Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Books, Suspense, Writing

Book Review: Agent Undone by Cassidy Reyne

I love Cassidy. She has a big heart and its no surprise she writes romance. If you don’t follow her on social media you’re missing out.

Cassidy always says the perfect thing when someone needs picking up. She helped with my blurb and novel. I’ve never read romantic suspense before, but for her I wanted to.

View this post on Instagram

I’m struggling to find time for myself and to read, but I’m now halfway through this Romantic Suspense #agentundone by @cassidyreyne . ? The first half of the book builds the tension between the two main characters. It splits between their view points to give a deeper insight of what’s going on. Maddison is a survivor of sex trafficking and always looking over her shoulder. Whereas Carter is an agent recovering from an injury obtained during his last mission. He’s a love ‘em & leave them type of guy and can’t wait to get back in the field. They are both staying in temporary lodges on a picturesque beach. ? I’ve just started the 2nd half and it has got a lot darker. The pair have lost touch but I’m desperate for them to meet again. They need to, for Maddison’s sake. It seems she was right to worry about her past catching up with her… ? #currentlyreading #romanticsuspense #beachread #humantrafficking #romancebooks #cassidyreyne #romancereadersofinstagram #romancenovels #romancereader #romancebookstagram #romancebookworm #romancebookaddict #runaway #inhiding #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #romanticsuspensebook #romancereads #romanceauthor #iloveromance #tbr #currentread #ebook #kindle #kindlegram #wiwbooks #allindiebooks

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If you don’t like spoilers, scroll quickly to my final thoughts.

About the Book

Beginning

Carter is an agent that got injured during the last mission. He’s now renting a cabin by the coast whilst recovering. In addition, he is hear broken over a colleague/lover that died. He has a lot of emotional stuff to process and doesn’t want a relationship. While he rests up, his best mate/colleague, Nate, let’s him stay at his beach holiday home.

Maddison writes articles about women in abusive relationships. It’s a topic very personal to her as she barely escaped her ex, Konrad, alive. Now she lives in fear he may one day find her. Maddie is renting the cabin next door to Nate’s, where Carter is staying.

Middle

Both characters are private people. Carter needs to maintain secrecy about who he is and what he does, and Maddison is constantly checking over her shoulder for her ex or one of his goons.

They enjoy running up and down the beach, and soon start doing this together. Carter is attracted to Maddie but doesn’t want to get involved woth anyone. He tries to manage his sexual urges with a few one night stands, careful to pick girls that won’t get close. The more time he spends with Maddison, the less effective his cold showers become.

Maddison has to visit her employers head office to collect her pay checks. Little does she know, but during this trip she is spotted by a goon. And despite her careful precautions, she’s now being followed back to the beach hut.

Carter’s leg has healed and he’s approved to return to duty. He’s to be an undercover agent to catch a sex and drug trafficking ring. Carter feels bad that he couldn’t say bye to Maddie and asks Nate to check on her.

Nate reports that Maddie has gone, and Carter accepts he is unlikely to ever see her again.

Carter is making progress fooling Konrad, the suspected boss of the ring he is investigating. Carter doesn’t know what to think when Konrad parades his girlfriend around his sleazy club, and Carter recognises her as Maddie.

End

There are lots of misunderstandings between the pair. Carter assumes that Maddie was helping Konrad get girls and after the bust, he wants nothing to do with her.

Fate causes the pair to cross paths again, it’s messy and they’ve a lot of baggage to unpack. But, there isa HEA and a very steamy sex scene .

Final Thoughts

This was a great read. It has some very steamy scenes but brought together with a strong plot. The characters are very complex, with rich back stories that feeds into who they are.

It’s only in recent years I’ve become aware of that domestic trafficking takes place. Cassidy sensitively deals with this topic. She shows how it has shapes Maddie and affected her life. The early chapters made me feel uneasy every time Maddie left the safety of her cabin. Carter also has complex issues to resolve. Their hesitation to get involved in a romantic relationship is very real.

There where times I wanted to knock Carter’s head but I think he was scared of the truth, as he was scared of getting close and losing someone again. I read the las chapters really fast as I loved when he starts to get over his fear and get honest with himself. He needs the truth, and he needs Maddie. Such a satisfying ending.

I’ve not read romantic suspense before. The suspense made me feel on edge and anxious. It was refreshing to try something different. I loved how developed the characters were, and obviously the way the steamy scenes made me feel.

