Year in Review: 2013 Edition

This is Wind.

2013 started out with sort of a bang, but it’s overall been a fairly crap year for me, because I spent a lot more time being depressed than not, and have considered, on several occasions, ways to take my own life. Thankfully I didn’t, but as you all know from my last post, I’m still scared that I’m going to, once again, be caught up in those feelings, make an attempt, and have that attempt be successful. But there were moments of light and hope, and I’m going to share them with all of you.

1. The Roar of Love. I did not expect to be casted in this recital not only because I was an adult ballet dancer and too old for the company, but because I had not done ballet for half of the semester ever since ballet started in August (but EVERYONE can be in this recital, even the alumni who have not danced there in several years). I spent my time being depressed, missing a week because of said depression, missing another week, I think, and missing an entire month because of hospitalizations. But I was casted, and I was so happy that I cried, because one of my dreams was being en pointe and then performing in a recital en pointe. I also didn’t expect to get the roles that I did, and one of those roles was Wind, which involves a lot of bourrees and being en pointe for mostly every scene. It showed me that Mr. Ron, owner of the studio, had the confidence that I would be able to handle such a role in spite of being en pointe for half a year and missing an entire month and a half of pointe class.
2. When Stars Die. Okay, as you all know, I jumped headfirst into the querying process. It arguably makes me an amateur, but you know what? I knew the risks of going with a publisher who did not yet have a track record of publication; however, they did have authors. But I am no longer an amateur, and you can’t say that I am, not when AEC Stellar has proven to be a very smart, flexible company, with fantastic transparency. I feel like I could ask my publisher how many times he’s been to the bathroom in his life, and he’ll tell me (okay, maybe not that, but you get the point). I was thrilled to get the contract because it meant my dream was finally coming true, after 15 years of waiting for it to come to fruition. Now my dream is to be a bestseller, so that is what I’m striving for next. Of course, I know that one trilogy being published doesn’t guarantee other works will be taken on, as ALL writers are freelance, except for maybe those who self-publish, but having credentials under your belt makes the process a little bit easier.
3. Freelance Editing. It had been a while since I’d flexed my freelance muscles, but it was really nice to be able to edit a sample for someone who was impressed with what I did. That same someone also sent the sample off to a professional editor who works with the Big 5, and our comments roughly aligned, so it told me that I definitely had the skills necessary to be one. I was also able to edit two manuscripts this year for people. My first client wanted me to edit his again because he had a positive experience with me the first time, but I was, once again, struggling with depression and had to recommend someone else for him–but he was grateful. However, the experience with my last client was horrible, but I at least got my money, and I will write a blog post about that, mostly pointing to what clients looking for an editor should expect (and what you should and should not do when interacting with your editor). In conclusion, my last client was unable to handle my criticism, and I did apologize to him that he did not like my feedback.
4. Ballet Summer Intensive. I was both terrified and excited to take this intensive because I was finally starting the ‘Big Girl’ level, where you really start to begin to dance instead of just doing tiny, short exercises where you worked on mastering the technique of one or two moves. With Mrs. Renee Toole, it was fun and showed me that I had improved since taking juniors the year before–I had been taking the junior class during Roar because I had to since I had rehearsal right after, but the class still intimidated me every time I took it. With Mr. Ron, the class was tougher, and I royally screwed up on the across-the-floor exercise he gave us, but I practiced it and nailed it the next time we had to do it. I was also okay with his center work, but the intensive made me realize that I was indeed ready for the junior level.
5. Ballet Senior Class. For the longest time this semester I was terrified to take this class–the highest level–because I had no idea what to expect. But I finally decided to dive in headfirst with my junior buddies, and the class was not as bad as I thought it’d be. In fact, it was a million times easier than Mr. Viator’s junior classes, where he gives us ridiculously long exercises I have a hard time remembering. I’ve taken the senior class twice, and I am no longer scared to do so. In fact, I welcome it because I got tired of taking the Petite II class, which no longer offers anything to me any more, other than allowing me to work on technique. However, by the time you reach my level, a challenge class often improves you more than a lower class. So I will be taking it from now on and will take one senior and one junior class starting over the summer. I have no idea what the senior class will be like for Mr. Ron, as he primarily utilizes the Russian technique, something I am not used to, but I do welcome the challenge.
