Lillith Black's Blog, page 2

A Novel Recipe – Guest post by Kayla Dawn Thomas

Today I am very happy to have over my dear friend and fellow writer Kayla Dawn Thomas, an author of “Swept Up” and Jenna Ray stories “Pricked” and “Narrow Miss”. Kayla is a fantastic writer and I always wanted to find out what her writing process is like. Kayla was gracious to write this treat of a post for my blog. Enjoy!

A Novel Recipe

Since Lillith invited me over to her blog (thanks, friend) right before Thanksgiving, and everyone is thinking about what recipes to prepare for one of the biggest American eating days of the year, I decided to give my current recipe for writing books. Writing is a dynamic process, so I predict what I do now will evolve over time, as I get better at the craft, but at the moment, this is my go-to formula.

 

Quick and Dirty Draft

There isn’t anything pretty about this step, just the excitement of a new idea. I store all my ideas in Evernote, and when it’s time to develop one, I go to my murder board (huge Castle fan here). The murder board is a large white board, and so far no one’s died on it yet, but my career is young. Using dry erase markers, I start sketching characters and making a rough outline of what they’re going to do. I often turn up the tunes and dance around my office during this phase—I warned you, there’s nothing pretty at this point. Basically my time in front of the murder board is like a big pep rally, getting me pumped to write a new book.

 

Once the skeleton of the book is on the murder board, I take a picture of it and put the picture in Evernote so I have it with me wherever I end up working. Then I warm up my fingers and start typing. I go fast and furious, allowing characters to lead me down rabbit holes, trying to ignore typos. Overthinking at this point will introduce doubt and fear. I have to keep moving. Depending on the project, this first pass through the story can take anywhere from two weeks to four months. My first novel, Swept Up, was drafted in about four months. The Jenna Ray novellas are usually wrapped up in two to three weeks.

 

Open Heart Surgery

Once the quick and dirty draft is in the system, I let it marinate for two days. Some writers insist that a piece should go in a drawer for months before even considering looking at it again, but I have a business to run, folks. So far two days has been a sufficient amount of time for me to clear my head enough to go back to the project with fresh eyes. I print it out and grab a red pen and commence with tearing the story apart. It’s probably good that I’m not a real surgeon, as my incisions aren’t neat or precise. Red ink turns the pages into a football diagram of arrows drawn to stars marking hand written paragraphs to add, huge X’s cutting out entire sections, sticky notes slapped on the page like Band-Aids with instructions to myself for when I return to the computer to implement all the changes. There’s nothing pretty about this stage of the process either.

 

Beta Blockers

Once my handwritten edits are entered into the document and it’s neatly stitched up, I send the book to my beta readers. This team of brave, loyal individuals blocks the public from my bad writing. I’ve whittled it down to five reliable people. These are folks who love me and care enough about my work to be brutally honest. They applaud the awesome, but won’t hesitate to call me out for getting lazy with details or being inconsistent with my character development. If necessary, they’d tell me my idea isn’t going to fly. Thankfully, that hasn’t happened yet. I have finally grown enough as a writer not to cry when beta comments come into my inbox.

Considering beta blocker feedback, I go through the manuscript again before sending it to my editor…

 

Meeting with Dumbledore

You know how Harry Potter always has a long chat with Dumbledore at the end of the early books? Dumbledore gives Harry great insight and wisdom about the adventure he’s just experienced. This is how I feel when I send my third draft to my editor. Jackie is a lovely woman. She’s compassionate and knowledgeable, but she keeps me in line. My writing has improved so much since Jackie boarded my writing train. She peels back the layers and makes sure I’ve gotten everything possible out of my characters and their story is as brilliant as possible. She also catches at least 98% of my grammar and spelling mistakes. This may seem masochistic, but I look forward to getting Jackie’s notes. I’m not sure how many authors can say that about their editors.