[kofi]

If you enjoyed this, you’ll love:

Behind the Book: Agent: Undone by Cassidy Reyne

Behind the Book: The Sentinels series by Cassidy Reyne

The Making Of The Blurb for Ocean Heart

Book Review: Out Of My League by Sarah Sutton

Ally Aldridge Diary, Goals, My Books, Novel, Sky Heart, The Soul Heart Series, Writing

NaNoWriMo Outcome

Spoiler alter! I didn’t reach 50k. I knew I wouldn’t because November is a busy month, mainly with birthdays galore, but add to that everything that goes with launching a book and it’s pretty impressive I wrote anything.

Maybe I should have passed this year’s NaNo but I just can’t help myself. I love the NaNo community.

Planning

The goal for NaNoWriMo is to write 50k words in 30 days. This works out to roughly 1,667 words per day.

But, what if you can’t write every day. What if you know on certain days it will be near impossible to write? And, 30 days is a long month if never allow yourself a single break.

I made a calendar in Excel and put Y or N depending on if I could write or not. I think counted the Y, and worked out I could write on 18 days of the month. This meant on my writing days, I needed to achieve 2778 words.

How It Went…

Week 1, went well. I had planned for a day off for for going live with Holly but joined a World Indie Warriors writing sprint afterwards. I also planned a day off for my birthday but decided to celebrate by writing This put me ahead of target. I needed to hit 13,890 words and had 16,306 words.

Week 2, I allowed one day off for my son’s birthday so it didn’t impact my goal. But, I also skipped two planned writing days, and that put me behind. I needed to hit 30,558, but I only had 26,725. This is why in my mid point check in I said I was behind, even though I had more words than NaNo participants that were on target, because I knew I had less days than them to write.

Week 3, was not good. I had planned a day off for going live with Nicola. But, I agreed to an unplanned live with Lyndell. Then, I decided to sell my house and had to tidy up (everywhere) for the Estate Agent (and then we decided not to sell). Then our boiler broke and spent a whole evening trying to create a bath warm & deep enough to bathe. This resulted in my not writing on four days I planned to – not good. I needed to hit 47,226 words, and I had only reached 31,473 words.

Week 4, was getting close to my release date and I wanted to give it my full attention. I only planned to write on one day and I did. This week involved pre-recording a radio interview. I also attempted to migrate my website myself from one server to another, and transfer my domain to the new location. It wasn’t smooth sailing. I also attended a full online writing festival, Indie Fire. I needed to reach 50,000 words but only had 38,643. I could have written some evenings but I didn’t want to burn out.

Week 5, is just the last two days of the month.

Was It A Success?

I didn’t get 50k words, so I failed NaNoWriMo. But…

My big goal for this year was to publish Ocean Heart, and I wasn’t going to let NaNo ruin that. If NaNo had distracted me from my launch then it would have been an epic fail.

When I set out to do NaNo this year, I just wanted to get back into Sky Heart. I achieved that. To me, personally, that makes this NaNo a success.

What’s Next?

I’m going to enjoy my book release week as I need to recharge and revel in this long awaited moment.

I will continuing working on finishing Sky Heart, book 2 in The Soul Heart Series. I’m hoping the first draft will be ready for Betas by the end of January.

Book 2 in The Soul Heart Series

I’ve created a work in progress cover, to visualise achieving my goal. Do you like it?

I’m also working on two Novellas. I’m hoping with these being shorter they’ll be quicker to get out & help with the wait for Sky Heart. I’ll announce those once I have a title.

All Author Cover Contest

Ocean Heart is currently entered in the All Author December 2020 Cover Contest. If you like the cover of Ocean Heart please vote for it.

Vote for ocean heart

[kofi]

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Behind the Character: Kiely
My NaNoWriMo Project
NaNoWriMo Mid Point Check in – Nov 2020
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Check out my Live Stream Team

I hope you were able to watch my recent series of Live Streams. The last one was earlier this week for my Ocean Heart launch party.

My Stream Team have been amazing, and we’ve had lots of fun learning Stream Yard together and getting to know each other better. But, I want to give you a chance to discover more about them too.

