Saturday, December 29, 2018

So why did I publish Zombie Bite before it was ready?

If I'm honest with myself, I would have to admit that I knew Zombie Bite wasn't ready for publication. I wasn't even happy with the cover (which I actually paid for). I had actually had Zombie Bite sitting on my laptop since about 2011-2012, but I hadn't recently touched it. I'm the type of writer who usually has more than one thing going on at once when I need to focus on just one thing, so I shoved Zombie Bite to work on projects that I was more passionate about. I didn't start working on Zombie Bite again until around 2015, but I barely touched it. I didn't really start looking over it again until 2016, but I wish that I had just left it alone. 2016 was a rough year for me. It started with a break up (which was actually a blessing, but I'm not going to get into that here), and moved on to me struggling on the job (going from one low paying job to another) and school fronts (I signed up all classes that I knew that I could handle and I got my student aid documents in on time, but the head of that department did not process them in time so I was dropped from the classes I actually thought that I'd really enjoy). I started working on Zombie Bite again to give myself something to look forward to, but I'm not really sure that it made me feel any better. I didn't edit (as anyone that read the book can tell), and I also rushed to get the book out. I think the main reason that I rushed the book is because I wanted to have something that I had accomplished. It was impressive to tell people that I'd written a book, only I didn't tell anyone that I had written a book. I posted about it on social media a few times and then I gave up. Another reason that I rushed the book is because of my financial situation. The relationship that I was in forced me to leave behind a good job that I actually enjoyed, and I wasn't able to find a job that I cared as deeply about (even after the breakup). I was suffering from so much stress that I couldn't even enjoy writing. I rushed to get the book out and threw it up on amazon as if it would solve all of my problems. I admit that it made me feel better for about thirty minutes, I think it would have been better if I could have published something that I was actually proud of. My next book will be something that I'm proud of, something that I'll promote and be glad to tell my friends about.

Have you ever rushed something before it was ready? If so what? How it work out for you? Leave a comment down below letting me know, and as always, thanks for reading.

Monday, December 17, 2018

Too stressed to edit?

It feels like it's been a lifetime since I sat down and wrote a blog post, but I have a good reason. I've been stressed lately. 2018 has been a rough year for me, and I'm hoping that 2019 will be better. Usually writing helps me with stress, but I haven't had any luck with that lately. I know that I don't have writer's block, in fact, I have tons of ideas for new books which I've been writing down in a notebook. I think it's more like I'm too exhausted to write. I've been trying to force myself to edit, even if it's only a few sentences a day. I also set my twitter to private temporarily. I know that I don't have anything bad, or at least really bad on my twitter, but I still want to clean it up. I have posts on there that are unnecessary, some of which are little things like asking amazon where my item that I ordered is. I just thought it was time to clean it up a little bit.

Sunday, November 4, 2018

I'm not doing Nanowrimo this year

It seems like every year I try and fail to do Nanowrimo. Last year I really wanted to, and then my work schedule got in the way. This year I know I won't be able to. I'm putting the finishing touches on Zombie Bite and The Fortune Teller's Gift instead. I'm hoping to get at least one of those books out before the end of this year.

Monday, September 3, 2018

Things people will tell you to stop you from writing

I used to be afraid to tell people that I was writing books. I would keep it to myself until I got to know people and know how they would react, but I still managed to be overheard by others or have others find me on the internet and interject their two cents. Here's a list of what I've encountered (some of it wasn't told to me, I just stumbled upon it).


From a short story that I wrote.

There are tons of other writers out there, how do you plan to make money from writing? This was actually told to me by a coworker when he overheard me and another coworker talking about writing and books overall. I told him that I would try and even have a second job if needed. Writing is my passion and I can't imagine a life where I won't at least try to make it a career.

You're too young to be a writer. I have the fortune of appearing younger than I am, so people usually guess that I'm in my early twenties. I have recently been told that I was too young to be a writer. The person who told me that even went so far as to say that they wouldn't read anything by anyone under 50. Clearly she was missing out on some good books.

