K.C. Stewart's Blog, page 13

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Singe Disclaimer

Hello Minions!

Alright so you’re not my minions…yet. I’ve been spending too much time writing as a cat.
And that statement only made sense to 5% of you.
So after talking it over with my editor we decided to go back over Spark to correct some of these “grammar problems” that keep showing up in reviews. Hopefully I’ll have the shiny new version of Spark online by next week. The updated print ones will take a bit longer but those rarely sell so it’s all good. Then we can go back to editing Singe. In the meantime I’m writing Scorch.
Did you follow all that? Because there will be a quiz at the end of this blog post…
This month is Camp NaNoWriMo! Woop. I’m planning on 30,000 words. I’m a little bit behind but nothing I can’t catch up on this weekend during the writing marathon NaNo is holding. If you are in Camp NaNo hit me up and we can be friends or something.
My cover is done for Singe. That will be released in the beginning of May. My blurb reveal is going to be the week after Easter so keep a look out for it.
Now the reason for this post…
In a writing group I’m in on Facebook, we had a discussion last week about sex in a non-erotic book. Does it have to be labeled even though it is one scene? Should I “tone down” the scene so it won’t be labeled erotic? Etc. What the old timers of the group told us newbies was that it didn’t have to be labeled erotic but you should issue out a disclaimer that the book has some explicit scenes and is not suitable for under 18.
Consider this your disclaimer.
There is sex in Singe. There is also violence.
Why?
Well, the biggest thing I heard from my beta readers was more romance/sex. I obviously couldn’t do it in Spark. There was no rod A to insert into slot B. However, that is possible in Singe. Singe got the sexy seal of approval from one of my betas in the romance column. Scorch won’t have any explicit scenes, and by that I mean, no blatant sex (like Singe has.) More like the fade to black sex you’d find in a movie.
I will be adding a disclaimer on my website as well as my blog about the book and we’ll see what I can do on amazon and all them. This is a common thing for the Urban Fantasy genre. It often crosses over with Paranormal Romance. This is why you will often see UF/PNR. Spark was technically UF but Singe will definitely be label PNR because of those few spots previously discussed. As for the violence…Singe is a darker book. The cover reflects that, and I know you don’t know what that looks like. Patience grasshoppers.
This ends the warning.

Now I must get back to working on my belly rolls and ¾ shimmies for my belly dance class. Enjoy the weekend!

Sherlock comes in handy once again

 This is a long blog post because I can’t sleep for 2 reasons. 
1) Because I took a 2 hour nap this afternoon. 2.) Because the people upstairs stuck wild monkey balls.

I believe there is a whole 1% of you that know about the shit hole I live in. Call it being a starving artist, call it being poor, or call it having 3 cats and very limited options…it doesn’t matter what it is called because it sucks regardless. Prior to the people moving in above me 2(?) months ago, I was a quiet place. Everything might be cheap and falling apart but at least I could think. Then they moved in. They came in the night, stomping and banging around as they moved in at 9pm on a Friday. Immediately they get stuck in the foot of snow in the front yard. (Yes, they backed their uhaul into the yard tearing it all while getting stuck in the process.) When asked by another neighbor to be a little quieter (going on 10pm) they became blatantly louder, cursing and yelling at the woman for even suggesting that they quiet down. Threats were tossed around, cops were considered being called, all in all it was a great first impression. 
It didn’t get any better. I had to file a complaint one week into their residency because apparently they were vampires and thought 2am was the new 2 pm. Let us fast forward to last night. I got home to 2 cop cars parked out front. Not unusual, they like to sit by my place to catch speeders. However, this was the second time that week. I went inside not thinking anything more until I saw the people above me had their door propped open with a box. Could it be? Could they have been evicted? I became instantly excited. The feeling only grew as the cops came in and started to take stuff out of the apartment. 
After consulting with my own personal police officer (known as Hottie McHandcuffs to some of you) we decided that the man was most likely arrested for something. I say the man and not the woman because she showed up last night. Today she had three cars full of helpers move(?) The question mark is because I didn’t actually see anything being taken out but they made numerous trips in their cars. Also a uhaul was parked out front. Using my knowledge of deduction gained from watching Sherlock I suspect the woman is leaving, possible evicted. 


However, she is being REALLY FREAKING LOUD right now. Those helpers are with her and they are all chatting away REALLY LOUDLY. I apologize for the use of caps but that was me vocalizing to the ceiling my intense dislike of these people. 
So let’s all keep our fingers crossed that they are truly moving and will be gone tomorrow. 
I’ve been working on a book trailer for Spark, if all goes well I will make one for Singe here shortly.
In other news, I almost threw my laptop out the window today.
These events are completely and totally related. 
I have swag coming soon. Also, I hate the word swag. It’s stupid. We should create a better word for free stuff I’ll give you because I love people who read my books. So far I have an amazing mug (which I’ll be doing with all of the Hailey Holloway series books) bookmarks, and magnets. I’m thinking shot glasses might need to be made too. 
I’ve been looking at conventions. I know I told some of you that I would rather eat peanut butter than go to a book signing (Eep! You mean I have to talk to people, real people, about my book? NEVER!) However, now that my writing is not a secret anymore and I can talk openly about it without having a panic attack (sorry about that Dad) I might be open to doing a signing. I found one in Fredrick MD. I doubt I’d make it to the one this year in June (waaaaay to busy this May and June) but by next year I’ll have a few books out and will be more prepared mentally to deal with that kind of event.