Stream Team

J D Groom

Jodie is an author with two series out and working on another. She has done Behind the Book interviews for Envy and Sorceress of Truth.

https://youtu.be/4kPjHHYy42g

Elexis Bell

Elexis has written a number of dark fantasy stand alones. Elexis has done Behind the Book interviews about Annabelle, Soul Bearer, Gem of Meruna, A World For The Broken, and A Heart of Salt & Silver. She enjoys digital design and creating her own character art.

https://youtu.be/AcZnNVtyWiY

H.B. Lyne

Holly is the Urban Fantasy author of the Shifters of Caerton series. You can buy the full set or individually. She’s also author of the Goal Setting For Writers book, runs a popular podcast called Unstoppable authors, and was behind Indie Fire.

https://youtu.be/SezLe9VSvrY

Nicola Hebron

Nicola Hebron is author of the YA Fantasy Romance series the Wiccan Romances. The first two books (Amelia’s Story and Sam’s Story) are already out, and the other two can be expected in 2021.

https://youtu.be/vpQ4SH8MgvU

Launch Party

I was so happy to share my launch party with these fabulous authors, that are part of the incredible supportive indie community.

https://youtu.be/Ho6J-PQTvvI

Congratulations to Aimee (UK) and Nora (International) for winning the Giveaway. Both have been notified and I am looking forward to dispatching their prizes this weekend.

Discover more about my fabulous team by visiting their websites.

For J D Groom visit: https://jdgroom.com/

For Elexis Bell visit: http://www.elexisbell.com/

For H.B. Lyne visit: https://hblyne.com/

For Nicola Hebron visit: https://nicolahebronauthor.com/

Ocean Heart is currently entered in the All Author December 2020 Cover Contest. If you like the Cover of Ocean Heart please vote for it.

Vote For ocean heart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho6J-PQTvvI&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho6J-PQTvvI&feature=youtu.be

[kofi]

Ally Aldridge Author Tube, Book Tube, Fantasy, My Books, Novel, Ocean Heart, Publishing, The Soul Heart Series, Tips, Writing, YouTube

Coming Soon: Ocean Heart Launch Party!

Live Author Chat!

During October & November, I have been doing fortnightly Live author chats with my launch party team, on writing and books. It’s been a lot of fun and is leading up to the big event -My Launch Party!

To make sure you don’t miss the lives, be sure to follow me on YouTube and hit the notification bell.

Catch up / Replay

Don‘t worry if you missed the lives, you can watch the replays on my channel.


TUE 20 OCT @ 8PM ( London)

Catch the replay here.

TUE 3 NOV @ 8PM ( London)

Catch the replay here.

TUE 17 NOV @ 8PM (London)

Catch the replay here.

Launch Party

TUE 1 DEC @ 8PM (London)

This is my awesome launch party to celebrate the official release of Ocean Heart. Celebrate live with us here.

We will be talking all things Ocean Heart but I’ll be careful not to spill any spoilers. Come along and ask questions. I’ll also be announcing the Preorder Giveaway winner.

Launch Party

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Ocean Heart

The Making Of The Blurb for Ocean Heart

Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Books, Review, Writing

Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses

I picked this book up from YALC 2019 and heard great things about it. It didn’t disappoint.

Here is my full review :

Skip to my final thoughts to avoid any spoilers.

Beginning

Feyre lives in a run down cottage with her dad and two sisters, struggling for food. The novel is set in a world, where human lands border the fae lands.

Feyre promised her mum, before she died, that she’d take care of them. Feeling personally responsible for their welfare, Feyre has taught herself to hunt. But Feyre must take care to avoid the fae, dangerous powerful creatures that will kill.

Whilst hunting Feyre’s path crosses a fey. She shoots her arrow. She kills! This is a catalyst for the rest if the book…

Middle

A High Fae named Tamlin arrives at the cottage to kill the one that murdered the fae. Feyre manages to strike a bargain, where she can live. But, she must live with Tamlin and will never see her family again.

Feyre hates fae. All she’s heard growing up is how nasty they are. Feyre also feels guilty for not being there to support her family, who are pretty hopeless without her.

Feyre starts to discover that the fae may not be all she believed. Her “captors” are keeping secrets from her. Feyre sets about to uncover the truth.

In doing so, she attracts the attention of Tamlin during a mating ritual. She uncovers that the courts magic has been weakened by a curse that will force them under Amaranta’s rule. And, word gets back to Amarantha – Evil Fae Queen – who hates all humans that Fayre is on fae lands.

End

Thinking the curse won’t be broken, Tamlin arranges for Feyre to return to her family and safety. Once home, Feyre no longer belongs. Her home is now with Tamlin, who she loves.

