Have you ever wished you had an image of your character? With Art Breeder you can.
I need to give thanks to author Elexis Bell for introducing me to the site. Check out her site, full of fabulous tips on writing, and her growing list of published books.
What is it?
The website generates a profile image by blending two images together and adjusting certain aspects of the face.
You can upload images you want to use but in the free version you are limited, I think it was five. But, using the images already available gives you more than enough options.
It takes a bit of playing to get the hang of it but it’s really addictive, especially as you start to see your character come to life.
Here’s their video to tell you more:
My characters
I created these in Art Breeder. They represent the main characters in Ocean Heart.
Characters of Ocean Heart created in Art Breeder.
Over the next few weeks I’m going to share with you more about each of these characters.
The story of the Sea Witch, the villainess from Hans Christian Anderson’s classic tale The Little Mermaid, told from the viewpoint of the Sea Witch when she was a twelve-year-old girl…
Evie has been wracked with guilt ever since her best friend, Anna, drowned. So when a girl appears on shore with an uncanny resemblance to Anna, Evie befriends her in an effort to make amends. And as the two girls catch the eyes – and hearts – of two charming princes, Evie believes that she might finally have a chance at happy ever after. But is Evie’s new friend really who she says she is?
A gripping story of friendship, betrayal and the power of hope…
Beginning
The story starts by introducing the three friends Evie, Anna, and Nik (aka the Crown Prince). The childhood friends are running along the beach and playing in a cove until there’s an accident. Evie risks her life to save Nik. Evie cracks her head on a rock. Her friends rush her home to her family that know magic and her mother gives her life to save Evie.
We then jump to Nik’s sixteenth birthday taking place on a ship. It reminded me of the scene from the start of Disney’s little mermaid. Anna isn’t here as she died in a tragic accident. This did confuse me a little as I thought I’d missed something because the only tragic accident I knew about was the one above, and Anna was fine.
A storm comes and Nik is washed overboard. Evie and his playboy cousin Iker search the tide for him, hoping he’s been washed ashore. Evie spots Nik first, he’s with a girl, but in a flash she is gone.
Middle
Evie is a witch but hides her magic because it’s punishable by death. The story covers lots of celebrations including one where wicker dolls to symbolize witches are thrown into the fire.
Evie meets a mysterious girl that is a dead ringer for her friend Ana who tragically died, taken by the sea, during a swimming challenge gone wrong. The new girl claims to be Annemette.
Annemette reveals to Evie she too has magic, and confesses to being a mermaid. It was her that saved Nik when he almost drowned and she fell in love and had to come to land for true love. She has limited time to get true loves kiss or return to the sea as foam.
Annemette is in luck because, as Nik’s BFF, she’s the one girl with access to him. But, Evie is poor and shunned away by the elite as unsuitable, so she’s not usually invited into the palace. Evie lies, and says Annemette is from a well off family, and Annemette uses her magic to create herself (and Evie), fine dresses. As a result, they are invited to stay at the palace.
Evie encourages Nik to date Annemette. She reminds her so much of her lost friend, she’ll do anything for her. Evie starts dating Iker. Nik isn’t too pleased about this, due to Iker’s reputation and there is a hint of jealous. Evie knows her and Nik can only ever be friends due to her heritage.
While Iker keeps kissing Evie, Nik holds back with Annemette. As the days pass, Nik starts expressing his suspicions more and more causing friction.
Evie searches for another way to break the curse. She starts practising her magic more, becoming stronger.
During all of this, there are flashbacks. These sometimes reveal Evie’s pasts, and sometimes the Little Mermaids and her life bebeathe the waves.
End
Time is running out! In Evie’s desperation she tells Nik, Annemette is a mermaid. Annemette is not impressed, so, she reveals Evie is a which! Iker over heals and demands the guards arrest her.
The girls run. Evie is still determined to save Annemette and believes she’s figured out the spell. It turns out Annemette has her own ideas to stay human & it has nothing to do with kissing Nik.
It’s during these final pages, Nik confesses he never had eyes for Annemette, he has always loved Evie. Annemette takes Nik’s life, making her human. But, as a human she’s vulnerable. Evie is shot with arrows and pulls Annemette down into the water. She holds her down until her last breath. Her friend, dead again.
Evie doesn’t die. With all the magic swirling in the water, she merges with an octopus and becomes the Sea Witch.