Editor’s notes in hand, I go through the book one more time. Have you been counting? This is the fourth draft. By this time, I’m pretty done with the story, but now I’m focusing on my readers. I want them to have the best experience possible with my work, so this last pass through is really important.  Once this step is finished, I format and do all the little things necessary to get my work out to the public.

 

Party Time

When I published Swept Up, I remember feeling a little lost. Friends kept saying, “Kayla, you wrote a book!” It took a day or so for the accomplishment to sink in. After publishing a couple more things, I’ve learned embrace the victory every time and reward myself with a good glass of wine or champagne.

 

In addition to Swept Up , Kayla has also written the Jenna Ray Stories . The second novella in the series, Pricked , is now available for pre-order on Amazon and will officially release November 26, 2014. You can find Kayla on her website and Facebook .

Sleepwalker Chronicles is in Edit stage!

Just as the excitement of “Believe Me Not: An Unreliable Anthology” being published and celebrated at the most fun release party ever begins to subside, a new wave of WOW and O.M.G. is picking up and carrying me along.

In the month of September my amazing beta readers were busy poring over “Sleepwalker Chronicles: The Awakening” manuscript, the first book in the trilogy. Once they were done, I, armed with their notes and suggestions went onto rewriting the novel for the third time and, at last, on October 18th, I met with my editor and handed my baby over. Exciting and terrifying. More exciting though, can’t wait to see my novel get better and be all it can be for my readers.

Check back soon for book cover reveal and sneak peaks of the novel.

The Cover Is Here! NaNoLA First Anthology

This is a very exciting day and I would love to share it with you!

My short story is being published as a part of the first NaNoLA anthology, “Believe Me Not, An Unreliable Narrator” and today I got the first peek at the cover.

I’m dying to share it with you, so here it is!

This anthology is a non-profit effort to support young writers program.

The book comes out on October 10th and I will be sharing the link and all the details for it just as soon as I have them available to me.

Thank you all for sharing this awesome time with me!

Narrow Miss by Kayla Dawn Thomas is available!!!

A new book by fellow indie writer Kayla Dawn Thomas, ‘Narrow Miss’ is now available for pre-order!

‘Narrow Miss’ is a part of multi-part series about Jenna Ray, ‘a former computer tech turned Wayward Husband Wrangler’. ‘Narrow Miss’ is released as a stand-alone novella and later will become a part of bigger collection that will be released digitally and in paperback.

I already grabbed my copy of ‘Narrow Miss’. I was honored to be an advanced reader for Kayla and got to read the book. I loved it! Jenna Ray is sassy, witty and can hold her own. The story made me laugh and shake my head and have a ton of fun. I highly recommend it!

Writing Bucket List

Recently I read an awesome post by JD of A Wrestling Writer on Out Of The Well called Writing Bucket List. I have never been big on bucket lists. Maybe I’m not ready to die (just kidding!) or just cause I’m not big on adrenaline rush, but I’ve never thought of a specific bucket list, especially a writing one.

I read down the list on this blog post and I became absolutely excited and inspired. There was someone who loved the writing as much as I did and whose goals were so similar to mine. I felt what we all want to feel: I was not alone in the world!

This post inspired me and I’ve been thinking for days now to write my own list. I will write it up and as I check the items off my list, I will follow JD’s example and come back here and update them with the dates.

My Writing Bucket List:

Write a novel – started in 2011, in re-write now, first draft of another one is ‘stewing’
Become part of a writing group – 2011 and 2012
Take a writing class – 2011, 2012
Get novel professionally edited
Publish a novel
Have a blog – 2013
Have a newsletter – 2014
Write a short story – 2014
Publish a short story – should be in Sept 2014
Enter a writing contest – 2014 and was accepted into anthology
Win a writing contest
Complete NaNoWriMo
Join Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal chapter of Romance Writers Of America
Attend RWA conference
Meet my readers at one of the ‘Cons or a book festival, sign and sell my book
Write three books a year – fantasy, writing, tech tips for writers
Write a book of short stories – in progress, 50% in 2014
Write and publish a non-fiction e-book
Self-publish a book of short stories
Get published in a magazine
Guest post for a blog
Attend writers conference – 2013 and 2014
Join writer’s society – 2013, GLAWS
Go on a writing retreat
Get BA in creative writing
Become an editor
Do e-book formatting for others
Open digital publishing house
Offer classes on memoir writing to local seniors
Open a writer-friendly coffee shop with comfy seats and free wi-fi
Be a full time writer

