Thank you so much to all the authors that took the time to answer questions on making of their books. I learnt so much through your different journeys, the struggles you overcame, your best tips, and discovering more about you and your book.
The book that started this all off was Number Eight Crispy Chicken by Sarah Neofield. I was part of her Street Team for the books launch and interviewed her as my stop on the book’s blog tour.
I learnt so much from Sarah Neofield and it helped me in my decision to self publishing. The “Behind the Book” blog post turned into a series.
By the end of 2020, I had conducted a total of 18 interviews! I have put them all here in this post for your enjoyment. So, make yourself comfortable and get reading!
The last Behind the Book interview for 2020 was part of R. J. Blaine’s Blog Tour for her book’s release. It was organised by Xpresso Tours and they created the blog banner.
If you enjoyed this, look out for more Behind the Book interviews in 2021, and my review for some of these books.
This year, I’ve really struggled with creating my goals. The problem is there’s so much I want to do but where to start?
I know if I have too many plates spinning, they’ll all crash. As I’m writing this it’s January 1st and I’m finally choosing my goals after agonizing over them for two weeks. And… I may still tweak them before this post goes live.
Personal
Skincare routine: Over the years, I’ve tried loads countless products and I’m constantly changing my routine. During 2021, I plan to finalise my skincare products which I think will benefit my skin.
I hate waste so I need to use up products I already have, and it also depends on money too. I’ve already decided on the products and look forward to sharing these with you as I buy them.
Visit Hollowtree Farm: Fear of the virus and lockdowns reduced the number of places we visited. We even had a gift voucher for a fun day at the farm and never got to go. They’ve said it doesn’t expire so this is a priority for 2021!
Selfcare: I never have time to indulge in things like doing my nails or a face mask. So, I’m planning to reward myself with products to support this when I hit my other goals.
Writing
Sky Heart: This is the BIG one. I want to finish book 2 in the Soul Heart series. But… there are many steps to a published book so this will likely take me all year.
Publishing a Novel To Do List
For accountability, I’m going to tweet my progress every Sunday.
Novella1: I’m working on two novella’s but I want to finish “Denny’s story” first. I’m thinking of using it as a readers magnet.
Novella2: This project will be on standby and only worked on if I’m waiting on stuff for the other writing projects. This is ”Luna’s story”. I’m still working on the titles of my novellas.
Ocean Heart: I have ideas to do something special in Mer-May. But, I can’t say more until I’ve figured out the details.
Reading
10 Books: Yes, it sounds low but when I’m busy on a writing project I only read a chapter or two a night making my progress very slow. 2020 I only just hit my goal of 12 books. ?
I do only record fiction books but I also read a few non-fiction books on writing. I’m hoping to review these on my YouTube channel this year, as well as other bookish content.
I will keep posting my reviews to my blog, Goodreads, Amazon, Book Bub, Litsy, if able to. I will track my reading goal on Goodreads.
Goodreads/Litsy/Book Bub/Book Sniffer: I’ve used Goodreads for a few years but never been very active. I hope to improve that and get better at using the other reading social apps. Which brings me on nicely to my next goal…
Social Media
Website update: I’m going to quarterly review my website content to check it is up to date. And, update during that month.
Shop: Okay, it’s not social media but it is connected to my website. I’m trying to create a shop on my website but struggling. I will master it! I mastered moving my website during my book launch.
Trial Canva Pro: I love Canva and been tempted to pay for the pro version. But now there’s a scheduled too. It would be incredible to have everything in one place.
I bought Planoly during my book launch so I could schedule videos and carousels on IG. There’s been a few occasions it hasn’t posted, so I’m tempted to try other schedulers.
Consistently Post: This went really well this year for my blog and Instagram. I want to continue it and add YouTube and Twitter to my goals.
Blog: Mon, & Thurs
IG: Mon, Weds, & Fri
YT: Tue (fortnightly)
Twitter: Sun
Newsletter: end of month (was every other month)
Followers/Reviews: I’ve seen people track their followers growth. I’ve never done this but it’s a good idea. I will aim for a 20% increase over all platforms.