Final Thoughts
I loved the story telling. Sarah Henning set the novel in Denmark where it was from originally. She brought to life the Danish coast, and a fishing village rich in customs. There were moments that were so vivid, and I loved the fresh take on a classic fairy tale.
There wasn’t a happily ever after. I really wanted to see her with the crown prince & show those snobs that their love is more powerful. But, I guess I should have expected it. I kept looking at the cover and wondering where the famous sea witch was, and she was Evie.
The sea witch is usually the villain but in her own story she wasn’t. I liked Evie and I felt sorry for her fate. I’ll have to read book 2, Sea Witch Rising, to see if things improve for her.
The best way to explain Swoon Reads is as a public querying platform where readers influence agents on what to publish. The agents behind of this site are from MacMillan Publishing.
Swoon Reads publishes under Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan.
Writers: The platform was initially for YA Manuscripts only but now also accepts NA. The MS must be the writers original work and posted as an exclusive query to Swoon Reads for at least 6 months. One uploaded, it cannot be edited – that would be a new submission.
Readers: Site members read Manuscripts that appeal to them. They can comment to give the writer feedback with ideas for improvement or how much they loved it! Readers rate stories.
My History
Back in January 2014, I uploaded a copy of Drift to Swoon Reads. Drift was first drafted in Dec 2009, so I’d spent about 3 years working on it and thought it was ready to be queried.
The idea of readers choosing my book really appealed. At first, I got lots of positive ratings and excitedly awaited an agent to notice… and, I waited… and, I waited… and, after 6 months I returned to the traditional query trenches.
As you know, Drift has changed a lot in the last 10 years.
Was 24 chapters, then 36 chapters, now 30 chapters
Prologue cut
Merged with book 2
Changed character names
Given Ana (formerly Annie) a bigger role
Added a full mermaid shift
Added an epic battle
Changed the ending
Professional edit (twice) plus the countless self edits
Renamed as Ocean Heart
I uploaded Drift to Swoon Reads in January 2013. I got quite a few votes which moved my book into the top three most voted at the time. I thought this was pretty impressive as I didn’t have a huge social circle and my social media was limited to who I knew in real life, and I was too shy to tell them to go read my novel.
Despite the attention I got from readers, the agents never showed any interest. I don’t even know if they read it. But, the books they chose were always well deserving brilliant stories.
Moving on
After 6 months, you are free to leave your book on their site in hopes an agent will stumble across it and fall in love. I saw no harm in doing this.
I then queried and pitched other literary agents and publishers. I entered competitions. I did everything I could think to get my MS in their hands. Until, I realised, I could self publish.
This year, I’ve been working hard towards self publishing and in August, I got a strange message on Tumblr. They claimed to be a publisher that had seen ‘Drift’ on Swoon Reads and were interested.
Hmm…
One reason to Self Publish is there are lots of con artists about. Most reputable agents or publishers are so busy with manuscripts sent directly to them that they are not crawling the web looking for authors. They certainly wouldn’t use another publishers platform to poach authors.
I ignore them but it did remind me that my book is on Swoon Reads. I began to panic about their rules and if it’d affect my self publishing- eek.
They are a publisher that have built a good reputation for themselves so I hoped when I explained the situation they’d take my book down quickly. I explained:
Drift was uploaded in 2013
I’m self publishing but…
It has been edited a lot (characters names and plot changes)
Has a new title – Ocean Heart
Has a new cover
It was anxious for their reply. When I heard nothing I logged on and found it was gone. I’m no longer an author on Swoon Reads.
Comments
Readers can make comments on stories to encourage you or help the writer develop. Swoon Reads does warn writers to save these before taking an MS down otherwise they’ll be lost. I took screenshots. Here they are:
There will be, but book 2 is from Kiely’s perspective and much darker.
Tarot has done a great job of summarising Mariah (aka Lily) first love. Yes, I’m going to indulge you in a whole series based in the world of shifters.
Thanks Mike – met on WeBook a writing platform that no longer exists but where Drift was first posted online!
Mike, it’s evolved more! It’s got even better! No longer a twinge of magic, there’s even an epic battle.
I love comments like this. ?
Yay! Thank you x
You’ll be pleased to know that prologue is long gone. Lol ?
Thank you so much Debbie, I’m glad you loved my twist on magic.
Wow! This makes me want to happy dance.
Hopefully you won’t have to wait much longer as I’m working on Sky Heart (book 2) for 2021.
Thanks Anni. I’m working hard to make sure book 2 is just as awesome.