You're too old to write about 20 somethings. I assume that if someone told me that I was too young to write there is someone out there being told that they are too old. There is no age limit on writing or reading.

You can't write books in that genre. I haven't been told this, but I do get a lot of people who assume that I write romance because I'm a female. I have heard people say that they won't read romance written by a man. The bottom line is that you can write whatever you want.

What have people told you to stop you from writing? 

Monday, August 20, 2018

What I've decided

I have decided that I am going to keep this blog as well as incorporate one into my website. This blog will be for everyday things that pop into my mind (that involve writing), and the one there will be for more thought out blogs. I guess you can think of it as a business vs personal blog, since the blogs there will be more polished and possibly proof-read.

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Judging a book by its genre

I've never really enjoyed reading in public, but recently I've been doing it a lot. People often ask me when I'm reading and I'll show them the cover. I usually read fiction (although I have read a few nonfiction books and would like to add more to my tbr list). Yesterday someone asked me what I was reading and when I showed them the cover they said 'Ugh, fiction,' as if there was something wrong with me reading fiction. Fiction is a major genre that a lot of people read and enjoy. I write fiction. I don't see anything wrong with reading fiction or any other type of genre, and I don't see why I should have been shamed for what I was reading. I have always thought of reading as a positive hobby, or even a hobby that I could use to connect with others. I like talking to people about books I've enjoyed, and hopefully they like talking to me about those books too. I don't know that the man intended to shame me for what I was reading, but it bothered me. 



Let me know if you have ever been shamed for reading a book and what you were reading at the time.

Thursday, July 12, 2018

Why a blog doesn't work as an author website

Throughout the course of my writing 'career', I have made a ton of mistakes. Not just spelling and grammar mistakes (I'm sure I've made a million, but this is a blog things are more casual here than they would be in a book), I've made marketing mistakes as well. One of the most important things for any author is promoting their work via a website. Without a website there is little to no online visibility. Sure, I have social media and a blog, but I've been making a huge mistake by using this blog as a website. A good author's website usually does feature a blog, but not as the main feature. I don't update my blog as often as I would like to, causing it to look neglected. I've been neglecting my social media as well, which isn't the most wise thing I could do with a book release on the horizon. During the weekend I plan to figure out what I'm going to do with this blog and insert some type of homepage. Maybe I'll move to another blogging platform (I've heard good things about wordpress, but I'm the type of person who finds something she likes and sticks with it). Whatever my plan is, I will post it here.

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

50 books in a year?

50 books may not seem like a lot of books to read in a year, but to someone like me it is. I developed a love of reading at an early age. As a child I devoured the Goosebumps books and when I grew a bit older I moved on to the Fear Street series. I fell in love with the Urban Fantasy genre in my late teens and early twenties when I purchased the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I remember how much I used to love going to the library, even when I was going with him. There's just something about leafing through the books until one speaks to me that I love. My love of reading never really faded, but it was pushed away by him. Him = the ex-boyfriend from h-e double hockey sticks. I remember laying on the sofa trying to read Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning, and putting it down not long after I had opened it. I didn't even get to read the first page. I might try to pick it up in the future, but I'm not sure. I'm funny about things that are tied to my bad memories. I had been looking forward to reading the book, I'd even placed a hold on it at the library. It had popped up on a few popular book lists, and it's even been suggested to me recently. Why didn't I read it? Well, every time I cracked it open he came in the living room to ask me a question. It was as if he suddenly couldn't function without me. He had this weird thing about me spending time by myself. My 'me time' was supposed to be when he wasn't home, but I got so behind on everything that I couldn't keep up on anything. I couldn't watch my shows because they were 'girl shows', and if I tried to go in another room he magically needed something from said room (yet he could watch shows that I hated and I had to suffer through them. I wasn't allowed to have my own interests). I can't imagine what it would have been like if I would have been attending school at the same time. To this day, my routine is effected by this. It's hard for me to pick up a book and read it cover to cover, or get interested in certain tv shows. It even affects my writing to a degree, but not as much as everything else. It's been years since we broke up, but I still find myself having trouble reading a book cover to cover. I wanted to change that, so I decided to track my progress on goodreads. I am proud to announce that I have read about 13 books so far this year. I know it's a small step, but it means the world to me to be able to sit down and read a book again. 