6. Pointe Work. I am so happy with how much I have improved with pointe work since beginning it a year and a half ago. I can now just about do everything en pointe, including Italian Fouettes. I can’t do regular fouettes just yet, which are included in the video at the end, but hopefully I can at least do a few by the end of the ballet year. Otherwise, I can do just about everything else,even though I have to work on cleaning up some of the technique, like the Italian ones. The funniest thing, however, is it has become a practical tradition for me to fall at least once when practicing a move before ballet class actually begins. And it happens every single class. But I don’t mind these falls because it means I am giving everything I’ve got, even though it’s often too much. But you at least learn your limits by doing it that way, and I am not afraid to fall. Not afraid at all. I am also not afraid of injuries, although I will be in a lot of pain if one happens. But, hey, injuries are part of any athletic endeavor.
7. The Stars Are Infinite. I am very, very pleased to have finally finished this novel after nine years of working on it. This novel has been such an arduous undertaking, the second most difficult novel I have ever worked on. And, no, When Stars Die was a relatively easy novel to write, to be honest. But I know some novels are going to be easier to write than others. However, TSAI was so difficult to work on because you want the second book in a series to outshine your first book, and I hope it will, because I REALLY considered the criticism of a 3 star reviewer who is looking forward to the sequel and has faith that it will be better. So I treated her as my number one fan in that moment when doing serious edits to TSAI. When Stars Die, even though it has only 33 reviews so far, has mostly received praise, and I think that by the time you receive the 30th review, you roughly know where your novel stands–at least I hope. I am waiting for the 70th review to do a signed giveaway of one of my paperback WSD copies. I do know books who have about 30 reviews and have low-average ratings. I consider average to be in the 3 star range, or the 3 point something range. But, yes, I REALLY hope the sequel outshines the first because a lot of new authors like me have a hard time trying to do that.
8. All Shattered Ones. This book, by far, is the most difficult to write because it stems from something very personal and deep inside of me, that being of depression and suicidal ideation. The basic premise is that a young boy struggling with chronic depression takes his own life, being urged by a haunting voice to do so. After taking his life, he wakes up in another world called Silvaria, a place for people who have lived painful lives, and need another chance in a place that is meant to be a paradise for them. In Silvaria, there are beings called Lightveils who help these people overcome their tragedies. They then help these people become Lightveils themselves so they can continue the cycle of helping those just like them. However, the voice still haunts Gene, and despite being in a promising place of paradise, the voice drives Gene to self-harm, worsens his depression, and makes him wish for a death that is impossible in a world where death does not exist. It originally started out as When Heaven Was Blue, the character having the same name. But Gene was saved from a suicide attempt by a puppeteer who took him to a place called Stolentime that would allow Gene to heal from his mental illness. He was stalked by the same haunting voice, but I didn’t like the set-up, even though I was slightly satisfied with the direction of the story. However, I do draw from bits and pieces of WHWB to form ASO, so ASO is the third draft.
9. Completing My Last Year as a Junior. I had to miss an entire year of school because of bipolar disorder so I could focus on getting better. Well, when I registered for the fall, I was feeling great; however, when the semester began, I was back to being depressed, so it was a very, very difficult struggle to get through the semester, and I had so many doubts that I would survive it because there were times where I felt like I needed to be hospitalized again. In fact, my therapist told me that if I continued to worsen, I would have to be so that I could be kept safe from myself. But that didn’t happen. I struggled through mid-terms, having several panic attacks and crying spells when studying for these, and flying through finals, when I finally found stability by the end of the semester. Now I am a senior in college, which I should have been a year ago, but I will hopefully graduate one of these days. So I survived despite the intense depression.

Well, this has been my year in review with my most memorable moments in spite of the dark times I dealt with. What are some of your most memorable moments from this year?

