Stylo Fantome's Blog - Posts Tagged "book-blogs"
Blog? Vlog? Log? What the ...,
So it says I should have a blog. Everyone has a blog. But what am I supposed to write about? I spend a vast majority of my time writing about other people - I'm not entirely sure that I know how to write something from myself.
So it's my first Blllllooooog - a "Web Log", as a friend explained the word to me! - and I guess I should explain myself and the type of stories I like to write.
I'm a fairly silly, nutty person, (don't know if you could tell) who takes a very light hearted approach to life. I try and eliminate all stress from life; I am vair go with the flow. "The universe tends to unfold as it should," as the movie Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle so wisely taught me. Stressing only ever created more stress, so there ya go. Happy happy, joy joy thoughts.
My writing, on the other hand, tends to lean towards angst. Sometimes dark. A little dirty. Sometimes a lot dirty. I think there are humorous parts - usually from side characters - but on the whole, I don't write humorous book. Not sure how this came about, because I like to read humorous books (seriously, David Wong. I would marry him ..., if both of us weren't already married ..., and if he knew I existed).
I have SIX completed books, awaiting publishing. I wrote one, and I love it, it's kind of like a first born child, but I just knew it wasn't "the one", the first release. So I wrote another story, trying to build up my "alpha male" muscles. I luuuuurve to read about an alpha male, but I didn't write them so well - in real life, I prefer guys like myself; happy-go-lucky, go with the flow, funny. So writing an alpha was kind of foreign to me.
A two part story was born, Pen vs. Sword. I wanted to write something that had an alpha male, a likable female lead, and also represented what I felt was a REAL relationship. None of this two-weeks-oh-we're-in-love-but-we've-never-actually-spoken-because-we're-too-busy-alternately-fucking-and-fighting stuff. I wanted something I, and other women, could relate to in a real sense.
But as I was finishing up the very last draft of the first part - it has been edited and beta read and is basically ready for the publish button - Jameson's story was born.
And I mean, it BURST out of me. I turned into a freakin' zombie. My husband was worried about me. I wrote all night, I snuck into the bathroom at work to write on it, I barely ate, I just wrote, wrote, wrote. The story DEMANDED release, there was no other option.
And as I was typing it, I just kinda new. This was the book. The book, the one that should be first. I made the working title "Degradation", and it just kind of stuck.
The next two pieces of work didn't fall out of me quite as easily - I doubt anything will ever again. Writing Degradation was a unique experience.
I have been writing stories since I learned how to write - no joke. It sounds corny, but it's the truth. In second grade, they made us take computer classes, and they had the Oregon Trail computer "game" (am I showing my age yet!?) and a typing test - one of the portions of the test was free typing. I took to it like a duck to water. I mean, a medium that allowed me to put down the words almost as quickly as I could think them!? Mind. Blown. I now type around 90 wpm, with an 96% accuracy. Comes in handy, for those zombie-writer moments.
I used to write paranormal - all through high school, that was my preferred genre. Vampires, psychic energy, that kind of stuff. Then I stopped writing for a while. I mean, you never really stop, not in your head, but I stopped putting words to paper.
It wasn't until I read a book, and realized it was self-published, that my brain kind of clicked back on. Then, I was reading another self-published book, and in the acknowledgements, the author thanked a particular book blog.
"Book blog? Qoi?" I had to investigate, and OH MY GOD, there are other people out there that read the same stuff I read!? People who love to read and review this stuff!? E.L. James started out writing fanfiction!? She's got a major motion picture coming out!! HOW COULD I NOT KNOW THIS STUFF!?!?
Life. Changed.
So I started writing again. I worried it wouldn't come back as easily. I was wrong. I mean, who knows if I'm good; I think I'm good, but I might just be a tad bias. But the words certainly pour out of me.
So there you have it. My first blog. My first book. I hope you enjoy both. There may be more blogs. There will definitely be more books.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have recently acquired all the seasons of AbFab, and I find myself trying to figure how to turn it into a religion ...
So it's my first Blllllooooog - a "Web Log", as a friend explained the word to me! - and I guess I should explain myself and the type of stories I like to write.