Do I recommend Swoon Reads?
Yeah. It’s been a positive experience for me. I didn’t get published but I did get useful feedback and encouragement from readers.
Ocean Heart
Drift has evolved and transformed into Ocean Heart. The comments above are by readers of the 2013 version.
These comments make me so happy. Whenever I get nervous about putting Ocean Heart out into the big bad world, these readers sweet words make me feel braver.
Soul Heart Readers
I’ve created a Facebook group for my Street Team, basically my first fans.
They’ll be first to hear how Ocean Heart is coming along, be offered ARCs and to be part of my virtual book tour, plus more…
If this is something you’d like to be part of, come join us in the Soul Heart Readers Facebook Group.
Please don’t worry about these when you are writing your first drafts. Your first draft will be messy and ugly and full of cringe-worthy writing.
When writing your first draft just get the words out but when polishing it up look out for these cliches and cut them out. I hope this list is useful for you.
1. Waking up
Nobody wants to hear about your characters morning routine. We don’t want to know what they do in the bathroom, how they make & eat their breakfast, or what they pick out to wear and how they get dressed.
If you start with your character waking up, something epic needs to happen and not their usual boring morning routine.
If they wake up to an alien invasion, I’m pretty they won’t be worrying about what to wear but the reader will be right there with then running down the street screaming in their pyjamas.
2. False starts
So, you throw your reader into a beautiful dream or terrifying nightmare. The reader has no idea this isn’t real. Then, they wake up and the reader feels cheated.
You may have drawn them in but only to disappoint them. This is only acceptable if it has a purpose, like if Freddy Kruger is the antagonist.
Don’t trick your reader into spending time reading your story only to reveal they wasted their time. They won’t thank you for it and might even quit reading more.
3. Characters
At the start of the book you want readers to connect with the MC quickly. If they’re confused who the MC is, that isn’t going to happen.
Make sure it’s clear who the main character is. This is the person that will take the reader through the story. Don’t hide the MC as a surprise later.
While on the topic of characters, please don’t give them multiple names – it’s confusing. Don’t have you character Elizabeth also called Liz, Lizzie, Beth, Eliza, Babe, Buttercup, etc. I did read a story on Wattpad where someone did this and I lost count of the MC’s various names by the end of chapter 1.
Don’t waste the readers time aquainting them in depth with a character that doesn’t contribute to the overall story. If they are not important, don’t include it.
You can introduce characters during the story but don’t dump them all in chapter one. Don’t overwhelm your reader with a massive cast so there head is spinning with all the names.
4. Point of view
Be consistent. Readers will get comfortable reading in a certain POV and when it changes it takes them out. This is why writing dual or multiple character viewpoints is tricky as you don’t want to lose the reader but also need to keep their voice authentic.
Keeping your characters voice authentic is important and true to what they know or understand. Think about unreliable narrators. You may find another character is better suited as your MC or the story is told better via another POV.
5. World building
Creating realistic and vivid worlds will suck your reader in but don’t drown them in the details. Bogging them down with lengthy descriptions or explanations about the dynamics is going to kill it.
You need to show them the world, let them see, feel, taste and smell it. Put the reader in the world so they live it. Weave it into what’s happening.
If you want to write beautiful prose about nature, stick to poetry.
6. Over-explaining
Give your reader some credit, they’re not stupid. Trust them to fill in the gaps. Show the character living in the story and your reader will figure how things are based on the interactions.
Don’t use dialogue as an info dump. It really doesn’t work. Conversation aren’t showing, if you’re using it as a vice for telling the reader.
7. Fancy language
Okay, so we just covered how smart your readers are, however, they aren’t going to stick around if reading your novel is a vocabulary workout.
Too many complex words will kill the flow of your story. If the reader has to keep stopping, to figure out what they’ve read, you’ll lose them. You don’t want your readers to groan at the thought of reading your story.
In addition, be cautious about using made up words. You may have created new creatures, profession and even a new language, but if your reader needs a translator to make sense of your story, it’s too much hard work.
8. Too comfortable
Any scene that is too cosy isn’t going to compell the reader to keep going. Something needs to happen, something has to grab their interest.
Preferably a terrible conflict that makes your reader get behind your MC and follow them to the end of the story. You need to start with action.
9. Start in the present
The problem with prologues is they take place before your story starts. Many people skip reading them.
