Forcing Myself to Learn

So, you know how my publisher went out of business last fall? At the time, I knew very little about self-publishing. But thanks to the good people at Rhemalda, I knew a LOT more about publishing than I had before I signed with them. They were very good to keep me involved in the process, patiently explaining all the hows and whys of everything they did, and because of that, I learned. And I took that knowledge with me.

Now I’m getting ready to release Birthright, the sequel to Descendant, and I’m really missing my Rhemalda family. Besides the support and friendship, I am realizing all over again how much I have left to learn. Some days it’s overwhelming. But I still know the things they taught me, and I’m adding to that arsenal of experience every day. I have some amazing, wonderful, talented friends who are patient and kind, and who have all contributed in one way or another to my success as an author. Without them, I couldn’t do this. Not the way I need to.

Even so, there’s a lot that I still don’t know. I can’t continue to ask others to help me with certain things, or have them do it for me. I have to figure out how to be a grown up author. And it’s both scary and exhilarating at the same time. There’s a certain feeling of accomplishment with each mountain of frustration I conquer and each new thing learned.  

I’m not going to lie. Publishing a book is hard. That’s why publishing houses hire entire teams of people. But I’m getting there. I’m forcing myself to learn it. Because I have no idea what’s in my future, and knowing these things can only help me grow.

Suddenly, I remember what it’s like to be in high school again, and I have a renewed sympathy for my young adult children who are having to do this kind of learning in every aspect of life. It’s hard. It’s scary. It’s exhilarating.

What about you? What scary things have you learned lately?

One of the many things I've learned this month.

A Chat with Michelle Davidson Argyle about her new release CATCH (and a contest)

Hey all! Happy November!

Yes, as a matter of fact, I AM hard at work writing my newest project for National Novel Writing Month. But I had to take a short break to give a shout out to Michelle Davidson Argyle, whose new release CATCH was released this week. I'm a big fan of Michelle's, and not just because we were both Rhemalda authors. I *heart* her work.

This week I got to ask her a few short questions about her newest release, and I always love what she has to say.

1. What were you doing when you had the idea for the main story line in Catch?

Because I have a terrible memory, I honestly can't remember what I was doing. But I do remember trying to come up with the idea over the course of a week. It usually takes a while to fully form all of it. Too bad I can't say I was in Vegas, right? I think I was probably in the car or the shower -- where I get most of my ideas.

2. Have you ever had your purse stolen the way Miranda did? If so, explain a little, and if not, how would you feel if you did?

Nope! I thought my car was stolen once, but it turned out a family member had just taken it without telling me. And I've had a bike stolen once, but never money or credit cards or a purse. I would freak out and probably wouldn't be nearly as level-headed as Miranda. Oh, wait ... she chases after the thief. Maybe I would be smarter than that!

3. What is your favorite part of the setting of this book? 

I've only been to Las Vegas a few times, so I had to do a lot of research for Catch. I think my favorite part of the setting was being able to explore the Strip and going into the Bellagio. One of my favorite movies is Ocean's Eleven,so this made it come a little more a alive for me.

4. If Catch had a theme song, what would it be?

I think a great song that captures the feel of Catch is "I Won't Give Up on Us" by Jason Mraz. It might seem a little slow for Catch, but I really think it fits both characters.

5. You are very good at writing flawed, but redeemable characters, especially antagonists. Do you feel that finding redeeming qualities in others is an important lesson in life? 

Oh, absolutely. I think I'm a really judgmental person (hard to admit) and it has been an important thing in my life to fix that flaw about myself and find something great in everyone. This has naturally moved over into my writing. It's so important to me to make my characters as real as possible, and in reality, everyone is flawed. Nobody's perfect. So I love to explore characters and find their faults, but also find their motivations and look at them objectively so I can understand why they are the way they are. Then I love to show that to the reader and let them make a call on how they feel about a person's flaws. It's quite fun!

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

When eighteen-year-old Miranda chases a purse snatcher on the Las Vegas Strip, the last thing she expects is for the pursuit to turn into an extended game of hide-and-seek. All Miranda wants are the old black and white photographs buried at the bottom of her purse. They’re the only things she has left of the grandmother she never knew. But how much is she willing to put on the line to save them? And is it possible she’s falling in love with a thief?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Michelle D. Argyle lives and writes in Utah, surrounded by the Rocky Mountains. She adores cheese, chocolate, sushi, and lots of ethnic food, and loves to read and write books in the time she grabs between her sword-wielding husband and energetic daughter. She believes a simple life is the best life. Michelle writes contemporary Young Adult and New Adult fiction (and other genres when she feels like it). 

michelledargyle.com | twitter.com/LadyGlamis | facebook.com/michelle.ladyglamis

Visit the CATCH tour page! TOUR PAGE. 

