My goal for Camp Nano will be to finish Sky Heart. I think there’s only 15k words left. It should be doable, but I have really been struggling with the ending.
If I do manage to get it done quickly, I will work on the prequel. It will be a novella in length and about told from Denny’s POV, about how she came to be friends with Gwyn.
Camp NaNo Story Snippets
@worldindiewarriors on Instagram have come up with some prompts to encourage people to share a snippet of their WIPs during April. They are a relaxed friendly bunch, so don’t worry if you can’t post for every prompt, or if you don’t post on Saturdays. The idea is to support each other and connect with others taking part. I’m going to try to do these challenges but I don’t post on Saturdays so… I’ll be posting when I can.
Follow #WIWSnippetSaturday
Wednesday Instagram Lives
Every Wednesday at 9pm UK, @worldindiewarriors will be hosting IG Lives to keep everyone motivated towards their goal. In addition, they will have a guest join them to discuss a topic of the week.
On 21 April, I will be their guest chatting about self publishing. If you have any questions or just want to join us, we’ll be happy to see you there.
This novel is set in a futuristic world where there are bound and unbound people. Unbound people have powers, and those with more than one power are specialists. Specialists can learn to use cards that boost their powers.
The unbound are rules by the Card Catchers. The story starts with a tournament being held where all the unbound must compete, so the strongest are selected. The tournament can be deadly, hence Neela’s resistance to partake.
Characters
Neela is the main character. She is a feisty vigilante orphan, growing up in the slums with her brother. Neela is an untrained specialist.
Jacen is Neela’s big brother. They are super close as they’ve pretty much grown up only having each other. He doesn’t have any powers.
Brochan is to become Neela’s trainer when she is required (or forces) to compete in the Red Queen tournament. Part of his team includes wife Lily, and brother-in-law Will.
Amil is a specialist trained assassin. He also becomes Neela’s first friend. There’s a lot of flirting between them. Unfortunately, Amil’s brother isn’t quote so friendly.
Review
Neela is a feisty young vigilante, with unbound powers. She doesn’t want to compete in the Red Queen tournament, until she is caught by her trainer. On their way to the tournament they are attacked.
Neela meets Amil, a young assassin that everyone is cautious of. He quickly becomes her friend, which draws the attention of his not so nice brother.
People are targeting Neela. As they try to figure out who they are, more secrets unravel. Could the attacks be linked to her parents deaths?
My only negative is that sometimes it felt too dialogue heavy, and there were a lot of occasions thar Neela’s hair got roughed up or her head patted.
Red Blood is full of fast paced action and superpowers. It reminded me a lot of Naruto, but without the school. It’s a fun read. Kaitlyn has put a lot of thought into the magic system and World-building to bring this story to life.
As if by magic, this book appeared on my Kindle. I read the blurb and knew I had to read it.
The Setting
The story is set up North during winter. The snowy setting got me excited for our forecasted snow.
The MC is an only child living with his mum and dad in the countryside, with his nana in the annex. He travels to his local high school by bus.
The Characters
Mark is the main character. He’s grown up in the small town where everyone knows he’s gay and his nana is a witch.
Mark’s best mate is pretty occupied with his girlfriend. When a new guy starts at the school, Mark invites him over for the winter solstice celebration, as well as his mate & his girlfriend.
My Review
I loved this short story. It’s hard not to blab as I want to gush about it. The characters felt so real, and I loved the magic woven into the tale. The snowy scenes were beautiful and the romance.
With Valentines Day coming up, I thought it’d be fun to share some of the romance tropes that can be found in Ocean Heart, and possibly in Sky Heart. Warning: Lots of snogging Gifs!
Redfae Bookshop is my Affiliate Bookshop.org Shop Link. NB: This post contains these affiliate links…
Friends to Lovers
This is a favourite romance trope of mine because my husband and I started out as friends. For us it had a HEA, we have a beautiful home and two fabulous kids, and later this year we’ll be celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary. But getting together wasn’t easy, and it risked our friendship if it didn’t work out.
In Ocean Heart, Mariah is crushing on her BFF. It starts off as an unrequited love, but during the novel they deal with first kisses, jealousy, and a break up. Can they rekindle their romance, save their friendship, or do they need to move on?
