Not much to talk about from this week. Still upset about the baseball game on Thursday, but today's a new day.
Getting Unnatural Alliances ready to post on Amazon. It's pretty much the same requirements as Smashwords, but a couple differences. The biggest difference is the words 'Smashwords Edition' can't be in the Amazon version. That's how small the differences are.
I'm starting some research for the second book in the Hunters and Vampires Chronicles. While I've been working on it basically since I finished the first one, I'm doing research mostly for the scenes that the characters are going to be in. The surroundings in the second book are going to be drastically different than the first one. It's going to be set mostly in a place that I have never been before. Since I'm a poor, recently graduated from college person, I can't physically go to that place. So, the library and internet are going to be my sources for this research. Just like in college.
Doing some babysitting this weekend. Well, it's not really babysitting. It's more like refereeing. The kids I'm watching are old enough to take care of themselves, but they need someone there to make sure that no fights start up.
Once again, this post is going to be short. I'd like to keep rambling, but I can't think of anything else to add at this point. So, until next time, have a good week.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Saturday, October 12, 2013
I Think I've Been Watching Too Much Baseball...
Starting later than usual for this post. Stayed up late last night watching the Dodgers/Cardinals baseball game until the start of the thirteenth inning when I realized that I didn't want to stay up late for these teams since neither of them is the team that I root for. I was just watching baseball because it's baseball. I'm more interested in the Tigers/Red Sox game. Rooting for the Tigers! I have stubs for nails thanks to the Tigers' previous two games versus the Athletics (and also in part because I've always had the bad habit of biting my nails.)
Speaking of sports, I'm watching the Michigan State Spartans play Indiana in football. Why? Because I'm a graduate from MSU. Got my degree in Zoology. Yeah, weird for an author, I know. When I first started there, I wanted to go to vet school, but that fell through and it was a little late to just change my major. Luckily, I can tolerate football. I slightly understand it after being forced to watch it from the stands as a marching band member in high school.
Saw my sister perform at marching band festival this week. They got a one, so I'm proud of her. (That's like getting an A for those of you that don't know the rating system.) It brought up memories of high school, both good and bad. I'm happy that's over though. My class was filled with drama. Great for giving me ideas for writing, bad for my self-esteem and sanity.
This is gonna be a short post this week. Partly because I feel like I'm about to fall asleep on my laptop, but also because I want to focus on writing. I've recently gotten out of my writer's block, so I'd like to get to that to get another book written as fast as possible and out there for you readers. So, have a good week!
Speaking of sports, I'm watching the Michigan State Spartans play Indiana in football. Why? Because I'm a graduate from MSU. Got my degree in Zoology. Yeah, weird for an author, I know. When I first started there, I wanted to go to vet school, but that fell through and it was a little late to just change my major. Luckily, I can tolerate football. I slightly understand it after being forced to watch it from the stands as a marching band member in high school.
Saw my sister perform at marching band festival this week. They got a one, so I'm proud of her. (That's like getting an A for those of you that don't know the rating system.) It brought up memories of high school, both good and bad. I'm happy that's over though. My class was filled with drama. Great for giving me ideas for writing, bad for my self-esteem and sanity.
This is gonna be a short post this week. Partly because I feel like I'm about to fall asleep on my laptop, but also because I want to focus on writing. I've recently gotten out of my writer's block, so I'd like to get to that to get another book written as fast as possible and out there for you readers. So, have a good week!
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Musical Interlude
For this post, I'm going to do something a little different. I'm going to focus on one thing: music.
Now, you're probably thinking, 'Wait a second. This is a writer, not a musician. Why is she talking about music in her blog?' Well, music is part of my writing process. Whenever I want to get a scene perfect, I listen to a song that fits the mood of that scene. For instance, while writing the final battle scene in Unnatural Alliances, I listened to Disturbed's Inside The Fire and Sixx:A.M.'s This Is Gonna Hurt over and over. The music put me in the mindset I needed to keep my focus on the scene I was writing and transfer what was in my mind to the page. So, for those of you wondering why I follow so many musicians on Twitter, that's why. The music they make helps me write.
Music has also helped me with writer's block. In this case, it's not a specific song, it's a genre. So, for Unnatural Alliances, I'd listen to a lot of rock and alternative music until something clicked and I'd get back to writing. It usually doesn't take more than a couple of days. Sometimes it would be after only one song and I'd crack my writer's block.