Also, using backstory or flash forwards are not great starts because your reader hasn’t developed a relationship with your character so they don’t care about their past or future.
These can have the same impact as a false start if they’re not necessary.
10. Rules are made to be broken
All the above have been associated with losing the reader but there are occasions when it does work.
If you feel strongly that your story needs multiple view points or it’s crucial the MC wakes from a dream, then do it. After all, it is your story.
Thank you for agreeing to a Behind the Book interview about your novel Out Of My League. I was so lucky to be one of you ARC readers and became a fan.
Blurb: Out Of My League
Out Of My League is the second book you published. Was it easier launching book two?
Yes and no. I wasn’t as nervous for this book (though I was still pretty anxious about it!) mostly because the process wasn’t so unknown anymore. However, there were a few glitches with this book in the publication process that were difficult to figure out. It was a give and take, for sure!
This romance is a ‘pretend boyfriend’ romance. Have you ever fake dated?
I haven’t, which is probably a good thing! I most likely would’ve ruined the fake relationship on day one.
Out Of My League is centred around a highschool baseball team. Were you into sports at highschool?
Ooh, not at all. I’m the stereotypical character who always manages to get hit in the face by a basketball or something. Sports and I did not click, but that did open so much more time to work on my writing!
I love your YouTube channel. For my readers can you share a little what it’s about?
Thank you! I started a YouTube channel back in April, and I’m sharing all of the things I learned about the self-publishing process and my experiences with it, as well as talking about writing. With Camp NaNoWriMo coming up, my writing vlogs are coming back, and I’m so excited!
Have you got any tips for budding Author Tubers or Book Tubers?
Make the content that you love. Numbers may not grow fast at first, but if you’re loving the content you’re making, that’s all that matters.
I’m guessing you are a romance fan. What’s you favourite romance novel?
Ooh, this is a hard one! I really, really loved Kasie West’s The Fill-In Boyfriend, which, funnily enough, is another fake relationship romance! P.S. I Like You, also by Kasie, was also very sweet!
Please share a snippet of your story, Out Of My League?
Walsh stood on the other side of the door with his blond eyebrows high up on his forehead. “Nice to see you, too?” “What are you doing here?” I was ten kinds of disoriented, staring at his figure standing against the fading sky. Did I conjure him from my thoughts? “Why aren’t you at the bay? Aren’t the fireworks starting soon?” “I didn’t go,” he told me, slipping his hands into the pockets of his shorts. “What? What do you mean you didn’t go? Where have you been for the past few hours, then?” Walsh reached a hand out to me, palm up. “I can show you.” As enticing as his words were, I hesitated, glancing at the picture on the wall as if somehow my parents could see me through it. “I can’t leave the house.” “Your house,” he said, eyes vivid with energy, “or your yard?” Uh. “What?” Walsh grabbed my hand and led me out onto my front porch, then down the two steps. “Close your eyes,” he commanded, his other hand coming around to my other shoulder to guide me. “I promise I won’t let you trip over anything.” “Walsh—” “Shh. Just say ‘yes, Walsh’ and close your eyes.” I gritted my teeth but relented, swaying as my vision filled with black. “I hate surprises.” Walsh pressed firmer against my side, his chest touching my shoulder, a smile in his voice. “I think you’ll like this one.” Grass crunched beneath my bare toes as he moved me along, but I remained a good sport and kept my eyes sealed. Though it was silly, my heart started to beat faster, the anticipation making me nervous. His hands that curved over my shoulders were gentle, the pressure steady, his body close enough behind me that I could practically feel his proximity. “Relax,” Walsh said, guiding me to a halt. “Your shoulders are so tense. I’m not about to kill you and stuff you in my trunk.” “Your trunk’s huge. You seriously think you’d have to stuff me into it?” Walsh was close enough that I could feel him chuckle. “Can I open my eyes now?” Walsh hesitated for a moment before he let go entirely. “Yes.”
Where can we go to discover more and buy Out Of My League?
Out of My League is available on Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo books! I’ll leave a universal link for easy access to any platform! https://books2read.com/u/b55yOw
When I joined WIW I didn’t think self-publishing was for me. I only joined to connect with other writers.
Hearing their inspiring stories changed my mind. Self-publishing was no longer scary and they happily shared their experiences which I was able to learn from.
And, I achieved my initial goal of making incredible writer friends.
This is for bookstagrammers! Check out the post for full details but all you have to do is take a photo of an indie book or collection of indie books, use the hashtag #AllIndieBooks and we’ll feature our favourite with credit to your instagram account.