Saturday, June 16, 2018

Zombie deer?


As the deer inched closer, I noticed that he was missing several patches of fur. The deer’s exposed skull glistened wetly, and one of his antlers was gone. The other antler held something that resembled a flap of human skin. My body trembled as he raised his black eyes to meet mine. It was the first time I’d ever seen an infected animal.




Coming Soon!

Sunday, May 27, 2018

I promise this isn't a review. You can find my reviews on Goodreads from now on. I recently read a book that I feel the need to open up a dialog on.



A question that I see asked a lot (in writing groups) is whether or not the reader can tell if the author is male or female by reading the book. In You by Caroline Kepnes I knew the author was a female, but if you had covered up the book cover and asked me what gender the author was I would have told you that the author was a male. She did such a good job finding that character's voice that I couldn't tell the book was written by a female. It could have been because Joe isn't the typical male. He reads instead of playing video games (both are fun, he could have done either and it wouldn't have bothered me). I recently read Final Girls, and I knew without a doubt that the book had been written by a man. The name Riley is unisex and we were meant to think it was a woman writing the books, but I already knew it was a male long before. Knowing the book was written by a man using a pen name didn't make the book any less enjoyable, but I could tell it wasn't a woman writing the book. He glossed over things that women might have spent more time on, and some of his interactions between the female characters were a bit odd. He did do his best to give the characters their own personalities (the MC steals, Sam/Tina calls everyone babe). He gave them each their own voice, it just didn't sound like a female voice (or at least what I think of as female). I don't remember ever reading a book and feeling like that. 

Sunday, May 13, 2018

The future of weekend reviews

When I started this blog I thought that it would be a good idea to review books on it. I called my reviews 'Weekend Reviews' and posted them on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. I thought it was nice to have an assigned day where I did something special, kind of like when youtubers have things like 'scary Saturday' and play horror games. I didn't think about how weird it would be that I was trying to sell books while reviewing other people's books. At the same time as I was reviewing my books on here, I wasn't taking the time to post the same review on amazon, goodreads, Barnes and noble, or anywhere that would help the author sell books. It would be very random for someone to just come across my blog, and highly unlikely that they would buy a book based on my short review. To be honest, when I like a book there's not much that I say about it, so my reviews were short and there wasn't much to them (like some of my blog posts). I have decided to discontinue weekend reviews and focus on something that will benefit my blog instead. I may bring something else to my blog in the future, but I have nothing planned yet.

Monday, May 7, 2018

Barnes and Noble

I saw an article this morning that said Barnes and Noble is failing. I don't know if that's true, but I think it probably is. I know from personal experience that a lot of stores are failing now that there is so much online competition. I can still remember when Borders went out of business (at least the location near me), I had to hurry up and use my giftcards. I had always loved Borders, since they had a big selection of manga. I don't really read a lot of manga, but I was really into Death Note at the time. As much as I loved Borders, Barnes and Noble holds more memories for me. My dad used to drop me and my sister off there and we would look at almost everything in the store. When we got hungry we would eat something from the store inside. I tried my first overpriced grilled cheese there. There was something about Barnes and Noble that made me want to see my book in print on the shelves. I got away from Barnes and Noble recently, since I didn't feel they had enough content that interested me lately. The last time I went in one there were a lot of books that inspired movies and not much else. I was disappointed, and I also found the prices too high. I turned to book outlet or the local library for paperpacks, but I still like to go to Barnes and Noble or Books A Million from time to time. I would be sad to see them go.

