In Brief: IWSG and Fast News

 

Insecure Writer's Support Group

Hey, I need to be brief today because I'm off and about, plus, Wednesdays have been busier in general this last year. I will do my best to come around to comment.

IWSG is HERE. The awesome co-hosts for the November 6 posting of the IWSG are Diedre Knight, Lisa Buie Collard , Kim Lajevardi, and JQ Rose!

Optional November 6 question - What creative activity do you engage in when you're not writing?

Quick answers: singing, drawing, and painting.

What creativity do you engage in when you're not writing?

News

I'll be at Author Nation and Rave on November 11-15 in Las Vegas! If you're there, let's say hello. :)

I'm taking part in the November Fantasy & Scifi Freebies Bookfunnel with two books this time - Champion in the Darkness, and Dark Secrets: A Prequel Novella for The Dark Blade Trilogy.

Happy Thanksgiving Month! 

IWSG, Comic Con, and News

IWSG

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Find more information at the website: Insecure Writer’s Support Group.

The awesome co-hosts for the March 6 posting of the IWSG are Kristina Kelly,Miffie Seideman,Jean Davis, and Liza @ Middle Passages!

March 6th question: Have you "played" with AI to write those nasty synopses, or do you refuse to go that route? How do you feel about AI's impact on creative writing?

To the first question, yes, I have played with AI to write a synopses, with mixed results. I don’t feel guilty about using AI for ad copy of various kinds because this kind of writing is short, necessary, and not something I am good at. I still have to revise everything - so this is not without work.

For the second part of the question, I think AI has already had an impact on creative writing, when we consider the use of grammar programs. Creative writing includes the joy of knowing the rules and knowing when to break them. AI doesn’t feel joy, or sorrow, or any other emotion. Only humans do. I maintain that this will always be what makes human powered creativity full of depth.

 

An Emerald City Comic Con Reflection

Massive, fun, interesting, overwhelming, frustrating, joyful, and full - these are just a few words to sum up my experience at Emerald City Comic Con last weekend, from Thursday through Sunday.

Authors from left to right: Peter V. Brett, Saara El-Arifi, Django Wexler, Katherine Arden, Terry Brooks, and moderator Madeleine Roux.

It was my first ECCC, and I loved the panels with writers they had for the literary track. I didn’t get to meet, but at least did get to see, Terry Brooks (Shannara, Magic Kingdom for Sale).

Authors: Jasmine Skye and Marissa Meyer on the Battle of the Tropes panel. (Yes, I wish I had a better picture.)

I finally met Marissa Meyer (Cinder, Renegades, and more) and she was also on two panels and a spotlight session I attended. Friday was my best day at the con, when I managed to go to three panels, a spotlight, and a class on fighting in fiction.

Left to right: Moderator, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, and John Rhys-Davies

Saturday was the day I only really made one event - the Lord of the Rings event on the main stage, which meant I had to stand in line for two hours. Lines were mismanaged and there were three rows of empty seats in the main stage area, which seats around 5000 people, but even with that, there wasn’t a way for everyone into that area. The crowd of 85,000 people were decked out in awesome cosplay, enthusiastic, and sweet, but I felt overwhelmed, and went home a bit early.

Sunday, in line, and taking photos with a few cosplayers. My friend has been to a number of comic cons before and knows how to pose. :)

On Sunday, my friend and I decided we wanted to meet Sean Astin (Goonies, LoTR, more) for an autograph and so we did that. This meant standing in line for hours, but we met some really nice people who we chatted with about various books, movies, and shows. I managed to sell an audio version of Liftoff and get a pre-order for Dark Blade: Forged, just by talking about writing, which was cool. When we met Sean Astin for the quick autograph session, he was kind and humble - talking about how wonderful the rest of the LoTR cast is and how he never expected so many fans would want to meet him. Then, we wandered through the merch tables, and they announced closing time. Where did the time go?