 

They say if you dream it and write it down, it will happen. I’ll be hard at work to make it happen.

 

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Interview With Indie Author Kayla Thomas, Part 2

Welcome back to the second part of my interview with the one and only, Kayla Dawn Thomas, an indie author of recently published “Swept Up” and upcoming, “Narrow Miss”. Today, I’m asking Kayla to share with us some of her experiences and tips when it comes to technical side of book writing and publishing.

LB: Hi Kayla, welcome back, thank you for being such a great source and gracious interviewee. Many of us who write also try to juggle many things in our life. Do you have a special time to write? What is your writing routine?

KDT: It really depends on the time of year. During the summer with my daughter home, I write whenever I can squeeze it in. I try to get in 2-3 thirty-minute chunks throughout the day. During the school year, I usually end up writing from 1-2:30 on weekdays. When I can, I add time in the morning. Sometimes I work in the evenings, and I usually squeeze something in on the weekend. I aim to write every day. That’s the most reliable routine I can claim.

LB: When I was beginning to write, I went through a struggle looking for the perfect writing spot. Do you have a special place where you write?

KDT: I have a wonderful home office where I do the majority of my work, but I also like hauling my laptop into my bed on a regular basis.

LB: Do you proofread/edit all your own books or do you get someone to do that for you?

KDT: Both! I go through the manuscript myself after letting it rest for a few days. I usually end up doing a lot of rewriting during this phase. Then I give it to my beta readers. Their job is to punch holes in the story, make sure it flows, and just make sure it doesn’t suck. Using their comments, I may tweak some things. Then I send it to my editor. I’m a firm believer in hiring a professional editor. I don’t think you can thoroughly or objectively edit your own work. When I get it back, I go through the manuscript one last time with the editor’s notes.

LB: Tell us about the covers of your books, Swept Up and Narrow Miss, which are awesome, btw, and how they came about.

KDT: I was very fortunate to get Jason Gurley as my cover designer for Swept Up. He was awesome to work with, and gave me so much more than a cover. He was full of writing advice. Sadly, he has decided to retire from cover design. Narrow Miss was designed by my sister, Kendra Marvin from Boots and Bling Photography. She’d been saying she was interested in learning how to do covers as she loves graphic art. When I found out Jason was unavailable for my future projects, I shoved her into the deep end of the pool. She’s learning quickly, and has some great ideas and mad skills.

LB: How did you publishing this book and why?

KDT: I chose to self-publish through Amazon. I used Create Space for print on demand paperbacks, and Kindle Direct Publishing for my e-books. I chose to self-publish because I wanted to be in charge of every step of the process and maintain my rights. Plus, I’ve always wanted to run my own business.

LB: Did you format Swept Up on your own?

KDT: I formatted Swept Up on my own. It was very easy to prepare my e-book using Scrivener, which is only a $40 program. Create Space walked me through the process of formatting my paperback. I only needed Word for that.

LB: When it comes to marketing your book, do you have any tips on what to do and what not to do?

