It's the little things...

So, I've decided to go back to my roots with this blog (in other words, writing about writing and life in general) rather than talk too much about the graphic design.  After all, I have plenty of other places where I share the artwork.

Since quitting my "day job" to see if I could make it on my own as a freelancer, I've started writing again. I spent most of today editing some old work that I plan on re-releasing, as well as working on some new stuff. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed that. 

So, to get ready for what I hope will be at least 4 new releases this year, I wanted to put together a website for my books.  I already had a domain name that I purchased last year and never used, and it's still good for another year. However, as I looked into various options, I decided to just keep my old friend Blogger, and point the domain name here.

Well... that wasn't as easy as I thought it would be!  However, after much ado, I now have "katesterling.net" pointing right here. It was so exciting! Lol. Like I said, it's the little things in life that count. :)

In other news, I also starting working as an editor for Cobblestone Press again, in addition to creating cover artwork for them.

What's new with you?

Promos and Motivation

I've read a few books lately on Indie publishing, and it seems the thing they stress the most is social networking - promo, promo, promo.

Being a naturally reclusive type, that is a bit hard for me.  However, it did occur to me that while I might have a hard time self-promoting, I don't mind at all to promote other people's work when I like it.  In fact, I started to wonder why I'd never invited any of the authors whose cover art I did to come by my blog and talk about their books.  Seems a natural thing to do, right?  And why haven't I done more book reviews?  I've read tons of books this past year - many by my blogging pals.  I could have been active in promoting them - I have no problem pumping up other writers on my blog, facebook, and twitter.

So, to those of you I've overlooked:  My deepest apologies; I'll remedy that situation very soon.

To myself... maybe I need to create an alter ego to peddle my own stuff? lol

Meanwhile, I've got three - count 'em three - WIPS I want to finish this year, but I'm finding it hard to stay focused and motivated.  However, I did narrow it down to two to focus on, but I still need to choose one to finish first, and decided to ask for you help in choosing by posting two excerpts to vote on.  You can find the candidates in the header tabs above.

With that in mind, I also decided to take a page from the awesomely talented Avery DeBow and try a Mad Lib (or, as she called it, Bad Lib) approach to finish the chosen story. Avery had posted a bit of a story each week, and asked for people to supply words which she had to include in the next week's excerpt. Her end story was incredible, and while I don't have the same amount of talent as Avery, the utter horror and shame should I fail to produce something might just be motivation enough to keep me going.

Mind you, both of those ideas fill me with utter terror.  You might not bother to show up.  You might hate both excerpts and refuse to vote.  You might hate the mad lib and not participate.  You might hate me.

And worst of all, I might be incapable of producing anything usable in such a manner on a weekly basis.

Oh, well.  All I can do is try.  If you don't want to play along and torture me even more senseless than I already am, I suppose I could just randomly pick words out of the dictionary.  It does lack that motivating, public humiliation factor, though.

UPDATE 6/30: By the way, if you participate, I'll promote your book across facebook, twitter, amazon, etc., and you'll be entered to win a free cover art package should you wish to receive one.  Just let me know.

Following Yonder Star...

In the past, I've blogged a lot about the power of positive thinking, but haven't touched much on the following words of wisdom from Terry Pratchett in his book, The Wee Free Men:

"Now...if you trust in yourself..."

"...and believe in your dreams..."

"... and follow your star..."

"...you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy."

:)

This has been brought home to me rather sharply lately. Now, mind you, I did trust myself, believe in my dreams, etc., and that paid off. However, it only partially paid off, because I also wasn't learning and working hard enough. (Hence, my now 3 "ok" reviews, as well as seeing much better cover art than what I've produced - created by people who have spent years practicing their craft.)

Now, I still completely believe in the power of positive thinking and visualization, but I've also come to realize that I need to back that up with real elbow grease as well. Lots of practice to become better at what I want to do, and not just sit around thinking it will all be magically handed to me.