News

I will be on four panels at Norwescon, March 28-31! This event includes cosplay, panels, interviews, merch, and the Philip K. Dick awards. The panels are: “I Wrote a Song for My Story!” with Amanda Cherry, Metaerie, and Karen Eisenbrey; “Developing Strong Teen Characters” with Lish McBride, Kara Swanson, Karen Eisenbrey, and Anastasia Wilde; “Worldbuilding: The Burden of Being God” with Brenda Carre, Sandra Rosner, Thea Prieto, Lish McBride, and Kate Alice Marshall’ and “Short Stories vs Novels” with Camden Rose, Karen Eisenbrey, Tom D. Wright, and Kendare Blake. I’m excited to be a part of Norwescon this year!

I’m in the revision cave for a project and I will have news about it next month, I hope.

Are you looking for a #free, clean fantasy or scifi read? Check out this Book Funnel with over 70 authors and 80 books! This is only running until March 17th. https://books.bookfunnel.com/cleanepicfiction/c7jutgzu16

I have a book in The Galactic Mystery Bundle, curated by Simon Kewin! You can find out more at the Storybundle Website, but just to note, this sale is on for only two more weeks.

IWSG February 2024 Author Websites and News

 

Insecure Writer's Support Group

Website / Facebook Group / Twitter / Book Club
Reedsy Discount / Past Issues

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. 

The awesome co-hosts for the February 7 posting of the IWSG are Janet Alcorn, SE White, Victoria Marie Lees, and Cathrina Constantine!

OPTIONAL February 7 question: What turns you off when visiting an author's website/blog? Lack of information? A drone of negativity? Little mention of author's books? Constant mention of books?

I'm going to turn that question upside down and re-ask: what do I like about visiting author's websites? What do I think works?

My answer: Clarity and authenticity. 

I want to know who this author is, what they write, and a little bit about how they view the world, what they think/feel specifically about their writing and the writing life. 

I enjoy fun memes, gifs, pictures, and slices of life, but the most important pieces I look for when I go search for an author online are usually to find their books and to discover their unique perspective. 

I have been taking a class that recommends an extremely clear author website that makes it easy for readers to find books and to take a side jig over to an author page. I can see the benefit of that. I have always opted for "here I am," and "oh, over here are my books" kinds of blogs, websites, and such, but I may be recreating something that is easier to navigate from the front page. 

What do you think?

What do you like to see on author websites?

NEWS

The New Year's Quest Newsletter Book Funnel is still going through February 10th. If you missed it, be sure to check it out for some free reads! 

Check out all my links and socials here: Tyrean’s Link Tree. 

IWSG MARCH 2022: Conflict, Books, A Message, and News

 

Thank you, Alex J. Cavanaugh, for leading this group!

Sign up Here.

The awesome co-hosts for the March 2 posting of the IWSG are Janet Alcorn, Pat Garcia, Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence!

IWSG AND WRITING

OPTIONAL March 2 question - Have you ever been conflicted about writing a story or adding a scene to a story? How did you decide to write it or not?

In short: Yes. 

How did I decide to write it or not? I journaled about it. I wrote a sample starter of the scene/story, and then I decided.

I'm keeping today's post fairly short because I know we're all stretched for time and energy these days, plus, if you want to hang out with me longer, just consider lifting some prayers up for world peace. I'll be doing the same from my corner of the world - so we'll be praying together. 

NEWS

I've been pouring a bit more into my newsletter these days. If you want to check it out, go here:

Tyrean's Tales Newsletter.

My theme for this month was courage:

A MESSAGE 

Way back a bit, the Pastor of my church asked several people to give messages at worship. I said yes and gave a message on February 13 entitled: Hold On, Trust God, Consider Jesus. If you really want to see it, you can. FYI: I'm not a fan of my current health and look, but I am working on it at the gym and I need to step out of my shell if I'm going to change. 

Hold On, Trust God, Consider Jesus at Vimeo.

Publication:

I had five short pieces published by Nail Polish Stories: A Tiny and Colorful Literary Journal in January. Read them here, starting with "My Pointe Exactly."

Ongoing Series

Dark Blade: Forged is an ongoing series for Kindle Vella. I had a bit of an oops week one week in February. My mom went to the ER again. Lots of life stuff going on, but I keep coming back to it so if you miss an episode, please come back. 