Enemies to Lovers
Sometimes I don’t like the trope because I don’t want them to get together. It depends on why they are enemies but, I made it work in Ocean Heart. Check out the reviews of Ocean Heart.
When Mariah beats swim star Murray in a race, he doesn’t handle losing well. After behaving like an idiot, he starts to take an interest in her but she’s not interested. She’s heard about his reputation.
This is the one where the bad boy falls in love and changes his ways. I’m a sucker for this one as a fantasy, but in real life not so much. Bad boys are bad news and rarely deliver a HEA.
Murray has an Instagram feed of all his conquests and he’s not ashamed to brag about it. It’s why he’s so protective over his sister Kiely. He knows guys only want one thing, until...
Love Triangle
Some people really hate this trope. Eek! But, not me. Throw in more hot guys, more romances, more complications, and I’m hooked turning the page.
There are technically two in Ocean Heart. First up, when Mariah realises she’s crushing on her BFF Jace, he already has a girlfriend, Kiely. Later, when Murray takes an interest in Mariah, he attempts to draw her attention away from Mariah.
This is where two people are meant to be together. It’s common in paranormal romances, where a wolf imprints on their mate.
Mariah is a mermaid. She doesn’t know it, but when she accidentally marks one of the guys as her mate for life, then they are bound.
Fake Relationship
People fake relationships in books often to raise their status, or to get a reaction from someone else. In Out Of My League the MC accepts the deal to save face at a party where she catches her boy friend cheating, and in The Practice Boyfriend the MC strikes a deal to gain access to the elite parties.
In Ocean Heart, Mariah agrees to a fake relationship. Both parties have different reasons but united on one goal; to end a romance.
As a teen I loved a book called Ginger’s First Kiss by Janet Quin-Harkin. It’s the first book in the Boyfriend Club series where a group of friends pact to help each other get their first kisses and Ginger realises she’s into her BFF’s brother. I got it free with a teen magazine at the time called BIG. Over the years I have lost the book and it is no longer in distribution.
Both Keily’s BFFs have brothers, and both are off limits. It’s a rule the girls made. A rule Kiely is tempted to break when one of them offers to help her get over her ex in a way nobody else can.
This trope is so exciting. There’s all the danger of getting caught, and whatever the stakes are.
It’s not just her friends that Keily needs to hide who she is seeing, it’s also her over protective big brother, Murray. And later, she must keep it hidden from someone more dangerous than she ever imagined.
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I preordered this book. There was a deal on Twitter that if you preordered it you’d to get an exclusive pin. The book sounded interested and I was tempted by the deal so I treated myself. After release I received my cute Cinderella is Dead pin, and put it somewhere so safe… I can’t find it.
The setting
Imagine Cinderella was real, and following her rein some strict laws were made depicting a woman’s place in society based on her ability to be picked at the annual ball of suitors. Failure to be chosen results in never seeing your loved ones again. Everyone must learn the story of Cinderella.
The characters
Sophia is a very strong character. Her friends have come of age and must attend the ball. They are eager to be chosen, partly driven by fear and the lies they’ve been sold. Sophia wants to run away.
Sophia has romantic feelings for one of her friends, Erin, but it felt a little one sided, but that could have been the fear of not conforming. At the ball Erin gets picked by a horrid man. Her other friend’s parents couldn’t afford a fancy gown and she’s shamed in front of everyone and banished. Sophia reveals her defiance in front of the king. She has no choice but to run, and so the adventure begins.
On the run Sophia meets an outcast who helps her. Together they plan to tack down the King, and enlist the help of the elusive fairy Godmother.
My review
This is like fairy tale dystopian. It was an incredible read. You could see how people bought the lies, hoping if they did as they were told they’d be safe. There was a romantic sub plot that brewed nicely. And, I loved the twists and turns of this book. It turned a classic fairy tale on its head with corruption.
I hope Kalynn writes more twisted fairy tales. It was a brand new refreshing take. I loved it.
Your book has been on my radar for a while but it wasn’t until recently that I realised what a journey you have been on and how similar our journeys are to each other.
What can readers look forward to in the series?