She returns to the Spring Court, only to discover Amarantha has taken Tamlin and all his people. Feyre travels to the Night Court where he is held to rescue him.

He barely acknowledges her when she arrives. Amarantha agrees to free Tamlin if she can solve a riddle or survive her challenges. During her stay, Feyre is beaten, fed awful food, and kept in a dungeon.

To survive her ordeal, Feyre needs to rely on fae willing to help her. She’s desperate when she agrees to a deal with Rysland but without his help she’s most likely doomed.

Rysland helps Feyre with her challenges, and takes care of her. There is a big fight at the end and didn’t see the ending coming. I loved the ending.

Final Thoughts

I didn’t see the ending coming but loved it. I’m interested in reading more of the series. All the characters were well developed and had a good backstory. I even loved evil Amarantha.

Feyre is a strong character. She’s thoughtful and protective of those she loves, but it’s her caring nature that gets her into trouble every time. She’s a true hero, always wanting to save others.

There were many scenes that were so vivid and clear I could see them like a movie in my head; Feyre pulling back her bow, Feyre running through the tunnels from a giant killer worm, Feyre pressed against the wall by a sexy fae.

I was a bit up and down with the romance, sometimes loving it and other times not feeling it. But, I want to read more and I’m curious to see how the deal with Rysland will work, alongside a relationship with Tamlin.

Redfae Bookshop is my Affiliate Bookshop.org shop link.

[kofi]

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Behind the Book: A Heart of Salt & Silver by Elexis Bell

Ally Aldridge Writing

NaNoWriMo Mid Point Check in – Nov 2020

Hello my fellow Wrimos, how have you been? Are you hitting your word count goals? Are you enjoying your project?

The last question is the most important. Writing shouldn’t feel forced or like a chore. You’ll write best when you are enjoying your project.

This NaNo, I feel like I’m cheating. I’m not working on a brand new novel. You see, now Ocean Heart has been published (more details here), I want to get Book 2 out. And, it needs to be finished. But when I went to work on the ending of Sky Heart, I didn’t like what was already written. During NaNo, I’ve reworked, rewrote and written new parts. But, I’m working with chapters not an outline.

On top of this, I have three other novels I’m adding to when I get stuck on Sky Heart. Two are set in the same world and another is a sparkly brand new idea which I shouldn’t let distract me.

Word Count Progress (15 days)

Here’s a charts showing my progress over that past 15 days:

The red line is the number of words I need to achieve everyday to hit 50k by the end of the month. The yellow line is my personal daily goal. It’s more than the NaNo goal because I have taken into account taking days off for my book launch and birthdays. The blue bars are number of words written. Although, I am behind on my personal goal, I am still really pleased with where I am at.

You can see that I got off to a great start. I was so ready to write. I think it helped that I’d had a week off and enjoyed lots of family time.

Then, I got headache that lasted a few days. All my energy went into work. The anxiety about my book launch caught up with me & I struggled with sleep. It sucked my creativity dry.

World Indie Warriors were doing live sprints on Instagram. Attending one got me motivated again. We did a few sprints and I was back into my project again.

Distractions

These are the things that have taken me away from my writing and aren’t necessarily bad things, but have all impacted my goals.

Potty Training

This was not planned. But after having a nappy flung at me and my naked child squealing wee wee, it was easy to see she was interested in using a toilet. Often I write on my phone but it’s hard to get in the flow when any second you’re little declares they need to Go! Go! Go!

Birthdays

November is full of birthdays making it a difficult writing month. The first half of the month includes my son’s birthday and mine. Despite lockdown we tried to make the day a little more special. I did get to write for my birthday but Noah’s day was about Noah.

Reading

The book I am enjoying at the moment is If The Broom Fits by Sarah Sutton.

I’ve also just discovered Litsy. The app is a little like Instagram but all about books. I’ve spent a bit of time trying to figure out using the site but I’m starting to get the hand of it. I was a bit confused my ‘blurb’ which is just a post about anything, not a book blurb.

YouTube

I went live on YouTube with author H.B. Lyne. I always get nervous leading up to the event but afterwards I’m energised. So, I headed over to Instagram to hear Elexis Bell do a live reading of her new book A Heart of Salt & Silver. I’ve pre-ordered it but it’s taking ages to come. I want it now! Wah! I then headed over to World Indie Warriors who were hosting a live writing sprint on Instagram.