Just like books, music has been a big part of my life. During the nineties/early thousands, I was the perfect age to be affected by boy bands. Might be the reason that I have a slight liking of today's boy bands even though I don't usually listen to pop music anymore. After the boy bands began to break-up, I tried to listen to other pop music, but nothing really felt right. So, I moved to country where I settled for a while. My sister unintentionally introduced me to alternative music which I quickly latched onto. Once I got into college, one of my new friends there brought me into the rock scene. So, now I listen to rock and alternative mostly. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll change again, but I'm happy with this music right now and it's helping me write (something that none of the other genres did).
I was a part of a band in school. As in, instrumental band. It was part of my schedule in school. I played clarinet. Started in fifth grade and didn't stop until the end of high school. I even gave up guitar lessons to take clarinet lessons to get into a higher band in high school. Kind of wish I was able to take both. Still have my guitar, but I only remember how to play one song: Let It Be by The Beatles. Good song though. I remember at one point my friends and I wanted to start a band, but it didn't get further than talking. Oh well, I still have my writing.
So, the post for this week is over. See you next week! Until then, have a good week!
Now, you're probably thinking, 'Wait a second. This is a writer, not a musician. Why is she talking about music in her blog?' Well, music is part of my writing process. Whenever I want to get a scene perfect, I listen to a song that fits the mood of that scene. For instance, while writing the final battle scene in Unnatural Alliances, I listened to Disturbed's Inside The Fire and Sixx:A.M.'s This Is Gonna Hurt over and over. The music put me in the mindset I needed to keep my focus on the scene I was writing and transfer what was in my mind to the page. So, for those of you wondering why I follow so many musicians on Twitter, that's why. The music they make helps me write.
Music has also helped me with writer's block. In this case, it's not a specific song, it's a genre. So, for Unnatural Alliances, I'd listen to a lot of rock and alternative music until something clicked and I'd get back to writing. It usually doesn't take more than a couple of days. Sometimes it would be after only one song and I'd crack my writer's block.
Just like books, music has been a big part of my life. During the nineties/early thousands, I was the perfect age to be affected by boy bands. Might be the reason that I have a slight liking of today's boy bands even though I don't usually listen to pop music anymore. After the boy bands began to break-up, I tried to listen to other pop music, but nothing really felt right. So, I moved to country where I settled for a while. My sister unintentionally introduced me to alternative music which I quickly latched onto. Once I got into college, one of my new friends there brought me into the rock scene. So, now I listen to rock and alternative mostly. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll change again, but I'm happy with this music right now and it's helping me write (something that none of the other genres did).
I was a part of a band in school. As in, instrumental band. It was part of my schedule in school. I played clarinet. Started in fifth grade and didn't stop until the end of high school. I even gave up guitar lessons to take clarinet lessons to get into a higher band in high school. Kind of wish I was able to take both. Still have my guitar, but I only remember how to play one song: Let It Be by The Beatles. Good song though. I remember at one point my friends and I wanted to start a band, but it didn't get further than talking. Oh well, I still have my writing.
So, the post for this week is over. See you next week! Until then, have a good week!
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Ramblings...
It's Saturday which means it's time for another post. This week has been kind of dry on items to report, so I'm just going to ramble.
I've been working on my next book. Every day, I get through a couple more pages. I haven't gotten stuck on any serious writer's blocks yet on that, so I might actually be able to get it done in less time than the first one. Seeing as I finished the first one in a year while also attending college full time and having an insane amount of projects to do in my classes, that's not hard to surpass.
My little sister's home from college for the weekend. We don't necessarily have the best sisterly relationship. She's competitive so she brags whenever she breaks one of the records I've set and we argue about almost everything. It doesn't help when she points out every little mistake that I make, past or present. Things have been better between us in recent years since we went to separate colleges. Although we have the college games to fight about now, we don't see each other as much to argue in the first place. It means that whenever we do see each other, we start with the good things instead of the bad. Even with all our ups and downs, I'd still do anything for her because she's family.
Writing has always been easier for me than speaking. It seems odd, but it's the truth. My mind has always worked that way. I'll be unable to talk about a topic in a conversation, but give me a piece of paper and a pen and I'll give you a three to five page essay on the topic. That's an excellent talent for an aspiring author, but not for someone that needs to get through an interview to get a job. It's already hard enough to find a company willing to interview a recent college graduate. Trying to get through an interview for me is like getting out of a burning building only to fall into a pit of lava from the nearby exploding volcano that burned the building in the first place. It's like I'm doomed to fail. This is why I like writing. I can always edit my statement before I send or post it. Once I speak it, it's out there and I can't take it back.
