R.R. Virdi's Blog, page 7
September 17, 2016
September 13, 2016
Are you doing your part? Reviews matter. Your voice matters.
Hey, all. So, I’m writing this to bring to the attention of the almighty readers out there the power of reviewing. Yes, those things. Those little stars and word jumbles that share how you feel about an author’s work.
Guess what?
They matter.
A lot.
Yeah. See, the thing is, authors have a hard time with visibility. Sure, not all of us do. Some blow up book one. Others are brilliant marketers. But even with all of that, we could use your help. This is where reviewing comes in. It’s like word of mouth when you’re spreading the tales of how much you love our work to your friends, but here, it’s well, all in one spot.
Places like amazon are concentrated spots for word of mouth or reviews. They really. So when you read an author’s work and like it, consider leaving them a review.
But, but, those are hard!
Well, I understand a lot of people’s hesitation. In a world of professional book bloggers and critics leaving in depth, analytical and pages long reviews. But guess what? You don’t have to. To be honest, if you like the book and leave a simple review of why, or even that you just enjoyed it, you are helping an author out. You are. Your opinion isn’t invalidated because your review is simple. It’s just as valid as the person writing 9 pages about the subplot alone.
All I’m saying is, consider being more active in helping the authors you love. If you want them to continue putting out more work, understand it’s a cycle. It really is. Reviews help them get seen. They help buyers get off the fence to go read that author. They get them noticed. And, truth be told, in a career in the arts, they help authors know where they stand with their readers, they do. They help inspire them.
Trust me on this.
All any of us can ask is this: Hey, if you’ve read our work, and liked them, please consider sharing it with your friends, and sharing with us how you felt via reviews.
That all being said, if you have read The Grave Report (atm consisting of two novel out of hopefully twenty. I’m working on it, trust me) please consider leaving reviews if you haven’t done so already. Thank you.
Remember, your voice does make a difference, a positive one, in helping support authors. Never underestimate the impact your enthused voice has on our careers. You matter a lot. You really do help us.
Thank you for doing that. Seriously, thank you!
September 5, 2016
August 22, 2016
Time’s a funny thing.
Time. It’s one of those things we feel we never have enough of. We’re always scrambling to make more and often forgetting to make the best use of the time we do have. It’s a pain isn’t it? Well, here’s the thing. It’s going to pass anyways. It just is. We all know it. So, what should we be doing with it? Well, having some fun.
This isn’t saying discard all your responsibilities, but, don’t forget to live a little. Don’t forget to pursue those things you really wanted to. Why am I saying this as a nobody author? Well, it’s happening for me. What is? Well, the whole “dreams” thing. I mean almost 8 years ago when I started all I had was an awful novel and series idea. 5 years in with loads of rejections and crappy writing, I wrote a new project and never even pitched it. I self-published it.
Nothing really happened. It got some good reviews. Some bad. It sat. It sold a bit here and there. But, I kept writing in between, in the moments I could steal. By 2015, that novel had blown up as far as indie novels are concerned. It broke 100 reviews, most of them glowing—raving. It won a best book of the year. It went on in 2016 to break past 200 reviews, still glowing by the way. My second novel dropped and has been nominated for handful of awards including the prestigious Dragon Award for its category best fantasy (paranormal) and yeah…who saw that coming? I sure didn’t.
Here’s the thing. I still don’t have a career. I’m not still not some big famous name with an agent landing me massive deals and book signings. I’m an unknown indie, but you know what? I’m still going to keep writing because time will pass anyways whether I do or not. If I somehow win this award, will things maybe speed up? Possibly. Possibly not. But even then, I’ll still have to write. So I’m going to. I’m going to use the time to do what I love. What else is time really there for? To do the things we have to, and we all have those, but what about the time that’s left? Use it for the things and people you love. What else matters more?
So, yeah, I’m going to keep writing. Harder now. Better hopefully. And, if I can, faster than ever.
Because if this is happening for me because of the spare time I carved out for it, what will happen in the years to come if I keep doing this? What will happen for you if you do the same?
It’s pretty scary to think about it, isn’t it? But it’s also pretty cool, eh? Do it!
August 21, 2016
Dragon Con and things to come.
Dragon Con is just a little over ten days away. It’s coming up. Most of you know by now I’ve been honored to be nominated alongside literary heroes of mine like, Jim Butcher, author of The Dresden Files, Codex of Alera, and, The Cinder Spires. Voting and the convention aside, I’m hoping that everyone who reads this, and is going, will leave links to their twitter and or instagrams in the comments so I can follow. Let me live through you for a day, eh?
Okay, so what am I up to? Well, as you can imagine—writing! I’m currently over 80,000 words in the third novel in The Grave Report. I’m awaiting beta feedback on a new novel and series slated to debut this December. That project, well, it’s The Books of Winter. Some of you have already seen it, but don’t worry, I’ll share some pictures here below as well as the jacket blurb.
On the docket is to finish the third novel in The Grave Report. Hammer out a bunch of short stories for an anthology coming next year. Oh, yeah, anthologies, guess what? Another The Longest Night Watch is coming this September with two short stories from my comedy fantasy world, Questworld.
If things continue to go all well on the writing and timing front, I’ll begin a standalone novel late fall for a publisher in the UK. I have no idea when that will debut however. But, between the choices of too much work, or too little, I know which I’d choose. 
August 16, 2016
August 14, 2016
Dragoncon Award. Big things are happening!
I know it’s been a long since I’ve posted. I am sorry. Life has been a bit tumultuous for a while, and in the bad way. Then, life does what it does and…pulls a 360 in the karma department to where I find out not only was I nominated for the illustrious Dragoncon Award, but I am now officially a finalist along side my literary hero, Jim Butcher, and other New York Times Best Selling authors as well as one who’d been nomiated/won a handful of prestigious awards.
Wait. What?
Start over.
Yeah, I know. How did little old indie author nobody me get this far?
I have no idea. If you find out, let me know so I can patent this!
There’s the short list right there. Pretty snazzy company. I’m humbled and blown away. So, I guess this is the part where I let you know the truth. I am the underdog, BY FAR. I’m not expecting to win this. That’s out of the question. But the nomination is an honor beyond anything I’ve ever dreamed of. And I just wanted to thank everyone who has helped me get this far. If you do decide you want to register to vote, this is where you go to sign up. Once you do, you’ll get a confirmation email which you obviously confirm on, and then…well…wait for your ballot. Maybe you’ll see something like.
Thank you everyone. Because I’m still in the clouds over getting this far. My fans, you are all the best. Never forget that.
July 19, 2016
July 11, 2016
July 7, 2016
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