Friday, May 4, 2018

The new and improved opening of Zombie Bite


“You look like Carrie on prom night,” I said, aiming my gun at the man’s face.
His wild eyes stood out against his blood-soaked skin as he studied me. “Carrie?” he choked out. I had heard his voice before. It was the one that had come across my radio asking for help.
“Yeah, from the old Stephen King movie. I like to watch old movies,” I explained as I sized the man up. I had to hold my breath as the rancid smell of his body odor stung my nose. His face was a mess that consisted of wrinkles and bruises. His stained Harley Davidson t-shirt clung to his skeletal frame. He managed to sneer at me, exposing a set of crooked, yellow and brown teeth.
“What’s going on?” The man growled as if he was seeing me for the first time. “Who the hell are you?”
“I came here to help you,” I answered. “Most people know to stay away from schools, so why are you here?” I asked. The infected tended to visit places that held memories for them. I'd heard people call the infected zombies, but that wasn't right. Zombies ate brains. The infected were just cannibals with no preference.  

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

My To Be Read List

Part of being a writer is being a reader, but I haven't been much of one lately. I have read very few books during the past two years, but I think I'm getting back into the swing of things. I actually have a list of books that I'm planning to check out. I know that I'm not going to read all of these, but I'm going to try.

The first is my current read, Hidden Bodies, the sequel to You. 


The next book is one I've seen in Book of the month unboxings. Actually, the next few will be books I've seen in these unboxings. Our kind of cruelty kind of reminds me of You, well the blurb did anyway.



I've been wanting to read Final Girls for a long time, and it'll probably be my next read. I love the pink and black copy with the black pages. I think it would look nice sitting on my bookshelf, but I'll probably end up getting it from the library.





The youtuber (chapterstacks) who got me interested in You also got me interested in this next pick.


I've been more interested in horror and thriller novels lately, so that would explain my interest in the next author.




Finally, my love for video games and popular movies means that I fan girl over books that involve games and movies. I want to read Ready Player One.


Saturday, April 28, 2018

Slide into my DMs, or don't: The 5 types of messages you'll get when you join a facebook writing group

A few months ago I decided to check out the writing groups on facebook. I joined the ones that were suggested to me and searched for some based on my own interests as well. I really like connecting with other people, and whenever I ask for advice people are usually nice to me. Whenever I post something, or answer something I always end up getting private messaged. Below is a list of the five types of messages you'll get upon joining a facebook writing group.


  • The guy who wants to let you know he's single. Every time I post something at least one guy shows up in my inbox, telling me that he's single. Whenever I actually go to his profile it seems like he's auditioning for the new 90 day finance show: Before the 90 days: stalking the prey.
  • The person who expects you to write an article/blog post/story for them but doesn't want to offer any type of payment. I've had at least four of these this week, one of them wanted me to write their about me section. Seriously? You can't think of anything to put in your about me section? These people usually try to make it sound like they're doing you a favor. They're not. Most of them aren't even offering you credit for your own work. They also get angry if you tell them no. I usually block them as soon as their message shows up in my inbox. 
  • Buy my stuff. Did you know I have this really cool book/program/website for sale? You can own it for 10 easy payments of 99.99. 
  • The scammer. Sometimes the scammer and the person trying to sell you their stuff go hand in hand. Sometimes the scammer tries to get you to click a link that may or may not be a virus. Sometimes the scammer has a sad story and needs money (example: their goldfish's dying wish was for them to write a book and they need your money to do it). 
  • The person who actually wants to build relationships with other creative types. This is the type of message that I actually look forward to. I love connecting with others who are in the same field with me. I actually don't mind helping them out or giving them advice, as long as they're willing to do the same.  



Friday, April 27, 2018

Try Kindle Unlimited for Free!