KDT: I’m still learning a lot about marketing, but here’s what I’ve been doing. I have a Facebook author page. It doesn’t have a lot of followers, so I also use my personal page for marketing. I share my blog posts, new release announcements, inspirational writing quotes, and random personal updates. I only post a handful of times per week on the official author page. I also use Twitter. I’ve learned through observation that continually spamming the feeds with “buy my book” stuff is very annoying and you lose followers. I tweet new blog posts, random updates, and tips about writing and running a business. I aim to be helpful and create relationships with people both online and in person. If they want to buy a book,  they will. I will confess that on release days, I talk about the new book a lot. I figure, it’s okay every once in a while. To me this business is more than selling books, it’s about making connections with people. Books have been precious to me my whole life. I want to get to know the people who read my work and what it means to them.

LB: Which social network worked best for you?

KDT: Facebook is great for reaching my family and friends. Twitter has been the best for reaching new readers.

LB: Do you have any other advice for other writers?

KDT: Take the time to read up on how to market your work. I highly recommend Gary Vaynerchuk’s book Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook; Tim Grahl’s book Your First 1,000 copies; and Austin Kleon’s book Show Your Work. I also think you should read about your craft and be prepared to practice. Not everything you write will go in the next novel or blog post. Sometimes you just need to write for the sake of writing. You must be open to slowing down and being willing to grow. Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg and Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott inspire me to dig in and let the words fly every time I revisit them.

LB: What are your ambitions for your writing career?

KDT: I want to keep publishing work regularly, hopefully improving with each book. I also want to keep connecting with readers and maybe find more opportunities to speak about writing and publishing. I gave a presentation a little over a week ago at our local library and loved every minute of it!

LB: Thank you so much for visiting again, I appreciate the great insight into indie writer’s life. For those of you who missed the first part of the interview last week, here are the ways you can get in touch with Kayla and discover her wonderful work:

Website: www.kayladawnthomas.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kayla-Dawn-Thomas/475221952531489?ref_type=bookmark

Twitter: @kayladawnwrites

Pinterest: Kayla Thomas

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Kayla-Dawn-Thomas/e/B00LAMREVU/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Book Links: (* American, UK, etc.) http://www.amazon.com/Swept-Up-Kayla-Dawn-Thomas-ebook/dp/B00JLDR3OS/ref=la_B00LAMREVU_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406648197&sr=1-1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7434912.Kayla_Dawn_Thomas

 

Interview With Indie Author Kayla Thomas

Recently, I have posted a review of ‘Swept Up’, a book by the fellow author, Kayla Dawn Thomas. I loved the book and wanted to learn more about the author, to discover what inspires her, what were her challenges and lessons learned from writing “Swept Up” and what she’s working on now. Kayla graciously agreed to an interview. In fact, she was wonderful enough to chat with me for a two-part interview. Today, we’ll be talking about the ‘writing’ part of the writing. Next week, look forward to Kayla talking about the techy part of the writing process.

So, without further ado…

LB: How old where you when you first began to write?

KDT: About second grade.

LB: Why did you begin to write?

KDT: Because I’d been telling stories to a jump rope since I was very little, and it creeped my mom out. LOL, seriously though, I just needed the tools to shift from the jump rope to paper, you know, like the ability to read and write. I’ve had the need to tell stories my whole life.

LB: I know a lot of us call ourselves ‘aspiring writers’, ’wanna-be writers’, rather than just calling ourselves ‘writers’. When did you first consider yourself a writer?

KDT: A couple of years ago I read Jeff Goins’s book You’re a Writer (So Start Acting Like One), and he stressed the importance of never calling yourself an aspiring writer. You’re either writing or you’re not. However, it wasn’t until I started working with Courtney Carver a year later that I got brave enough to label myself as a writer. Once I started telling people I was a writer when they asked what I did, my confidence immediately started to grow.

LB: Where do your ideas come from? Any secrets on invoking the Muse?

KDT: Oh gosh, my ideas come from everywhere. Swept Up came from watching the street sweeper trundle by my house. I’m a very random person, and I notice little things—things normal people probably wouldn’t consider story worthy, like a street sweeper. As for invoking the muse, you have to write every day. I don’t really believe in writer’s block. If I can’t get my groove going, I just whip out my notebook or open an empty Word document and do a stream of consciousness until the story starts flowing again, or a new project emerges. Usually it doesn’t take more than twenty minutes. I also think it helps to keep your mind sharp by reading a lot. For me, reading keeps me in the creative state of mind.