Music

I finished a full acapella song for worship at my church and Pastor Peter Churness put some guitar chords to it. It's something I plan to record and produce. Still figuring this all out, so it might be a bit. 

Rayatana, Book 3? What happened here?

I have it on my desk and I have editing notes on it, but... I let it slide a bit. It will probably be six months more before it's truly ready for the world. 

Podcast(s)

I'll be podcasting with my church again and our new podcast series is starting today for Lent.

I plan to start a podcast of my own, but it's not all ready yet. 

And Health/Wellness News:

My health is improving slowly but steadily in a turtle-like fashion. My docs (plural) are still trying to figure out the best medication level for my thyroid problem (it keeps changing). 

I joined a gym. I decided to opt for some coaching and strength training, along with 10,000 steps a day and other on-my-own exercises. I'm stronger and more energetic than I was five-six weeks ago, but I have a long, long ways to go. One step at a time.

 Have any news to share?

April #IWSG: Risky Writing Adventures, Quarancon, and News

 

Many thanks to founder Alex J. Cavanaugh and the co-hosts for April: PK Hrezo, Pat Garcia, SE White, Lisa Buie Collard, and Diane Burton!

OPTIONAL QUESTION FOR APRIL:

Are you a risk-taker when writing? 

Do you try something radically different in style/POV/etc. or add controversial topics to your work?

I'm going to tackle this question sideways...

As many of you know, I accidentally answered this last month. I'm not sure how I was a month off, but it made me realize how overwhelmed I have felt lately with social media. 

 For the rest of 2021, I'll be posting only twice a month here at my blog, for IWSG and Author Insights Interviews. I'm also cutting back a huge amount on Facebook and some on Instagram.

Where my time is going: Book writing. Editing professionally part-time. Tutoring and teaching homeschool students part-time. Helping my parents with some property management part-time. Teaching a few classes for online events part-time. 

Volunteering. Creating podcasts for my church.

Life.

If you noticed, nearly everything I do is part-time, but all of the transitions between tasks are a little time-consuming. I have lists upon lists, folders cascaded with other folders. It's the only way I can keep it all going. I use an individual song (chosen each day) to give me a re-focus break between tasks. 

I am terrible at doing the same repetitive tasks every day, which is why I have so many different projects going. The same thing every day just sends me to sleep, or sends me into a restless procrastination zone. I may not have an official ADHD diagnosis, but articles I've read on the subject and free online tests seem to indicate the way I function is strongly indicative of ADHD. 

As a kid, I was always struggling with daydreaming. I hyper-focused on reading books in the library and didn't hear the school bell, which is a flip-side indication of ADHD. I either blocked sound out, got distracted by it, or dove into it with singing. I coped in school. I took notes, made up questions in my head, tightened my stomach muscles to "fidget" without getting caught (hence, in trouble), and to this day, I rarely allow myself to read in public spaces where I might get into a hyper-focus zone and lose awareness of my surroundings, which can feel unsettling when I'm startled back into awareness of the world around me. 

There's nothing quite like realizing that you've been writing/reading in a coffee shop for two to three hours, the sun is going down, the baristas want to leave, and someone you know has just waved their hand in front of your face to get your attention...after they've called your name three or four times. You feel slightly dizzy, as if you've come up from a dream, and you don't feel like any time passed since you sat down at your laptop, except your back is cramped. And suddenly, you are hungry/tired/need to use the restroom. 

It's all pretty embarrassing. And yet, there is something special about those hyper-focused moments - I get a lot of writing done and I have a lot of fun doing it. Sometimes, I think I need to record the sounds of a coffee shop on my phone/pc and then replay that when I want to sink into a hyper-focused writing zone at home, where it's more comfortable to have my husband touch my shoulder and bring me back to the real world. 

I never planned to write about neuro-divergent characters, or characters who have physical disabilities or chronic illness, but I have begun to do so because of my own experiences and the experiences of family and friends. I feel like this is a risky area. I want to write about it well, so it's authentic, but I also don't want it to take over the stories I am writing, which are primarily SFF.

What risks to do you take in your writing, if any?

