Tag: Better Than This

So…What’s Next?

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(The short answer is: I have no idea. Making this up one day at a time.)

The LONG answer is that I didn’t really think about what came next until last Saturday when my silly brain was like, ‘you don’t have to think about the next book until late July. It’s not set to release until mid-August.’ Then the wine was gone and the rational, smart part of my brain came back. In addition to, you know, FINISHING the book, I have to get it edited, get a book cover done and do some possible advertising (maybe even a blog tour? Or some ARCs this time??) Yeah, I don’t know how I thought I’d be taking it easy for the next month and a half when I set this schedule for myself—unbeknownst to myself (by myself 😉)

When I say I have to ‘finish’ the book, I mean it’s pretty much done but I’m combing through it until there’s nothing left that I want to change. Then I’ll contact my BETAs and once I get the green light from them, it’s off to the editor. The thing about this series is: they’re shorter books, each clocking in at around 65K words, so they’re quick reads…and quick writes. I thought I was being stupid when I decided to release them three months apart, but I think it works for this series. It’s pretty much one giant story broken into three segments and I don’t want to make (potential) readers wait too long. Hell, I didn’t wait. I jumped into book three because I NEEDED to know what happened once I was done with a solid draft of book two. Why should I hoard the story if it’s ready to be shared (after proper editing, of course)? That’s why I have the last two installments coming out later this year—there seemed no point holding onto them if they’re ready to go.

Oh!

I’m going to try really, really, REALLY hard to understand Google Docs and make a signup sheet, but in the off-chance reality sets in and my stupidity gets a hold of me, you can always shoot me an email or leave a comment if you’re interested in getting an ARC (advanced reader copy) of Better Than Now. One of these days, I’m going to get me some advanced readers and it’s going to be GLORIOUS. Absolutely glorious. 🙂

Until then, I’m off to create some shit and do some work. And clean out my wine rack.

It’s going to be a good summer 🙂

There’s An Actual Bar Graph

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It has now occurred to me—two days later—that I should’ve put an image of my book on my “TODAY IS MY RELEASE DAY” post, but then I also thought the wedding was on Friday so I have no idea what was going on in my head last week. Most of it was a blur of excitement for Deadpool and the book going live. I think I also made something really yummy in the crockpot because I got compliments on the smell of my leftovers the next day at work and no one EVER compliments my leftovers. 🙂

Friday—despite some terrible things that happened around the world—was awesome and not just because it was Friday or because I FINALLY got a pay check, but all the texts from family and friends telling me they bought my book was just great. It made me feel like I’m not some lame weirdo chucking semi-articulated paragraphs onto the internet, but someone who’s maybe doing something…cool-ish? Or worthwhile?

Oh!

Yeah, this was surprising (top left. Look familiar?) 🙂

BWHAHAHA! I don’t know how I ended up with all these hot couples, but I’ll take it. Seriously, I don’t know if someone shared my post with another someone who shared the post with another someone—I really have no idea because I barely understand FB and the internet in general, but how cool is this?!?!?!? I made it on a list, guys. SOME RANDOM LIST OF THINGS TO READ.

Oh, and all you wonderful people texting me that you’re buying my book—you’re not lying 😊 So thank you again because there’s an actual graph now for units sold which means I’m not cruising at the zero-book-sold marathon I’ve been running for a while. I *super* expect to return to it tomorrow or the next day but it’s nice to have seen some form of life on this EKG of book sales.  BUT: paychecks mean money means advertising means more books sold (maybe) means another bar graph come August? Eh?

I need to start thinking about the next book. Already. Now. In fact, I’m going to go do that (literally right now. I meant to work on it but started this blog post instead) because time’s a wasting and I’ve only got twelve weeks of it. (Why did I do this to myself? And where’s the rest of the victory wine?)

Here’s a picture of Appa because  he’s sexy and you deserve it and you shouldn’t not have a sexy picture of Appa 🙂

drink it in, bitches

P.S. I’m still watching Hemlock Grove. Does ANYBODY else watch this? I need to talk to someone so I can work through it.