I haven't been able to update much because I'm editing my book to be published again, but I did want to check in. I noticed that kindle is offering unlimited for free (first month only), so I decided to share it. I haven't had much luck with kindle unlimited in the past, but I did have an ugly cover and a mess of a book. I'm planning to try kindle unlimited again, along with matchbook, where if you buy the paperback you'll get the kindle ebook free. I don't believe you should have to pay for something twice, so it makes sense for me to offer it for free.

Monday, April 23, 2018

How to gain a following online

Recently I decided to join a few facebook groups that are dedicated to writing. After browsing through the groups I noticed that one of the most asked questions was how to get people to follow you/how to build a presence online. I'm not the best at building an audience, but I do want to share what I've learned so far. On Twitter I use hashtags. There are hashtags that are used during certain days of the week to promote you and your work. The picture above shows some of the hashtags that I've found work in getting noticed (yes, that is my awful handwriting). Instagram is kind of the same. You use hashtags (like writersofinstagram) to gain a following. I have also noticed that doing something called follow for follow helps on these sites. Some authors/bloggers do blog tours, but I have never done one of those before. Updating your blog more often also draws attention to your blog, just make sure that you're writing content that you're proud of. You don't want to draw people in with something that has nothing to do with you as a writer, do you? On facebook I have joined groups and tried doing follow for follow. Building relationships while in these groups really does help to build a following. Another thing that I have learned (this one is really important) is to be yourself and let your personality shine. No one wants to follow someone that they don't like, and you can't be liked if people can't relate to you. Write about things other than writing, tweet about things you like. It's very important to sell yourself as a writer in the beginning. I hope these tips helped you, and if you have any tips that you think could help me please feel free to leave them in the comments!

Sunday, April 15, 2018

Weekend Review: [SPOILERS] You by Caroline Kepnes

 I hate admitting this, but I haven't really been reading much lately. I'd love to get back on track, but I haven't really had a book grab me in a long time. It's been years since I've picked up a book and not been able to put it down. I started looking for something to get myself back into reading. I stumbled upon a youtube channel called ChapterStacks and I saw her review for this book. I knew that I had to read it, but I didn't know how much I'd enjoy the book. I don't think I've ever read anything in second person before, but I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. The entire book is like a letter to Beck, the love interest. I admit that I don't think I liked Beck very much. She seemed to be a user, only calling or texting Joe whenever she needed or wanted something. I kept wondering why Joe liked her so much when she didn't seem to like him at all. I also kept wondering how much of what was happening was just in Joe's head. Maybe he didn't meet up with Beck at all, and maybe he never killed anyone. Maybe nothing happened and he was just a bored bookstore worker, but that would be no fun. I really don't like movies and books with that sort of ending. Anyway, I loved the book. I can't wait to read the next book in the series, but I am kind of scared. I keep hearing that the book is very different from this one.

Sunday, April 8, 2018

Zombie Bite's Blurb


Three years ago, I watched as a virus wiped out most of the population. Everyone that I cared about died, and then they came back with a hunger for flesh. I didn’t think I would survive in this ‘new world’, but then I met Eli. He taught me how to fend for myself, and we ended up forming an unbreakable bond. You can call me naive, but I thought Eli would never get bitten. Now he's infected with the same virus that killed so many people. There are whispers of a cure. I had never put much faith in the cure before, but I’d do anything to save Eli. I convince him to search for the cure with me, but we’re both aware of how dangerous our mission is. The infected may be mindless killing machines, but the few surviving people are worse. Will we be able to find the cure without losing our lives along the way?

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Sharing a poem I wrote in 2004

When I was a teenager I was convinced that my friends and I were going to start a band. I don't know why I thought that would be a cool idea, since none of us played instruments and we probably couldn't sing either. I took the idea so far that I built us a geocities website. We even had a cheesy name that we thought was cool at the time. It was clear that the band wasn't going anywhere, but that didn't stop me from writing a bunch of 'songs' for the band that were really just long poems. I've decided to share one today. The name of the poem is Alone, and it was written in 2004. I hope you enjoy.