NEWS

Quarancon is coming in April! I'm one of the online panelists for a panel on Disabilities in SFF on April 11th. Quarancon is based in the UK, so times indicated at the website are based there.

Check out Quarancon HERE.

Writing Interactive, Vivid Settings is a class I'm teaching on May 15th online via Creative Colloquy. Remember class times for this are for Pacific Daylight Savings Time (Seattle/LA) Zone. So, if it's happening here at 6:30, then that's a NYC time of 9:30, and so on. Find out more at the Creative Colloquy Workshop Series page HERE.

One Hundred Essential Bible Podcasts is a current ministry of One Hope Church, and I'm contributing some of the podcasts. If you want to check it out, you can go to the Summary Page to listen to all of them, or just scroll to find one of mine. I am contributing once every other week. In case you didn't know, I have read the Bible as a whole 10 times, and have read the NT 17 times, so...I'm still learning and I don't take this lightly. 

If you want to hear some slightly different insights, read an author highlight, or get a little free fiction, check out my newsletter HERE.

IWSG: Newsletter?

Hosted by Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh

with co-hosts:

Newsletter

Facebook

Website

My insecurity this month: I'm trying a newsletter . . . again. I started one over a year ago through mailchimp and I never got it off the ground. In fact, I became so nervous about it that I never actually wrote a newsletter. I started one or two, but I never sent them.

This time, I'm three months into a new newsletter with Mad Mimi, and I'm enjoying myself, even if my audience is literally: my parents, my husband, and one friend. 

I'm only putting out one newsletter a month, but I finally put the "Newsletter Sign Up" button on the right. Yes, it took me three months to get that integral part done. 

And, for the March/April newsletter (Mapril), I'm running a promo: whoever signs up for my newsletter will receive a 100% off coupon for Flicker: A Collection of Short Stories and Poetry at Smashwords. 

So, I admit I don't know what I'm doing. I'm taking advice from my teen daughters who told me to "keep it simple, mom." (Hmm, was that last change of word intentional?) Each month has only three to five sections. The Mapril newsletter has the Special Offer (Flicker), News, New in 2016, and For Writers sections. It's pretty short. 

Why am I so nervous about newsletters when I write blog posts all the time? 

Because they are supposed to be the biggest marketing tool of authors today. 

Yikes! That means it has to have it all, right? Meaning, beauty, perfection? 

That last word strikes a painful G7 minor chord played on a dusty organ in my soul. 

I don't do perfection. Ever.

(To prove my point, I just used a sentence fragment and I hate those in essays and most fiction, so why do I use them on my blog? Agh. The truth is out. I sabotage the word perfection with every fiber of my "I refuse to be type A even though I lost hair in high school over an Honors Society event I had to organize as HS V-P" purposefully type B self.)

On the plus side, I had an article accepted for and published in the March IWSG Newsletter, so I'm learning how to do newsletter writing with some help from all of you!

So . . . do you think newsletters are the biggest marketing tool of authors today? And, do you have one? If so, how do you tame the newsletter beast? And, how often? And, do readers actually sign up for these dastardly things?

My newsletter sign-up

Email*

The IWSG Newsletter sign up is here!



News:
Chrys Fey has a new book out!

An Internal Affairs Investigator was murdered and his brother, Donovan Goldwyn, was framed. Now Donovan is desperate to prove his innocence. And the one person who can do that is the woman who saved him from a deadly hurricane—Beth Kennedy. From the moment their fates intertwined, passion consumed him. He wants her in his arms. More, he wants her by his side in his darkest moments. 

Beth Kennedy may not know everything about Donovan, but she can’t deny what she feels for him. It’s her love for him that pushes her to do whatever she has to do to help him get justice, including putting herself in a criminal’s crosshairs. 

When a tip reveals the killer's location, they travel to California, but then an earthquake of catastrophic proportions separates them. As aftershocks roll the land, Beth and Donovan have to endure dangerous conditions while trying to find their way back to one another. Will they reunite and find the killer, or will they lose everything? 
Seismic Crimes at Amazon

Milo James Fowler has a new book coming soon!