NYT Bestselling author Jennifer Ashley kept a blog in the years just before she was published (and during the years that I remember her from the Desert Rose RWA when I lived in Arizona) all about her doubts and struggles while trying to get published. She has since moved on to blogging about what it's like to make a living as a full-time writer. I went back and re-read some of those posts the other day, and found them inspiring - and enlightening.

In other words, I got a necessary @$$ kicking. ;) (Which has actually been going on for days, as you can see from my "back to the drawing board" post.)

So, once more I'm taking stock of what I still have to learn, where I need to improve, and trying to force myself to get my act together and produce some quality work. Not just sit around and daydream about it.

In what areas are you trying to improve?

Back to the Drawing Board

Well, it's been a hectic couple of months with many stops, starts, and sputters. I'll spare you the gory details and get right to lessons learned.

One, life is tricky, messy and unpredictable. (Yeah, you'd think I'd know that already, but I seem to keep needing reminders.)

Two, sometimes because of number one above, you just have to hit the reset button and start over.

Three, starting over can be a good thing.

The whole Maine move is on hold right now (job description & funding changed, they offered the possibility of another one in a few months - but too late for me due to lease renewal dates.)

Soooooooo, that gave me a little more time to think about things and where I *hope* to be headed over the next year. (Notice I said "hope" - not plan. I'm done with planning for now. I'll just hope, try to do what I can, and see what shakes out, because really, we don't have nearly as much control over things as we'd like.)

Thus, saddled with my "what now?" funk, I had a little more time on my hands last weekend and attended an intense online workshop with Cobblestone Press on creating cover art. At the end of it, they chose to contract three new cover artists - and one of them was me. That was unexpected and exciting. :)

At some point during that weekend, I had mentioned to someone how once, after reading a story I'd written, a friend of mine made the comment that I should stick to painting. Ouch. Then, after seeing 5 new reader reviews of Managing Maggie on Fictionwise (the scale being great, good, ok, and poor) - one said great, one good, two just ok, and one said it was poor. Ouch again. Even if you take out the cheerleader and the hater, you're still left with just one "good" and two "meh, it was ok. Take it or leave it."

It made stop and think about what I was doing, what needed work, and whether I'm really cut out for this. I have to admit I felt like throwing in the towel. But after a few hours of feeling sorry for myself, I decided to use it to my advantage. It made me even more determined to prove them wrong, just like I did with that "stick to artwork, babe" friend of mine. (Just for the record, I was published before she was, so *there* pfft.) ;)

It also made me realize I was shortchanging the readers who kindly took a chance on me when I didn't give it everything I had. So now, I'm back to the drawing board. Lots of work ahead of me. I just hope I'm up to the task.

Any insights into your own life/writing lately that you'd like to share? Anything in particular you do to pick yourself up and start over?

Magical Mondays: Boob Wishes Strike Again!

(Yes, it's Sunday right now, but I might not have time tomorrow.)

For those of you who aren't familiar with "boob wishes", it's when you write down three things you'd like to have happen in a month, and keep it in your bra... or pants pocket, or wherever. :)

About a month ago, I was just daydreaming of a few things I'd like to have happen and wrote just two of them down. One: I'd like to be able to work part-time, and two: I'd like for my novella to be a best seller at Cobblestone Press, even though I didn't really expect either of those things to happen. I just put that in my purse and forgot about it.

Well, about a week ago, I was having a rough day at work and wishing the timing was right for me to ask my boss about taking off one day a week. It's a really busy time for us right now, and I figured the timing was bad to ask. But about an hour later, she asked me to come to her office and said she had good news for me. See, one of the things I HATE about my job, is that somehow I got stuck doing the class registrations and other admin work after the woman who used to do it had to quit. It was never part of my job description, and daily made me want to jab sharpened pencils into my ears.

My boss said she'd spoken to her boss about the possibility of hiring someone to take over that aspect of things, since it really wasn't something I should be doing and would take a lot off my plate. It was the perfect opening to bring up the part-time goal. She was very open to it, though she did say it probably wouldn't happen until after June. Hey, as long as there's a light at the end of the tunnel, I can wait a couple more months. :)

And as for the second wish, as you can see from this post, I was just as surprised as anybody. :)

Now I wish I'd written down a third thing, lol. Maybe next month... :)

Any good news in your life lately that you'd like to share?

