - 10.17.14; excluding weekends. If you’re interested in participating, please sign up here: https://docs.google.com/a/curiosityquills.com/forms/d/1OBMbZ056k5CYHdtmuilpWkMY85cdL1U9iWVYHz_SOro/viewform
Description:  Sixteen-year old Toby was trained by a family of hunters to kill shape-shifters — but he has a unique weapon in his arsenal. With a touch of his hand, Toby can lift the magical protection shape-shifters use to disguise themselves as human. It’s an unusual skill for a hunter, and he prefers to kill monsters the old-fashioned way: with a blade.Because of his special skill, Toby suspects he may be a monster himself. His suspicions deepen when William, a jackal-headed shape-shifter, saves him from an ambush where Toby’s the only survivor. And Toby doubts William helped him for purely altruistic reasons. With his list of allies running thin, Toby must reconcile his hatred of shifters and the damning truth that one saved his life. It’ll take both of them to track down the monster who ordered the ambush.And Toby needs his unlikely alley because he has a vicious enemy — the infamous Circe, who has a vendetta to settle against the hunters. Toby has to unravel the mystery of his dual nature. And he has to do it on the run — before Circe finds him and twists him to her own ends.
5 Things I learned writing God’s PlayBy H.D. Lynn1.     No one can teach you your voice.I started writing when I was six (books about talking horses if you must know). One thing about six year olds you notice is that they do things (pick their nose, play in the sand, color on walls) because they find them interesting enough to capture their short attention spans. I made picture books because I liked reading picture books. No one was teaching me how to do that.
To put your mind at ease, I’ll let you know that God’s Play is not a picture book about talking horses. It does have one thing in common: no one taught me how to write those characters. I didn’t take a class on how to write Toby’s POV. There’s no Ph.D. in storytelling because humans have been telling stories to each other probably as long as our brains have been capable of doing so. After inventing the alphabet, humans literally started writing fiction.
My point is, if you can read and write, you can tell a story.
But a good story?Yeah, that’s the question I know you’ve asked yourself because I ask myself that same question all the time, too. Is it good? That’s a bit subjective, but part of good storytelling comes from practice. You’ve just got to go for it and tell yourself as many stories as possible. Silly stories. Sad stories. Salubrious stories. Anything, really, to get an idea of what you—yes, you—want to say.
2.     But you can certainly learn everything else.Horses to God’s Play happened because I went to school. That’s the simple part that would’ve been staggeringly difficult if I was born in a different time or even a different place. A good, basic education in writing coherently is something valuable, and I really did learn most of what I needed to write when I was young (start humming The Killers here). I learned how to grammar and (kind of) spell. I read a lot, so I learned some little tricks they don’t teach in 7thgrade English. (I had a very good 7th grade English teacher, so I learned plenty there, too.) The greatest leap in my writing style came fairly recently, though, after taking style, rhetoric, and editing classes. Thinking like an editor helped me organize what I was writing and kept me on track during early drafts.
Then, there’s this mysterious business of publishing. The Age of the Internet is upon us, and that makes finding just about anything you want to know possible. There are a lotof writers online, and if you’re reading this, you might be a writer, too. There’s nothing particularly anomalous about how God’s Play got published. I wasn’t taping rejection letters to my wall (most agents and publishers only accept emails anyway), and I didn’t come anywhere close to making this list. I did keep an excel spread sheet of everyone I’d ever sent a query to with some basic contact info and what I’d sent them; this simple system carried over for full requests as well. This is the ‘one page outline’ of organization strategies, both of which were essential to getting God’s Play written and published.
That’s right: the internet, a typing program, a non-embarrassing email address, one front and back page of notebook paper, and an excel spreadsheet. That’s what you minimally need to write and submit a book.
3.     Check your ego.I did leave one thing out of my ingredients list: other people! That’s because the other people involved in getting a book to publication can be anywhere from one to legions (if you count people funding Kickstarter projects). The standard Starter Pack usually includes some combination of beta readers, critique partners, agent, editor(s), cover artist, and marketer(s)/publicist(s). These people were vital in getting this book published, and I’m appreciative of everything they’ve done for me.
But there were times when I did not want to hear (or mostly read) what they were saying.
I love God’s Play—the story, the characters, it is mine. Mine, I tell you! But parts of it also belong to the people who helped me write this book, and this never would’ve happened if I didn’t have these people in my corner. So I sacked up and made revisions; deadlines weren’t phantoms haunting me from my Ethernet cables. Ego wants to make you feel good all the time. It’s your own little cheerleader, but there are times when this book needed tough love, so ego got benched.
4.     Schedules and rituals can be your friend and your enemy.A lot of authors have writing rituals. A favorite coffee shop, a special desk, a magical jig, a lucky desk troll—you get the idea. I’m pretty ritual free, and that’s been a bit of a curse for me, especially during that nebulous time called ‘the weekend.’ I can just stay in bed all day! This is when I do go to aforementioned favorite coffee shop and do my magical jig (they haven’t kicked me out…yet).
That said, I’ve often felt hamstringed by rituals. They’re for, like, adults and serious people. A story needs room to breathe. God’s Play started out under a different title; the story was supposed to be novella length. It was a radically different book, and about 40,000 words in, I knew it was going to be a different story than I’d originally thought. So there was rewriting and outlining…and then the story sat. For months. (That’s like writing negative words and losing NaNo.) Then, one a snowy weekend, I sat down and finished the book (35,000 words) in three days. Later drafts made it a bit longer, but that’s how the initial rough draft got completed. It was insane, but it worked for this novel—for me. So don’t get hung up on your 1,653 words a day—just write. Or don’t.
5.     You better be having a blast.I had a great time writing God’s Play. Seriously, divide 35,000 by 3. If you’re writing ~12,000 words a day, you’re hooked on something (writing and pomegranate green tea). I came back to God’s Playbecause I believed in this story—there was something about it that was intuitive, living in my subconscious. The ending was there, I just needed to take that leap and slot as much of the plot into place in the first draft as possible. That was fun.
And thank god because editing can be tedious. I loved this story, but you better believe there were times I questioned whether I wanted to publish this book. That nifty excel spreadsheet started to feel like a wall of shame at some point, and I wondered how many revisions I’d need to do before this thing was ready or if it would ever truly be publishable. There’s a lot of self-doubt involved, and it’s only the memory of that hot-n-heavy passion I had with this story that kept me working. I couldn’t betray this book, so I kept working.
And this part? This part is amazing. I found new energy for writing since I looked at the book cover for God’s Play. So keep on keeping on, and enjoy the book excerpt!