Merry Christmas, and let’s all make 2014 our best!

Finishing the Sequel to When Stars Die: The Stars Are Infinite

This is not the real cover art. Photo provided by Tumblr.

I have finally finished–for now–the sequel to When Stars Die, The Stars Are Infinite. Finishing When Stars Die and having my book published by a press was an awesome reward for hard work, but finishing The Stars Are Infinite is an even greater reward. Do you know how long I have been working on this book? I have been working on it since I was 14, and I haven’t exactly shelved it since that age. There was a time where I shelved it for almost two years, but that was so I could whip When Stars Die into shape, knowing that it needed to be the first book in The Stars Trilogy. But The Stars Are Infinite was so much harder to work on than When Stars Die, simply because you look at the first book and wonder how you can beat it. I know many, many authors, including bestsellers, struggle with trying to make the sequel better than the previous book, and I hope I have managed that–after some hardcore edits of course, which I am expecting for this book, as it is about 20,000 words longer than When Stars Die and was so much harder to write. 

I know Shannon Thompson mentioned that she had a low when finishing Seconds Before Sunrise (though she is still in edits), but I have no such lows for TSAI. I am glad to be done with it, glad to be FULLY done with it. This book was a monstrous 700 page novel when it first began; as I’ve said, I was fourteen and didn’t know at the time what the appropriate word count should be for a first YA novel. It’s still going to be a longer book, as is expected of sequels, but I’m still hoping that at least a few thousand words can be parced from it, as I managed to parce about 3,000 words from WSD through edits.

I am primarily glad to be done with this book because for years I couldn’t peg down the ending. Oh certainly with the first draft I had the ending done, but I never really tore the book apart. I just kept picking at what was there instead of trying to figure out what wasn’t there, which was an entire re-vampling of the overall story. But writing When Stars Die first and having it published by AEC Stellar Publishing, Inc. has given me a lot of inspiration for The Stars Are Infinite, especially the few three star reviews the book has thus far. It is especially the three star reviews that have pushed me to make the sequel way better than the first book. Now I know reviews are meant for readers, but as writers, I think we can flourish from the three star ones. 4 and 5 star ones boost the ego, and 2 and 1 star ones often aren’t that helpful in helping one grow as a writer, but 3 star reviews are not inherently bad at all. In fact, several of my 3 star reviews have said they are looking forward to this sequel, and I’m hoping I do not disappoint. After all, my beta reader, Mariah Wilson, was absolutely blown away by the sequel, so hopefully everyone else will be as well.

So what can you expect from this sequel? I know one reviewer wanted to know a lot more about Amelia–AKA Dervla, now–but with the way she changes at the end of WSD, I figured her perspective was not necessary, because if I were to put it in her perspective, the entire book would be her pining after her little brother, and that isn’t a plot at all. Instead, I’ve relegated her to a minor character, but she is still very much present–pining after her little brother, of course, which is a sub-plot of the book.

At the end of WSD, if you pay attention, I do hint at who the next protagonist is going to be. Her name is Alice Sheraton, and you will begin to understand why it’s in her perspective within, about, the first five or six chapters of the book. So here’s a summary of the book (totally not edited or approved):

Alice Sheraton wishes she could free herself from her corset and instead put it on somebody else. But this corset soon becomes haunted and binds her in ways she didn’t think was possible. Eventually she has to go on a dark adventure to remove this corset, which ticks her life away day-by-day. Eventually she comes across a boy named Nathaniel Gareth, who suggests she remove her bloomers to loosen this corset. When this doesn’t work, she is stuck between a rock and a hard place. As her life dwindles by the days, she either has to accept her fate, or find someone to undo the curse. 

JUST KIDDING! This is not the summary at all. In fact, I don’t even know where to begin summarizing The Stars Are Infinite. In the meantime, I’m going to get back to work on When Heaven Was Blue, which I have several great ideas on how to fix it, along with professional edits and my fabulous beta reader’s suggestions. So you’ll just have to wait until later to find out what TSAI is about.

