Urban Fantasy...

I wanted to start off by saying that I agree with this article 100%. I write urban fantasy. For those of you who don't know what urban fantasy is, here's the definition:

Urban fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy defined by place; the fantastic narrative has an urban setting. Urban fantasy exists on one side of a spectrum, opposite high fantasy, which is set in an entirely fictitious world. Many urban fantasies are set in contemporary times and contain supernatural elements. However, the stories can take place in historical, modern, or futuristic periods, and the settings may include fictional elements. The prerequisite is that they must be primarily set in a city.

I haven't released my first novel yet, but I'm about to. I am running a little behind on editing, so I may have to move back the expected date. As a result of date being so close I have been getting asked so many questions about my novel. I usually answer by saying, "Well, it's about a female werewolf who works for the FBI and has to investigate the murder of her ex boyfriend." Yesterday a guy told me that it was the kind of thing that women would love to watch, if it were a tv show. What?? How can he put it in that category without having read it? Just because the main character is a female? I went on to tell him that it wasn't romance. There is a romantic interest, but the romance is not front and center in the book at all. His comments didn't bother me much. He said he doesn't read much and has only read one book cover to cover. The problem is that most men think like that. Most men won't pick up a novel and read it if it is told from a female point of view. I don't understand this. I have read plenty of books told from a male point of view. The one I'm reading now is told from a male point of view. I feel like this automatic categorization should stop. People are missing out on great books because of this.

I'm no Gatsby.

Yesterday I showed someone the first few paragraphs of the werewolf novel I'm about to publish, and the first chapter of a zombie story that I have no idea what to do with. He sent me back an alternative opening which changed the main character to a man who liked to get drunk, and the dead ex-boyfriend into a drunk who only wore boxers. He then said that my writing was awful because it did not compare to the Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is a classic, not many things compare to it, but it is not what I am going for. I write urban fantasy. I write about fun things like werewolves, vampires, zombies, etc. I don't write about anything too serious, but that doesn't mean my writing is bad. He also compared me to Stephanie Meyer. I have never read her work so I have no comment, but she has made a huge profit from her work so I won't take it as an insult. What the guy who insulted my writing failed to understand is that there are different genres of writing. Not everyone is going to like every genre, and I'm okay with that.

Vampires Vs. Werewolves

In the book I'm currently editing (and hope to release sometime in August or September) there is a world full of supernatural creatures. My book focuses on a female werewolf named Anyssa, who is forced to become the alpha of her pack after the rest of her family meet a gruesome end. There are a few other werewolves who appear, but they are supporting characters. The book also includes vampires, but they have a lesser role (maybe that will change in the next book). I've been thinking recently about which I prefer, werewolves vs vampires, and the answer is werewolves. There have been interesting vampire stories, but I always prefer reading or watching the werewolf ones. Most of the time the vampires in the stories are so old, but the werewolves are usually the result of a bite. They are usually learning to cope with what happened to them. My book will feature both bitten and born werewolves, as well as an old vampire.

Book Bloggers

Part of self publishing is promotion. You have to promote yourself. I haven't been doing a lot of that since my book isn't out yet and I'm not sure when it will be. I'm not sure I know how to promote a book that isn't out yet. I haven't even written the blurb for it yet. In some ways writing the blurb is harder than writing the book. I guess because I'm too close to the project. A long time ago I remember reading Rachel Vincent's blog. She said that she didn't write her own blurbs. I was surprised, I'd always thought the author wrote those. I also found out an author doesn't really have much control over their books or how they are marketed after the rights have been sold to a publishing house. Anyway, maybe now is the time to reach out to book bloggers. I know it takes them awhile to sort through their emails and requests, but maybe I should at least start looking at book blogs. I need to find the blogs that review urban fantasy books about werewolves, and other things (I have plans for non-werewolf books too). I wouldn't mind doing some interviews after my book is released, so I need to look at those sites too. If any book bloggers happen to come across this blog and are interested in reviewing my book (no release date so far), please let me know.