P.P.S. Deadpool was Fan-fucking-tastic. Ryan Reynolds, you are still in my Top Five. Batman, you’ve been warned.

It’s Today. TODAY.

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Okay.

So, obviously this is a super important day, and not just because it’s Friday (although that’s the real reason—let’s be honest) but because of other awesome things that are happening in the world. Maybe not in Hawaii or the middle east, but I hear there’s this really big event going on across the pond and—dare I say it—Deadpool 2 is releasing. Today. To-motherfucking-day. If you weren’t excited about the royal wedding, you have to be geared up for DP. If neither of those interest you, I *suppose* you can go ahead and lose your shit over THE RELEASE OF BETTER THAN THIS.

**faints**

**gets up to dramatically faint again**

**sits up enough to reach for wine**

This arbitrary date I’ve selected is here and now I can chuck this thing into the interwebs and let you guys have your turn. These characters have been playing in my head for over a year and now—FINALLY NOW—they won’t just belong to me anymore. They’ll be yours too. MUAHAHAHA. Or, anyone who wants them because I actually did it. I published Better Than This which I never planned to do in the first place. Hell, I’d never planned to let anyone read it because I was writing it for me and I enjoyed it so much that I couldn’t stop. And here we are, all this time later. We (my characters and I) didn’t give up on each other and we (you amazing supporters and I) are talking about this book that started off as nothing more than a silly scene and what-if moment.

Wow, the power of not giving up.

Anyway, enjoy your day. Try to sneak a peak at the wedding and definitely go see Deadpool 2. And if you get a chance, pick up your copy of Better Than This right here. I hope you fall in love like I did (that’s my aim at least) 😊

Alright, guys. It’s almost the weekend.

Time to party. 😉

EDIT: I just realized that the wedding is on Saturday – not today – but I don’t feel like re-writing this so, whatever. Cheers!

GUYS. THIS FRIDAY.

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Clearly, I am shit for advertising.

If I wasn’t, there’d be a parade or a blimp or some sort of brightly colored banner flying across your face that says “look at my new product. LOOK AT IT. Now (think about going to) buy it.” But there isn’t. When I say I’m crap for advertising, I mean it. I’m total shit. I’m afraid to commit to things (especially when there’s a lot of techie-stuff involved) and nowadays, that’s mostly what it is. Online marketing. And here we are – WEEK OF.

THIS MOFO FRIDAY.

GUYS.

I did do an interview over at Joleene Naylor’s blog because she’s awesome and offered and my $0 marketing budget allowed me. Now that I have a job—I HAVE A JOB! MORE TO COME ON THAT LATER—I can actually advertise or do *something* somewhat businessy-official for BTN and BTY releasing later this year. Who knows if paid advertising actually works, but when I have a *small* amount of disposable income, I can at least try something more along the lines of  what the professionals in the industry are doing. But that’s then. And this is now. And it’s almost here, guys.

And the nerves—THE NERVES.

There may have been some wine purchased. I already set the book to pre-order, so the “publish” button is already clicked. Now all I have to do is sit back, enjoy the wine (selected solely on its very pretty label) and keep working on edits for BTN. Once there’s an income, I’ll (maybe) get on that marketing wagon for a change. Until then, wine. Yummy, cheap wine.

And reading. And writing.

But mostly the wine.

P.S. YOU CAN PRE-ORDER BETTER THAN THIS RIGHT HERE FOR FRIDAY MAY 18TH BECAUSE I LOVE YOU AND WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY

P.P.S. And go see Deadpool. It’s going to be a big day 😉

May the Link Be With You

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GUYS.

It’s here! I pressed buttons and did things and now you can PRE-ORDER Better Than This and be able to read it in TWO WEEKS. BBBBAAAAHHHH things are happening.

TWO WEEKS and the content becomes available on your kindle or tablet or phone device (whatever you use to entertain yourself) and all you have to do is press this lovely link that takes you to my lovely page that allows you to PRE-ORDER because I remembered to do that this time. That’s right. Someone’s thinking a couple of days—er, weeks—ahead her official release date. 😉

Wow. I’m excited for me. That sounds strange but now, instead of just talking about this thing I’m going to put online for strangers to read, I can actually point to it. I can be all: ‘You-hoo! I beg your pardon—but have you checked this lovely link that will take you to something I crafted from my own brain? Here let me show you’ instead of just telling people: ‘Yo. I wrote book. It’ll be on the internet at some point at some place.’