This I promise you

So last night I was thinking about what I was going to write in my next blog. Please take into account that I was on Nyquil and it was 12:30am. I was going to title it “This I promise you” but I have no idea what I was going to promise you guys. It was probably something cool like a monkey in a tutu or a lifetime supply of twix. So then I started singing N’sync in my note. I’m fairly certain I was singing out loud when I was in bed too. And then my note goes into apologizing for serenading you guys. After that it just stopped. I assume my medicated self thought I would remember how all of this would turn into a blog post and the connection between N’sync and my blog.
But I don’t remember.
Jacobie was also extra lovey this morning. I think he thought that I was singing to him last night. If so, I wonder what I promised him. Catnip? Roast chicken? Minions to carry out his every evil deed toward world domination?
So this is my pointless blog post. I should probably put something relevant in here to writing.
I have a goodreads giveaway ending tomorrow. Enter that shit. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20946046-spark
My Singe cover is done but I won’t be revealing it till May. I’m sorry, but not really.
I’ll be passing my Singe manuscript (look at me using big words!) off to my editor by the end of the week. Then I can get back to Scorch. I was just getting into the good parts when I stopped to do another run through of Singe.
I have two papers to write this week for school. I had four but somehow got two of them written over the weekend in between bouts of Sons of Anarchy on netflix.

Spring break week!

I had thoughts of writing Scorch this week, but I’m just not feeling it. Not that I don’t like the story, I do very much, it’s just difficult to flip between research writing and creative writing. So instead I’m going to begin edits on Singe. I wrote it over break between fall and spring semester. Took me 5 weeks…. I don’t know how the hell I did it. It’s been sitting on my desktop ever since. I like to take a few weeks away before I begin edits and rewrites. Lets me clear my head and start with a fresh mind.
Right now my printer is chugging along. For my first read through and first round of editing, I like to print it out and go at it the old fashion way with a red pen. If I do it on my laptop then I will be tempted to start rewriting. But the first read through is just that…reading. I don’t edit or rework anything. I want to get a feel for the story as a reader, not a writer. 
So today I will begin my read through and then this week I will make my way through the 2nd draft. Spark had 7 drafts so I have a long road ahead of me.  Probably around draft 3 or 4 I will contact a few people about beta reading. (If you’re interested let me know.)
I believe you can still order paperbacks through amazon but I’m not sure how long it will take for you to receive them since createspace and I are working on the pink problem.  In case you haven’t heard, my box of books I received were overly, obnoxiously, oh-my-god-my-eyes-burn, I think Barbie just sneezed pink. (I may be exaggerating just a little bit but they are pretty pink.) Luckily, createspace has offered to replace the books and I get to keep the pink ones! Yay for free books! I’ve asked a few people if they minded a pink book and a few agreed to the misfit book. So that leaves me with 7 left.  I think I might sell them on my etsy site for something really cheap. Maybe $5? They are $8(ish) on amazon. Or maybe I’ll use them all for misfit giveaways. I will let you know what I decide when I decide it. 
Singe just finished printing and the buzzer on the dryer has sounded. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
P.S. DON’T FORGET TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY! It ends next Monday March 24th.

Flash Fiction Fun Times

Technically for the past 2 (3?) years I've been writing flash fiction. What is flash fiction you might ask? It's a super short story under 1000 words. I figured it was time for a new blog post and thought I'd post something I wrote in January.

Oh and don't forget to enter the giveaway! (one blog post down) 

Fun fact: This is not edited. Don't judge too harshly. 