When Stars Die Launch Review and October/November/December Tour

So the exposure for When Stars Die has been absolutely insane, proving that I have had a successful launch. I don’t know what my ranking is on Amazon right now, but that is something no author should concern him/herself with. I did everything I could for exposure, and so did AEC, and that’s that. All I can do is keep writing from here, and that’s it. Plus, I am almost done with the sequel to When Stars Die, The Stars Are Infinite. So here is the launch day in review.

See how many people the press release alone has reached? And the last time my publisher told me about the reach stats, it had reached up to over 13,000. That’s tons of exposure right there, and that’s not even including the fact that a few people put the press release on their blogs. Now exposure doesn’t translate to sales, but I am primarily seeking exposure right now, especially because I do expect the e-book launch to be very successful.

Then there was the launch party I won from Lady Amber. Here is a FB pic from that:

If you can see it, 182 people came. That doesn’t sound like a lot, considering over 1,000 people were invited, but this launch party was hugely successful because I was busy the entire three hours. There were hardly any lulls where I wasn’t interacting with all the people that came. So I made a lot of fans and received a lot of Goodread adds and Amazon Wishlist adds. One of the stipulations to winning a print book was to share a press release I created of my book and AEC Stellar’s anthology. A lot of people shared this. I do recommend Lady Amber for launch parties, but in the future, I MIGHT be doing the launch parties myself, along with the PR people from AEC Stellar Publishing, Inc.

The next thing that happened was a book blitz from Juniper Grove Book Solutions. I HIGHLY recommend them, as I received a lot of amazing exposure from them. There were over 1,000 entries for the e-ARC of When Stars Die. Over 1,000. Imagine if I gave away a Kindle or something. I will be using them for the book blitz for the e-book, as well as Lady Amber, and perhaps another tour site. So here is the banner from that.

I also have another book blitz going on by YA Bound. I will post a review that mainly reviews the overall exposure I received from it, as I use these blitzes primarily for that.

I also have a super awesome pic a customer took of my book when she bought it from my publisher’s wife’s boutique, Fluente Designs. She also updated me to tell me that she loves the book so far.

And another super cool that that happened that gave me a lot of exposure was that I appeared on YA Interrobang as one of the book’s launching this past week—along with freaking Veronica Roth’s book, Allegiant. Here is a pic of that, courtesy of Tumblr.

My Facebook page also went from 540 something to 967, and my Twitter page went from 1100 something to 1,360. My Goodreads adds, too, went from 150 to 358 (I think. That’s just an estimate. Goodreads is slow to update), and over 280 people have entered for a signed, print book of When Stars Die, and it hasn’t even been a month yet, which is how long I’m keeping the giveaway open. AEC Stellar Publishing, Inc. also has some surprises planned within the coming months, but I have to keep those hush-hush.

AEC Stellar Publishing, Inc. also released an anthology called 2013: A Stellar Collection. While it can be downloaded for free on Smashdowords. I HIGHLY recommend you buy it, as all proceeds go toward marketing, which essentially means the money is flowing toward us.

My short story included in this is titled ‘I Am the Bell Jar.’ It is about two mentally ill teens trying to make a disastrous relationship work, only for it to end up in tragedy.

Another thing AEC Stellar Publishing, Inc. has released a short story by author, Ryan Attard, whose book, Firstborn, will be released in December. I highly recommend it. The voice is very strong, as is the story, and will make you excited about his upcoming book.

So here is my book tour schedule. Some of them have happened already, but I’m going to list them anyway, simply because I haven’t shown them yet due to the sheer volume of interviews and guest posts I’ve been doing. I’m also supposed to receive more interviews and have ANOTHER one to do. There are also some interviews I’ve done that I have not received responses for yet, but I’m going to keep bothering those people until I have a response.