Private eye Charlie Madison saw his share of murder and mayhem during the war. But he's never seen anything like this on home soil. The culprit can't be human. A mandroid, then? Cyborg?

Madison's investigation takes him deep into the underground world of extreme fighting -- duels to the death, showcased beneath the city's biggest casino. Along the way, he discovers a new steroid quietly coming out of Little Tokyo. If rumors are true, it can turn a man into a killing machine.

Before vengeful police can find and execute the murderer, another officer is found slain. With rogue yakuza, the Russian mob, and Federal agents in the mix, Madison must put the pieces of this violent mystery together before the city loses another good cop.

Problem is, the killer may be one of his own clients.

Death Duel pre-order at Amazon

Angela Brown has a new MG book out!

Twelve-year-old Casey doesn’t think life could get any more unfair. Plans for her special basketball tournament are tossed aside by her sister’s wedding plans. She even has to be a bridesmaid now, with all the lace and silk and—oh, the horror! All she wants is an escape, but she never imagined she’d be swept away to a world of Mother Goose rhymes, fairy tales, stories of Arabian Nights, and oh, by the way, all but one fairy godmother has been kidnapped. 

Casey learns she’s been summoned as the Fable Ranger to lead the search and rescue of the missing wish-makers. But she’s not the hero they want. In the world of fairy tales, damsels aren’t meant to swoop in and save the day. 

Now all Casey wants is to go home, but the veil between worlds is on lockdown. Taking fate into her own hands, she embarks on an airship flight to find the phoenix tears that can open her way home. Her journey would’ve gone as smooth as the perfect layup if it weren’t for that pesky bounty the evil Dovetail has placed on her head. But if Casey fails, the Arabian Nights will disappear forever—and leave her trapped in a world unraveling one fairy tale at a time.

Fable Ranger at Amazon

And, Randi Lee with Stay Classy Publishing and a huge crew of wonderful authors has a new Anthology coming out soon!
The Thing That Turned Me: Anthology

I'm honored to have a story included. :)

Lastly . . . I'm not joining A to Z this year due to family requests and general craziness. 

Best wishes to all who are A to Zing and writing posts every day!

I'll be lurking but not posting most of the month, and prepping posts for the 5 Reasons to Write Series (with guests) kicking off in May. 

Have a newsletter? Have you read the latest books? Know of more releases?

News, Call for Submissions, Reading and Writing

News:
Awesome news abounds these days for writers! I keep reading/hearing about new books published, contracts, and new cover art! If I've missed/misplaced your news, please send me an e-mail (found on my about me page). I would love to share it! (Please note that I will be blogging irregularly until late August but I will do my best.)

Just in . . . but hopefully not too late: C. Lee Mckenzie has her new cover art up for Double Negative and it's fabulous!

Crystal Collier has a cool cover for Soulless:

Rachna Chhabria has a new book out:

Milo James Fowler always has new stories to read, and his cover art for Captain Quasar is out:

Elizabeth Seckman is hosting a blog challenge from July 15-31:
Write something readers want to read. No word limit, no guidelines. Your only prompt is: The year was 1865....

The Broken Branch Blog Tour stopped here last week and you can scroll down and read all about Tara Tyler!

Call for Submissions for Corvidae and Scarecrow anthologies by World Weaver Press, submission dates: July 1st - October 31st, fantasy and non-gory horror stories up to 7,500 words. The two anthologies are supposed to be "in conversation" with each other and WWP is hoping for some authors who will have stories in both. More details found via the links.

Plus, Kyra Lennon is putting together a charity cat anthology - deadline September 5th. See her site for details.

Recommended Posts/Links/Etc.

Anne R. Allen's Incredibly Informative Post on Publishing. Finally, a post that gets into Indie, Small/Medium Press and the Big 5 without purposely making strident statements and enemies to get comments. 

And today, I'm guest posting on the partnership of Reading and Writing at Misha Gericke's blog, Five Year Project. Please come by and join the conversation!!!

And for the Sunshine Award . . . I hope to have that out this Wednesday.

Have any news to share? Ready to submit some stories? Remember to come join me for a conversation about Reading and Writing!


