Sarah Noffke's Blog, page 12

Official Release of Warriors

Today is the official release day for Warriors #3. The entire Reverians series is now out and ready for binge consumption. I decided to only put a month between the release of each book because I don’t like having to wait for sequels and why should my readers. This is my second series and I cannot even express how excited I am for this one. Writing this series was truly a magical experience. I went through so many emotions and really lived in another plane of consciousness at times. There were moments when the creative process truly took me away and made me in awe of the story unraveling inside of me. I love these books. The characters are so dear to me. And the setting, well it’s one I know and have lived in. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share and I dearly hope that you find something inspiring in these books as well. Grab the first, second or third book in the series here. Oh, and the first book, Defects, is free from Oct. 15th – 19th! Grab it!

NEW BOOK – Ren: The Man Behind the Monster

Anyone who has read any of my books has met Ren. He’s a middle-aged snarky Brit. He can be found in the pages of my stories harassing characters while also bestowing life-saving information on them. That’s kind of his thing. He’s a genius and he knows it, and modesty completely doesn’t suit him. In the Lucidites and Reverians series Ren had minor roles, but now it’s time he fills up the pages of his own book with snide remarks. It’s time to learn just what makes this guy so damn angry.

I have never been so excited to release a book as I am for Ren: The Man Behind the Monster. It is currently on preorder and will be released on November 21, 2015. Preorder here.

This is the first New Adult Urban Fantasy I’ve written. I do have a caution, since many of my readers are a bit young. This book does have strong language, some violence and sexual content.

Synopsis below:

Born with the power to control minds, hypnotize others, and read thoughts, Ren Lewis, is certain of one thing: God made a mistake. No one should be born with so much power. A monster awoke in him the same year he received his gifts. At ten years old. A prepubescent boy with the ability to control others might merely abuse his powers, but Ren allowed it to corrupt him. And since he can have and do anything he wants, Ren should be happy. However, his journey teaches him that harboring so much power doesn’t bring happiness, it steals it. Once this realization sets in, Ren makes up his mind to do the one thing that can bring his tortured soul some peace. He must kill the monster.

Big Month for DEFECTS – Publishers Weekly and Glamour UK

When I was a kid I used to sit in a tree and write poetry and plays. The poetry was about things that didn’t make sense, and the plays were about British people, who did make sense. Inspiration is a funny thing. I didn’t want to grow up to be a writer. That girl who wrote in the old oak tree knew that people didn’t become writers. People become teachers, firefighters and doctors. A writer, well that wasn’t a position one could choose. It’s just something people are magically elected for. And still I wrote. No matter what I wrote.

I speak about that girl from east Texas a lot. The one I used to be. Because I know she’d have a hard time believing that somewhere in the cosmos she was elected to be a writer and one day a published author. I have insider knowledge that she really doubted whether she’d ever do much. I’m pretty certain she never realized that one day her books would be featured in Publishers Weekly or Glamour UK. That young girl would be certain that fell under “things that didn’t make sense.” But that girl also spent a lot of time watching BBC, and that’s probably why I became something that did make sense: an author. Inspiration is a funny thing.

Yes, I’m a small town girl who still has a hard time believing that the books I’ve written are world wide…and that people read them.

REVIVED now available on audiobook

The third and final book in the Lucidites series is now available on audiobook on Audible, ibooks, and Amazon.

I have to say that the narrator, Elizabeth Klett, doesn’t just bring this story to life, she gives it gritty emotion. Order the book here.

 

Audiobook of Stunned is Now Available

Just over a year ago, I had three separate Word documents sitting on my computer. They were just large files at that time. I wasn’t sure what to do with them. I’d hired an editor, hoping she’d provide some insight. Maybe she’d tell me they were rubbish and I should go back to my day job. That’s kind of what I figured she’d tell me. Instead, she sent me back a polished version of the first file and then asked for the next one in the line up.

“Wait? What?!” I thought. “You actually think this is worth your time?”

She did and that meant I had a lot more work to do. I hired a cover designer. I learned as much as I could about this process connected to taking large Word files and making them into something people would want. And just under one year ago I published my first three books, The Lucidites Series. I took a lot of chances. One was publishing all three at once, but I love binge reading and know I’m not the only one.

I really didn’t know what to expect when I took a large document and slapped a cover on it and pressed “Publish”. I can tell you I never expected the wild ride that I’ve been on this year. People actually bought those books. They sent me notes and told me they wanted to read more of my books. And so, I haven’t stopped. I have many more files on my computer waiting for my editor to make them look pretty.

I can also say that I never, NEVER, expected that those once sloppy files would be read by a talented voice actress and available as audiobooks. Less than a year ago I was scared to death that I was going to publish a bunch of books that went nowhere. I really didn’t consider the idea that they would go everywhere, in multiple forms. And I’m super grateful that they have. Thanks everyone. This has been a fantastic ride and it’s not done yet.

It’s my pleasure to formally announce that Stunned, book 2 in The Lucidites Series, is available on audiobook. Get it here!

