Kathy Cyr's Blog: Kathy Cyr- Author, page 110

Pushing Forward

Working on book 2, Max Hamby and the Emerald Hunt. Had to add in a couple chapters to the beginning.
Kind of tired & over caffeinated at the same time. Makes for a nasty little headache. lol.
But, I'm very excited. All characters from book 1 are in book 2, plus quite a few news....some good and some very, very naughty. ;)

Is it December already?

Wow. The time between October to now has flown by and I am behind schedule on book 2.
Working my way back into the groove though.
I hope you all are doing well and feeling fine. Can you believe it will be Christmas soon?
I love the Christmas season with the lights, Santa, decorations, etc.
Alright it's time to get back to work. #amwriting

I hope your week is a great one for you and your Monday is wonderful.

K.:)

Anything is possible.
#maxhamby #writer #Author #book #kidlit #middlegrade #believe #publishing #ebook #KeepGoing #PushForward #BeBrave

Snaggits and Keepums......Oh my!

Snaggits and Keepums

Nocturnal creatures with terribly nasty attitudes. You do not want to meet these little fellows in a dark alley or while taking a moonlit stroll. Snaggits and Keepums are natural enemies, but will reluctantly work together to gain "treasure".....whatever that means.
Neither creature has any magical powers. Snaggits are very fast, but both creatures have the strength of three men.
Keepums are extremely lazy and prefer to remain underground and wait, none to patiently, for Snaggits to return each night with full sacks. Keepums roll off and out from under their dirt mounds and, like lightening, snatch the sacks right out of the Snaggits hands. A battle for the sacks ensues until the horizon shows the first signs of morning.
They fall asleep mid-fight, until the moon is high and it all begins again.
Ostium

The Ostium is an ancient form of travel, although in its current state it is unpredictable and dangerous.
When traveling by Ostium, it is best to travel in pairs, There have been many Trith sightings and if you value your life, a good amount of speed, strength and magic should get you where you need to go.......but, nothing is guaranteed when the Trith are about.
Hodgenock

A quite famous dwarf in his own right and brother to Mibbitwiss, Hodgenock is a witty, loyal friend.
He prefers a large, warm pint of bog ale at the Quiet Harpy Inn, but when there is trouble afoot, you can be sure that Hodgenock will be by your side. Although he is handy with a sword, his intelligence, bravery and strength make him a dangerous opponent.
Harold

Sweet Harold was a bit of an accident, between this little feline and a random feathered friend.
Mrs. Pitt didn't mean to, but Harold got a little too close to her unpredictable magic and POOF! cat-bird.
Harold doesn't mind. He finds a certain freedom in soaring the skies and the mixture of cat food and bird seed is quite tasty.
But, do not let Harold's cuteness fool you. He's a fast little creature and has the ability to breath fire.
Mrs. Pitt has no idea where the fire power came from, but it has been useful on occasion.
Rez Bonedread

Rez Bonedread prefers......no, he demands to be called Bonedread and is one of the meanest, greediest, most evil goblins you should hope never to meet. He is a trader, of sorts. You might not want to know what Bonedread trades and be warned, it is best to remain outside his "fine" establishment. You might not come out if you come across Bonedread's helpers, Zeeback and Bigrot.  They are two large goblins with pea-sized brains. When they are not "guarding" (sleeping) Bonedread's shop, they are eating. They do not care if they are eating a gourmet meal or a finger so long as it fills their bellies.

New page and other

Good morning,

It's #amwriting time and it's very overdue.
Am about 4 weeks behind on my schedule for book 2 in the Max Hamby series, but am hoping to make up the time & work within the next couple of weeks.

Created a new author page over on FB. https://www.facebook.com/authorkathycyr

Speaking of social media...

I have to be vigilant and remember to limit myself with all the social media sites I'm on. I am terrible when it comes to some of them. I spend way too much time reading my "wall" and or feed and tend to get lost in what everyone else is posting.

I had a better schedule during the Spring and Summer months.

I miss the warmer weather. My favorite time of day is when the sun is just beginning to rise and the birds are just starting to wake up. I love to take my notebook outside and write. For me, it's the best time to "see" the story, feel what the characters feel and really hear them. Not so easy in the Fall and Winter when I'm stuck indoors.
But, I've vowed to give it a better shot this year, though.

Anyone doing Nano this year? I love Nanowrimo.
I'm not doing it this year because I'm working on book two, but I still love the excitement of it all.

Until book two is done, updates and blog entries will probably be a bit ho-hum, but I do appreciate you dropping by.
I should have another entry for Hodgenock's journal soon.

Okay, it's time to get to work. I hope all is well with you and yours.
Have a great day!