It’s all about the link. And now, I have one. And this may be the billionth one I’m giving you, but it works in my favor because the more chances you have to accidently click on it, the more likely you are to end up looking at the book and possibly—possibly—buying. So, my apologies if random words become links because I’m totally meaning to do this.

Okay, I’ll stop.

Now.

No, now. For total realizies. I’m just highly energized on my very special code that means you can read Autumn and Alex’s story in TWO weeks. It’s a big deal because I’m excited to share their friendship/angsty-ness/excitement/tears/all of it with you and draw you in so I don’t have to be alone in it anymore. It’s really, more so, a call for help. I’ve gone through the rings with these guys; I need some empathy so jump on in and tell me it’s going to be okay (even though I wrote the ending and I’m the only one who knows what happens. MUAHAHAHAHA)

Tttthhhhaaaatttt should do it. Oh, here’s one more link in case you missed the ones above.

Happy Friday! Enjoy your day/weekend/ Infinity Wars (I hear it’s good—seeing it tonight) and, of course, may the 4th be with you 😊

The Keys to Life, IWSG

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I wrote a post yesterday about endings being the worst. I kind of like it and I really wanted to publish it but then I drank some wine and overdosed on Kiss Me again (this Ed Sheeran song is so freaking amazing because it’s beautiful and honest and there’s this part at the end when his voice does this hot strain-y thing when he sings ‘love’ and I get goosebumps EVERY TIME and if it was a cassette, I would’ve rewound it and played it again and again and again, like I used to do when I rocked cassette tapes because it’s THAT awesome) and all of a sudden, everything fell into place – my ending came to me! All it took was wine and a little obsessiveness.

Ah, the keys to life.

So, I got the ending for the last book, which is great because Better Than This releases on May 18th (WOOP!) and at the very end I include that book 2, Better Than Now, and book 3, Better Than You, will be releasing on August 17th and November 16th of this year.

I’ve been unemployed for three months. Yeah, I wrote some shit.

Onto the optional IWSG question:

It’s Spring! Does this season inspire you to write more than others, or not?

Nope.

I kind of don’t care what season it is; writing is writing is writing, although I do prefer to write when it’s raining out ( it’s weird – maybe has to do with Harry Potter?) but the actual season? No. I think that sections of the year have very little to do with the amount of work getting done. Different times of day? Sure. But not the seasons. Just my opinion.

What about you? Does the color of the leaves (or lack thereof) help/hinder your writing?

Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) is a monthly blog hop for writers at all levels to share their fears and insecurities in a safe and encouraging place. Please drop by and say hi to Alex Cavanaugh who started this nifty concept in bringing us all together.

BETTER THAN THIS RELEASES ON MAY 18TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Don’t forget to check out my Patreon! (I can say that because I’m on there now. THAT’S RIGHT. I did something on a place that does things.)

Little Tease For Ya

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It’s been an interesting couple of weeks.

First thing: my sister is doing great. Fantastic, actually, because she doesn’t need to go back to the doctor or have any more surgery since everything came back benign. 😊

*wipes sweat from brow*

That’s the kind of good news I’m talking about. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers and good vibes and for crossing your fingers and toes and eyes and everything else cross-able. It helped. It really did.

Second, I’ve had…a bit of a time. In addition to falling down and hitting my head rather hard (posted about it on my fb author page), I’ve been extremely disappointed in this whole searching-for-a-way-to-pay-my-bills-thing. The other week I was told I had a job, then come to find out that it was given to someone else. Then, I had a promising interview and was asked to come back for a second interview. And I…never heard from the company again (this was after follow up calls and emails.) Job-searching sucks. ☹

 

BUT let’s not focus on that because it’s sad and depressing and someone *cough* me *cough* has a book coming out. So, let’s focus on fun and creative things like…

BOOK TEASERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What I need from you lovelies, are your opinions. I’m not sure if I like the 3D book covers or the flattened ones better. These are book teasers that I’ll be using on Twitter and other sites that let me advertise prior to publication.

