Cover Reveal

Although I am not releasing my next novel just yet (still editing it), I have decided to share the cover.

As you might have guessed from the title, the novel is about werewolves. I will try to put the blurb up soon, or at least give some kind of summary about the novel soon.

Fivver for cover art

I'm just starting out as an author, so I can't afford much when it comes to cover design. I found a website called fivver in my search for a cheap cover and instantly joined it. I liked that I was able to search through the projects until I found one that I liked. I purchased the gig without thinking much of it. I got the cover back the same day, probably about an hour after I had placed the order. I was content with the finished product, but didn't think much about the cost. When you do a five dollar gig on fivver, you only end up getting four dollars after the gig is complete. If I could afford to, I wouldn't use fivver, but I do think it is a good tool. Before everyone starts getting angry and thinking that I am cheating the artist by using fivver, think of this, a new artist trying to start a business. I'm not saying everyone on there is a new artist, but they can use the site to help themselves build a following. They would also have covers to show later on when trying to get more work. I can see both sides of fivver, the good and the bad.

Comic books and angry women who don't understand them

Normally I wouldn't bring attention to something like this, but I am so annoyed with this video and many others on this woman's youtube channel. I wish I could just write her a quick comment getting my point across, but she has her comments disabled. I'm talking about this woman:

She clearly doesn't read comic books, but feels ok talking about them because she's seen someone else's youtube video. Oh, and she says Fable 2 is a video game in which you are forced to play as a male getting revenge for the death of a female family member. The funny thing about that is that I have that video game and I play it as a FEMALE character. In this video she talks about all comic books being so awful to woman because a lot of females die in the comics. Well a lot of males die too, and not only that both male and female characters frequently come back from the dead, most of the time stronger. Jean Grey is the perfect example of this, since she comes back as the Dark Phoenix. Gwen Stacey is back as Spider Gwen. This woman also keeps referencing the Killing Joke and Barbara Gordon being shot by the Joker. Yes, she does get shot by the Joker, and she does later become the Oracle (which many people look up to as a strong female character), but she also later gets to walk again and even takes up the mantle of Batgirl again. What about comics where female characters don't die? Does this woman even know there are comic writers who are FEMALE? This woman also claims that many of the male characters who died went down fighting and the female characters did not. Elecktra dies by fighting Bullseye. Just about every female who died in the Walking Dead died fighting, and I know a lot of bad things happened to some of the women in that book, but I believe that the Walking Dead portrays violence very accurately. These are things that actually could happen to people if they were in the same situation. There are many others who have, and yes some woman in comics were killed in very unfair ways, but there are many different genres of comic books and to just group them all into one genre is unfair. One of my dreams is to create a comic book. Sorry for the rant, but it's clear this woman was just looking for something to be angry about. If she happens to stumble upon my blog I would like to advise her to do research next time before posting an angry video.

My Dream Office

Last night I had this really amazing dream that I was at a video game and comic book store with a friend of mine. For some reason I dream about video game stores and dvd rental places a lot. Anyway, in this dream the video games were all older games and they were displayed on the most beautiful set of shelves that I had ever seen. One of my dreams as an author has always been that I could get my own office with a beautiful bookshelf, where I could display not only my books but also the books that I love to read. I also would love one of those cool ink pens with a crown on the top, and some super nice work space for my desk. I would have a dry erase board in the office. I love dry erase boards, they help me when I am working on a novel. I would also have assorted artwork. I have never really owned any artwork, or had any artwork that I was in love with displayed in any of my homes. I guess that my dragons could count as artwork that I loved, but I also want artwork done by other people. It amazes me what other people can come up with and I have always been an art lover. I would also have some things in there which display my nerdy side. I love funko pop vinyls and had started to collect them. I had four of them Stitch from Lilo and Stitch was my first and Raphael from TMNT was my second and they would go in there for sure (the other two were the TMNT van with Mikey driving and Leo from TMNT, but I gave them back to my ex so I would have to rebuy them). I would want a few disney ones as well and some comic book related pop vinyls. I would get the ones from Supernatural and the Walking Dead as well. I would also make sure the office was very colorful. I love colorful things, they fuel my creativity. I would have at least one dog bed in my office because my dogs like to go wherever I am and I am sure they would want to be in the office with me. The dog bed would probably be pink because my dogs are girls and I also really like the color pink.