Jacinda Buchmann TBA

The Hive Book Reviews NOW

Booker Like a Hooker-Guest Post on When Stars Die and AEC Stellar TBA

Cover Contest  Nov. 2

Greg Lamb Interview TBA

Pau’s Moving Castle Nov. 3

Jessica Haight Nov. 17th

Young Adult Book Addict Dec. 14th

Sorin Suciu Nov. 15th

Laurie’s Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews Signed, print giveaway Nov. 12th

The Book Pound Nov. 1st

We Do Write Nov. 4th

4cover2overt NOW

The Corner Club Press Paranormal Issue– Nov. 20th

Whimsically Yours Nov. 2nd

Falling for YA NOW

Bookaholic-ness  Guest Post on The Inception of When Stars Die NOW

Read Your Writes NOW

The Bookshelf Sophisticate Guest Blog Post on The Stars Are Infinite NOW (Scroll Down)

The Flores Factor Nov. 1st

YA Unscene Delete Scene from When Stars Die  NOW

Mich Bookshelf  NOW

Beauty and the Bookshelf NOW

Moonlight Gleams Bookshelf Guest Post on Inspiration for When Stars Die TBA

Carol Ann Kauffman NOW

Cocktails and Books Oct. 30th

Book Bliss  Nov. 2nd

I am going to get on a blogging schedule from now on that will include updates on AEC Stellar Publishing, Inc., my book, any thoughts on publishing and writing, and personal posts from me.

Tomorrow’s post will be about how, even during my launch week, depression has been trying to drag me down and what it has been doing to my thoughts regarding my book–among everything else.

Last, here are links to giveaways you can enter to win some AEC Stellar e-ARCs.

https://www.facebook.com/oneclickchick?sk=app_228910107186452&app_data

http://onemorechapterreviews1.blogspot.ca/p/book-auction.html

https://www.facebook.com/hookedonbooks05?sk=app_228910107186452&app_data

https://www.facebook.com/brandylrivers?sk=app_228910107186452&app_data

https://www.facebook.com/GrabowskiKy?sk=app_228910107186452&app_data

When Stars Die Release and Cover Art Contest!

Welcome all my Stars! Today is the official release day of When Stars Die, and I hope you all will consider buying a print version of it. It’s a very beautiful book, gorgeous and everything. The cover is matte, so it has an extremely nice feel to it. Click on Amazon or Barnes and Noble to order it or at least add it to your Wish List. For those who want the e-book version, you will have to wait for some time in December. I will keep you all updated on that. I plan to have some book blitzes, a blog tour, and a hopeful promo release party either created by me, or created by a hosting PR. Because of this, I would love it if you added me as a friend on Facebook.

A decent amount of people have added it on Goodreads, so I encourage you to add it there, too, as I will have a print giveaway going on for one copy. Signed too!

***SYNOPSIS***

Amelia Gareth’s brother is a witch and the only way to save her family from the taint in his blood is to become a professed nun at Cathedral Reims in the snowy city of Malva. However, in order to become professed, she must endure trials that all nuns must face.

Surviving these trials is not easy, especially for Amelia, who is being stalked by shadowy beings only she can see. They’re searching for people they can physically touch, because only those they can touch can see them. Amelia soon learns why she is being stalked when she accidentally harms her best friend with fire during the third trial. Fire is a witch’s signature. The shadows are after witches.

Now Amelia must decide what to do: should she continue on her path to profession knowing there is no redemption, or should she give up on her dream and turn away from Cathedral Reims in order to stop the shadows who plan to destroy everything she loves?

Also, here are all my current media links of interviews, guest posts, and a few reviews:

AEC Stellar Publishing Press Release

AEC Stellar Publishing Author Page

Charles Yallowitz

Spot Light: Amber Skye Forbes–The Dancing Writer

Author Interview: Amber Skye Forbes

When Stars Die and the Motif of Stars: Guest Post

The Book Town: Interview of Amber Skye Forbes

Reading…Dreaming: Author Interview (When Stars Die)

Charlotte’s Tangled Web of Books: Author Interview

Unputdownable Books: Guest Post

AEC Stellar Publishing Press Release

Above the Sea Fog: Amber Skye Forbes

Guest Blog Author Spotlight

Spotlight: An Author Interview With Amber Skye Forbes

Guest Blog Book Spotlight

ZB’s Blog of Awesomeness: Special Guest Amber Forbes

Sharing Mondays 

Author Spotlight, Amber Forbes

When Stars Die Spotlight

When Stars Die and Its Concept of Witches

When Stars Die (Books-New Release)

Review of When Stars Die

Once Upon a YA Book–Book Review of When Stars Die

Young Adult Book Madness–Book Review of When Stars Die

I WILL BE HAVING A SORT OF BLOG TOUR IN NOVEMBER, SO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THAT!