Not the best at expressing myself

It's not a big surprise that I'm horrible at expressing myself. I had a whole relationship where both my boyfriend and myself didn't think the other party liked us. I liked him, but I'm fairly sure he didn't like me all that much. What does this have to do with anything? Well, this translates to my blog as well. Like I've written before, I'm not very good at blogging. I keep a journal and write my personal feelings/thoughts in there, but that's different from a public blog about writing. I know how to express myself in writing, and that's pretty much the only place I know how to express myself. Actually, I know how to let my characters express themselves, I'm still not to sure about myself. While I am good at essay style writing, I'm not so good at blogging. Sometimes what I mean gets lost in what I am trying to express. Writing a blog isn't the same as writing an essay. I don't take the time to read over and rewrite if I want to. Once I press the publish button it goes public. It's live on the internet, even if no one decides to read it (which seems like the case in this blog). I think a few things were lost in translation during one of my last posts. I wrote about my thoughts about the business angle of Amanda Hocking. I don't really have thoughts on her personally, as I have never met her. I think her success story is wonderful, and I always like to see a writer doing well. The part of my post where things may have been mistranslated was when I was talking about her story being more about her fans than her. It's her fans who made her what she is. I think it's amazing that a group of people could make someone so successful. I know she's been posting a lot less lately, and that's understandable. Everyone needs a break, and there are things people need to keep to themselves. I actually wish some celebs would take a break, but anyway, it seems like her break means less sales for her. I don't know much about the business side of amazon (yet), but it looks like she's selling less. There are less reviews on her newer books. That could just be because the books are newer and people are waiting for a price drop before purchasing, or it could mean that her fans are moving on, or at least not as interested. That's pretty much what I meant to say. I'm trying to learn a little bit about the business side of self publishing before I release my own self published novel into the world. Her story is a rare success story that I enjoyed reading.

Early writing mistakes

I've always wanted to be a writer, it seemed like my calling since I wrote my first non school story in second grade. I stopped writing for awhile when I was a teenager. I wish I had kept writing, it would have only helped me improve. I picked writing up again when I was about twenty three or twenty two. I'm not sure why I picked it back up, my only guess is the stories that were in my head begging to be written wouldn't go away. It's been a rough journey for me. I have trouble finishing projects, although the one I'm working on now just needs another glance over. I was often broke when I was writing these stories, and I actually tried to sell books after just writing the first draft of whatever I was working on. That turned out as well as you can expect, and I know it wasn't good for my writing career. The only reason I rushed through the first chapter and sent it off was because I was poor, I was struggling to pay for gas to get back and forth to work. My situation improved a little when I got a job that was closer to home, and so did my outlook on writing. I decided that I didn't want to sell my book to a publishing company, I wanted to self publish. I wanted to live all the ups and downs of my journey. I know it's going to be hard, probably harder than I could ever dream, but I decided this is the path for me. I haven't sent off what I'm working on to a literary agent, at this point I don't want one. Maybe one day that will change, but for now I want to see what this is like. In fact, I hope to soon, maybe late this month or early next month. Another mistake I've made is letting other things get in the way. When I get home from work, it seems like I'm too tired to think. Maybe I should take naps and write when I wake up. I've also allowed other things to get in my way, like getting a new video game or book. Things that I shouldn't put before my writing. I know I need a break sometimes, but a break shouldn't turn into me catching all 150, or however many pokemon they have now. I've made a lot of mistakes, and I know I'm going to make more, but that's my journey to take.

About my ebook

I realize that I haven't posted much about what my ebook is actually going to be about. I guess that's because I'm nervous to share. I actually started writing a zombie story, which I plan to finish, just not now. Then I came across a werewolf story I'd started a long time ago. I reread it and noticed that it had a better storyline. Without another thought I started editing it. I'm really pleased with the way it came together, so I decided that it should be the first ebook I release. So what is it about? Well it's not that short story that I linked to the top of my blog. That story was a school project from when my writing was young and immature. I've grown since then. I might go back and edit/complete that story, but if I do that will be my first young adult fiction. Right now I'm putting the finishing touch on a ebook about a werewolf named Anyssa who works for the FBI, her life is turned upside down when her ex-boyfriend is murdered and she's assigned to find the killer. Right now that's all I can say about it, but I am going to try to aim for a release date late this month or early next month. It all depends on how soon I can get a cover.