Monday, March 30, 2015

Goodreads give-away! NOW!

Hello all!  

I'm interrupting my normal blogging to tell you there be a give-away afoot!  Yes!  Starting, oh right now, you can go enter to win one of TWO count them T...WW...OOO signed print copies of The Glass Gargoyle!  (What, you thought I'd be giving away a Stephen King novel?  ;))

You can follow the lovely widget right above this post and enter!  I don't pick the winners, Goodreads does, but EVERYONE in the US, Canada, UK, or Australia can enter!



FRRRRREEEEEEEE BOOOOKKKKKK!!!!

Hurry though, the faeries don't like to be out of their pub for too long, so this give-away ENDS April 7th, 2015!

Enter and tell your friends! (but only the good ones ;)).

And for folks who want to BUY a copy, the print version is now up on Amazon right next to its cute little Kindle cousin!

http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Gargoyle-Lost-Ancients-Volume/dp/0986098108/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1427773173&sr=1-2


Wednesday, March 25, 2015

NEW Book Release and a PARTY!!

Do you all know what today is? 

It's the Facebook Book release party for my first book EVER--THE GLASS GARGOYLE!

Okay, this wasn't the first book I've ever written, not by a long shot ;).  But it's the first one to come out into the world.

I am so excited! I will warn all of you thinking about it, that self-publishing is not for wimps- but no part of writing is, so I'm not sure why I thought this would be different. ;)

Tonight there will be a party on Facebook from 4pm to 8pm Pacific/7pm to 11pm Eastern.  You can sign up to join in through my author FaceBook page-MarieAndreas-Author

https://www.facebook.com/marieandreaswriter?fref=ts

Or try the event directly:  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=887904081252187&ref=70

There will be prizes!!!

And....

The...

E-Book....

IS....

AVAILABLE!!!


http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Gargoyle-Lost-Ancients-Book-ebook/dp/B00V5JF4GA/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427255546&sr=1-1&keywords=glass+gargoyle

Not much else to say!

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Another emotional post

Ok, this is the last one- I promise!  (I probably also lie, but as I mean that statement for reals right now, is it really lying? ;))

Today, I am narrowing in on getting The Glass Gargoyle out into the world. As in, it should be out trying to take over the galaxy by this time next week (fingers, toes, and eyes crossed). And I am such a little bundle of emotional mayhem it is amazing that I can even feed myself, let alone get dressed and go to work.

First, let me say that I am in AWE of all the people who have self-published a book.  Seriously, this isn't something for wimps. The fact that all of you have done it without your heads exploding--and for those I know personally--without letting the insanity show, is amazing!  I feel like I've been walking around with a "this woman is a total spaz" sign on me for the last month.

I'll admit it, I'm not good at hiding my emotions. Pretty bad poker player and awful liar for that very reason. So, as I'm going through all of the "OMG! My book is coming OUT!"  screams of terror, along with the "OMG! My book is coming OUT!" screams of joy--they are pretty much on my face, on this blog, on Facebook, Twitter, plastered on the side of my car, etc.

Going through this process is such an insane learning curve I can't even begin to tell you (and I'm a wordy writer, so that says something right there ;)).  And I know I have made and will make plenty of mistakes. But I think I've finally come to terms with the fact that it's okay to screw up.  Our society really likes to mock those who try and fail. Mistakes are held up for public scorn on social media and shared with others.

That's just wrong. If we're always afraid of screwing up, of not being perfect, we're never going to try anything.  Things that take a lot of work and a LOT of risk (like putting out your own book, movie, video, having an art showing, etc) just won't be done. Too much work, too much risk. And that's sad.

You have to be willing to make mistakes to move forward. Accept that things aren't going to be perfect.

My first book will be out soon.

I will have made mistakes.

And I am still so freaking happy it's going to meet you all, I can't even explain it.

Thank you for joining me on this ongoing journey- and don't be afraid in whatever you do!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Guest Post- Lori L. MacLaughlin- Reason #57 Why I Chose To Self-Publish

Today I am welcoming one of my cohorts from the Insecure Writers Support Group to talk about her reason to self-publish- and show us her brand new book!

Welcome Lori L. MacLaughlin!

Reason #57 Why I Chose To Self-Publish



Okay, just kidding. There really aren't 57 reasons, but there are quite a few. This particular reason stemmed from a writers' organization meeting I attended two summers ago. At that time, I was on the fence, trying to decide between continuing my pursuit of publication along the traditional path or veering off down the less-traveled road of self-publication.

The speaker, a mystery writer I'll call Agatha, talked about her experiences leading up to the publication of her novel. She'd written the story from two points of view, with each chapter alternating between the female and male protagonists, who eventually become lovers.