2021 Followers Count
I’d love to reach 10k on Instagram as it opens up certain features but it feels still too far out of reach. Until I worked out what 20% was, I was thinking of aiming for 5k by June. I think 4687 is more realistic and although social media helps with marketing my passion is writing.
My Facebook page has been around longer than my group. The Soul Heart Readers group was created in October to help with Ocean Heart’s release. I’m hoping members will stick around for Sky Heart – I’ll need BETA and ARC readers later this year.
I use Parler the same way I use Twitter, and really like the platform. My numbers grew fast when I first joined but has now slowed down. It’ll be interesting to see which of the two platforms has more growth in 2021.
My YouTube channel is very new, I’m not sure how fast it will grow. I’ll also be posting to Odysee to try out the new platform – I’ve not used it yet. Over the Christmas break, I created a new Intro & Outro which I’m looking forward to using.
Reviews: I have a page on my website where I’ve collected my favourite reviews of Ocean Heart, and directed readers to where the original can be found.
Reviews are really important for a books visibility, so I will be tracking how many I have and – eek – remind my readers to leave reviews.
January Goals
Listing my goals for only this month looks like a lot. Eek ?
Personal
Record unboxing of Naturismo box (then start using products)
Writing
Sky Heart: Write 5k per week – track progress on Google sheet. Share progress on Twitter/Parler for accountability
Reading
Set annual reading goal on Goodreads
Finish reading Cinderella is Dead (paperback) – track progress on Goodreads
Finish reading Winter Trials (eBook) – track progress on Goodreads
Social Media
Update website content
Add shop to website
Blog & IG: Create January content & make a start on February content (aim to always be two weeks ahead)
Record, edit, schedule two YouTube/Odysee videos
Try out Canva pro – if scheduler is good, cancel Planoly
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
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.
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.
A popular event in November is NaNoWriMo. During the month if November participants of the event take on the challenge to write 50k words.
So, what’s this go today with what preptober is?
Writing 50k words is a big task. As a result, people started preparing during October for NaNoWriMo in November. And, this activity got the name #Preptober.
NaNoWriMo Project
Sky Heart is book 2 in The Soul Heart series. It was almost finished but I struggle with endings. In April, I tried to write the ending (for Camp NaNo) but when I revisited the manuscript… it was awful.
For NaNo, I’m going to start over. I’m going to re-plot, develop my characters more deeply, focus on my world building, and organise my research.
What I’ve done so far…
Got Dabble
Dabble is online writing software. I love Dabble and I went to buy it, but found out there was a trial for NaNo. What’s more, my dabble manuscript will auto update my NaNo word count. How awesome is that?
And, Dabble now is mobile friendly. I’ve saved the site as an icon on my mobile so I can write on my phone. Yay!
Character Development
To work on improving my skills, I treated myself to two new books.
10 STEPS TO HERO by Sacha Black
CREATING COMPELLING CHARACTERS FROM THE INSIDE OUT by L.M. Lilly
To help get all my story development organised, I attended a free workshop provided by World Indie Warriors and delivered by author J D Groom (who I’m a big fan of). If you’re a WIW member you can catch the replay via their website.
Doing #WIWPreptober
On Instagram World Indie Warriors are doing a photo challenge to keep writers motivated preparing for NaNo, and it’s an opportunity to get to know others better. I don’t take part everyday but here are my posts so far:
All my blog posts for October are written, with pics and scheduled.
What I still need to do…
Plot Outline
I want to re-outline my story using Save The Cat. I’ve learnt a lot working on book 1 and want to use this to improve book 2.
BuJu
I’d love to get into bullet journalling. I’ll try and create a reward page to track my progress during the event.
October Newsletter
I need to write this. It’ll go out end of the month and I’m hoping it will contain details of my Preorder Giveaway.
November Blog Posts & Instagram
I’d like to have most of these written before I start NaNo so they don’t interrupt my progress. But, I’ll likely post on how I’m getting on and that can’t be written ahead of time.
I enjoyed creating my blurb. It’s the little short enticing summary that goes on the back cover of a printed book.
Over the years I’ve tweaked it but now I’m self publishing it was important to get feedback from others.
This post is going to share with you my original blurb through to the final version. I hope you find the feedback useful for writing any blurb.