Book Blitz

At the start of the month was the Ocean Heart Book Blitz. I tried to retweet or share posts by everyone that took part. I didn’t have to but I really value those that support my launch. It meant a lot to me that they took an interest in my book.

Redfae Bookshop is my Affiliate Bookshop.org shop link.

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My NaNoWriMo Project

How to beat writers block

What’s happening this month!

Camp NaNo Progress (mid July 2020)

Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Contemporary, Fantasy, Fiction, My Books, Romance, The Soul Heart Series, Writing, Young Adult

Behind the Character: Kiely

The next character to make an appearance is rival, Kiely. Although, this month I’m working on book 2 of the series and she’s the MC. She would claim Mariah is the rival.

Role in Ocean Heart: Antagonist (Poor Kiely is the enemy simply for being Jace’s girlfriend. Jealousy is an ugly trait.)

Kiely O’Neil

Kiely and her friends are gorgeous and it. But, the demands of being popular comes at a price.

Kiely tries hard to be nice, not a stereotypical mean girl. Girls want to hate her, and being nice seems to make them more mad. Her best mate Fallon has always got her back and puts the haters in their place.

Despite being gorgeous and friendly, Kiely has struggled to get a boyfriend. Fallon says it’s because high school boys can’t handle a goddess…

…Until Jace asks her out. She is smitten and gives the relationship her all. She even lets his best friend, Mariah, borrow her clothes. Although, Mariah’s and Jace’s friendship makes her feel insecure, she trusts they are just friends.

Kiely can be a little superficial, her image is important. She worries so much about what others think she’ll tell little white lies. Kiely’s lies will get her into deep trouble, but you’ll have to read SKY HEART to discover more about that. Sky Heart is book 2 in The Soul Hearts series.

What my editor said…

Avery didn’t analyse Kiely’s characters. Although, there were inline comments on my manuscript relating to her.

This is probably because Kiely isn’t a main character in Mariah’s life but she is a main character in THE SOUL HEART SERIES. The next book is all about Kiely and I’m hoping to get that ending written during NaNoWriMo.

Kiely was called Kya which means Diamond in the Sky (book 2s original title). Avery pointed out a lot of characters names ended in an “Ah” sound. As a result, I changed her name to Kiely. This wasn’t her first name change.

Redfae Bookshop is my Affiliate Bookshop.org shop link.

[kofi]

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Ally Aldridge Author Tube, Book Genre, Book Tube, Contemporary, Fantasy, My Books, Romance, The Soul Heart Series, Writing, YouTube

What’s happening this month!

OCEAN HEART is my debut novel, my first ever book launch. I’m trying to make it as difficult as possible for anyone to not know about my awesome novel being released into the world.

I’m fortunate enough to have a place on Pagan Malcolm’s Storyseller Academy self paced course. One of the modules talks about the many ways you can market your book. She’s very motivational, getting people to be brave and push themselves to achieve more. I brainstormed different opportunities open to me and then reached out to people.

Ocean Heart Book Launch Events

Getting these events organised is taking up most of my time at the moment. I’m not getting much reading or writing done. But, as scary as it is saying “Look At My Book,” it’s also incredibly important. And, very exciting!

Book Blitz (2-6 NOV)

Kicking off today is the Ocean Heart Book Blitz by Expresso Tours. Participants will be showing off excerpts from Ocean Heart and details of my preorder giveaway. You may see it popping up on the web and if you do, let me know.

Here are the list of participants. Do you recognise any?

Blog Tour (24-30 NOV)

Yay! Some lovely author friends have offered to write blog posts to spread the word of Ocean Heart in the lead up to my Release.

Indie Fire (28 NOV)

This is a festival that celebrates Indie Publishing. In previous years is has taken place in Bradford but this year it is online due to Covid.

I’m not a guest. I helped out in the background to put their brochure together. As a thank you, I am also featured in the brochure and got a free ticket.

If your a writer, check out the workshops. For £20 it packs in A LOT! And with lifetime access to the content.

A brand new indie writing and publishing conference, focusing on sci-fi, fantasy, and horror.

An entire day of virtual writing and indie publishing workshops and panel discussions. Plus, a special recording of The Unstoppable Authors Podcast!

• Saturday 28th November 2020
• All ONLINE!
• Tickets £20 each

Tickets available now! Visit Indie Fire here!

Felixstowe Radio (30 NOV)

I have managed to get myself an interview on Felixstowe radio. I’m hoping the local listeners are going to enjoy hearing about a novel set in their quiet coastal town.