If the photo is of a book in the brochure we may also include you on the page it is featured.
What are you waiting for?
If you haven’t checked out WIW yet, go do it now! Check out the brochure and get involved.
The new brochure will launch at the end of September.
Have you checked out Parler yet? It’s very similar to Twitter but promotes free speech. So far I’ve found everyone friendly and welcoming, and the posts I share there display better.
Someone posted that they were struggling with writers block and the advice to “just write” no matter what, everyday, was not working for them.
I’ll admit, I don’t write everyday.
So, I came to the persons rescue with a few alternative suggestions. I honestly believe that just because a method was right for someone else, doesn’t mean it’s right for all. Everyone is unique.
Originally this was a four point list on Parler but then I had more ideas.
Infographic on How to Beat Writers Block
I hope you enjoyed my infographic and found it useful. If you’re on Parler, you can add me. I’m Redfae.
Launching my book feels so bizarre. On one hand it’s moving too quickly. On the other hand it feels like it’s not happening fast enough.
Release Date?
I don’t have a release date yet. I’m not setting one until I’m certain; no pressure to rush. I’ve waited a long time for this and I’m going to get it right.
As a member of my street team you’ll be the first to know everything!
Hang on… What’s a Street Team?
You’ll be my first fans and get to help out with supporting my book launch. Here are a few of the activities you’ll be invited to take part in, no pressure…
Announcements
I’d love you to be involved in sharing my book announcements like:
cover reveal
the release date
when pre-orders open & where to buy
giveaway posts (you can enter too).
online book tour
details about my launch party
Online Book Tour
I’d like you to be part of my book tour. This will take place leading up to the release & launch party.
You’ll have access to me to interview for your blog (or whatever platform you use). Feel free to share your ideas too and what works for your platform.
Members of the Street Team will be encouraged to share the Online Book Tour announcement. The announcement will list everyone hosting in the tour and how to find them.
I will promote the Online Book Tour and I will share your ‘event’ once published online.
Book Launch Party
You’ll be invited to my launch party.
I’ll be giving a shout out to those that hosted in the book tour and any Street Team members I see in attendance.
The launch party will celebrate the release of Ocean Heart. In addition, I’ve invited some authors I think you’ll love so you can discover them and their books too!
Plus, we’re planning a launch party giveaway! If you love books you’ll want to be there.
Exclusive media
I know how sometimes it’s hard to share an image as it doesn’t fit your social media style. That’s why I’m looking into a way to share with you images and text to enable you to create your own social media content to promote Ocean Heart too.
The sort of media this may include is:
Cover image
Blurb text
Tag line text
Social media details & links text
Author profile image
Author bio text
Where to buy text
Book tour details text
Book party details text
Book quotes text
Book quote image
Plus social media images I created for this
That’s just for starters…
Being in the street team you’ll hear about new ideas as they develop. For example, I’m thinking of doing an exclusive giveaway only open to my street team.
You can be as involved as you like. You won’t be penalised if you forget to share a pic or life gets in your way.
NB: If you are in the blog tour you will need to schedule your post for the date & time you promised otherwise when I send people to check it out, they’ll be disappointed.
Most of all, I want to develop a connection with you. I’m hoping that connection will last long after this adventure.
I hope you have so much fun, I’ll be able to interest you in my next book launch. Then we can do this all over again. ?
This is a private group. When you join you’ll need to answer some simple questions and wait to be approved.
If you’re keen but not on Facebook- please private message me on the platform you follow me. I don’t want you to miss out, we’ll see if we can work around it.
This a summary of the highs and lows of my writing this month.
Camp NaNo
My goals were:
Finish Sky Heart
Read two books
You are about to discover neither of those goals were met. I failed Camp NaNo but hopefully you’ll agree my month was still a success when you see how much I did achieve off plan.
Ocean Heart Cover
This has been one of the most exciting developments this month.
I had to complete a very in-depth questionnaire about my novel that challenged me to think about things I hadn’t thought about. I even did an Ingram Spark course and measured books from my bookshelf to figure out what trim size I needed.
The questionnaire also got me excited about the future of the series as it helped me visualise it becoming a reality and not just an idea in my head.
My cover designer sent me the first draft. I shared it with some close author friends to get their feedback. They loved it and didn’t want me to change a thing.