ORIGINAL
Tag line:
Being a mermaid brings a new depth to “It’s complicated!”
Blurb:
One kiss is all it took to wake Mariah’s weather manipulation powers.
Mariah is crushing on her best friend, rivalling with the swim team star and her guardian Gwyn is meddling in her life using magic. Mariah is about to discover she’s a mermaid with dangerous powers.
When your love life’s a mess and your deadly powers are connected to your emotions, it gives a new meaning to “It’s complicated.”
ELEXIS VERSION
The first offer help was author Elexis Bell. She has published several novels, and various genres.
Okiedoke. If it’s at the end, I might leave mermaid out of the blurb. But that’s just me. Also, I love the play on words with being a mermaid bringing new depth to it’s complicated. I only dropped it from the blurb because it’s already going to be on the front of the book.
Here’s what I came up with. If you don’t like it (or only like parts of it), no worries. ?
Blurb:
With a crush on her best friend and a rivalry brewing with the swim team star, Mariah’s life is anything but simple.
Especially with her guardian, Gwyn, using magic to keep secrets. But all secrets wash ashore, sooner or later.
When a single kiss reveals Mariah’s true form, she learns that mixing a messy love life with deadly powers fuelled by emotion might be more than she bargained for.
AMENDED VERSION 1
Blurb:
With a crush on her best friend and a rivalry brewing with the swim team star, Mariah’s life is anything but simple.
Especially with her guardian, Gwyn, using magic to keep secrets. But all secrets wash ashore, sooner or later.
Mariah’s about to discover she’s anything but ordinary. Mixing a messy love life with deadly powers might be more than she bargained for.
OR
Mixing a messy love life with deadly powers is an imminent disaster waiting to happen.
OR
Mixing a messy love life with deadly powers is just the start of a brewing storm of trouble.
Being a mermaid brings a new depth to ‘it’s complicated.
With a crush on her best friend and a rivalry brewing with the swim team’s star, Mariah’s life is anything but simple. Throw her guardian, Gwyn, using magic to keep secrets in the mix, ordinary comes close, but all secrets wash ashore, sooner or later and it is then Mariah discovers she’s anything but ordinary. Mixing a messy love life with deadly powers is just the start of a brewing storm. Will Mariah be able to contain it or will she be swept up in its wake?
AMENDED VERSION
Tag:
Being a mermaid brings a new depth to ‘it’s complicated.
Blurb:
With a crush on her best friend and a rivalry brewing with the swim team star, Mariah’s life is anything but simple.
Especially with her guardian, Gwyn, using magic to keep secrets. But all secrets wash ashore, sooner or later.
Mariah’s about to discover she’s anything but ordinary. Mixing a messy love life with deadly powers will whip up a storm of trouble. Will Mariah be able to contain it or will she be swept up in its wake?
KARA FEEDBACK
There’s a lot of will going on in the last sentence….
Can Mariah contain it, or will she be… that might help some
AMENDED VERSION
Tag:
Being a mermaid brings a new depth to ‘it’s complicated.
Blurb:
With a crush on her best friend and a rivalry brewing with the swim team star, Mariah’s life is anything but simple.
Especially with her guardian, Gwyn, using magic to keep secrets. But all secrets wash ashore, sooner or later.
Mariah’s about to discover she’s anything but ordinary. Mixing a messy love life with deadly powers will whip up a storm of trouble. Can Mariah contain it or will she be swept up in its wake?
Then Contemporary Fantasy author J D Groomoffered some suggestions…
JODIE’S COMMENT
I like it! I’m not sure about the middle paragraph though ?
Something about starting with ‘especially’ doesn’t sit right.
Maybe something like, ‘Added to that her guardian, Gwyn, is using magic to keep secrets…’ etc
AMENDED VERSION
Tag:
Being a mermaid brings a new depth to ‘it’s complicated.
Blurb:
With a crush on her best friend and a rivalry brewing with the swim team star, Mariah’s life is anything but simple.
Added to that, her guardian, Gwyn is using magic to keep secrets. But all secrets wash ashore, sooner or later.