Big Sale on Defects – Book #1 in The Reverians Series

Get it here!

AWOKEN is free on Kindle – Limited Time

Today is my birthday! And to celebrate I’ve made AWOKEN free for the next five days! So tell your friends. Pick it up. Let the good times roll! http://amzn.to/1hPHqIt

Enter For a Chance to Win Paperback of DEFECTS

 

Enter for a chance to win a paperback of Defects. And you find out immediately if you’re a winner.
Enter here!

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Author Spotlight on THE KATY

Katy is a blogger, mom, writer, and fantastic lady. She’s running the launch party for Defects on Band of Dystopian Authors and Fans. It’s tomorrow, August 22nd, from 5 to 7 PST. I’m giving away signed paperbacks and ebooks (not signed) of Defects. Join us! Anyway, here’s my interview with Katy. She asked some really great questions.

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The Real Story of How I Became an Author

I used to have a professional job. There were set hours. I showed up at the same time every day. I left at the same time every day. I wore a skirt. Sometimes I wore slacks. I brought my lunch. I didn’t have a window in my office. And you know what, I didn’t really care. It was a good job. Actually it was a great job, but it wasn’t the one I wanted. Not all of the time. I worked with great people and we had a clear mission and we made people’s lives better. And yet every day I walked over to the library and sulked. I browsed the library shelves not sure what I was looking for. I kept believing I was trying to find a book. Guess what? I was, but it hadn’t been written yet.

When I was a kid I was obsessed with dreams. I had a dream journal and looked for symbols and interpreted them. This started when I was only seven-years-old. Thanks to my detailed recordings of these dreams I still remember some of them. There was one I had where I boarded a train and then got news that my older brother had died. When a person dreams a loved one dies, those are usually considered nightmares. This one wasn’t. I awoke from that dream feeling inspired. In the dream my brother had told me just before he died, to “follow your heart.” It was a sentimental thought and at the time it was not something my snotty-nosed-teenage brother would have said to me. But we were going to grow up and things were going to change.

People who work inside of box-shaped buildings need vacations. Cruises were designed for these people. I had been a professional for just under ten years when I made plans to travel to Seattle for vacation…on a train. I first went to the library and stocked my bag with books, none of which I would end up reading. Then I drove to the station and boarded the train which would zip along the Oregon terrain and let me off in one of the most iconic Pacific Northwest cities.

And before the train had even taken off I got a call. My brother had died. He’d gone to sleep and hadn’t awoken. He was 35. I went to Seattle, but it didn’t feel like a vacation.

After David’s funeral I returned to my professional job. On my lunch breaks I went to the library. I kept searching for that book. Was it in the self-help section? Or the fiction section? I browsed endlessly. I’d even close my eyes and walk, running my fingers over the spines of the books and then I’d randomly stop. The book I chose was never the right one. None of them were the one I was looking for, but I still didn’t know that.

And the dream haunted me now, the one I had when I was a child. I’ve always been a little clairvoyant, but it was spooky to me that a dream foretold an event that happened over twenty years later. “Follow your heart,” my brother had said in the dream.

I was sitting in a meeting at my professional job. It was a meeting about an upcoming meeting, we were going to have, to discuss meeting-type-stuff. The details are quite fuzzy. But what isn’t fuzzy was a very real fear that creeped into my bones. Before I realized it, I was shaking, my face having lost all color. My skin was clammy and I was certain I was about to explode with this brand new emotion: anxiety. Right there in front of my boss and my boss’s boss and a half a dozen colleagues I was having a full blown panic attack. And the thought that triggered it was, “What if I go to sleep tonight and die?”

Dying is a scary thought for most. Dying means you leave your loved ones behind. You leave them to grieve. You are done. No more trips around the track of life. But for me, there was something else. That book. I hadn’t found that book. Book. Book. Books. There was something inside me and I was vibrating with anxiety because I was afraid I’d die without letting it out. I was afraid I was going to die before I told my story(ies).

I stopped going to the library after that. The book I wanted wasn’t there. It wasn’t at any library or any bookstore. It was inside of me.

Today, I write stories about people who lay down at night and do extraordinary things with their dreaming abilities. They go places, real places. They interact with real people. When the people in my books dream they change the world around them. And they’re powerful people outside of their dreams. They have the powers to see the future, to communicate telepathically, or move objects with their minds. The possibilities are limitless. And really, looking back, it makes sense that I write Dream Traveler books. How could I write about anything else but sleep, dreams and the unexplainable? It’s like I was being honed for this role all my life.

I think back to the dream I had when I was seven. “Follow your heart,” my brother had said. And then almost twenty years later he laid down to sleep and died. And it took that experience to wake me up. I finally took his advice. I followed my heart.

I don’t work in a professional occupation anymore. There aren’t set hours. I wear yoga pants. My colleague purrs a lot. And on my lunch breaks I sit with a toddler and discuss unicorns and monkeys, and train rides we’ll take one day. I don’t browse the library anymore. I found the books I was looking for. I wrote them. And at night I curl up and go to sleep, always looking forward to messages in my dreams.

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