But, I’ve waited such a long time for this moment, I wanted the cover to be perfect. The cover was stunning but there were tiny details I wanted tweaked. I felt awkward asking for changes to such a gorgeous cover but my designer was so nice about it – actually she was excited to make it even better.
My cover designer sent me the second draft and it’s the one. I am now trying to work out how to do a cover reveal – eek!
Ocean Heart Blurb
I loved the blurb I wrote for Ocean Heart. Over the years I’ve tweaked it and used it on sites like WeBook to Wattpad.
I’m going to share a blog post on the “making of the blurb” but the new version is so much better. I’m glad I asked for help.
Finish Sky Heart
I wanted to finish the first draft of Sky Heart but when I opened the manuscript I was lost as to what was going on!
I went back to the start and began making notes on the chapters. I thought it was a good first draft. But, in my read through, I found so many mistakes. So many!
I’ll confess I am intimidated by the amount of work needed here. Although I haven’t been physically working on it, I have been thinking about how to develop and improve what I’ve got.
Expanding my Social Network
I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole in trying to find out the truth the mainstream news won’t report on. It started with the Coronavirus, then a few conspiracy theories… and recently anything about Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell, and the full details of Johnny Depp vs Sun (Amber Heard’s accusations).
Before, I drag you off on a tangent, the reason I mentioned this is my search for the truth opened my eyes to more social media.
Parler (@Redfae)
Parler is similar to Twitter but without political biases. They allow content to be from both sides of an argument as long as you don’t breech their community guidelines.
The benefits are that the ‘tweets’ look nicer on Parler and there is more engagement (interaction).
The negatives are the link to my profile doesn’t seem to work, so I can’t share it. Also, I’m not into USA politics and Parler is heavily saturated with Trump supporters that have been silenced on Twitter.
YouTube (Ally Aldridge)
Thanks to learning about making videos for Noah’s channel, it’s made me think more about daring to make my own content.
This month I made and edited two videos and plan to launch my channel next month. Eek!
Coming Soon
SuperFanz (Redfae)
This is kind of like an RSS feed for social media. My page is linked to my Instagram and YouTube. Whenever I post to those sites it appears in my SuperFanz feed. I’m still navigating the site but it looks good.
TikTok
I was very briefly on here to see what all the fuss is about. Then, I heard the site is mining data. I deleted the app but couldn’t see how to delete my account.
Story Origin
I’m still figuring this out but it seems to be a networking site for authors newsletters. They feature each other in their newsletters to boost each other.
I need to dare to get involved but I’m currently sitting on the sidelines trying to figure it out.
Book Bub
I joined this site but not figured out how to use it. It seems to be similar to Good Reads where you can review & recommend books and follow authors.
I think there are tools for authors to promote their books and give fans offers.
Ocean Heart Copy Edit
Ocean Heart has gone back to my editor for a final copy edit. We had a meeting to discuss some parts of my novel. It was great getting to speak to my editor, she’s really insightful and encouraging – whilst highlighting my mistakes.
My editor doesn’t think it’ll take me too long to go through the changes but… I worry I’m slower than most people.
Once it comes back to me, I’ll work on it for a month then send to my formatter.
Course
Storyseller Academy
So, my goal this month was to do the Storyseller Academy course. When I got midway through the month and realised I’d still not had time, I was very cross with myself. I vowed to make it a priority. I’m not sure what happened but I still haven’t made any progress on this.
I honestly want to do this course and it frustrates me that it’s not happened. Why? Because it’s full of important content, I want to give it my full attention.
During the day, I’m very distracted. It can take me a whole morning to post on Instagram because the kids keep interrupting me. In the evenings, I’m often tired from the day and have to squeeze everything in from self care & time with my husband through to urgent actions for Ocean Heart.
This course is specifically about how to successfully sell your books which is what I need to learn very soon! I may just do it without taking notes – it’s not like I can’t re-watch the videos.
Ingram Sparks course
I did one of the free Ingram Sparks course to get a better understanding of the different book formats, sizes and trims etc.
YouTube course
I started a course on how to start a YouTube channel. I want to create an authortube/booktube channel with a little vlogging. It’s all bitesize learning.
Google Digital Garage in collaboration with Open University
I almost finished their digital marketing course. For a free course it was pretty good. It covers a lot of the basics about creating an online presence and when I finish it I’ll get a certificate – Yay!