Swimming Sideways, the first book in The Cantos Chronicles, is the catalyst for the other two books, The Ugly Truth and The Bones of Who We Are. A YA Contemporary, it follows Abby Kaiāulu as she begins at a new school where she gets caught unwittingly between two young men—former best friends Seth and Gabe—who need to face their own struggles to find healing. Abby’s story is about her personal journey to understand herself as a young Hawaiian woman, but it also inspires change for all of the characters. While each story is in and of itself its own narrative around each of the characters, the series explores the series of events through their different perspectives. It’s a love triangle in some ways, but the love triangle isn’t the focus.
Are there similar series to yours?
Swimming Sideways has a Hawaiian cultural element that is very unique which I’m not sure comps very well, but I think Randy Ribay’s Patron Saints of Nothing has a gorgeous cultural element and Call it What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer is a lovely title that looks at how love can inspire individual growth. I had a reviewer compare my writing style to John Green and Brigid Kemmerer, so that’s awesome.
Tell me about the main character Abby?
Abby has moved with her family from Hawaii to Oregon; it’s a last ditch effort to save the family from what looks to be a divorce. Abby, though, is leaving behind a secret in Hawaii and is glad to be starting over and leaving that part of her life behind her. Oregon provides an awesome opportunity. She’s trying hard to redefine herself in this new place trying to be a good big sister to her twin brothers and a good daughter to her parents. She thinks that if she can just do things “right” then she will be able to control the outcome of this move. But secrets never stay hidden and Abby is going to choose whether the mistake controls her or if she’s ready to forgive herself?
The books in the Cantos Chronicles came to you out of order and you published book 2, The Ugly Truth, first. What was it like when you realised your first book in the series wasn’t book 1?
So frustrating and one of those forehead slap moments. But I also think that had I not written Seth’s story, The Ugly Truth, first, I wouldn’t have come to understand the other two stories. So while I made the rookie mistake, that mistake brought understanding and growth and helped me eventually finish the series.
Originally you published exclusively to Amazon but then moved to publish wide with Ingram Sparks. What motivated this change of direction?
After I finished The Bones of Who We Are (the third book in The Cantos Chronicles), I wanted to get them into local bookstores. After lots of phone tag, I finally got to talk to someone who in a very direct (but helpful) way said, “Why do we want to carry our competition?” (meaning Amazon). The question was eye-opening for me and made me reexamine my goals as a writer. What did I want? What was important to me and my author journey? Who did I want to be as a creative for the long haul? The answers to those questions helped me refine my ideas about my career as a writer and “authorpreneur.” That was the impetus behind the shift.
Tell me about a typical day in the life of author Cami (C. L. Waters)?
Up early (usually around 5am give or take thirty minutes in either direction). I spend time journalling and reflecting on my faith walk. Then it’s getting the family moving for the day. When they are gone, I’m working on the business side of writing: blogs, newsletter, beta-reads, editing, catching up on email, planning and implementing marketing strategies, whatever needs attention. In the afternoon I’m working on creative writing and wherever I am in my process. Currently, I’m rewriting my 6th novel. I wrote a blog describing this. Here’s a link: https://www.clwalters.net/blog/2020/11/4/indie-author-life-a-day-in-the-life-of-
Can you share a snippet of the book?
Sure! How much do you want?
Here’s a moment when Abby “meets” Gabe for the first time:
I slink out of the room, head down, and run right into somebody walking through the hallway. Ass on the floor and Good Abby can’t contain the bad one any longer: “What the hell!” I snap. “Watch where you’re going!” I look up at the culprit. The anger catches in my throat. I’ve bumped into a boy the size of a wall.
“I could say the same thing about you,” he replies. His voice has the lure of the ocean surf in the distance, a gentle and relaxing rumble. His bright blue eyes are the Hawaiʻi Pacific Ocean, intensely bright set in the golden glow of his bronze skin. His black hair is longish, curly, hanging over his sharp features though his lips are soft and full. He holds out a hand, the sinew of his muscles hinted in the exposure of the brown skin at his wrist.
He helps me up.