***IN OTHER WORDS, LET THE COVER ART CONTEST BEGIN!***

 Some of the covers are smaller than others, and I didn’t do this on purpose to say that these covers are lesser than others. In fact, the covers I did make smaller are covers I thought would still be able to jump out and catch your attention, despite their size. But here are the authors you will be voting for:

Waterborn by Kimberly James

Like Falling (Surfacing Book One) by Jaden Wilkes

The Prodigy of Rainbow Tower by Charles Yallowitz (Cover Designer: Jason Pederson)

Ashes and Ice by Rochelle Maya Callen

Awakening (The Watchers Trilogy) by Karice Bolton

Cole by J.B. Hartnett

The Scriptlings by Sorin Suciu

Illicit Magic by Camilla Chafer

Blood Slave by Travis Luedke

The Earth Bleeds Red by Jackson Paul Baer

Kinetic (The Luminaries) by S.K. Anthony

Now Vote For Your Favorite One

The contest will end in two weeks, on November 5th!

Cover Reveal–2013: A Stellar Collection

Here is this thing that I have been talking about, this thing that has been AEC Stellar’s Anthology, and here is it’s gorgeous cover! Mine is “I Am the Bell Jar,” a story about two mentally ill teens trying to make an unstable relationship work that ultimately ends in tragedy.

It will appear October of 2013, probably before the publication of When Stars Die, so “I Am the Bell Jar” will give you a taste of my writing. I also helped to edit two of the short stories that are appearing. And guess what? The e-book version will be free, so that’s even more of a reason why you should pick up a copy! There will also be a print version as well that you will have to pay for.

So I seriously hope you guys will download a copy because I really want to share my short story with all of you. It’s my first time writing anything literary and will give you a glimpse of where I’d like to take my writing once all my genre stuff is done. This doesn’t mean I’m going to quit genre forever. This just means that I’d like to start writing literary stuff, mostly sick lit stuff about mentally ill teens.

I hope you guys will share this cover on your blogs!

My Acceptance as Sand Hill Magazine’s Webmaster

About two weeks ago my university’s literary magazine put out a call for a new staff, and because my best friend had done it, I decided to apply for it on a whim–I am very much about doing things on a whim. Before, I never would have imagined joining Sand Hills because the previous advisor of the magazine only allowed creative writing majors, which I thought was stupid because it barred non-creative writing majors who wanted experience with a literary magazine from ever getting that experience. Not all of us who want to work in publishing or do some kind of publishing want to be creative writing majors.

In any case, I wanted to be a fiction editor because I love to edit, obviously, but I was awarded with the title of Webmaster instead. At first, I was incredibly confused because I probably have more editorial experience than the average creative writing major–or average student wanting to get involved in publishing in some way. Also, being a webmaster was my last choice. I’m simply assuming, really, that I have more experience than the average person who applied because I’ve had my own literary magazine for about three years. But I was also probably the only one who had some experience–or extensive experience–in creating websites and making them unique through some sort of logo, even if I’ve only ever done templates.

I get to create a new website though, which is exciting, and I don’t have to create one from scratch. I can just choose some template and go from there. I know I’m going to use Weebly because it has some great templates, and I already have one I’d like to use for the Sand Hill’s literary magazine. Even though I am a Webmaster, I still get to help with deciding which fiction pieces should be chosen, which is exciting in itself. I also still have to put together issue ten of The Corner Club Press. For that, I really just need to add in the bios and contents, go through and check for formatting errors, and send it off to Mariah to check for other errors, and it’ll be done. Then there is a paranormal issue that I want to put together in honor of When Stars Die. 

