Today is the LAST day my YA fantasy, A Door into Evermoor, is FREE on Kindle! Come get you some portal story adventure with a magic revolver named …
Today is the LAST day a Door into Evermoor, my YA fantasy, is FREE on Kindle!
First off, I am in no way saying Rock and Roll is noise. It was on my am radio blasting me from the headboard from the time I was young enough to think Speed Racer could be my boyfriend. Even before that, I sucked my thumb as I fell asleep to Golden Earring’s Radar Love. Okay, TMI, but it illustrates my love of the genre.
But you have to admit, some voices in rock music don’t always leap out of the noise, and all you end up with is noise. That’s what it’s like trying to keep up with social media. A necessity if you’re an indie writer trying to leap out of the noise and get your books noticed. It’s been quite a journey navigating the crescendo, trying to be friendly, then weeding out the bot lurkers from the ones who are truly sharing their creative endeavors and interested in yours. But this isn’t about the challenges of marketing and sharing posts.
What I’m noodling over tonight is that there are some amazing voices that do leap out from time to time on Twitter, Instagram and yes, even the bizarre world of TikTok, really nice people who share tweets or posts because they believe in paying it forward. Creators helping creators. Some even giving free advice. My wish is to share those bits here as often as possible. When a TikTokker makes the effort to give great editing tips, or share how they made the decision to self-publish, I’m going to pass it on, because it’s fabulous stuff!
Another way I will be sharing is through featuring writers, artists, and all kinds of creatives in interviews on my blogs. I’m excited to bring you my very first one in a couple weeks. So, stay tuned for my conversation with swords and sorcery fantasy indie writer from Down Under, Douglas W. T. Smith. He has lots of experiences and tips to share from his own writing journey, and we both hope you will find it useful and inspiring.
This is a shout out to all the ones out there giving as much as they’re getting. Here is some Radar Love to fall asleep to… whether you suck your thumb or not.
Okay. Who of you besides Sara Cannon. We know she’s the queen of notebooks and planners when it comes to organizing her writing and life. Check out her YouTube channels if you haven’t already!
I’d love your comments on planning systems you like to use, if any. If not, how do you organize your work?
Before I was a writer, I was a planner nerd. Well, maybe a planner girl? Planner addict? No matter what you call it, once a person starts collecting planners, it’s hard to stop. It’s only a question of which system you like best. Unless you’re like me and like them all for all sorts of reasons. These days, though, I’ve settled with Personal Planner. I can customize everything just the way I want, and it’s fun to design it each year. I often use my book covers for the cover art, but you can use their beautiful templates too.
For cover aesthetics in my favorite ring binders, it’s Filofax, first the Malden, next the Original, and third, the Finsbury. Gorgeous but too much work, unless you’re a normal non planner person who doesn’t need to decorate, and used the Filofax inserts that come with. Hmmm. Never could do that.
Other Ring binders:
My Instagram was devoted to my crafting and planners. Then, I started writing. I created an author account on Facebook linked to Instagram. Something happened when I tried logging in using two-factor authentication. Instagram booted me from my author accounts with nary an ounce of help to get me back in.
So, I decided to return to my PlanKnitStitch and rebrand it as starlightc.writer. I hated the idea it might seem like I was abandoning my stitching and planner friends, but I just didn’t have it in me to go for a new account.
I also have a love for all travelers notebooks for when you want super customization. And went the expensive route a few times just to get a Chic Sparrow or two in my collection.
A few other custom travelers notebooks:
Erin Condren’s are beautiful, but they just haven’t stuck, though I tried out a couple:
I’m so happy to announce ‘Shadow of the Wicked’ is now available on AUDIOBOOK! I’ve been dying to share this news. I has been quite the process and I…
Shadow of the Wicked AUDIOBOOK
Great tip about Amazon Advertising for self-publishers. 🤎🤎🤎
A nice short video you may relate to if you’re wondering about self-publishing versus pitching to publishers.
🤎🤎🤎
Okay – I’m done nerding out now. And thank you if you made it this far!
I don’t know about you all, but I’m feeling it, Conquest, War, Famine, Death. We’ve seen every form of the hammer coming down on mankind these last two years. What does it mean? Are we in an apocalypse, or is one coming? Or will all of the climate change, crazy-ass world leaders, and violence and hate disappear in some miraculous way before the horsemen make an appearance? What if they’re here and we just don’t know it?
Regardless, we plod along with daily life, those of us not touched by tragedy (and those numbers in just two years are staggering). For me, this means writing. I’m grateful to have a happy place to escape to, even if my first book was set in the Sierra Nevada Mountains where over a million acres burned thirty miles away the summer I published it.
I couldn’t even breath in my own house while I clicked away on my keyboard and tried not to think of the demise of old growth forests, pioneer towns, and all the animals trapped in the inferno. I dedicated my series to those brave firefighters and citizens battling blazes too hot to control, while the insane university professor started another one right behind them. It was the least I could do.
Many of my fellow indie writers tell fantastic stories with apocalyptic scenes, horror at it’s most grim, with the reaper waiting at the end for the hapless protagonist. I love them, love the thrill of knowing death is around the corner, waiting for the end to see what it looks like, but finding out it’s too late. Then I listen to the news. Our reality these days poses quite a challenge to horror fiction writers, when reality can be truer.
I’ve been dabbling in writing horror myself recently, to stretch my writing muscles, find out if I can go to those dark places in my mind that my pod people stay clear of, ever watchful of the shrouded figure with the scythe.
Maybe the aliens who seeded my mind with them know something I don’t, because they’ve given me characters who wish for happy endings.
By D. L. Lewellyn 