 Sometimes silence is can be so loud,
I left you and I should be proud.
I should be a lot of things but I'm not,
soon I'll just be another person you've forgot.
You've controlled me,
you've left me unhappy.
I left you and I'm sitting in this dark lonely room,
I guess I'm in a state of gloom.
I'm alone again,
sitting in the darkness that'll never end.
Crying out your name,
...darkness and shame.
I wonder if you're still alive,
I wonder if we share the dark days and cold, lonely nights.
I sit in this dark and lonely place,
remembering all the memories I can't erase.
I just sit in this darkness alone,
You've caused all the pain I've ever known.
I left you and I'm sitting in this dark lonely room,
I guess I'm in a state of gloom.
I'm alone again,
sitting in the darkness that'll never end.
Crying out your name,
...darkness and shame.
The silence echoes in my ears,
drowning out my hopes and leaving my fears.
Sitting in this dark, cold, lonely place,
feeling warm tears trailing down my face.
I sit in this darkness alone,
You've caused all the pain I've ever known.
I left you and I'm sitting in this dark lonely room,
I guess I'm in a state of gloom.
I'm alone again,
sitting in the darkness that'll never end.
Crying out your name,
...darkness and shame.

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Why I decided to unpublish Zombie Bite, and why I'm going to publish it again

I don't know if I've written a blog about this before, but I feel it needs to be explained. In 2016 I was going through a rough time. I had just gotten out of a bad relationship. It was the type of relationship that had expired long before we said our final goodbyes to each other. During that relationship I hadn't been able to put much time into writing. I felt like I always had to be with him. I felt smothered and unloved all at once. It's a feeling that's really hard to explain unless you've been in that situation. When the relationship finally ended I felt two things: relief and a sense of worthlessness. When you spend a lot of time with someone you can grow used of having them there. I went through a period of trying to adjust to normal life without him. I started to revisit things I liked to do, and that's when I went through my old word documents. I wasn't sure when I'd started writing Zombie Bite, but there was something about it that cause me to go back to it. Maybe I was putting myself in Zoey's shoes. She'd lost a lot throughout the short story, and I felt that I had too. I also felt like I was getting too old to not have a book out there, so I rushed it. I sent it into the world with a crappy cover and little to no real editing. I actually don't think I ever edited the ending. I didn't feel the best about my work so I never promoted it.
The original cover for Zombie Bite. 
I didn't think of Zombie Bite much. A friend of mine asked me if I was planning to write a sequel from Hailey's point of view, but I wasn't sure. Around September 2017 something happened that brought my attention right back to Zombie Bite and my writing in general. An author posted something using a hurricane as a way to promote her friend's book and I reacted. Honestly, I shouldn't have reacted, but I'm a Louisiana native who had to evacuate during Katrina and it hit a nerve with me. I had put my characters through hell but found myself getting annoyed with a few words. The author decided to bring attention to my posts to the attention of her fans. They started messaging me on facebook, leaving me rude tweets on twitter, and rating my book on amazon. They even rated my nonfiction book that I'd made just so that I could have a physical copy of my repeat customer's information. I wish I could say that it didn't bother me, but it did. I've wanted to be a writer since I was in second grade. I knew other people would look at the book and not want to buy it, or my future work, because of the ratings. I had already been thinking about unpublishing Zombie Bite, so I just went through with it. I wasn't sure what I would do with it. I considered throwing it away, but decided to edit it instead. It needed something else too, a cover. I know my book will start out with negative reviews that had been left in anger, but I really hope that people can see past that and give Zombie Bite a chance. Thank you for reading the story behind the story. 

Zombie Bite's new cover. Isn't it pretty?