In other news…

This Thursday I am doing a cover reveal of AEC Stellar’s anthology that is coming out next month, featuring a short story done by me called “I Am the Bell Jar.” There will be other exciting stories two, two of which I had a part in editing. It involves two mentally ill teens and what happens to a relationship when both of them are unstable.

Also, don’t forget about the Rafflectoper giving away volumes 1-4 of Game of Thrones.

The cover art contest is still going on and will be ending on the 25th of this month. So hurry up and vote for your favorite cover art. You will be supporting that author.

And mark your calendars for October 22nd, because that is when When Stars Die will be coming out–first in paperback, which I hope you will buy because the entire cover wrap is gorgeous; next in e-book.

When Stars Die Cover Reveal

After a million years of waiting, here is the official cover for When Stars Die!

Title: When Stars Die

Author: Amber Skye Forbes

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Release: October by AEC Stellar Publishing

Book Design: Viola Estrella of Estrella Cover Art

Synopsis:  Amelia Gareth’s brother is a witch and the only way to save her family from the taint in his blood is to become a professed nun at Cathedral Reims in the snowy city of Malva. However, in order to become professed, she must endure trials that all nuns must face.

Surviving these trials is not easy, especially for Amelia, who is being stalked by shadowy beings only she can see. They’re searching for people they can physically touch, because only those they can touch can see them. Amelia soon learns why she is being stalked when she accidentally harms her best friend with fire during the third trial. Fire is a witch’s signature. The shadows are after witches.

Now Amelia must decide what to do: should she continue on her path to profession knowing there is no redemption, or should she give up on her dream and turn away from Cathedral Reims in order to stop the shadows who plan to destroy everything she loves?

Where Amber Can be Found:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmberSkyeForbes?ref=br_tf

Website: http://amberskyeforbes.com

WordPress Blog: https://amberskyeforbes.wordpress.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmberSkyeF

Tumblr: http://thedancingwriter.tumblr.com/

Help With Cover Reveal for When Stars Die

Yesterday I received the mock covers for When Stars Die (they’re gorgeous!), so it’s getting fairly close to being done. I don’t have a formal date for the cover reveal. I’m pretty much going to do it once I get the okay or whatever, but I would love some help with doing it. Basically, should you decide to help me, I’ll e-mail you with a small media packet with like the synopsis and all that (and hopefully a release date with it), and you can post it on your blog or whatever social media site is most convenient for you, or whatever has the most followers. Twitter probably isn’t the best site to use in this case, but things like Tumblr, Facebook, ect…

In exchange for helping me with this, I’ll enter you in an Amazon gift card giveaway I’ll do, that way you can buy whatever books you want–or whatever you want, really.

All you need t9 do is comment below that you’d like to help, along with your e-mail address. Or you can e-mail me at thedancingwriter@gmail.com that you’d like to help if you don’t feel comfortable leaving your address in the comments below.

Thank you so much everyone!

My Writing Sin: Parents

A thread on AbsoluteWrite’s Young Adult forum actually inspired me to write this topic.

We’ve all got writing sins, something we either do a lot because we don’t like it or don’t know how to write around it–or it just might be a common trope. In the case for me,  I just don’t like writing parents, and I realize absent parents are a trope. At the same time, my characters aren’t without adult figures, but these adults figures also don’t try to act as replacement parents.

In fantasy and paranormal books, parents can do a lot to slow down the protagonist, especially if said protagonist has powers the parents don’t have, or the protagonist is required to go on some dangerous journey the parents won’t approve of. So I try to axe the parent element altogether, mostly because I don’t want to write about them. I can read them in other books just fine, but having to write them myself–no. But I don’t fall into the trap of making my protagonist an orphan either, because that really is a tired and cheap way of getting rid of parents.

• When Stars Die (AEC Stellar Publishing): In this novel, I have Amelia and her brother run away from home because her little brother is a witch and Amelia is terrified that the sins her parents committed to birth a witch are going to eventually unearth themselves and destroy their family. So Amelia takes her brother to a place she has learned and read about (Cathedral Reims), and hopes that by becoming a nun, she can cleanse her familial blood of this taint. So her parents are very much alive; they just have no idea where their children are at.