I'm a fairly silly, nutty person, (don't know if you could tell) who takes a very light hearted approach to life. I try and eliminate all stress from life; I am vair go with the flow. "The universe tends to unfold as it should," as the movie Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle so wisely taught me. Stressing only ever created more stress, so there ya go. Happy happy, joy joy thoughts.
My writing, on the other hand, tends to lean towards angst. Sometimes dark. A little dirty. Sometimes a lot dirty. I think there are humorous parts - usually from side characters - but on the whole, I don't write humorous book. Not sure how this came about, because I like to read humorous books (seriously, David Wong. I would marry him ..., if both of us weren't already married ..., and if he knew I existed).
I have SIX completed books, awaiting publishing. I wrote one, and I love it, it's kind of like a first born child, but I just knew it wasn't "the one", the first release. So I wrote another story, trying to build up my "alpha male" muscles. I luuuuurve to read about an alpha male, but I didn't write them so well - in real life, I prefer guys like myself; happy-go-lucky, go with the flow, funny. So writing an alpha was kind of foreign to me.
A two part story was born, Pen vs. Sword. I wanted to write something that had an alpha male, a likable female lead, and also represented what I felt was a REAL relationship. None of this two-weeks-oh-we're-in-love-but-we've-never-actually-spoken-because-we're-too-busy-alternately-fucking-and-fighting stuff. I wanted something I, and other women, could relate to in a real sense.
But as I was finishing up the very last draft of the first part - it has been edited and beta read and is basically ready for the publish button - Jameson's story was born.
And I mean, it BURST out of me. I turned into a freakin' zombie. My husband was worried about me. I wrote all night, I snuck into the bathroom at work to write on it, I barely ate, I just wrote, wrote, wrote. The story DEMANDED release, there was no other option.
And as I was typing it, I just kinda new. This was the book. The book, the one that should be first. I made the working title "Degradation", and it just kind of stuck.
The next two pieces of work didn't fall out of me quite as easily - I doubt anything will ever again. Writing Degradation was a unique experience.
I have been writing stories since I learned how to write - no joke. It sounds corny, but it's the truth. In second grade, they made us take computer classes, and they had the Oregon Trail computer "game" (am I showing my age yet!?) and a typing test - one of the portions of the test was free typing. I took to it like a duck to water. I mean, a medium that allowed me to put down the words almost as quickly as I could think them!? Mind. Blown. I now type around 90 wpm, with an 96% accuracy. Comes in handy, for those zombie-writer moments.
I used to write paranormal - all through high school, that was my preferred genre. Vampires, psychic energy, that kind of stuff. Then I stopped writing for a while. I mean, you never really stop, not in your head, but I stopped putting words to paper.
It wasn't until I read a book, and realized it was self-published, that my brain kind of clicked back on. Then, I was reading another self-published book, and in the acknowledgements, the author thanked a particular book blog.
"Book blog? Qoi?" I had to investigate, and OH MY GOD, there are other people out there that read the same stuff I read!? People who love to read and review this stuff!? E.L. James started out writing fanfiction!? She's got a major motion picture coming out!! HOW COULD I NOT KNOW THIS STUFF!?!?
Life. Changed.
So I started writing again. I worried it wouldn't come back as easily. I was wrong. I mean, who knows if I'm good; I think I'm good, but I might just be a tad bias. But the words certainly pour out of me.
So there you have it. My first blog. My first book. I hope you enjoy both. There may be more blogs. There will definitely be more books.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have recently acquired all the seasons of AbFab, and I find myself trying to figure how to turn it into a religion ...
Never Judge a Book by Its Cover ..., Unless It's Mine, In Which Case, You Better Judge It To Be Awesome!
Drum Roll, Please ....
I finally have a cover! YAY!
Actually, I've had the cover for quite some time, but I signed up for a “cover reveal” with a blog, and they set the reveal date, so there ya have it! It was very hard keeping it a secret.
My cover was designed by the AMAZING Najla Qamber at http://www.najlaqamberdesigns.com/. If you haven't seen her work, GO CHECK IT OUT RIGHT NOW! The only part I had in it was the font for the title, and the woman. Everything else, including the tag-line, was all Najla. Genius. I feel unworthy of such a nice cover. I think it fits the book PERFECTLY, down to the little “S” on his cufflink. S-for-Satan, of course.