I’ll be live on 30 Nov between 1pm and 4pm. Discover Felixstowe radio and tune in, here.

Live Author Chats (20 OCT, 3 NOV, & 17 NOV)

To trial Stream Yard, some fellow authors have agreed to some live chats with me.

Then, I will be going live on 1 Dec to celebrate the official release day of Ocean Heart. I will also announce the preorder giveaway winner.

LIVE CHATS

Here are the links to join us on the day:

20 OCT at 8pm (GMT+1): https://youtu.be/AcZnNVtyWiY

3 NOV at 8pm (GMT): https://youtu.be/SezLe9VSvrY

17 NOV at 8pm (GMT): https://youtu.be/vpQ4SH8MgvU

Ocean Heart Launch Party

The authors from the live chats will be returning to celebrate Ocean Heart’s release. I will also be announcing the winner of my preorder giveaway.

1 DEC at 8pm (GMT): https://youtu.be/Ho6J-PQTvvI

Here’s a link to a useful time conversion site.

My First Giveaway

To thank all the awesome people that purchased Ocean Heart on eBook or paperback between 1 Oct and 30 Nov, I will be inviting them to enter my preorder giveaway. Winner announced during the live on 1 Dec.

To enter and for full details of this giveaway visit my giveaway page.

Book Signing (non-contact)

I’m ecstatic that I managed to arrange this despite the current situation.

Those local to Felixstowe can preorder Ocean Heart from our local bookstore, Stillwater Books, and they will order it in.

I will visit just to sign the books. Due to Covid, this needs to be a closed event (nobody will be there, but me in a face mask, and the shop keeper).

Local customers can then collect their signed copy from the store or have it delivered to their doorstop.

Rose’s & Dreams Christmas Advent Countdown

Authors Rose English & Maria Gibbs have arranged a Christmas advent to showcase indie authors in the lead up to Christmas. This advent is good for your health and will only feed your bookish curiosity.

Set up like an advent calendar, you visit each day in December to discover a new indie author & book. Ocean Heart will be hiding behind one of the doors and I’m excited to discover the other indie authors/books taking part.

Click here to visit this Indie Book themes Christmas Advent.

[kofi]

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About Ocean Heart

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World Indie Warriors eZine/Brochure

Ally Aldridge Competition, Goals, My Books, Novel, The Soul Heart Series, Writing

My NaNoWriMo Project

Well… I have not one, not two, but THREE projects for November. And, I still probably won’t make the 50k goal.

That’s not me being a defeatist. I’m not quitting before I start. In fact, despite the odds, I’m still going to try. And, you should too!

November is always a busy month. It’s my son’s & I’s birthdays, and the birthday of lots of other loved ones. On top of that, I’m launching Ocean Heart. There’s a lot going on. Plus, someone always gets ill in November – I’m hoping the social distancing is going to help avoid that this year.

Realistically, November is not the best month for me to write. However, the NaNo challenge encourages me to be more focussed and accountable. Because of this, I write more because I took part. And, I love the community spirit, writing with us.

Project 1 – Sky Heart

This is the main project. Sky Heart is book 2 in The Soul Heart Series. Getting this published will be my 2021 big goal. So, I need to get it written.

Kiely got dumped for Christmas. Heartbroken she makes rash decisions to get over her ex-boyfriend, starting with a blindfold and a mystery kisser.

Kiely’s new wild lifestyle places her in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now she must stay alive, as she’s drawn into an ancient shifter war with werewolves and reapers.

Kiely’s battle to overcome her ex is about to take her to new heights.

Project 2 – Prequel

This will be a short novella. I may give it away as a readers magnet for newsletter signups. It’ll be a Historical Fantasy, but not set a long time ago. It’ll be in the 90s.

Project 3 – Luna

My werewolf villain wants me to tell her story. I’m not sure if it will be written just for me so I know her better or to share her with the world.

Luna’s story is also to be a Historical Fantasy. This will be going back to medieval times. It’s anticipated to be a novella.

What about you?

Are you doing NaNo this year? And, what do you think of my projects?

I usually focus on just one but I’m really feeling all three of these right now and just want my creativity to flow.

I’m planning on attending a few live write ins with World Indie Warriors on Instagram.

[kofi]

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Now you can PreOrder Ocean Heart!