But Amelia does have parental figures–mostly the nuns at the cathedral, especially Mother Aurelia. At the same time, these nuns are also authority figures and teachers, and they are just plain busy, so they don’t hover around the girls like parents often would, and they don’t demand conversation or constant insight into the thoughts of their pupils. They are there when they can be, but they don’t force themselves into the individual lives of the girls. This allows these girls room to strengthen their friendships with one another so that they learn how to help and get long with one another, as they do spend enough time around each other.

Amelia probably wouldn’t be the independent person she is with her parents around–and her brother would remain naïve of the world instead of learning at an early age that the world isn’t always a kind place.

• When Stars Rise (WIP): Alice Sheraton is the new protagonist of this book, and while her parents are present in the beginning, I quickly axe them by sending Alice off to a safe house for witches where parents obviously cannot be present (since her parents aren’t witches anyway). By now Alice’s world has a system in place for dealing with witches–often through executions–but her parents love her enough to want to prevent that, so they did whatever they could to protect Alice and found her a safe house hidden in a forest several miles from Malva, where Cathedral Reims is.

Of course, she, too, isn’t without adult figures. Pastor Brandon is the constant adult figure in her life at the safe house, but he is more of an ally than a parent, offering advice without the expectation that Alice will follow any of it.

• Stolentime (WIP): Gene’s mom is in the first chapter, but his parents are quickly gone after that when I shove him through a bought of psychosis that causes him to run away from home into unfamiliar territory his parents likely won’t find him. Claude, a puppeteer, saves Gene from himself and acts very much like a parent, but he doesn’t demand constant insight into the goings on of Gene’s mind. He only interferes if he feels like Gene is harming himself or is about to be harmed. Otherwise, Gene is a free agent, able to develop as a character on his own terms.

So, if you’re a writer, what are your writing sins? As a reader, what writing sins have you noticed in other books?

 

Stay tuned for Sunday’s post, where I do a cover reveal of an awesome book from an even more awesome author.

Some Reasons Amazing Authors Choose to Self-Publish

I was at a writer’s group meeting Thursday about the e-zine we wanted to start. Before the founder of the group even came, we were discussing self-publishing. Many in the group are strongly against it, and I did my best to defend it, telling them the one story about a friend of mine who sent out over 400 queries. She received rejections for every one, and most of them were the same: “Love it, but not a fit for us”– basically meaning they don’t know how to market it. So she went and self-published and didn’t regret the choice and seems ridiculously happy she made the decision because now people are reading her books and she’s making money doing what she loves and has a fanbase and doesn’t have to split her profits but with the distributors–and she just seems to be doing pretty darn well running her own creative business.

They did admit there were good self-published books, but they were of the opinion that those books should have gone the traditional route.

Ahem.

Need I point to the above story? There are many reasons an amazing author may choose to self-publish. Let me list some.

1. They tried to publish traditionally but basically were told that there would be confusion on how to market said book.
2. They like control, don’t want to share profits, and are business-minded enough to know how to sell well on their own.
3. They don’t want to wait ten thousand years to see their books in print. I get it. They stand less of a chance at being able to make a full-time job out of it, but let’s not judge those writers who just make writing a part-time job and are satisfied with that choice.
4. Some have already gone the traditional route but weren’t happy with the entire process of going from draft to print. And it happens, and so they choose to take it upon themselves to self-publish because they already have this established fanbase and have experience just from having been traditionally published the first time.
5. Some people don’t want to risk the meager advances they may get, coupled with the pitifully low royalties.

I just don’t think we should pick at people’s choices for wanting to self-publish, even if it is a book you think would have been traditionally published. I know if I were self-publishing and making bank, the only way I’d let a publisher buy me out is if they gave me a 6 figure advance. As it were, self-publishing WELL is costly, so I’m very happy with my decision to be with a small press.