LB: You have recently published a book, “Swept Up”, please tell us about it. Can you give us an insight into your main characters?

KDT. Kara is a frustrating character. For much of the book, she’s hard to like, however many of us are hard to like when we’re at our lowest. Web is the man we all hope to find (there’s a lot of my husband in Web), but he isn’t without his past hurts. I’ve been told by some readers Web is too good to be true, but I believe he just seems that way next to Kara. We all need someone to lift us up and love us enough to stick by us as we get well again.

LB: What have inspired you to tell this story?

KDT: A couple of things inspired me. The street sweeper, and I was going through a rough time of finding myself. No, I don’t have a drinking problem like Kara, but I hurt inside. I was learning how to manage my anxiety disorder and start a new career alongside being a mom and wife. It was very overwhelming. I think writing a character who was hurting too was cathartic. By the time Swept Up was published, I was a new woman. This book changed my life, and was a huge part of my healing. I’m in a much better place now.

LB: What was the hardest part of writing your book?

KDT: Being patient with the process. It’s so tempting to whip out a story and slap it up on Amazon, but it’s essential to stay the course and take your time with the writing, editing, beta readers, editing, giving it to a professional editor, then editing again. The whole thing takes time, but when you reach the finish line with a product that looks like something you’d see on a bookstore shelf, you realize all the time and effort was worth it.

LB: What did you learn from writing “Swept Up”?

KDT: Um, patience, LOL! I also learned that I can write books for a living. I gained so much confidence during the process. Yes, I still look at my daily writing and think, “That was a pile of crap.” But I don’t delete it anymore. I let it be and just keep pecking away at it until it’s a smaller pile of crap. From what I’ve read, this is pretty common among authors. I figure you’re screwed when you become so pompous that you think everything you do is awesome the moment it hits the page.

LB: What are you currently working on?

KDT: I’m starting an episodic series called the Jenna Ray Stories. The first episode is Narrow Miss.  Jenna Ray is a former computer nerd, turned sexy seductress. But she only uses her powers for good: she lures in unfaithful husbands only to capture and return them to their wives. This series is edgier and much more rambunctious than Swept Up. I wanted to do something totally different.

LB: How can readers discover more about you and your work?

KDT: Website: www.kayladawnthomas.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kayla-Dawn-Thomas/475221952531489?ref_type=bookmark

Twitter: @kayladawnwrites

Pinterest: Kayla Thomas

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Kayla-Dawn-Thomas/e/B00LAMREVU/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Book Links: (* American, UK, etc.) http://www.amazon.com/Swept-Up-Kayla-Dawn-Thomas-ebook/dp/B00JLDR3OS/ref=la_B00LAMREVU_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406648197&sr=1-1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7434912.Kayla_Dawn_Thomas

LB: Thank for the great interview, Kayla! I have a soft spot for a good quote. What is your favorite quote?

KDT: “The work quiets fear.” Courtney Carver

 

I would like to thank Kayla once more for allowing us a peek into her writing world. Please return next week for the Part 2 of the interview where we will be talking about cover designs, formatting and self-publishing.

These Characters Are Real – Review of “Swept Up”

Recently I had a pleasure of reading a book by a fellow indie writer, Kayla Dawn Thomas. It’s her recent release and it is called “Swept Up“.

Before I go into any of the details I have to say right away how impressed I was with the characters of this book. They are real people with very real issues, desires, problems and aspirations. Many of the demons they are facing are very familiar to me from my own experience or experiences of close friends and relatives. There is nothing phony about the people you meet in this story, they are destructive, they are creative, they are caring, they are hateful, they will tell you how to live your live and they will make you walk your own path. Author is not protecting the main characters in any way, there were many times when I gasped out loud at what was happening to the them or straight up yelled at them for doing something really stupid.