Agatha was delighted when her manuscript was accepted. Her agent/editor (I forget which) loved her story, but told her she'd need to ditch the two-POV style and write it from just one person's POV. Agatha agreed to do this and rewrote the book to the new specification.

Not long afterward, things didn't work out, and she ended up going with a new agent/editor. This person also loved the story, but said Agatha should go back to her original idea with the two points of view. So Agatha rewrote the book a second time to fit this new agent/editor's recommendation.

Her book was eventually published in its original, alternating-chapter format. She has since published a second book in the mystery series, also in this format. Both have garnered mostly four and five star reviews.

Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I don't want to have to change my story to fit someone else's vision. And while I realize this may be an extreme case, it can happen. It did happen.

Everything in publishing is subjective. What one person likes, another doesn't. What if my story was accepted for traditional publication and I didn't agree with the suggested edits? Or worse, what if I hated the cover? How much say would I have in these matters? I couldn't imagine working all those years crafting my story, only to be disappointed in the results.

I thought about what I would have done if I'd been in Agatha's position. Would I have rewritten the book? Honestly, no. It wouldn't have been worth it to me. If I couldn't have kept the story true to my vision, I wouldn't have wanted it published at all.

That's why I chose self-publishing — one of the reasons, anyway.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." Robert Frost


Lady, THY NAME IS TROUBLE

Trouble is Tara Triannon’s middle name. As swords for hire, Tara and her sister Laraina thrive on the danger. But a surprise invasion throws them into chaos... and trouble on a whole new level. Pursued by the Butcher, a terrifying assassin more wolf than man, Tara and Laraina must get a prince marked for death and a young, inept sorceress to safety. There’s only one problem – eluding the Butcher has never been done. Aided by a secretive soldier of fortune, they flee the relentless hunter.

Gifted with magic and cursed by nightmares that are all too real, Tara must stop an army led by a madman and fend off an evil Being caught in a centuries-old trap who seeks to control her magic and escape through her dreams – all while keeping one step ahead of the Butcher.


Lori L. MacLaughlin traces her love of fantasy adventure to Tolkien and Terry Brooks, finding The Lord of the Rings and The Sword of Shannara particularly inspirational. She's been writing stories in her head since she was old enough to run wild through the forests on the farm on which she grew up.

She has been many things over the years – tree climber, dairy farmer, clothing salesperson, kids' shoe fitter, retail manager, medical transcriptionist, journalist, private pilot, traveler, wife and mother, Red Sox and New York Giants fan, muscle car enthusiast and NASCAR fan, and a lover of all things Scottish and Irish.

When she's not writing (or working), she can be found curled up somewhere dreaming up more story ideas, taking long walks in the countryside, or spending time with her kids. She lives with her family in northern Vermont.

Lori L. MacLaughlin

Social Media Links:


Twitter: @LLMacL 


Wednesday, March 4, 2015

IWSG- Super Freak (out)!

Welcome to another monthly installment of the Insecure Writer's Support Group!  A collection of blogging writers from across the land who gather monthly to shout our fears into the Ethernet-and hope friendly voices respond ;).

If you are interested in joining us--and finding other blogs--please visit the main site http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html

It's fitting that today is our insecure blog day as I am now hitting record levels of insecurity.  In about two weeks (give or take, because I have learned nothing happens when you expect it to) my first book will be released.

MY.FIRST.BOOK! 

To say I'm a might stressed out might be the understatement of the year. To say I am feeling very insecure and soon-to-be exposed is another major understatement.

If you're new to my blog-I'm going Indie published-aka doing all this madness on my own.  So not only do I get to be stressed and insecure about my writing, I also get to worry about the cover art, layout, fonts, formatting, editing, more editing, promo, swag, ISBN's, barcodes for ISBN's, and more!

So you take writers, a naturally insecure bunch, and add a self-employed business on top of it. (Or for those of us with full-time day jobs, a second full-time job).  And what do you have?  A super freak! (And no, please don't start singing the disco song ;))

I know this is a once in a lifetime moment, I'll have three books coming out this year, and more next, but this will be the only FIRST BOOK EVER that I have. I am trying to relish the moment. I am. Really. Did I mention that I woke up at 3 am thinking, "AMAZON KEYWORDS!!!  I don't have any keywords ready!!" 

It's interesting how the mind works, the 'oooooo- this is exciting!' part is being completely overwhelmed by the 'let me just edit one more thing' part.  I guess that would make sense in the wild, where not worrying, or freaking out, about some wild animal about to eat you as opposed to you admiring a pretty flower, could get you eaten. You would think, after all these years, that the human brain would just knock off the fight or flight response. And judging from my insecure and freaked out mindset right now, you'd be wrong.

So here I sit, being secure in my insecurity, logically knowing if something goes wrong (and plenty has already-LOL) it won't be the end of the world, but emotionally having a major freak out.

Have a great Insecure Writer's Wednesday!