I go to shutterstock.com a lot for inspiration. It's amazing how much a picture can inspire me. Sometime while I was writing the book, I can't remember when, I came across the picture of the girl. I liked it because it's interesting and she is pretty, but I didn't think much about it at the time. She wasn't Tate – her face was too round, and her eyes are blue. I imagine Tate to have a more narrow face, and she has dark brown eyes.
But as I sent off my ideas for the cover, I kept going back to that picture of the girl. I began to associate it with the book. Whenever I thought of the cover, I thought of that girl. So I sent it to Najla, and told her that picture captured how I felt about the book, but I didn't know if it would work.
Naj's response? “Oh, I'll make it work.”
The picture of the girl was a head shot, only down to the neck. Not a problem! Najla reduced the image's size, gave her some shoulders, and then layered her on top of the man. Can't even tell! It looks like one picture.
Magic.
I am absolutely hopeless when it comes to picture manipulation. I can barely edit in Paint on Microsoft. I can barely draw a stick figure. It's vair sad. Thank god graphic designers exist, or else I'd be lost!
So thank you to Najla, to the amazing cover.
Thank you to Forever Me Romance book blog, http://forevermeromance.blogspot.com.au/, for setting up my cover reveal and all my other promo stuff. Awesome job with all the html. Another thing I'm helpless at!
And thank you to all the blogs who signed up for the reveal, it means a lot. Being an indie author is hard work. Being a new, unknown indie author? Even harder. It's like chucking pebbles into the ocean – only 80 million other people have the same idea.
I just hope some of my waves make it to shore!
To keep up to date on this stuff, head to my facebook page:
facebook.com/stylofantomeauthor
And hey, someone awesome even started a street team for me! For reals! If interested in following or joing, go to my page and hit me up!
I finally have a cover! YAY!
Actually, I've had the cover for quite some time, but I signed up for a “cover reveal” with a blog, and they set the reveal date, so there ya have it! It was very hard keeping it a secret.
My cover was designed by the AMAZING Najla Qamber at http://www.najlaqamberdesigns.com/. If you haven't seen her work, GO CHECK IT OUT RIGHT NOW! The only part I had in it was the font for the title, and the woman. Everything else, including the tag-line, was all Najla. Genius. I feel unworthy of such a nice cover. I think it fits the book PERFECTLY, down to the little “S” on his cufflink. S-for-Satan, of course.
I go to shutterstock.com a lot for inspiration. It's amazing how much a picture can inspire me. Sometime while I was writing the book, I can't remember when, I came across the picture of the girl. I liked it because it's interesting and she is pretty, but I didn't think much about it at the time. She wasn't Tate – her face was too round, and her eyes are blue. I imagine Tate to have a more narrow face, and she has dark brown eyes.
But as I sent off my ideas for the cover, I kept going back to that picture of the girl. I began to associate it with the book. Whenever I thought of the cover, I thought of that girl. So I sent it to Najla, and told her that picture captured how I felt about the book, but I didn't know if it would work.
Naj's response? “Oh, I'll make it work.”
The picture of the girl was a head shot, only down to the neck. Not a problem! Najla reduced the image's size, gave her some shoulders, and then layered her on top of the man. Can't even tell! It looks like one picture.
Magic.
I am absolutely hopeless when it comes to picture manipulation. I can barely edit in Paint on Microsoft. I can barely draw a stick figure. It's vair sad. Thank god graphic designers exist, or else I'd be lost!
So thank you to Najla, to the amazing cover.
Thank you to Forever Me Romance book blog, http://forevermeromance.blogspot.com.au/, for setting up my cover reveal and all my other promo stuff. Awesome job with all the html. Another thing I'm helpless at!
And thank you to all the blogs who signed up for the reveal, it means a lot. Being an indie author is hard work. Being a new, unknown indie author? Even harder. It's like chucking pebbles into the ocean – only 80 million other people have the same idea.
I just hope some of my waves make it to shore!
To keep up to date on this stuff, head to my facebook page:
facebook.com/stylofantomeauthor
And hey, someone awesome even started a street team for me! For reals! If interested in following or joing, go to my page and hit me up!