And, if you haven't picked up your copy yet of Champion in Flight, they are always available at Smashwords and Amazon. Plus, for the rest of July, Champion in the Darkness (book 1) is half price at Smashwords.

IWSG: Many Thanks and a Fear Spiral

Many thanks to the fearless Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh and his co-hosts for IWSG!!! And for those who run the website and the facebook page, many thanks to you as well!

And many, super, huge thanks to DL and the Blitz Team! You rocked my blog yesterday, and I don't think there are enough words to express how thankful I am!!!!

THANK YOU!!!!

 

However I still have a fear this month: I'm a terrible marketer. My friends and family must be tired of the tweets, facebook posts, blog posts, and even, yes, e-mails, about my second novel, Champion in Flight.

And yet, I received a message last week from a distant friend.

"I'm so excited for you getting your first book published!"

Um, wait. She didn't know I published my first book last year? Even after I tweeted, posted, blogged, e-mailed, felt like an uber-obnoxious-salesperson?

So, I'm not a good book marketer. Some people have heard it to their eyeballs, and some haven't heard any of it.

And three days into my newest book release, the crickets are chirping.

 Seriously, crickets and frogs have a concert outside my house every night . . . and in addition to that, the books aren't selling. By not selling, I mean hold up both your hands, and then hide one behind your back. You are holding up more fingers than books that have sold.

And that's where the fear starts spiraling into a horrible attitude like this:

Maybe it's just the wrong book. Maybe even the reviews for the first one were just "nice" and not real. Maybe no one likes openly Christian fantasy. Maybe I should have written about vampires at war with zombies with a star-crossed undead lovers twist? Maybe I'm just a terrible writer. I don't know.

Ugh. Shudder. Shake it off. Focus.

I am still going to keep writing, keep marketing (obnoxious or not), and keep celebrating the awesome encouragement I have received.

And yes, I'm going to plug my book for just a moment, along with a few others that I know about:

Reborn (The Fate Challenges #1)
by Cherie ReichTo save a kingdom, a prophetess must challenge Fate.

Seventeen-year-old Phoenix Prophetess Yssa is cursed instead of blessed, and her duties at the Temple of Apenth prove it. Yet her boring temple life screeches to a halt when visions of her parents’ murders consume her. Yssa races across an ocean to stop the future. If she can’t change Fate, she’ll refuse to be the Phoenix Prophetess any longer. Fate, however, has other plans for her and the kingdom. Yssa must either accept her destiny or fight against Fate.

Now Available in Print and Ebook!
Print: Amazon /Barnes and Noble / Book Depository / Createspace

Broken Branch Falls
Gabe is an average fifteen-year-old goblin. He’s in the marching band, breezes through calculus, and gets picked on daily by the other kids at school, especially the ogres. Gabe’s closest friends are goblins like him, but Gabe is tired of being a goblin – he’d like to try other things. And he has his eye on the new ogress at school. It’s against all beastly rules, but there’s just something about her.

Coming on June 24th by Tara Tyler!

As part of a global, cross-industry promotional project for audiomachine’s upcoming public release, PHENOMENA—by celebrated composer, Paul Dinletir—we’re introducing a groundbreaking campaign to encourage the next generation of authors, artists & musicians! With each download of the upcoming FREE PHENOMENA companion ebook, audiomachine will make a donation to the LA Youth Orchestra.

Available today or tomorrow!

Put together by Samantha Redstreak Geary and featuring many bloggers we know!

Rachel Schiefelbien's Don't Fall

In this contemporary retelling of Rapunzel, seventeen-year-old Anya leads a secluded life in a house on the edge of town with her adopted mother. She doesn't go to public school, doesn't even have a best friend. But Anya doesn't seem to mind. She has her books, her photography, and her daydreams and would do anything to please her mom.

Annalisa Crawford's Our Beautiful Child

People end up in this town almost by accident. Ella is running away from her nightmares, Sally is running away from the memories of previous boyfriends and Rona is running away from university. Each of them seek sanctuary in the 18th century pub, The Boathouse; but in fact, that’s where their troubles begin.

Jack Lewis Baillot's cover reveal for A Test of Loyalty!