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Behind the Book: A Heart of Salt & Silver by Elexis Bell

Elexis Bell is about to release another amazing book, and you can preorder it now. Discover how she created A HEART OF SALT & SILVER, and more on what it’s about.

I have to add how much I love the cover. It has all these gorgeous autumn colours that would look stunning in an outdoors bookstagram pic.

What genre is A Heart of Salt & Silver and can you name any similar books?

It’s a gritty paranormal high fantasy romance. I haven’t seen a lot of paranormal books set in other worlds or fantasy books with demons and werewolves, so comparable books have eluded me.

I’ve recently learned about the Blood and Ash series by Jennifer L. Armentrout which blends fantasy and paranormal with some romance, but since I haven’t read it yet, I don’t know if it gets quite as dark as mine.

What inspired your novel A Heart of Salt & Silver?

Sometimes, when I can’t sleep, I imagine a character or two and see what happens. It helps me to center my mind so I can go to sleep. If I like the characters, I come back to them the next night, and the next, and the next. That’s how I got Ness.

I pictured the opening scene and just had to come back to it. So I wrote it. Then, I just kept going, letting the novel unfold as it needed to.

This book has werewolves & vampires, which would you rather be?

There was a time when I might have said vampire. But I’ve been drawn more and more to the woods lately, so I’d have to say werewolf.

Especially if they’re like the ones in A Heart of Salt & Silver. The vampires in my book are especially ruthless and cruel, whereas the werewolves are very loyal and honor driven.

This is your fifth published book, what’s your method?

As far as writing is concerned, I just write. I’m definitely a pantser. If I know too much about where a book is going, I lose interest. So I don’t plan. I just write. If I need to stop and change anything, I stop writing to make adjustments, as that will likely affect the way the rest of novel goes. For instance, I stopped writing A Heart of Salt & Silver at 40,000 words in and did a complete rewrite. Some chapters were removed entirely and replaced with new ones. Every chapter that remained, had to be completely redone because of a very serious perception shift for one character that affected how that particular individual viewed (and acted toward) every other character.

Usually, it takes me about 4 to 6 months to write the first draft. Even with the 40k rewrite, I still came in at 4 months for this novel.

Then, I edit while writing something else.

Are there any genres you can’t see yourself writing?

Contemporary romance. I don’t like writing in the real world. Not unless there are really high stakes for the individual, like in a thriller.

What are you working on next?

Well, I’m editing two dark high fantasy romances and a thriller novella. I’m also writing a sci-fi series that just keeps expanding.

Please share a short snippet or teaser from A Heart of Salt & Silver?

Behind me, the wounded man waits.

Turning to face him, I take in his appearance. A bit of scruff decorates his jaw. Dark eyebrows and tan skin frame shining green eyes. Simple clothes stretch tight over a well-honed physique.

Not that his muscles did much good to ward off a dagger.

No words cross his lips. He stares up at me, part fear and part awe. It’s a strange mixture, but not one I’ve never seen before.

Again, I twirl my finger in the air, releasing his Nether binding, and he slumps against the tree.

Several deep breaths quell the desire to finish him off. Still more chase away the vastly different images of him beneath me, positioned between my legs to drive Nolan from my mind, just for a while.

I blink once more and conceal my true form so that nearby animals may feel at ease. For all the world, I appear to be a normal human woman.

Jaw dropping, he presses a hand to his side and leans his head back against the tree.

“Can you walk?” I ask.

“I’ll manage,” he answers, deep voice coarse with pain.

“And your name?”

“Elias.” His voice comes out strained.

A small part of me wants to heal him. Whether it’s my half-human heart, the morals instilled in me by the Knight who raised me, or the years I’ve spent working at self-control, I can’t be sure. Perhaps it’s my stupid, overly emotional, half-demon heart sympathizing with him. Regardless of the cause, I want to take away his pain.

And yet, another, darker part of me wonders what the ground beneath him would look like dyed red with his blood.

“I’m Ness,” I say, concealing my dilemma carefully. “How about some tea?”

Where can we find out more and buy your books?

All my books are available at the link below:

www.amazon.com/author/elexis_bell

If you’re looking specifically to pre-order A Heart of Salt & Silver, you can do so here:

mybook.to/AHeartOfSaltAndSilver

And if you want to stay up to date on all my upcoming book releases, giveaways, and blog posts, you can subscribe to my newsletter on my website.

www.elexisbell.com

Redfae Bookshop is my Affiliate Bookshop.org shop link.

[kofi]

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