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Publishing Goals

Now that I'm about to publish a new book, and an old book that wasn't ready at the time of release, I've been thinking about about my goals as an author. I have always had a love of writing, which started when I was a little girl and has helped me grow into a woman. I've always kept a journal (which I don't use as much as I used to), and I've always written. Most of my books are set in Louisiana because that's where I'm from and where I currently live. In reality, I would love to sell a million copies of each of my books. I would love to go on book tours, and I would love to meet fans and sign their books. I would love for them to tell me how much they related with my characters, or how a certain passage drew them in. That's my dream, but my goal is just to get my books out there. My goal is to take a chance; to honestly promote my books. Zombie Bite wasn't ready the first time that I unleashed it on the world and I knew that. I didn't promote it, other than a few twitter posts. I was letting my dream pass me by, and I don't plan to do that again. This time I knew I have to work hard and I have to sell my books and myself as an author. I've learned a lot from Zombie Bite, and a lot from the jobs I've worked. During the past few years I've found myself placed in commission based jobs. I know a lot of people don't like to earn commission, or work at a place that can't guarantee them a paycheck at the end of the week, but it was the best thing for me. I'm not saying that because I always earned a massive paycheck. There were some weeks and months when I failed, but I did learn more about building relationships. I honestly think that sometimes that's the most important part of the selling process. People have to take me seriously as an author before they'll spend money on my books. I plan to start by building relationships within my own local area. I'm going to pass out the old business cards that I still have (see, I've done an awful job), and then order new ones that are double sided with one of my book covers on the other side. I'm going to leave copies of my book at the local coffee shop. I have big plans, but this time I'm not going to rush my work.

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Zombie Bite cast

When I originally released Zombie Bite I didn't do much to promote it. I made the mistake of not engaging the readers, so this time I decided to make a cast of characters who I think look like the characters (at least a little bit), or people that I could see filling the roles. You can check out the cast here. Also, it's perfectly fine if you picture the characters to look different, I just decided to do this for fun.

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

I have decided that I do not like wix and it does not like me.

One of the first things that came up when I googled self publishing was that we need to bring an online presence. We need to be on social media and we also need to have websites. Today I decided to try and build a website using wix and I feel like I just wasted a big part of my day. The website would crop my picture, taking my name out of almost every cover photo that I posted. I think I just have to find another layout that may work better for me, or maybe just stick with blogging and update the look of my blog.

Monday, March 12, 2018

Zombie Bite's New Cover

I remember the place I was in when I launched Zombie Bite, and it wasn't a good one. I had pushed myself to work on the book so that I could get over an ex, but to be honest I pushed out junk. It was junk with potential, but that doesn't make it any less bad. I took Zombie Bite down, and I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. I finally decided that I needed to fix it, which means editing the content. I also thought that I should get a new cover, because the old cover was very bad. Here's the new cover (I think it looks much better): 

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

I'm not a fan of Bright, here's why

I know, this blog is a little late. It seems like everybody and their dog has posted a review about Bright. I wasn't going to watch it, but then I caved and watched it after seeing someone tweet about what a great Urban Fantasy it was. I write urban fantasy, so I found myself wanting to check it out. I watched about half of the movie before deciding that it wasn't for me. The biggest problem with the movie was good 'ol show vs. tell. What is show vs. tell? Imagine you're writing a book and your character is chewing grape bubblegum. You could say: Tina was chewing grape bubblegum. That would be telling instead of showing. You could also write: Tina leaned closer to me, her breath smelled sickeningly sweet. She puckered her lips, forming a purple bubble with her gum. I watched as the bubble doubled in size. "Yuck," Tina said, as she began pealing the sticky mess from her face. Bright doesn't show, it tells you things through the characters. I could see the potential in Bright, but sadly it didn't live up to all the hype. 

Monday, January 22, 2018

Book Review: Undead and Unwed (SPOILERS)

About a month ago I made a post on reddit asking for advice on what to read. I stated that I loved the Sookie Stackhouse novels and was looking for something along those lines. Someone suggested the Queen Betsy series, which starts with Undead and Unwed.

