Category Archives: The process

September 2015 In Review

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September came and went with little effort on my part. That is, I felt like it flew by before I was even able to make it productive. However, it wasn’t as much of a fail as August so I will take it as a win. 🙂

Without further ado, let us take a look at the raw data.

WRITING

  • Blog Posts – 6 (Exactly what I was shooting for! GO ME!)
  • Fiction Writing – Throughout September I completed the final rounds of editing on SECTOR C ~ The Hunted. The Beta Readers had their way with the manuscript and I sent it off to be published. I am excited to say it will be available in paperback and eBook at the end of October.

BOOKS

  • Reading:
    • QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life by John G. Miller
  • Finished:
    • GREY by EL James.

GOODREADS & AMAZON 

FANS / FOLLOWERS

THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO:

  • SECTOR C ~ The Hunted – Book 2 of the SECTOR C Series will be out October 31st.
  • Author Event- I will be attending the Rocket City Nerd Con in October 2015 and will have copies of all of my books available for purchase.
  • YA FICTION NEWSLETTER – The 2nd installment of my quarterly newsletter all about young adult fiction will be out sometime in November. It will include reading suggestions, reviews, author tips, etc. I hope you will sign up and join the mailing list (I WILL NOT SPAM) to check it out. I will also be doing Newsletter Subscriber Giveaways too. Sign up by clicking HERE .

I’ve linked to all of my social media sites throughout this post, so please help my numbers grow in August!! Friend, Like, Subscribe, and as always, please share my posts with your friends. Lastly, thank you to anyone who follows me and especially to those of you who have read through this entire post. I know it was long, but I think we all need a little accountability in our life. Putting everything out there, is how I hope to keep myself motivated to do all this marketing stuff everyone keeps telling me I need to do.

Author Interview: Kenneth Eade

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I am excited to have Author Kenneth Eade, known for his legal and political thrillers, as a guest on my blog today. 

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What is your name and where do you call home? My name is Kenneth Eade and I live with my wife and our little dog part-time in France and part-time in Russia.

Wow, my husband and I went to France for a week last year. It was beautiful. I can’t imagine living there. 

What is the name of your most recent book and if you had to sum it up in 20 or fewer words, what would you say?  It’s called “Killer.com,” and it’s about a group of cyber stalkers who take anonymous cyber bullying to its highest level – by contracting for a murder online.

Cyber-bullying, actually bullying of any kind is a very serious issue right now. With the growing amounts of bullying in schools and online I can imagine there was a lot of materials to draw from for your research. 

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Murder goes high tech with deadly consequences in the latest book of the #1 Legal Thriller Series

Journey to the sordid depth of the “Dark Web.”

A mob of anonymous cyber stalkers torments lawyer Brent Marks with defamatory posts on the Internet in this latest installment of the legal thriller series.  When Marks sues to enjoin their libelous publication, the stalkers hide behind the immunity of the Communications Decency Act.  Then a mysterious anonymous killer for hire arrives, and Brent finds himself on the wrong side of the law.

 

Is the above book part of a series?    Yes, it is part of the Brent Marks Legal Thriller Series.

What or who inspired you to start writing? When I see something or experience something that I feel strongly about, I become inspired to write a fictional story around the issue.  That’s how I came up with stories that delve into bank fraud, personal freedoms, police brutality, and the latest on Internet stalking.

I think that is so true for a lot of authors. Many of us see something or hear something small, and instantly it can spark an idea that leads to something huge. I love it when that happens. 

And how long have you been writing? This is my third year writing novels.  Before that, I kept busy practicing law and writing opinion pieces for the local law journals.

Do you prefer e-books, paperbacks, hard-covers or audio-books?  I prefer paperbacks to read and hard covers to collect.  But I read most books on my Kindle.

I’m the same way. I love to hold a book in my hands when I read, but more and more I find myself turning to my kindle app on my iPad. I like the idea that I can hold an entire library in my purse. 

Are you a self-published/Indie author?  I’m both self-published and one of my books, “A Patriot’s Act,” is traditionally published.

What is your opinion of novellas?  Having written one, I can venture the completely un-biased opinion that they are fun to read.

Yes, completely unbiased, lol. Well, I’ve never written one (not yet) but I would agree with you. Short and sweet, if done well they can be great between book fillers. I’m actually getting ready to start a novella as the 4th book in my Blood Angel Series. I’ve had a number of readers reach out and ask when the next book in that series is coming out, and although I had planned on being done after the third book, they want to know more about Phoebe so I’m giving her a book of her own. I’m sure you have come across similar situations in your writing. 