So, let me know. Which do you like best? Which catches your eye more or would make you stop and think, “hmm…I may read that?” (Your opinions are SUPER important to me because I know what I like, but I only have two eyes so I need YOUR eyes to look at it freshly. I need to know what other people are thinking about these homemade teasers, so I know what’s working and not. Let’s face it: ya’ll are part of the team now. We’re in this together. So, thumbs up/thumbs down? Spill it. I need the intel 😉)

Also! I’ve joined this thing called Book and Main Bites. (I’m under C.G. Coppola) It’s for romance authors to put up little “bites” of their juicy/lovey moments without revealing their titles/book covers/too much about them. It’s a way for readers to discover new authors just by the content and not so much BUY MY BOOK links you usually see. So, any romance writers/readers out there, I’d check it out. I found a couple of new authors on there myself 😊

ONE MONTH TO GO UNTIL BETTER THAN THIS COMES OUT!!

You Can Judge Me Now

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Bring on the judgement because we all know you’re going to do it anyway. I do it. You do it. It’s kind of human nature to make snap decisions based on what your eyes see first. Like when you’re searching for your next great read and you scan books among books and stop only on the covers that appeal to you. The title may have something to do with it but—let’s be real, here—you’re attracted to the colors and font and pretty much the basic artwork. I’m guilty of this. There. I’ve said it. I judge books by their covers—but only in the initial stage. After I’ve thoroughly investigated the blurb and read a few pages, it’s content going forward. (I think we all do it this way, yes?)

So, with all that said, I now present to you darling readers/fans/people who happened upon this blog by mistake—the cover for my new release, Better Than This:

and for the 3-D lover:

Eh? Eh?

We like? We no like? We know our opinions are important but the decision has already been made (and paid for) so they might possibly be moot?

I actually really hope you like it. I had a tough time with this one because Autumn, the protag, is a painter and Alex, the love interest (and second main character) plays the guitar, so, I wanted to incorporate both elements. Paint and music. Which seems easy but then you actually try to shove the two together and you have a lot of options that maybe don’t look so great. Joleene (my cover artist) and I went back and forth a few times and after a little tinkering, this beauty was born.

You can be honest: did it catch your eye? Would it make you stop long enough to *maybe* glance at the blurb? Again, this is the final product so no changing at this point, but I’m curious to know for the second and third books releasing later this year.

If you’re curious about more behind-the-scene things like how I ended up on this exact version and all the different drafts in between, I have a post on my Patreon page called the Metamorphosis of a Book Cover.  Should cover everything you need to know 😉 Link on the right side somewhere where it says ‘Become a Patron’ ——–>

Also: please keep your fingers/eyes/toes crossed for my wonderful sister who hears back from the doctor today. Thanks in advance!

Life, Am i right?

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Last Wednesday I caught the throat bug and since I keep forgetting to take medicine, I STILL HAVE IT.

☹

In my defense, I’ve been distracted. My sister had outpatient surgery, the check engine light in my car came on (AGAIN), and I was planning Batman’s surprise birthday dinner by calling every restaurant that I know he likes to ask if they took reservations—WHICH THEY DON’T.

When did this become a thing? When I was a hostess, I always had to take reservations. It made sense. You had a larger party coming in and you wanted to let the restaurant know about it. Simple. Easy. Totally makes sense. Nowadays, you make “call aheads” which are apparently useless because unless your entire party is there, you won’t be seated. Seriously—what was the point of me calling? This is what I asked the hostess at the Cheesecake Factory when she informed me that even if the entire party DID arrive, we might still have to wait an hour. Seriously—WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ME CALLING?

And since it was a surprise for Batman, I had to keep sneaking away which made him all suspicious, especially when he heard a guy on the other end of the phone (which was a buddy of his coming to the dinner) and my voice kept coming in and out so I would squeak and then cough and then squeak and then cough and then run into the house for water.