I loved the book at first, and thought that I would like it as much as the Sookie novels. I finally had the book 'candy' I'd been wanting. A quick and easy read that left me wanting more, but then I got a few more chapters in and realized that it probably wasn't for me. I don't mind when the first man the woman meets becomes the love interest. It's happened in a lot of paranormal romance books that I've read, but what I do find annoying is that a woman is so willing to forgive offensive behavior. Betsy watches Sinclair in 'action' and still goes on to say how attractive she finds him. Why would a woman willingly forgive behavior that she's repulsed by, or that she used to be repulsed by? Suddenly her standards lower because she's a vampire? I don't get it. I remember a time when my ex repulsed me so badly that I lost all attraction to him. Suddenly, the thought of him disgusted me, and I would think it would be the same for a character in a book. Anyway, I also thought the idea that the vampires had to have sex with the humans they fed on wasn't that great. I guess the author was trying to add their own spin on vampires, but I will admit that it was a spin that I didn't like. The Betsy character (I thought that I would love her), began to get on my nerves. She never waited to see what other people were trying to explain to her, and she seemed to live in the own little bubble on her head. The best friend, Jessica, also got on my nerves. She was allowed to be a racist and say racist things, but I'm not sure why. Why did the author think this was cool? It was actually the first thing about the book that got on my nerves. I remember thinking to myself that reading about Jessica was annoying, but for some reason I decided to keep reading. I would have found her a sympathetic character if not for her racists behavior. I'm not intending to trash the author with my review, in fact, I wanted to enjoy this book. I actually wanted to love this book, but I just couldn't. If anyone knows of any books like the Sookie Stackhouse books that they would like to suggest please comment down below. 

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

The problem with paranormal romance

I know what you're thinking, how can I have a problem with paranormal romance if I write it? Well, I don't have a problem with all paranormal romance, what I have problem with is when the MC still likes the male love interest after he does something that she would normally find repulsive. Usually she gets annoyed with the male character throwing his relationships with other women in her face, but the MC accepts it because he's hot. I'm sorry, but is he the only hot guy she's ever seen? Most people won't get into a relationship with someone who repulses them, mocks them, or does other things that annoy them. That's not how romance works, or not how most romance works anyway. I hadn't read anything for awhile, but I've been reading Undead and Unwed and I have a lot of thoughts about the book, but the thing that annoys me the most is the romance. I've seen this in other series (like when Clay bit Elena in Bitten, or when Bones pretty much kidnapped Cat in Halfway to the Grave). It's not that I don't enjoy those books, I just find it odd that the heroine would fall for a guy who did something like that to her.

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Building an online presence

Recently I've been guilty of posting short blogs that end without any real conclusion, and I need to stop doing that. I need to treat my blog as if it is an extension of my writing. I've just been so busy working on the Fortune Teller's Gift lately. I've been focusing most of my energy on the book and not getting to know readers and that bothers me. I feel like I don't have the online presence that I want to. I feel almost like I don't know how to build an online presence, because I want to connect with readers and I'm mostly connecting with other writers. I know that most writers are also people who love to read, but I would love to connect with book bloggers or vloggers. I'm going to try reaching out to them myself, but I don't know how that's going to work. Honestly, I don't know much about marketing, other than it's a good idea to carry business cards. Marketing is something I plan to focus on in the coming months. Please let me know if there's anything that worked for you when building a presence.

What's in a name?

During the creation of The Fortune Teller's Gift I changed my main character's name about three times. While I had no trouble coming up with a first name for her, it was harder to come up with a last name. I thought about giving her the last name King. I thought the first name and last name went together well. Her first name is Mackenzie, but everyone in the novel (other than her father) just calls her Kenzie. I was editing the novel and decided to post about it in one of my writing groups, where someone informed me that there was someone who the same name, so I decided to change it. I googled most popular last names in Louisiana and came up with another last name that didn't really go with the first name, and then I just changed it again.