Shot Glass Need Not Apply K.C. Stewart
What kind of liquor you choose says a lot about the kind of drunk you want to get.
Wine: When in the right hands, classy. When in her hands, a giggle fest.
Vodka: The go-to, all around party drink. Or in Charley’s case, the migraine inducing agony hour.
Rum: The marathon drink. A steady paced drunk that will get you from start to finish even if those points are hours away from each other.
Whiskey: The just-give-me-the-bottle drunk.
Tequila: Shit just got serious.
The question of the hour was, what kind of drunk did Charley want to be? As she stared at her choices, she caught sight of what other people were choosing inside the liquor store. They all seemed to have no problem knowing what they wanted to become as the night went on. Two young women grabbed large bottle of moscoto stumbling slightly in their mile high heels. A man old with experience but not in years was stocking up on vodka, grabbing as many bottles of Vladimir as he could hold against his week old dirty shirt. Across the aisle another was buying top shelf tequila while dressed in a perfectly cut three piece black suit.
The liquor store: the one place where everyone is welcome no matter your status or situation. Drunk is a universal language we all share. 
Charley’s problem wasn’t as simple as a broken heart, a terminated job, or simply a party where they would all pretend they were in their college prime again. She needed friends to party, and Charley wondered at times if she even had a heart to break. As for her job, she was being blackmailed into working there so she was confident that she wouldn’t be fired anytime soon.
“Thank you Mr. Sloane for job security.” She murmured sarcastically to the bottles of amber liquor.
She didn’t actually have a problem that needed to be drowned in alcohol, it was more of a ritual. Work kept her busy during the day, and most nights if she was lucky. It kept her feet and brain moving, not allowing time for any thought of her own. It was on her mandatory days off that she drank herself into oblivion. She drank to quiet the voices yelling out at her to hide, run away… kill them all.  They yammered on and on all day long, if she let her guard down for more than a second then she would be overrun with hatred. Her prejudices were so severe that the only way to silence them was to drink, and drink a lot.
So what kind of drunk was she looking for? Charley stepped forward, a strand of strawberry blonde hair fell from the messy bun of hair piled on top of her head into her face. She blew a puff of air to blow it out of her face as her hand curled around the neck of a whiskey bottle. Tonight she would be enjoying a nice bottle of Tullamore Dew 12 year old special reserve.

Shot glass need not apply.

SIGNED PAPERBACK GIVEAWAY

New giveaway! This one will run for a little while. This one is about reviews. So give Spark a review on the website you bought it from and send me the link. (There's a place for this in the rafflecopter giveaway)

That's it.

Super easy.

So what are you waiting for?

I guess it would help to know what will you be winning. A signed paperback copy of Spark! Whoop!


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A PSA brought to you by the letter F

Well we are 2 days away from release. I plan on drinking a lot and devouring my thin mints over the next few days. I have a new shot glass (gifted to me by my fabulous editor) that needs to get some miles on it.
Fireball...prepare to die.
I started the third book last night. The first chapter was 10 minutes from being finished when all hell broke loose in my apartment building. Let’s just say the new people above me are assholes and I will be counting down the days till I move out…even though there is no date for that particular event yet. They have 2 dogs (I think) and were barking, playing, and doing loud dog stuff till 2 am. Needless to say I’m tired.
I prepped everything last night on amazon, nook, and createspace. I know I said I’d publish on smashwords too but that will come later. I want to try formatting that one myself. A project for when I need to let my brain settle from writing. Singe is with my alpha reader. I haven’t touched it in 2 weeks and will leave it be for at least another week to 2 weeks. Then edit, revise, rinse and repeat. Singe is set to release at the end of summer. So somewhere around August or September. I plan on doing a book every 6 months. Next week I’ll be doing author pictures with the lovely and talented Adriane from Wraven Design. This weekend I’ll be trying on everything I own and deciding that everything I own is crap.
This week I have been having mini freak outs over Spark (and the series in general.) I’ve finally (hopefully) convinced myself that I shouldn’t worry about what people will think. This book isn’t for everyone. The language, content, and genre wasn’t written with any one person in mind. I wrote this book for me. To be honest it wasn’t even going to be published. When I started Hailey’s story it was short scenes posted online. Then I compiled those and found I had a story there. So I expanded and adjusted. But still, I wasn’t seriously thinking of publishing. I wrote as a release like some people run. It was my escape (along with reading) and once I started it just flowed out of me. Once it was done, I decided that I could publish it. No one was stopping me from doing it. No one but me. So I stepped out of my way, bowed with a little flourish of the hand, and let myself move into self-publishing.
The point is, I wrote this for me.
No you.
That sounds bitchy but you know what I mean. I hope you enjoy it but if you don’t then so be it. At least you read something. And when It comes down to it, that is what it is all about.
Read and read often.

I’m K.C. Stewart and I approve this message. 

Giveaway!

Enter to win an ebook copy of Spark!



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One Step Closer to Publishing.

Spark is being formatted. Woop! Edits are all done. Double woop! For a few days there I never thought they would end. I've been tackling the legal issues now. Let me tell you about the fun times I’m having and the new expensive things I’m finding I need to do.

That was sarcasm and I am not going to bore you with the details. However, if it weren't for my newly cut hair I would be pulling it out. Instead I've taken to hitting my head on my desk. 

I really can’t wait for this first book to be published. The next one will go so much smoother now that all the annoying stuff you only have to do once is out of the way. My respect level has just gone up for all of those who have come before me. 

Now for the reasons I’m blogging today. 1.) Because it's a blizzard outside and I have off. 2.) I'm avoiding school work. 3.) My editor just made a facebook page.  

*insert cheering here*

The website will be coming soon, but for now go give her a like and spread the word on Dare to Dream Editing!