On a more happier note, tomorrow is National Coffee Day! Woo, coffee! I'm enjoying some coffee right now, so I know I will be celebrating, even if it's just having a couple cups at home.
My book has been sent to Apple, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and Sony. I know it's available for purchase through Apple (I saw it myself), but I don't know about the others. So, if you were waiting for it to be available in one of those places, now's your chance.
And I think that's enough rambling for one post. So, have a good week and I'll see you next Saturday.
I've been working on my next book. Every day, I get through a couple more pages. I haven't gotten stuck on any serious writer's blocks yet on that, so I might actually be able to get it done in less time than the first one. Seeing as I finished the first one in a year while also attending college full time and having an insane amount of projects to do in my classes, that's not hard to surpass.
My little sister's home from college for the weekend. We don't necessarily have the best sisterly relationship. She's competitive so she brags whenever she breaks one of the records I've set and we argue about almost everything. It doesn't help when she points out every little mistake that I make, past or present. Things have been better between us in recent years since we went to separate colleges. Although we have the college games to fight about now, we don't see each other as much to argue in the first place. It means that whenever we do see each other, we start with the good things instead of the bad. Even with all our ups and downs, I'd still do anything for her because she's family.
Writing has always been easier for me than speaking. It seems odd, but it's the truth. My mind has always worked that way. I'll be unable to talk about a topic in a conversation, but give me a piece of paper and a pen and I'll give you a three to five page essay on the topic. That's an excellent talent for an aspiring author, but not for someone that needs to get through an interview to get a job. It's already hard enough to find a company willing to interview a recent college graduate. Trying to get through an interview for me is like getting out of a burning building only to fall into a pit of lava from the nearby exploding volcano that burned the building in the first place. It's like I'm doomed to fail. This is why I like writing. I can always edit my statement before I send or post it. Once I speak it, it's out there and I can't take it back.
On a more happier note, tomorrow is National Coffee Day! Woo, coffee! I'm enjoying some coffee right now, so I know I will be celebrating, even if it's just having a couple cups at home.
My book has been sent to Apple, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and Sony. I know it's available for purchase through Apple (I saw it myself), but I don't know about the others. So, if you were waiting for it to be available in one of those places, now's your chance.
And I think that's enough rambling for one post. So, have a good week and I'll see you next Saturday.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Published!
So excited this past week! I put my book up for publishing on Smashwords and I've already sold one! When I first saw that, I kind of stared at my laptop screen for a bit before getting up and dancing around the house. Think I annoyed the rest of my family with that. You can find it here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/358311.
That game I went to was sweet. Would have been sweeter if we won the game, but can't hold it against them since they've won almost every game since. At least I got to have part of a pretzel that was as big as a pizza! That pretzel was like heaven in my mouth. The only problem I really had with it was that I had to take something to eat it with cheese since I'm lactose intolerant.
My dog woke me up this morning at seven with her barking. Tried to ignore it, but eventually had to get up to see what she was barking at. My sister had brought her bass drum into the house and my dog was barking at the drum. So, I just went back to sleep. Ended up having a nightmare that my book didn't make it into the premium catalog.
What's the premium catalog you ask? Well, it's the books on Smashwords that are distributed to the major e-book providers (except Amazon). My book is still under the 'pending review' stage. For those people interested in getting a Kindle version, I'm still formatting my book to fit Amazon's guidelines. I should have it done before this month ends.
Yesterday, I made this recipe that I found in a magazine. It had potatoes, bacon and some creamy stuff. I put it all into a crock pot and, seven hours later, dinner was served. Pretty good stuff. Not the best dish I've ever made, but still tasty. Speaking of food, I have some Irish Cream coffee this morning. Useful for keeping me awake since I didn't get much sleep last night.
Had an interview for a job this week. Hoping that it went well, but haven't heard back yet. Also got a call from a science company, but I don't fit their needs right now. See, my college degree is actually in science, not English or writing or anything that would show that I should be a writer. While I always thought of science as my career choice, books have been my passion. Hoping that I can turn that passion into a career, but until then, gotta pay the bills somehow.