Release date: September 20th 2013
Publisher: MDA Books
Purchase: Amazon

Find CATCH on Goodreads

And now for the contest! Michelle is giving away both paperback and ecopies of CATCH during the tour, and the deadline is this coming SUNDAY, November 3. Don't miss out on your chance to enter and win! 

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for stopping by! And now, back to writing.

Guest Post: Donna K.Weaver, author of A Change of Plans

Hi all! Today, I have the pleasure of hosting fellow Rhemalda author, Donna K. Weaver, whose book, A Change of Plans comes out TODAY! Yes, that's right. It's Donna's book birthday.

*throws confetti and blows up balloons*

Happy book birthday Donna! Today, Donna is going to tell us a bit about how setting is important to her story.

Nichole, thank you for having me for a visit. I'll touch on one of the settings in my book, A Change of Plans. It's the story of a cruise excursion gone bad. The main character ends up marooned on a tropical island where a Banyan tree plays an important part. These fig trees are characterized by aerial prop roots. With age, they grow into thick woody trunks and can become indistinguishable from the main trunk. Sometimes the core of the tree can die, but it continues to live and spread out because of the aerial root system.

I took this picture in Kona, Hawaii a few years ago.

When Lyn sets off on her supposedly uncomplicated and unromantic cruise, she never dreams it will include pirates. All the 25-year-old Colorado high school teacher wants is to forget that her dead fiancé was a cheating scumbag. What she plans is a vacation diversion; what fate provides is Braedon, an intriguing surgeon. She finds herself drawn to him: his gentle humor, his love of music, and even his willingness to let her take him down during morning karate practices. Against the backdrop of the ship’s make-believe world and its temporary friendships, her emotions come alive.

However, fear is an emotion too. Unaware of the sensitive waters he navigates, Braedon moves to take their relationship beyond friendship—on the very anniversary Lyn came on the cruise to forget. Lyn's painful memories are too powerful, and she runs off in a panic.

Things are bad enough when the pair finds themselves on one of the cruise’s snorkeling excursions in American Samoa and paradise turns to piracy when their party is kidnapped. Lyn’s fear of a fairy tale turns grim. Now she must fight alongside the man she rejected, first for their freedom and then against storms, sharks, and shipwreck.

Donna K. Weaver
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads

Celebrate Good Times, Come On! (A massive DESCENDANT giveaway)

Yahoo. Dun dun dun dun dun dun…

*dances around the house where I’m staying*

*sees you looking*

*sheepishly blushing*

Oh, uh, yeah. Hi! So today is the beginning of the Descendant Blog tour, and that means PARTY! Also, FREE STUFF! Yep, that’s right. You are invited to visit any of the participating blogs, where you will have the opportunity to enter to win.

But, um, what do you win? Well.

Do you know what a galley is? It’s basically a printed, unbound copy of the book. Sometimes they have author notes and other doodles in them. Sounds cool, right? (Or lame—I don’t know. You tell me!) I will be giving away one complete doodled galley copy of DESCENDANT. IF we make the review goals, this will include the three bonus scenes I promised (but if we don’t make it, I can’t reveal them. Sorry!).

Also, because there are healing crystals involved in this story, I have a few of these beautiful healing crystals, which have been put into necklaces by my good friend Gail. I will give away Four of these.

But that’s not all! Oh no. My amazing friend Tova, has created some lovely, and oh-so-amazing healing body spray. And yes, it really does HEAL things. She also created these gorgeous DESCENDANT lip balms. (Tell me those aren’t the cutest things ever!) So I’m going to give away one bottle of healing spray and a lip balm as a package prize.

And also, I love the idea of packaging all these things together, so I will offer one more prize that includes a body spray, a lip balm, a healing crystal a signed poster, a wrist band, some bookmarks, AND… a doodled, signed galley segment that includes at least two chapters of DESCENDANT.

Sound good? Cool. Okay then. Go forth and enter, my friends! Good luck to you.

*Bloggers may enter as long as the entry doesn’t come from their own blog.
**Sadly, I need to restrict this giveaway to USA mailing addresses only.
***Contest runs from today, May 6, 2013-June 5th, 2013.
****You may enter once on each participating blog, but please be kind and leave the bloggers a comment. Thanks!