Hey, who knew?!

I just went to Cobblestone Press's new site, Cobblestone After Dark, and look what I found on the front page! I had no idea! Big, big hugs and thanks to everyone who purchased. :)

Now I can call myself a "Best Selling Author", LOL.

Welcome Jude Liebermann!

Today's guest is fellow Cobblestone Press author, Jude Leiberman. She's graciously agreed to answer some questions about her new book, Drew's Awakening, available today at Cobblestone.

I understand you have a new release out called Drew's Awakening. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

Sure, and I'm really excited about this book. It is the follow up to my A Modern Myth trilogy, which I self published. Drew is a very special man, with a very special destiny. He is my all time favorite character and hero.

Is this a departure from the stories you normally write, or is this genre a favorite?

Yes, I had never written paranormal before this trilogy, but it was so much fun to write. I fell in love with the characters, and they became very real to me. I couldn't imagine writing four novels about the same characters, but I can see so many continuing adventures for them now. Romance will always be my favorite genre, and I always vary the sub genre. I guess you can say that paranormal is my favorite one.

If you could choose actors to play your characters in this story, who would you pick and why?

Though the cover depicts Drew looking a lot like Orlando Bloom, I don't know if he would be fitting for the character. I actually can't think of anyone in Hollywood good enough. He would probably need to be played by an unknown that was found through an extensive casting call. I have always thought that Jessica Alba would play Nada, Drew's mother, and Orlando could actually play Grady, Drew's father. Sara, the heroine, would be the tough one. I don't know the actress' name, but she played the blind woman in the Fantastic 4. She has the look of Sara, though she is probably older than 21.

Please describe a little of your favorite scene in this book.

The first one that came to mind is when Sara and Drew almost have sex for the first time in his hotel room, but one of his newly acquired gifts intrudes (without going into too much detail). I enjoyed writing his surprised reaction to it, and how he handled Sara being in the room with him. I chuckled a few times as I wrote that scene.

I know this isn't your first story with Cobblestone Press. How long had you been writing before you got your first "call"? And can you tell us a little about what it was like when you received that first publisher acceptance of one of your stories? How did you celebrate?

I've been writing most of my life but first self published in 1997, after getting tired of the rejections from the NY publishers. It's been a tough but rewarding journey. I had always written sensual romances before submitting to Cobblestone, and the editor asked if I would be willing to spice it up. My first novella with them was published last August. I was very excited to be accepted. I think my husband bought some champagne, and we toasted my first contact.

What can we expect next from you?

I recently finished my first short story erotic fantasy, which I have submitted to Cobblestone for their Wicked line. Wish me luck on it getting accepted.

Is there anything else you'd like to say to your readers, something you'd like them to know?

I have a forum where I've posted a lot of free stories and novellas for my active members. So if they'd like to read a bit of my stuff before paying for it, they should join. They can find it at judesplace.com/forum.

Thanks for being here, Jude!

--------------------------------------------------

About Drew's Awakening:

Drew’s Awakening is a sequel to the self-published A Modern Myth trilogy. Drew Duncan was born at the end of that trilogy. He is now almost 21 and coming into his own. He is more special than he realizes, as powers he was born into begin to emerge. As he deals with these new abilities, he finds his soul mate, Sara. She was hidden when she was a little girl to save her from Kyros, an enemy from his family’s past. She doesn’t remember Drew but immediately feels a connection with him when they are reunited. Even though his family has told him to avoid looking for her, Drew cannot stay away. As they rediscover each other in mental and physical ways, Kyros finds them and abducts Sara. With his mother’s help, Drew follows and finds them. Kyros knows he must kill Drew before he can rein destruction upon the Earth. He uses Sara as bait to try to trap his nemesis. Drew must remember his destiny and awaken the slumbering power within him to destroy this ancient evil, so he and Sara can live happily ever after.

Click here to read an excerpt.

http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/author/judeliebermann.htm