WIP: Shallow Water

I wanted to share a Work In Progress (WIP) that I'm working on for a break from Soul Keeper now-and-again.

The title of the novel is Shallow Water:

Rachel Hampshire has always been on the outside looking it, never belonging in a way that gave her center stage, but all that changes when Zek comes to town. He's everything that she has always wanted to be and for once in her life fate seems to be taking notice of her existence.

Everyone's focused on Zek, and yet he only remains enamored with Rachel. Against the advice of her friends and family she moves with the nudges and suggestions of her new beau, becoming someone that has everything and ignoring the mounting costs associated with such success.

Perhaps Zek is not who he appears to be and just maybe fate had nothing to do with the new life given this lucky girl. Forces greater than she can image are at play just beyond what her eye can see... the question is - will she survive her rise to the top?

LS.

Virtual Book Tours, and Blogging, and Expo's - Oh MY!

I've realized that I don't need an external hard drive to hold all of my data, I need to figure out (quickly) how to utilize more of my brain... hello Lucy? (Odd, but interesting movie).

I've been researching the idea of virtual blog tours and I really like the idea behind them. Realizing quickly that I could hire 3 people to simply research blogs and create the tour, I've turned to a blogging site that seems respectable to help me put on a tour. I've simply sent them an inquiry, but we'll see where it goes.

For any of my author friends - have you used this and what was your experience?

Blogging is quite a time consuming thing and I find that I rarely get a response from anyone that reads it. Is that the norm as well? I guess in my own adventures I rarely respond on a blog unless posed with a question that I feel I can answer in a manner that might benefit someone, but it is odd writing on a site everyday and not actually conversing with the people reading it. I am quite dedicated to keeping this one alive and trying to remain focused on writing.

I'm far too much of an extrovert for a one-sided convo!

And onto Expo's... what can I say? They honestly seem like a fantastic place to be in order to meet the people in my local community and surrounding cities. Is it fair that I'm taking my teenager and a few of her friends to help me sell the copies of my first book? Having a large bowl of candy (chocolate) on the table doesn't seem like a bad idea either.

Anyone attended an expo and if so, how did it go??

So my head is full of information and trying to process it while starting a bookkeeping business, dreaming about a food truck (next years venture), writing songs and working full time, amongst a few other insane things, is nothing less than exhausting and yet - I'm super excited about simply having one person read my book and find themselves lost in the space known as fiction for simply a moment in time.

Hope you guys are having a fantastic day. :)

LS.

The Excitement of Choosing a Cover

From www.lastarkey.com

For those of you who have kids, you’ll get this.

I’m wrapping up my last “reading” edit on my first Soul Keeper book and moving into working with 99design to have some brilliant graphic designer create a cover for the book. The cover, to me, is one of the most important elements of the whole project. It’s the advertisement. It’s the “come and pick me up and see what I’m all about.”

As a people who are visually stimulated and warped by “judging a book by it’s cover” this part of my journey feels extremely important.

It feels almost like naming my kids. The cover I choose will define my “baby” or work of art and draw people in or turn them away quickly. I went to a class this last weekend for something related to my job and the woman teaching it named her children Freedom and Justice and where I believe in both words in conceptual form, naming your child that just seems a little excessive.

I would honestly not be able to date someone with either name, call me what you will. Can you imagine looking for him in a crowded store and yelling out his name? Everyone would think you need rescue and a scene would occur every time you lost your spouse.

I digress.

Back to the book cover. These people on 99design are just incredibly talented and I could’ve have spent my money any better. There are several covers that I honestly love and would grab me from the soft whisper of the crowded bookstore to pick them up and check them out.

The level of excitement I felt last night getting my first few submissions and thinking to myself, “this is really going to happen” was quite palatable.

Don’t get me wrong. I have no extreme dreams of grandeur and am way to entrepreneurial to be locked down to just one trade, but to have my kiddo’s put on their shelves a book their mother wrote is something that really brings me a sense of pride and accomplishment.

I’d recommend 99design to anyone who needs some assistance in any form of graphics for logos, book covers, t-shirts or business cards. They do just about anything and the price is fair and reasonable. Great business model by them – just wish I’d of thought of that myself!

Choosing the cover – like naming my kiddos – exciting, scary and such a blessing.

LS