Upon learning he is one of the sons of the now dead king, Prince Lachlan is forced to leave the only home he has ever known. Fleeing for his life, his step-brothers a step behind, Lachlan finds safety and friendship with a young seamstress named Magda, a hermit, an Elf, and two Dwarf brothers. Determined to keep the young prince alive, Magda and the others seek out help in the surrounding Nations.




In Short Stories:
Milo James Fowler has several awesome stories out, but the latest two that I know about and have read and loved are: "Drawn from a World of Hurt" at Fiction Vortex and "Captain Quasar and the Fastest Thumbs on Zeta Colony Four" at Comets and Criminals.

And, Christine Rains has an excellent story out at Luna Station Quarterly. Check out "Ladgarda" - it's a great read.

Champion in Flight

A year after she won the battle for Septily, Clara feels trapped in Skycliff by the Allied Council. As the last pieces of information about the Healing Caves fall into place, Clara is attacked by an assassin. Covert Drinaii mercenaries and the Council aren’t going to stop Clara from her quest to heal her broken blade. As Champion of Aramatir, she must act.

 

Meanwhile, in the joint kingdoms of Rrysorria and Wylandria, the youngest and still cursed swan prince despairs of ever being whole again. In a moment of anger and desperation, Liam discovers a blood link between him and a dark sorceress.

 

Clara won the battle for Septily, but her battle isn’t over.

Smashwords
Amazon
Goodreads


What do you think is the best way to market your writing? Have you ever been blitzed? Isn't it awesome?
And . . . if you could choose a favorite way to fly, what would be your choice and why? Griffin? Dragon? Millennium Falcon? Enterprise? Cessna?

And do you have news to share? I'm planning on starting a monthly (I can't keep up otherwise) feature on my blog for blog/author news so I can showcase everyone's accomplishments. If you have news to share, please e-mail me at tyreantigger@gmail.com

And if you are a blitzer - THANK YOU!!!

Celebrate the Small Things, News, and Champion in the Darkness Blog Tour



Champion in the Darkness Blog Tour Stop with Laura Josephsen today!



We're supposed to be celebrating small things, but this has been another huge week for me.
1. My book, Champion in the Darkness, is out in ebook format! (Paperback is coming soon)

2. Awesome people helped spread the word about my book in big and small ways. Friends, family members, blog buddies, homeschool co-op friends, and even random acquaintances congratulated me throughout the day. My homeschool co-op group sent out a mass e-mail about my book. Bloggers posted and tweeted. My family took my out to dinner and gave me balloons and flowers. It was amazing, and I felt overwhelmed by all the amazing support! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

3. A local book club chose my book as their March book! Wow! I found out while standing in line at Costco.

4. I started my blog tour, and it's been fun. Today I'm at Laura Josephsen's blog discussing How a Rejection Letter Started a Novel. Come check it out!

NEWS This is what I know, there's probably more.
Cover RevealCover reveal for Sheri Fink's new book, the Little Firefly

 Christine Raines' book The Dragonslayer is out, and she's touring. Look for her around the blogsphere!


Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn is currently free! I highly recommend it!











Champion in the Darkness Tour
Today's Stop: Laura Josephson     Topic: How a Rejection Letter Started a Novel
Next week:

Sensational Haiku Wednesday: Battle

Sensational Haiku Wednesday is here again! This week's theme: Battle.

Weariness clashes

With vigorous sword strokes that
Beat down enemies

Opponents silenced

The warriors pause, swords dropped
Waiting for the horn

Robust but hollow

The bellow releases them
Until the next call


Orginally when I saw this week's theme, I thought . . .oh, easy. Ha! I thought I would include something of my story here . . .but then I read the news each day, and battle seemed a painful subject. So somehow, I ended up with those three haiku linked together . . .and I'm not sure if that really makes a haiku when there are three of them connected. It's more  of a senryu, I think.

So, anyone else have a poem or a story go a different direction than you orginally intended?
Ever have the news affect your writing?

If you would like to join Sensational Haiku Wednesday or just know more of what it's about, see Jenn at You Know That Blog


Scripture Verse that's been running through my head this week: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9