K.  :)

Book Listing

Max Hamby is now listed at Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Scribd!!  :)

Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Scribd

Quick Update

Hi everyone,

I hope the week has started out well for you and yours.

Just a quick update on my book for you.

Not only is Max Hamby and the Blood Diamond available on Amazon and Smashwords, but it's also available at Createspace, Apple iBooks and Inktera. Hopefully, in the next week or so, it'll be available at B&N, Kobo and Scribd. I'll post another update when I know more.

Createspace Just print edition
https://www.createspace.com/5008905

Amazon Ebook & Print is listed
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NQFKZW4

Smashwords
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/477923

Apple iBooks
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id922532326

Inktera/Page Foundry
http://www.inktera.com/store/title/45dc4c94-8c7f-46d9-b3e1-23c11178b718

Happy Author Day!

That's right, my friends. Today, I am officially an author.
My book, Max Hamby And The Blood Diamond is available on Amazon.com and Smashwords.
I am working on listing it with other retailers.

Book 2: Max Hamby And The Emerald Hunt will be out in 2015. Stop by anytime for updates!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NQFKZW4

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/477923

Jumping In

Hello my friends.
I've got very exciting news to share with you.

I've given it alot of thought and have spend alot of time doing the research and have decided to go ahead and take control of the book by myself.

Which means, it will be available very soon. I'm working on the formatting right now and making sure it comes together for each ebook format.

So, I will leave you with a snippet of what is to come....

MAX HAMBY AND THE BLOOD DIAMOND

Twelve year old Max Hamby, a shy loner whose fierce need to find his missing mother is threatened by a powerful stone and the man intent on releasing the evil imprisoned inside.

A school field trip and visit to the principal’s office lead to the police showing up and Max’s day takes a turn for the worse. His mother is missing. The police have no leads, but his neighbors do.
When he’s left in the care of his eccentric neighbor, Mrs. Pitt, Max learns that magic is real and not at all like the fairytales his mother used to read to him.

Someone has resurrected the Shadow Stone and is using his mother as bait to gain the Blood Diamond. The secrets his mother’s been keeping are piling up and turning deadly. His only hope in saving her is with the help of a handful of witches, a dwarf, a troll and a couple of quirky aunts he never knew existed.

Updates

Hey there,

I hope you're all doing well and feeling fine.
The cold weather has begun here in the northeast.  I don't think I was ready for it, but it's nothing unusual. We really didn't have much of a spring and summer was cooler than previous years.
So, on to some updates.....

I sent out my manuscript to an agency I thought would be a great fit.
Their response time is six weeks and I've got about a month to go.  After going through there site and seeing the other authors they represent, I'm not so sure I'll hear back from them. They represent some authors who I love and in going through my novel a million and one times, well, I'm not so sure it's up to their standards.

I felt 100% confident writing my novel, but now that it's finished, self doubt is setting in and I keep going over and over everything in my head.

I've been researching self publishing as a backup and LOL!, the more I think about putting myself and my work out there the more nervous I get. You know how it goes, right? What if people don't like it. What if it gets bad reviews. What if no one buys the book. Etc., etc.

Plus, being an introvert doesn't help. I've never been good at marketing, sales and promotion.
To be honest, I would love to receive that email or call of acceptance from the agency.
But, like I said, I'm pretty sure my novel isn't up to their standards.

On to computer problems.
I thought my entire laptop was dead, but turns out it's the hard drive. Thank goodness for that.
It'll be some time before I can replace it, but at least it's not the whole computer.

And lastly, as you can see, I'm updating the site. I love the purple. It's my all time fave color, but the site needs a more professional look and feel. (Hopefully, it'll turn out that way when I'm done.)
I designed a cover for my novel for the heck of it and that's the background I'm using on the site now.
I've also updated all social media sites: FB, Twitter, Google+, etc. with the same design. Going for a consistent look. ;)  Not thrilled with the photo of myself, but it's the best one I've got and not that old.
Really don't like having pics taken. They never turn out well. lol.

I think that's it for now. Stop on by FB, Twitter, etc. any time. You can find the links  throughout the site.

Have a great weekend, my friends.

Frustration

Well, unfortunately the laptop has died. 
Thank goodness we still had our old desktop pc. The connection is slow, but at least it's something.
Dang it. Loved that laptop.

Tried everything to get it working. Have a had black screens, blue screens, slow, freezing, bootmgr missing, win 7 install clean and then on restart operating system cannot be found. Ugh!!

Luckily, I was able to save my manuscript and my writing folder, plus a few other things before I was unable to reach my desktop.

Time to get back to writing and stop messing with the laptop. Should've had my query and synopsis 1st draft/s done by now.

Hope all is well for you and yours.

K. :)