Why having a back up plan is important

Writing professionally has been my dream for as long as I can remember. While I know writing is what I want to do, and what I aim to do, I also know that I may not sell a single book. I, like everyone else with a dream, need to go after that dream while also working on a back up plan. I want to be able to support myself, even if I can't do it as a writer. I will also be happy writing even if I can't support myself. I will always write, even if it's just for me. In reality, most writers don't make enough to support themselves. It takes a lot of hard work to get your books out there and get reviews and sales. I'm truly happy for the people who have gone after their dream and do make enough to support themselves and are able to write full time, but that is not the average person.

Weekend Review: Even White Trash Zombies Get The Blues by Diana Rowland

I want to start out by saying that I do not like the book covers in this series. It kind of grossed me out to see Angel sitting on the toilet right on the cover. Toward the middle of the book the main character is kidnapped and held in a room that she believes was once a bathroom, so I think that's the main reason for this cover choice. Angel had some issues in this book that I think everyone could relate to, she's having trouble at work, people are using her past against her, and she's having trouble with her boyfriend. Her past is a major issue in the book, since people don't believe what she says because of her past. She does make an effort to better herself despite what others say about her, which I think makes her a strong character. Even though the character is kidnapped, I never felt like she was in real danger because she was always such a strong character. The entire time she was being held I kept wondering when she was going to get herself out of trouble. Let's get to the part that I didn't like, her boyfriend. While I like that this isn't one of those books where all the males are in love with the female lead, I don't like the guy that is dating her. He doesn't seem suited for her, and I would like to see her with someone else, someone that she has chemistry with. She says herself that she isn't sure how much she likes Marcus, which is another point in the book that I really liked. Usually the female character falls in love with one of the male characters over the course of one book. Towards the middle/end of the book there's a lot of action. There's a part that shows that there is a bond between the new zombie and the one that created it, which is suspected to be the reason Marcus is so taken with Angel. I think that would be interesting, but I'm not sure if I would like that to be the reason he's so taken with her. Overall, this was a good book and I do plan to read the other two.




BUY THE BOOK, It's on sale

What will it be like when it happens to me?

I noticed that HP Mallory is having a book release party online today. I know she'll do well, she's an amazing author. I can't wait to pick up the book myself. I also can't help wondering what it would be like to be in her shoes. I always wonder what it's going to be like when I finally self publish my first book, but I don't think I've ever allowed myself to wonder what it would be like to be successful. I guess I never dared to dream that people would be interested in reading what I write about. I always thought other things might get in the way. I go to school and have a new relationship, so it's hard to find time to blog. I also have a full time job, which I need to keep. All of that cuts into my writing time. I'm already into the month where I had planned to release my novel, and way behind. It would have been the perfect time to unleash it into the world, but I had so many things get in the way.

Cover Art

I admit, one of the main reasons I'm drawn to a book is because of the cover art. The cover is basically the biggest "ad" you can give your book. Readers are more likely to click a link to see what your book is about if your cover art amazes them. I almost didn't read My Life As A White Trash Zombie because of the cover. I managed to overlook it, and ended up reading a fun book. I know a lot of people can't overlook the covers. They take one look at a book and think about how boring that book is going to be. They scroll to the next one as quickly as they scroll through the tender app looking for dates (sorry if I spelled that wrong, I don't use the app). I don't have a cover yet, and I'm worried that I won't have one by the time my book is ready. I'll have to put up a temporary cover until my book makes enough money for me to commission a cover. That scares me. I keep thinking to myself, How am I going to sell a book without a cover? What if my book doesn't sell a single copy? What if the internet hates it? Do I really have a career as a writer, or should I give up? I think all people have those thoughts go through their head, or similar ones depending on their professions. I honestly don't know if my writing is strong enough to sell without amazing cover art.