My car is my car and until it’s a different car, that check engine light will always be in my life. My sister is doing fine – we’re just waiting for Wednesday to get the results. Cross your fingers (and eyes and toes…) that everything is benign because she needs a homerun in life right now. She is AMAZING and I was sort of hoping she’d win the lottery or marry Prince Harry and instead, she got outpatient surgery and a hospital bill. ☹ I know something awesome is coming her way but I wish it’d hurry up and get here. And no, Bradley Cooper, it’s not you anymore. You had your chance but my sis can do better. Sorry.

So, writing: I’ve decided that I will be releasing the ENTIRE Better Than This series this year. The first, as you know, is set to come out May 18th (same date as Deadpool!) and Better Than Now will be in August and Better Than You, in November. Three months apart. I’m not sure if this is a smart or stupid plan but I hate when the next book in the series is set to come out the following year (or two or more) because I forget about them or lose interest or whatever. PLUS, once I’m done with this series, I’ll be able to focus on the last book of ARIZAL WARS – Return to Dellapalania. 😉

Since I’m not sure how to arrange a cover reveal party or launch or whatever it is that most authors do, I’m just going to reveal it to you this Wednesday! Woop! If, between now and then, I can figure out how to do something bigger and better for a CR, I will. Otherwise, get excited to see the *amazing* cover for Better Than This on 4/11. I love it and I hope you will too!

…and that seems to be everything going on in my life currently. Still unemployed and suppressing the fear of running out of money, but I’m focusing on writing. And feeling better. And hoping my sister feels better. Things always work out and I’m sure they will this round too.

What about you? How’s your Sunday/life/health going?

Repeat After Me: I Got This

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Well, I did it.

I finished the first draft of my third book. It took me a month. Mind you, I’ve been unemployed for nearly two weeks of it, but it’s done. It needs, like, *ridiculous* amounts of revisions but I know what’s going to happen now, which is better than only having the snippets of scenes in my head before. There’s an actual story line with conflicts and events and there’s an ending, guys. I have A LAST BOOK ENDING. It’s not very good, but it’s there. Ready to be tweaked and worked on all that stuff.

So… what to do now? This is the part that sucks—the in between part. The part where I have nothing specific to work on because the next sentence, scene and chapter has already been written. I don’t know if any other writers out there have this WTF do I do now? moment but it’s here for me and it sucks.

I’m still not sure when I’m going to release this first book, Better Than This. I’m thinking maybe… mid-May? June? I still need to have it professionally edited, along with getting a cover completed and some sort of advertisement/marketing plan needs to be in place.  THINGS. There are so many things needing to be done and that next step is all blurry and weird and not specific.

Anyone heard of Patreon? It’s this cool (kind of old) idea where people will become a patron of your work either on a monthly or creation basis. It’s a tiered structure where someone can pay a certain amount ($1/$5/$10/whatever) to support your work in exchange for different things like early access to new content, deleted or behind the scenes and such. It’s kind of an awesome idea. I keep peeking at it and wondering if/when/how I should join and what I would do. I also keep wondering how to work this angle while also marketing BTT in time for this questionable release. Again, THINGS. SO MANY THINGS.

Authors (and really anyone who has an opinion/suggestion) what is my next step here? Am I jumping off in the marketing quicksand or do I have to get the book edited first? And what about the cover? And what about blog tours and hard copies? And what about—

NOPE. Not going crazy like usual. I got this. I have to keep telling myself I got this or I won’t have this. I’ll have a headache and a drinking problem and neither of those are sexy. To me. (But, you know, to each their own.) I’m also job-hunting, so throw that on the pile along with whoever grabbed a hold of my email address and started applying for credit cards under my name. And the car is in the shop. And the IRS sent me a letter. SO MANY THINGS.

But it’s cool 😊 Life’s good. Just have to repeat my mantra:

I got this.

I got this.

I MOTHERFUCKING GOT THIS BITCH.

😉

P.S. This week’s theme is “Last Line” for Friday’s #Fridaykiss. I have no idea what I’ll be posting but I’ll figure it out. Know why? See above.