Someone in the hall passes and jostles him with a shoulder. The Wall loses his balance and knocks against me as I stand, but I don’t fall a second time. His arm wraps around me and keeps me from falling to the floor again. We’re so close that I smell the clean scent of him like soap and a hint of something spicy. My hand still in his, an arm around his solid and unforgiving shoulders, electricity winds up my arm straight to my heart and flutters with the current.
“Freak,” a passing voice in the hallway says.
I pull away regretting the loss of the connection but unwilling to go back to the social dump. Been there. Done that. This is me starting over.
Good Abby rule: Selectively choose your friends.
The Wall looks at me. His eyes have narrowed, the color now flinty, and the energy I thought I felt retreats somewhere safe. I notice the knowing look on his face, and it’s a knife in my gut. His jaw tightens. He recognizes this current version of me all too well. I identify his awareness because I was him, after all, the one they called names. It may have not been freak, but slut or whore did the same kind of damage. I knew a version of this new me too, and it makes me feel ashamed.
“Sorry,” he mutters and pulls his black hood over his head as he walks away.
Good Abby coaxes the bad one not to look back, not to watch him walk away. Bad Abby wants more than anything to turn around, say she’s sorry and let him know she’s been there. But she listens to Good Abby and goes to her next class. I walk away wondering which one is good Abby and which one is bad?
Excerpt from Swimming Sideways (2020) by CL Walters
Where can we go to discover more about you and your books?
My website is probably the best place to find out everything you need to know. www.clwalters.net
This story is the perfect teen Halloween romance. Set in a town called Hallow, they make the celebrations a drawn out week of festivities.
The genre is YA Romance and it’s a second chance romance. The story is a novella, a short quick read.
About the Book
Beginning
The book starts with Blaire breaking up with her boyfriend, Lucas. We don’t know why she has done it but it’s quite clear that she’s still love with him.
Blaire has also received a letter. A letter she doesn’t want to read, or keep, but can’t quite bring herself to destroy it. A letter written in her dad’s handwriting.
Blaire is still grieving the loss of her mum. An event that shook her dad so greatly, he took off without a goodbye and left her in the care of her Grams. The anniversary of this tragedy was last Halloween causing her to dislike the holidays.
Middle
Blaire lives with her Grams, and works at the family’s catering business. This often involves her wearing costumes, especially around Halloween.
Blaire’s best friend is her cousin Donnie. It was through Donnie she first met Lucas, the three of them hanging out together. The break up has affected their social dynamics.
Donnie helps Lucas try to get Blaire back. They get her to agree to do four Halloween events, to help change her mind about Halloween.
Blaire finds it hard being “friends” with Lucas. Her feelings are still there and he makes it clear he wants her back, forcing her to push him away more.
End
Blaire finally breaks down and opens up. She faces her fears, opens the letter, and gets her Happily Ever After.
Final Thoughts
If The Broom Fits is a delightful festive read. It has all the Halloween vibes and the sort of sweet romance you can trust Sarah Sutton to deliver. There were times I wanted to slap Blaire, but she’s been through so much, her actions were believable. Blaire is a family oriented girl and this is seen in her sacrifices for the family business and interaction’s where ex’s family. Lucas gets this, and no matter how hard Blaire pushes him, he makes it clear he’s ready to give them a second chance. Lucas is the guy every girl needs.
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.
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
JD 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.
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.
I want to say thanks to my virtual book tour team who all made sure they posted something unique and meaningful to spread the word about Ocean Heart in the lead up to my release.
Virtual Book Tour Team
Here’s a little more detail about the team and links to their articles:
J D Groom
Jodie is an author with two series out. One is a collection of short stories (Book 1 is Envy), and the other is a Paranormal Romance series (Book 1 is Sorceress of Truth).
Ciara is an Urban Fantasy Irish writer with her debut series planned for early 2021. Sign up to her newsletter to discover more about her Upcoming Hybrid Wold series.
Laura is book blogger with a dragon. She’s often uncovering hidden gems by indie authors. Her site is packed with content on various genres, book reviews, and author Q & As.
Sarah is an Australian author of fiction and nonfiction books. Sarah enjoys travelling and her writing often challenges people to rethink their beliefs.
Cassidy is an author of Romantic Suspense novels, with several titles out, including her popular The Sentinel series. Check out my review of her book Agent Undone.