Goodreads || Amazon
About The Author:H.D. Lynn is like Harry Potter in one way: she’s currently renting an apartment with a bedroom under her building’s stairs. Other than this, she explores fantasy worlds through storytelling like anyone else. She loves books with a mix of humor, adventure, and horror, and especially enjoys the urban fantasy genre. GOD’S PLAY is her first published novel.When not writing, she enjoys hiking, climbing, and running. She’s a voracious reader, and has found listening to audiobooks while backpacking to be a perfect mix of two of her favorite things. She currently lives in Connecticut, but finds herself on the road often.Find H.D. Lynn Online:Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Surviving Edits

Find the original post Here at Aussie Owned.

I'm not sure if I'm the right one to give advice on this topic, especially since I'm in the middle of editing a string of novels and feel like I'm going insane. Like the picture above, I look calm on the surface, but underneath I'm screaming!The hardest part for me is balancing my "real" life with the edits. My kid still needs me, I need to keep going to work, and most importantly, I need to maintain my relationship with my husband. Plus, living in the US, I'm in middle of the holiday season.For me, I need to make time for everything. There really isn't enough hours in a day to do everything and catch eight hours sleep. Scheduling time is a must. Be strict on yourself. Set aside certain hours a day to do the editing. I use the afternoon nap as my main time to do work. 2-2 1/2 hours to knuckle down and focus. That doesn't mean spend half the time on social media, which is extremely tempting to do since it's just one click away! I'll often close it all down so I'm not distracted, and anything important will come through on my phone.I'm also lucky enough to have a husband who supports me. When I'm behind on my deadline, he will take our little sweet thing and let me work.I also only do one thing as a time. Like right now, I have lined my manuscripts up in order of urgency and am only doing one at a time. Don't overload your plate. I've also cut back on excess activities, and even my acquisitions work. It means some things get neglected, and my hubby gets the wonderful opportunity of doing more dishes, but as long as things stay organised, I think we are doing okay.So, I guess there's no big secret. Just old fashioned structure and self discipline. It won't kill you, literally anyway, and eventually you will get it done. Maintain your sleeping habits, structure your day and you'll survive.
photo credit: Ashley Campbell Photography via photopin cc