Anyway, hope that all of you have a great week and I'll put up another post next Saturday.
That game I went to was sweet. Would have been sweeter if we won the game, but can't hold it against them since they've won almost every game since. At least I got to have part of a pretzel that was as big as a pizza! That pretzel was like heaven in my mouth. The only problem I really had with it was that I had to take something to eat it with cheese since I'm lactose intolerant.
My dog woke me up this morning at seven with her barking. Tried to ignore it, but eventually had to get up to see what she was barking at. My sister had brought her bass drum into the house and my dog was barking at the drum. So, I just went back to sleep. Ended up having a nightmare that my book didn't make it into the premium catalog.
What's the premium catalog you ask? Well, it's the books on Smashwords that are distributed to the major e-book providers (except Amazon). My book is still under the 'pending review' stage. For those people interested in getting a Kindle version, I'm still formatting my book to fit Amazon's guidelines. I should have it done before this month ends.
Yesterday, I made this recipe that I found in a magazine. It had potatoes, bacon and some creamy stuff. I put it all into a crock pot and, seven hours later, dinner was served. Pretty good stuff. Not the best dish I've ever made, but still tasty. Speaking of food, I have some Irish Cream coffee this morning. Useful for keeping me awake since I didn't get much sleep last night.
Had an interview for a job this week. Hoping that it went well, but haven't heard back yet. Also got a call from a science company, but I don't fit their needs right now. See, my college degree is actually in science, not English or writing or anything that would show that I should be a writer. While I always thought of science as my career choice, books have been my passion. Hoping that I can turn that passion into a career, but until then, gotta pay the bills somehow.
Anyway, hope that all of you have a great week and I'll put up another post next Saturday.
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Book and Series Title
As promised in last week's post, I'm revealing the titles of my book and series! This is mainly because I'm posting the book on Smashwords tomorrow, so it shouldn't be more than a week before it's available for sale.
Starting with the big picture is probably the best idea so the series title is called 'The Hunters and Vampires Chronicles'. It's basically about hunters (who normally fight vampires) and vampires working together to fight other creatures at night. That's the most basic explanation I can give without completely giving away what I have in store for the series.
The first book of 'The Hunters and Vampires Chronicles' is called 'Unnatural Alliances'. (You have NO idea how long it took me to finally rest on that title...) 'Unnatural Alliances' is about a vampire named Brynn and a hunter named Parker. The two of them must join together the vampire clan and the hunter group in time to fight against a common enemy: an army of werewolves, warlocks, fairies, pixies and other vampires. That army is led by an unnatural couple of an extremely powerful vampire and a royal mummy. And that's all I'm going to tell you. You'll have to read it to find out more.
I'm really excited to be sharing this story with the world. It's been a work in progress for a year and I'm finally confident in it to publish. Of course, no book is perfect. I'll always wonder if I should have expanded one scene or used a different word to describe something, but that's just me being a writer. I'm not even a hundred percent confident in my title, but it's the best one out of all of the other possible titles.
Anyway, earlier this week, my dog was still scratching on my door to wake me up, but it seemed like she had an internal alarm clock because it was always at 8:30 AM. It kind of freaked me out a bit. And today, I got up naturally at that time. Getting annoyed with waking up that early on a Saturday, I rolled over to go back to sleep. Well, I guess my dog heard me because she was there, whining at my door. This coffee is being put to good use.
I'll especially need the caffeine today since I'm going to a baseball game tonight. Really excited because the seats are normally reserved for season ticket holders (which I am not), but my uncle (who is a season ticket holder) had extra tickets. So, I'm really hoping the home team wins. There are fireworks either way, but I love being at the park during a win. The crowd is so much more electric when there's a win or a close game in progress.
So, back to book stuff. Keep an eye on my Twitter and Facebook for the day that it actually goes on sale. I originally had it planned for October 1st, but it looks like it might be earlier. This is good news! Earlier book sale means you get to read it earlier! Always good when things are ahead of schedule. So, yeah, you can get much more up to date stuff on Twitter and Facebook until my next post in a week. Until next Saturday, have a great week!
Starting with the big picture is probably the best idea so the series title is called 'The Hunters and Vampires Chronicles'. It's basically about hunters (who normally fight vampires) and vampires working together to fight other creatures at night. That's the most basic explanation I can give without completely giving away what I have in store for the series.