  

May 6    A Dream Within A Dream                   

              No Thought 2 Small                    

May 7    Coffee, Books,and Me                               

May 8    Cari's Book Blog    

May 9    My Passion for Books            

              Fire and Ice          

May 10  Krista's Dust Jacket           

               Basia's Bookshelf                    

May 13  Manga Maniac Cafe            

May 14  Romancing the Dark Side                                                             

May 15  Cari's Book Blog                                                              

              My Reading Room                                                                     

May 16 Views from Hobbit Hole                                                                 

              Me, My Shelf, and I                                                                                   

May 17 Books and Coffee                                                            

              An Avid Reader's Musing

             Bookworm's Multiverse 

May 20 Late Bloomer Online                             

May 21 Books of Love                                                                                   

May 22 Min's Read and Reviews                                            

             What's Beyond Forks?              

May 23 Tarheel Bibilobabe                                

             Kathleen Brebes                  

May 24 Lily Pond Reads                   

May 27 Books and Coffee                  

May 28 Read-A-Holicz              

              Reading Lark               

May 29 Reader Girls                                                  

              My Bookish Fairytales         

May 30 Girls in the Stacks                    

May 31 Rex Robot Review      

Cover Reveal: A Change of Plans by Donna K. Weaver

Hello again! I know I don't usually post on Thursdays, but, well, my publisher sister's cover has been revealed today and I just had to share!

Isn't it pretty? I love the waves and the beach, because, well, you know me. A Change of Plans is scheduled for release from Rhemalda Publishing on June 1st, 2013.

Here's what the book is about:

When Lyn sets off on her supposedly uncomplicated and unromantic cruise, she never dreams it will include pirates. All the 25-year-old, Colorado high school teacher wants to do is forget that her dead fiancé was a cheating scumbag. Lyn plans a vacation diversion; fate provides Braedon, an intriguing surgeon. She finds herself drawn to him: his gentle humor, his love of music, and even his willingness to let her take him down during morning karate practices. Against the backdrop of the ship’s make-believe world and temporary friendships, her emotions come alive. 

However, fear is an emotion, too. Unaware of the sensitive waters he's navigating, Braedon moves to take their relationship beyond friendship--on the very anniversary Lyn is on the cruise to forget. Lyn's painful memories are too powerful, and she runs from Braedon and what he has to offer.

Their confusing relationship is bad enough, but when the pair finds themselves on one of the cruise's snorkeling excursions in American Samoa things get worse. Paradise turns to piracy when their party is kidnapped and Lyn's fear of a fairytale turns grim. Now she must fight alongside the man she rejected, first for their freedom and then against storms, sharks, and shipwreck.

You can add it to your Goodreads lists and vote for it here.

If you'd like to stay informed about author Donna Weaver and her book A Change of Plans, you can follow her on Facebook and Twitter. To stay informed about all of Rhemalda Publishing's titles (including mine) you can follow them on Facebook and Twitter as well.

About the Author:

Donna K. Weaver is a Navy brat who joined the Army and has lived in Asia and Europe. Because she sailed the Pacific three times as a child, she loves cruising and wishes she could accrue enough vacation time to do more of it with her husband.

At fifty, Donna decided to study karate and earned her black belt in Shorei Kempo.

After recording city council minutes for twenty years, Donna decided to write something a little longer and with a lot more emotion--and kissing.

Donna and her husband reside in Utah, they have six children and eight grandchildren who live all over the world.

Interested in more? This book has a trailer. You can view it here!

It’s HERE! The Descendant Cover Reveal.

AAAAHHHHH! Can you believe this gorgeous cover? Seriously. I know I’m a teensy bit biased. I mean, LOOK! That’s my name. That character? I created her.

Um. Forgive me. I believe it’s possible I’m overexcited. But still. This is it. The cover for my first published full-length YA fiction novel. This is a day for which I have been waiting for a very, very, way-too-long time.

And now I will stop gushing and let you read the cover copy (which may not actually end up on the cover—but it works for now).

Descendant

Seventeen-year-old Abigail Johnson is Gifted.

Blessed—or cursed—with Sight and Healing, Abby lives an unsettled life, moving from place to place and staying one step ahead of the darkness that hunts her. When she arrives in Jackson, Wyoming, she is desperate to maintain the illusion of normalcy, but she is plagued with visions of past lives mixed with frightening glimpses of her future. Then she meets Kye, a mysterious boy who seems so achingly familiar that Abby is drawn to him like he’s a missing piece of her own soul.