This story is a modern romance set in a small college town, it introduces us to Web, street sweeper by night and book reading recluse by day. He had a share of a heartbreak in his college days and is not in a hurry to get involved again. Anti-social by nature, he’d rather be on the sidelines of human drama even though his sister tries to set him up with her gym-going friends, without any success.

One night he is out on his street-cleaning run, when a woman named Kara runs in front of his street sweeper. She is disoriented and hurt and he decides to help her and take her home. After taking care of her he leaves, but she doesn’t leave his thoughts. She is, however, caught up in her issues, relationships, complicated situation with her parents and a denial of a habit. She keeps on making bad choices and he keeps on being in the right place at the right time to rescue her yet again.

After life knocks her out (literally), she finally decides to give him a chance. Web is different from anyone she has ever dated and she is all he can think of. Thinking of her brings up his previous relationship, the one that broke his heart. He can’t help but compare them and he is yet to find out how similar the situation is going to turn out. Kara carries a secret that will break his heart and make him think long and hard about the viability of their relationship.

Will they survive the roadblocks the life threw at them or will they find a way to come together? Read and find out.

 

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What Inspires You to Write?

Ever stopped to think of all the random things that inspire you to write?

I can immediately think of a few that are common for many of us:

Music – soft quiet one for those love scenes, heavy-metal for those action scenes
Weather – for some it’s rain, while others get excited by a bright sunshine
A good book – the feelings it stirs up and how it moves us
A movie – same as a book but with sound and visual elements added

But there are other, more subtle reasons that inspire us to write which we don’t realize at times, that come with being human and living among people:

A story we heard while in line at the supermarket
A wrinkly hand of the mother that reminds us that the time together is limited
Sickness of the family pet that brings everyone together
A promise you made to a loved one
A promise you made to yourself
Legacy you want to leave your children
Curiosity and wonder
A desire to make someone’s life better

The reasons go on and on as are the books that were inspired by them.

What are the things that inspire You?

 

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I love my Kindle

Ok, I know, I shouldn’t be professing love to an inanimate object, but I do love that darn thing!

My Kindle is the first generation, nothing fancy (ok, it has the 3G, hallelujah!), but I love it just the way it is. I received it for Christmas few years ago and it’s the best “toy” I own.

Initially, I wanted a Kindle to slow the growth of book piles in my house because I love books (another inanimate object I’m in love with). I thought buying a book in digital would a) help me de-clutter my house, b) save some trees. And as much as I love the smell of new books, my small house could only hold so much. So my lovely husband gave me the Kindle.

That very night I hooked it up to my Amazon account and the rest was history. First of all I was ecstatic that one of the free books on it were Sherlock Holmes stories (my favorite character of all times!). Second of all I loved that the Kindle was so light and small, I could fit it anywhere and read it any time I wanted. And the battery held the charge for weeks! Those were the obvious benefits.

The more I used it, the more benefits or shall I say Reasons To Love I discovered.

Here are my top ones:

Kindle is for reading only. There is no temptation or capability to freely browse the web and get distracted. It is electronic, but it’s just a book.
I can get a new book any time I want. Once I was home sick and ended up reading 4 of the 10 books from “Mary O’Reilly” series by Terri Reid. As soon as I finished one, I got the next one, it was AWESOME!
I got to discover indie writers that I wouldn’t have read otherwise. I think this is the part I love the most about Kindle and Amazon, the chance for the writers put their books out there in the world. I found and read many great indie books and got introduced to some talented people.
Since I got my Kindle, I have read more books than ever before.
When I read my Kindle, no one has to know what book I am on – there is no “book cover”.
My reading progress is synchronized between all of my devices and I can continue to read the book on anything I choose if I happened to forget my Kindle at home

What are your favorite things about e-readers?

What indie writers have you discovered recently?

 

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