The first book of 'The Hunters and Vampires Chronicles' is called 'Unnatural Alliances'. (You have NO idea how long it took me to finally rest on that title...) 'Unnatural Alliances' is about a vampire named Brynn and a hunter named Parker. The two of them must join together the vampire clan and the hunter group in time to fight against a common enemy: an army of werewolves, warlocks, fairies, pixies and other vampires. That army is led by an unnatural couple of an extremely powerful vampire and a royal mummy. And that's all I'm going to tell you. You'll have to read it to find out more.
I'm really excited to be sharing this story with the world. It's been a work in progress for a year and I'm finally confident in it to publish. Of course, no book is perfect. I'll always wonder if I should have expanded one scene or used a different word to describe something, but that's just me being a writer. I'm not even a hundred percent confident in my title, but it's the best one out of all of the other possible titles.
Anyway, earlier this week, my dog was still scratching on my door to wake me up, but it seemed like she had an internal alarm clock because it was always at 8:30 AM. It kind of freaked me out a bit. And today, I got up naturally at that time. Getting annoyed with waking up that early on a Saturday, I rolled over to go back to sleep. Well, I guess my dog heard me because she was there, whining at my door. This coffee is being put to good use.
I'll especially need the caffeine today since I'm going to a baseball game tonight. Really excited because the seats are normally reserved for season ticket holders (which I am not), but my uncle (who is a season ticket holder) had extra tickets. So, I'm really hoping the home team wins. There are fireworks either way, but I love being at the park during a win. The crowd is so much more electric when there's a win or a close game in progress.
So, back to book stuff. Keep an eye on my Twitter and Facebook for the day that it actually goes on sale. I originally had it planned for October 1st, but it looks like it might be earlier. This is good news! Earlier book sale means you get to read it earlier! Always good when things are ahead of schedule. So, yeah, you can get much more up to date stuff on Twitter and Facebook until my next post in a week. Until next Saturday, have a great week!
Saturday, September 7, 2013
I Could Use Some More Coffee...
Excuse me if some of this post doesn't make sense. You can blame my dog. She's decided to take it upon herself to be my alarm clock, scratching on my door until I wake up every morning. And, as if that isn't bad enough, it's earlier and earlier each day. But then I see how happy she is to see me and I forget how mad I am at her. Right now, I'm running on coffee instead of sleep.
Anyway, time for some information on my book. While I'm still not ready to give out the title of the book or its series, I can give some clues as to what it's about. The series I'm publishing is part of the science fiction and young adult genres. It's also about vampires. Now, don't write it off as a wannabe-Twilight just yet. My vampires can't go out in the sunlight. They also fight zombies. And werewolves. And fairies. And mummies. And other vampires. This series will include a multitude of creatures and is more focused on the action than the romance.
In some more action related news, I've been getting the websites ready. The series website and my own author website are being worked on today. My author Facebook page and Twitter are done, so I'll put the links on this post. You'll get much more updates from those than these once-a-week posts. I've also been working on my Smashwords profile. That's the website that I'm using to publish my book. It'll distribute the book to a bunch of different places that sell e-books like Apple or Barnes and Noble.
Here are the links:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/DD-Marie/417787895000142
https://twitter.com/ddmarie4
I think that's it for now. Next time, I'll be announcing the title of the book and series, so keep an eye out for that next Saturday.
Anyway, time for some information on my book. While I'm still not ready to give out the title of the book or its series, I can give some clues as to what it's about. The series I'm publishing is part of the science fiction and young adult genres. It's also about vampires. Now, don't write it off as a wannabe-Twilight just yet. My vampires can't go out in the sunlight. They also fight zombies. And werewolves. And fairies. And mummies. And other vampires. This series will include a multitude of creatures and is more focused on the action than the romance.
In some more action related news, I've been getting the websites ready. The series website and my own author website are being worked on today. My author Facebook page and Twitter are done, so I'll put the links on this post. You'll get much more updates from those than these once-a-week posts. I've also been working on my Smashwords profile. That's the website that I'm using to publish my book. It'll distribute the book to a bunch of different places that sell e-books like Apple or Barnes and Noble.
Here are the links:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/DD-Marie/417787895000142
https://twitter.com/ddmarie4
I think that's it for now. Next time, I'll be announcing the title of the book and series, so keep an eye out for that next Saturday.
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