Before Abby can discover the reason for her feelings toward Kye, the darkness catches up to her and she is forced to flee again. But this time she’s not just running. She is fighting back with Kye at her side, and it’s not just Abby’s life at stake.

Now, just FYI, there is no purchase link yet because this book isn’t released until May. You will be able to preorder it sometime in the next few weeks, but if you’re interested and want to keep track, you can always add it to your Goodreads “want to read” list. Talk about it, send yourself reminders, whatever. And also, keep checking back here, where I will be posting teasers and contests and other exclusive activities you won’t want to miss.

Thanks for celebrating with me!    

Find Descendant on Goodreads.

**UPDATE** 
Interested in joining us for the blog tour in May? Sign up here!

The Next Big Thing!

So, I’ve been tagged. Twice. Once by the energetic and always beautiful Debbie Davis, and once by the fantastic Rachelle Christensen. So I figured that even though it’s been a super long time since I played along with games like this, I probably ought to jump in and answer lest I break my string of good luck or something else dreadful.

So here you go. The answers to your most curious questions about the book I just sold to Rhemalda Publishing. (To be released May 1^st, 2013.)

What is the working title of your book?

Descendant

Where did the idea for the story come from?

A long time ago (like, 7 years or longer) I attended a workshop about holistic and energetic healing that involved chakras and crystals, and I thought, “What would it be like for a teenager who had healing powers to live in today’s world?” And then, I drew from memories of my own teen years, how big and huge and heavy everything felt back then. Also, I added in a lot of romance, because I’m a sucker for that kind of stuff, and I think kissing scenes make every story better.

What genre does your book fall under?

Young Adult Contemporary Paranormal.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Okay seriously, I should pay better attention to the actors who are this age, but I just don’t have any idea. That’s why I’m not a casting director. But I’ll tell you what they’ll look like, okay?

Abby, the main character, is really small, about a hundred pounds, with long-ish auburn hair and blue-green eyes.

Kye, Abby’s love interest, is tall, just over six feet, wiry with well-defined muscles, wavy dark-blond hair with sapphire blue eyes and a heart stopping smile.

Is that good enough?

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Seventeen-year-old Abigail Johnson never suspected her Gifts of Healing and Sight came from an ancestor who was killed by a demon, and she especially didn’t understand that the same demon army might someday try to kill her.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Descendant is represented by Brittany Howard of Corvisiero Agency, and will be published by Rhemalda Publishing, May 1^st, 2013.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

This is a really hard question, because the drafts have been so drastically different, that a few times, I pretty much dumped the whole thing and started over completely. The very first, 000 draft, took me a month (NaNo anyone?) but being that it was a complete train wreck, it took me another 18 months or so to rewrite and recompile into a semi-quazi real first draft. (3 ½ more years of editing, too, BTW. And now I will edit even more. Oi.)

What other books within your genre would you compare to your story?

I’m thinking it’s a little like The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller, a little like the TV show heroes, and a little like Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

My aunt, and good friend Tova Heaton taught the class (mentioned above) so she played a big part in inspiring me. Also my own unending need to try to help people, try to fix the things wrong in the world, whether it’s within my power or not.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

How about the most recent blurb? (Probably not the cover blurb, but it’s something!) No cover yet, but soon, my pretties. Very soon.  *rubs hands together*

Descendant:

Seventeen-year-old Abigail Johnson is Gifted.

Blessed—or cursed—with Sight and Healing, Abby lives an unsettled life, moving from place to place and staying one step ahead of the darkness that hunts her. When she arrives in Jackson, Wyoming, she is desperate to maintain the illusion of normalcy, but she is plagued with visions of past lives mixed with frightening glimpses of her future. Then she meets Kye, a mysterious boy who seems so achingly familiar that Abby is drawn to him like he’s a missing piece of her own soul.

Before Abby can discover the reason for her feelings toward Kye, the darkness catches up to her and she is forced to flee again. But this time she’s not just running. She is fighting back with Kye at her side, and it’s not just Abby’s life at stake.

I think I'm now supposed to tag other people. I'm not sure how many, but I'm going to guess five, because, well, that sounds like a good number. So I hereby tag Elana Johnson, Jenn Johansson, Karen Hoover, Windy Aphyrath, and Heather Moore because I can't wait to hear about their next big things.