Mariah’s about to discover she’s anything but ordinary. Mixing a messy love life with deadly powers will whip up a storm of trouble. Can Mariah contain it or will she be swept up in its wake?
Then, I noticed during the edits I’d lost a speech mark. I was also running every edit past my hubby and his best mate Dale to get their feedback too. It was done & I sent it to my cover designer…
She had a whole formula to share with me and examples of where it had been done well to illustrate what she meant. She really had gone above and beyond what I’d commissioned her for. But, it’s too long for this post & I didn’t seek her permission to share her secrets. But, it meant more editing…
AMENDED VERSION
Tag:
Being a mermaid brings a new depth to ‘it’s complicated.’
Blurb:
Mariah is a regular highschool teen, or that’s what she thinks. With a crush on her best friend, and a rivalry brewing with the swim team star, Mariah’s life is anything but simple.
Added to that, her guardian is using magic to keep Mariah safe from a probable future of reapers coming for a soul, or merblood being spilt by a vengeful werewolf. But all secrets wash ashore, sooner or later.
Mariah’s about to discover she’s anything but ordinary. Mixing a messy love life with deadly powers will whip up a storm of trouble. Can Mariah contain it or will she be swept up in its wake?
A gripping story about a mermaid, first love, and self acceptance. Join Mariah as she awakens!
Asit had been edited I sought more feedback. Cassidy, Kara and Richenda were able to give me pointers.
AMENDED VERSION 2
Tag:
Being a mermaid brings a new depth to ‘it’s complicated.’
Blurb:
Highschool teen Mariah’s life is anything but simple. With a crush on her best friend, and a rivalry brewing with the swim team star, her powers awaken early.
Mariah’s guardian meddles in her life with magic attempting to keep her safe from the soul reapers, and a werewolf hunting merblood. But all secrets wash ashore, sooner or later. Mariah is about to discover she’s a mermaid!
Mixing a messy love life with deadly powers will whip up a storm of trouble. Can Mariah contain it or will she be swept up in its wake?
An exciting coming of age story about a mermaid and romance that literally sparks.
FEEDBACK FROM KARA
Blurb:
Highschool teen Mariah’s life is anything but simple. Between a crush on her best friend, and a rivalry brewing with the swim team star, her powers awaken early.
Mariah’s guardian meddles in her life with magic attempting to keep her safe from the soul reapers, and a werewolf hunting merblood. (This is an odd sentence. You kinda want a ‘When a…. , she …’ structure to build up tension. Like: When Mariah’s guardian meddles in her life with magic to keep her safe from the soul reapers and a merblood hunting werewolf, she learns there’s more to this world he is not willing to share). But all secrets wash ashore, sooner or later (, and she’s about to discovers hers!). Mariah is about to discover she’s a mermaid!
Mixing a messy love life with deadly powers will whip up a storm of trouble. Can Mariah contain it or will she be swept up in its wake?
A gripping story about a mermaid, self acceptance, and romance that literally sparks.
Hi Allison,
Sorry, I had a look at your blurb and I thought it could use a bit of tightening to amp up the tension in the text. Sorry if I’m too forward, I just want to help.
Kara also spotted during the edits that an apostrophe had been lost.
FINAL VERSION:
I thought I was finally done and sent it off to my cover designer again. Then, I spotted that ‘high school’ didn’t have a space. ?
I got an invitation from Instagrammer @inspire.withkhadija to be a guest on her show Author & Me.
About Khadija Masreef
Khadija Maaref is author of the book Muslim Women in Western Society. Her book is full of motivational and inspirational speeches, from a well travelled woman that has experienced many cultures.
Khadija continues her inspirational messages through her show Author & Me. During this show she hosts a live interview with a guest author.
She asked me various questions about when I started writing and why, and encouraged me to share tips that would help others.
I’m going to check out the other episodes. This a free resource for everyone & bound to be full of gems of wisdom from a variety of experiences and backgrounds. You can watch it here.
My Live
Do you want to see the whole interview… then, click here.
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.
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
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.
The last Behind the Book interview for 2020 was part of R. J. Blaine’s Blog Tour for her book’s release. It was organised by Xpresso Tours and they created the blog banner.