Reading
Sea Witch by Sarah Henning
I read my physical books when Aria is asleep. She is the destroyer of books and it really upsets me when she destroys them. After a month of heavy editing, I am trying to spend more evenings with my husband. As a result, I’m now only up to chapter 26 – I estimate this as 75% if the way through .
When I should be reading, I’ve been watching the entire season of Warrior Nun and Cursed, both on Netflix.
Agent Undone by Cassidy Reyne
I usually read eBooks during the day but recently life has been full of day time distractions and this has taken a knock. I’m up to chapter 10 which my kindle says is roughly 30% through.
WIW Blog
I’ve written three blog posts for World Indie Warriors. They are scheduled for August and all about how you can get involved in the WIW Brochure!
Husband’s birthday
It hasn’t all been work, work, work. I literally took time off from my day job and spent a long weekend with my hubby and kids just chilling out together. We ate cheesecake and shushi.
Thank you for agreeing to let me interview you again. This time is about Sam’s Story, the second book in your Wiccan Romances series.
Was it easier to publish book 2 & did you do anything different to how you published book 1?
It was much easier to publish book 2 as I already had a lot of the formatting saved on my memory stick from writing the first one, so where it took me a good couple of weeks to get the formatting correct on Amelia’s Story, it took probably half a day instead. The hardest bit about formatting is the cover and I know mine don’t quite match but I didn’t realise that until after I pressed print, so I’m stuck with it for these two but I’m hoping to make the next ones match one of the two covers.
Was writing the second book in a series easier or harder?
I found the writing experience easier, as I had some ideas of the best practices to follow and I planned out the major scenes I wanted to includerather than just making it up as I was writing. I also had a bond with the characters, which made it easier to know how they would react, but I found I had much more in common with Amelia because she is more like me than the characters in this book so in that respect getting their interests right and knowing what their motivations were was a bit harder.
Can you name any books similar to yours?
The books were partially inspired by the Harry Potter series, so there some similarities there but I can’t think of any other books I would compare Wiccan Romances to.
How many books do you anticipate in the series and what else can we look forward to from you?
There will definitely be another two books in the series but beyond that I haven’t decided. I might also release an ebook of all the spells and rituals I have made up during the course of writing, just as a sort of fun companion.
Do you believe in magic and have you ever cast a spell?
I do believe in magic, I once read a quote in a book which said that all women have a little bit of magic in them and that when it combines with others the results can be amazing and that really resonated with me but I have never personally tried to cast a spell.
Do you have any witch book, shows or movies you recommend?
I personally loved the original Charmed, I’m not such a big fan of the new version and I really like watching Supernatural, Dean Winchester is extremely hot. When I was younger, I was a big fan of the Wizards of Waverly Place and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, so I would recommend any of these shows to any fans of my books or just fans of paranormal TV.
Please share a snippet of Sam’s story?
Snippet 1:
Sam smiled to himself when he heard his brother get up and smirked, when Ben emerged from his room, yawning. Ben flipped his brother his middle finger as he stalked past him to go downstairs and get a cup of coffee. Deciding that he was onto a winner, Sam headed up to Lia’s bedroom to wake her up, just for fun.
“Morning Sunshine.” Sam called, walking into Lia’s room and plonking himself down on her bed.
“Eugh.” Lia moaned, rolling onto her stomach.
“Come on, you have an exam today.” Sam encouraged.
“My exam is in the afternoon.” Lia mumbled into her pillow.
“Oops, my bad.” Sam laughed. “Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about Heather.”
“If you don’t leave right now, I’m going to tell her about the time you asked Ben for kissing tips.” Lia announced, flipping onto her side, so she could glare at her brother.
“You wouldn’t.” Sam gasped.
“What do you want, Sam?” Lia groaned.
“Nothing.” Sam replied, with a smile as he sauntered out of the room.
Snippet 2:
“You stole my girlfriend!” Charlie suddenly exploded.
Rocked by Charlie’s anger, all of the loose items in the car went flying around, hitting everyone, as the car vibrated, due to the minor earthquake he caused.
“Charlie!” David yelled.
“How did I steal your girlfriend?” Sam shouted, at the same time his dad tried to reprimand Charlie.
“You knew I was dating Emily, then you swooped in and stole her from me.” Charlie continued.
Where can we go to discover more and buy Sam’s story
Sam’s Story is available at all major online booksellers, including Amazon, Waterstones, WHSmiths and Barnes and Noble. It is also available in ebook format, including Kindle, Kobo, Nook and Ibooks.
