Sandy Williams's Blog, page 12

Sleeping Hero Legends

I learned a new bookish term today: sleeping hero legends.

I came across a link to this article on Facebook. It’s written by Jack Campbell, who writes an awesome military science fiction series. Seriously. Awesome. It holds my attention and keeps me breathless on the edge of my seat. And it doesn’t even have romance in it. A book that can do that these days is really, really awesome.

Campbell’s Lost Fleet series is a sleeping hero legend. The premise is that a spaceship captain dies saving a fl...

Do You Read Multi-Author Bundles?

Around about a year ago, authors started banding together and releasing multi-author ebook bundles together. They priced them super cheap, usually $0.99 for six or more books. It’s a great deal, incredibly hard to pass up, and several of these bundles have gone on to hit the big lists: New York Times, USA Today, Amazon’s lists, etc.

I’ve bought several of these bundles. They were $0.99 so why not? I even thumbed through them on my Kindle.

But that’s all I did: thumbed through them. I haven’t re...

What I’m Loving Lately

1. Honor’s Knight. Still reading this, only because I’m a slow reader and my kids exhaust me in the afternoons so much that I tend to collapse into bed after they go to sleep. The book is just so, so good, though. It’s one of those books that makes me ask myself, “What the hell do I even try to write?” The characters are so distinct and well developed, I love the action, the mystery, the tension. And Devi is still fantastic. She might be my favorite heroine ever.

And I have a winner for this w...

Still Searching for the Perfect Conference Wear

(Honor’s Knight is still awesome! There’s so much tension and angst going on. I love it! I know the covers make it look like there’s not much romance in the books, but trust me, it has the perfect amount. You can still enter to win either the first or second book in this series here.)

I’m still searching for more clothes to wear to conferences. Because I hate shopping and only bought one shirt in my first Stitch Fix, I signed up for another one. I updated my profile so that I wouldn’t receive...

Where Does A Work-At-Home Writer’s Time Go?

(Started reading Honor’s Knight last night. Ohmyfreakingod! So good! I hit 11% and had a major freak out. Like, oh no, the SHIT is going to go down! Ahhh! Watch out Devi!!! Can’t wait until the boys’ go to bed tonight so I can read more! Giveaway for this book or the first in the series is still going on here.)

I’m working on my time management skills. Too often, I feel like I don’t accomplish anything during the day. I’m lucky enough that I’m able to stay home and write full-time (not because...

New Sci-Fi Romance + Giveaway

Today is a happy release day! Honor’s Knight, the second book in Rachel Bach’s Paradox series is now on my Kindle!

I raved about the first book, Fortune’s Pawn, in my Goodreads review. I’ve been waiting for this sequel since I finished this last page of the first book. I even pre-ordered it, I was so excited. I almost NEVER preorder books. But Fortune’s Pawn was that awesome. It was everything I look for in a book – hot, mysterious hero, strong and smart heroine, awesome plot, spaceships, acti...

Teaser Tuesday: The Side Project

Not much writing is getting done this week due to preparation for traveling (i.e. new hair cut!). I’ll be flying out to Daytona on Thursday for Coastal Magic Con. There will be a signing that’s open to the public from 5pm to 7pm on Saturday. If you’re in the area, definitely stop by!

I’m looking forward to the flight on Thursday so I’ll have some uninterrupted and undistracted writing time. I’m still hard at work on my urban fantasy set in space (you can read the first few pages of that on my...

One Author’s Writing Expenses for 2013

This week, I sat down to calculate my writing expenses for 2013. This is the first year I’ve had a separate bank account for my business, and it made it so much easier to keep track of my expenses. I used my debit card for everything except for tips and vending machines while traveling, and I set up a Mint.com account and created a “budget” for each of my spending categories.

I’m use the word “budget” loosely. I didn’t really have one last year because I didn’t have a good idea of what I spent...

Five Things on Friday

1. Worldbuilding is hard. Like, really hard. One of the things readers like about my Shadow Reader books is the worldbuilding, but the Realm and fae came easily to me in those books. Not so much with this sci-fi project. I’m having to make up names for weapons, ships, planets, create a military structure, uniforms, multiple political systems, etc. And I have to do it all without it feeling like I’m doing it. What I mean is, I can’t just throw a bunch of stuff out there or it’ll overwhelm the...

My First Stitch Fix – Or, Prepping for a Conference

I have no fashion sense. If you’ve met me, you know that. I’m a writer, so I sit at home in jeans and t-shirts all day. I don’t like shopping. I rarely ever go, and when I do, it’s usually in a panic because I have some event coming up or I’m going to be seeing my extended family soon.

The latter actually causes more panic than the former because every other woman in my family who’s close to my age is a fashionista. They’re beautiful, put together, and in shape. I mean, REALLY in shape. Two of...