What is your favorite film based on a book?  “Anatomy of a Murder” with James Stewart

What is your favorite book genre at the moment?  I’m reading legal thrillers.  I never used to like them before I started writing them and now I’m reading the legal thrillers of Paul Levine.

I actually find your answer fascinating. I’m surprised to hear that you never liked to read the genre you write until you started writing it. Most new authors, I think, tend to start writing in the genre they enjoy reading the most. 

Where can your readers follow you?

Author Kenneth Eade, best known for his legal and political thrillers, practiced law for 30 years before publishing his first novel, “An Involuntary Spy.” Eade, an up and coming author in the legal thriller and courtroom drama genre, has been described by critics as “Brilliant when it comes to creating complicated, intriguing stories that end in mind-blowing surprises, who have said that his novels will remind readers of John Grisham, proving that Kenneth Eade deserves to be on the same lists with the world’s greatest thriller authors.”

Says Eade of the comparisons, “Readers compare me in style to John Grisham and, although there are some similarities, because John also likes to write about real topics and we are both lawyers, all of my novels are rooted in reality, not fantasy.”

Eade has written seven novels, which are now in the process of being translated into ten languages.

The Hunted (SECTOR C #2) – Book Tour Schedule

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 Sector C The Hunted - Front Cover

I am so excited to share my newest novel The Hunted (SECTOR C #2) with everyone. Below is my scheduled book tour events. I hope to add more dates as we get closer to the release on October 31st.

September 18th – Cover Reveal

September 21st – Book Release Announcement

September 23rd – Author Interview

October 14th – EvilCheezProductions Author Interview

October 15th – Book Announcement

October 19th – Private Author Appearance – Local Elementary School

October 23rd – Vampire.com Article

October 23rd – Author Appearance at the Rocket City Nerd Con 4:00 pm-9:00 pm

October 24th – Author Appearance at the Rocket City Nerd Con 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

October 25th – Author Appearance at the Rocket City Nerd Con 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm

October 30th – Author Interview on Legalthrillernovels.com

October 30th – Author Interview on Kennetheade.wordpress.com

October 30th – Author Interview

October 31st – RELEASE DATE

Thank you to all my readers and those to come.

 Sector C The Chosen - Front Cover  Sector C The Hunted - Front Cover

Cover Reveal – The Hunted (book 2 ~ The SECTOR C Series)

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I am so thrilled to reveal the cover for The Hunted (SECTOR C #2). Please add the novel to your “to-read” list on Goodreads today, and check back on my website, https://ninasoden.wordpress.com, for more exciting news between now and October 16th when the book is released!

Sector C - The Hunted Front Cover

In the future, most of the world is governed by a council of vampires and lycanthropes. Sector residents are offered the freedom to live as they desire provided they stay and abide by the laws handed down.

After being jolted awake by the blaring screech of the sector alarm, Zelina is dragged from her bed, gagged, and tied to a chair. Confronted with the brutal murder of one of her former classmates, she realizes that all eyes are on her as the primary suspect. Whether she was involved or not doesn’t matter.

In the eyes of most sector residents, and most Council Members, Zelina is already a pariah—feared for the powers she will certainly come to possess. For she is the first human known to have both vampire and lycanthrope blood flowing through her veins.

Zelina will find herself on a gripping adventure that will take her beyond the borders she’s known all her life in an attempt to save those she loves—and herself from becoming The Hunted.

Where I Write

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I’m a new writer, or fairly new. I published my first novel in 2012, but I still feel like I’m learning everyday. By no means do I believe I know how all this “writing stuff” is done or supposed to be done, but I do know what works for me… right now anyway. What will work for me two years from now or somewhere down the road might be completely different, who knows.

So, where do I write? EVERYWHERE I CAN!

OK, let me clarify, I write – as in type my manuscripts – only three places at my desk, sitting in bed (I’ll explain below), and at a corner table at Starbucks. BUT… that isn’t where the majority of my writing process takes place. By the time I sit down at my computer, I’ve already written the next page, chapter, story, etc. My writing process starts well before my fingers tickle the keyboard.

Where it all begins…

The shower – I take long showers. Really long showers sometimes. Maybe even too long. But I always find it fascinating that I do some of my best brainstorming in the shower. It’s the only time I have where kids don’t interrupt, the tv isn’t blaring, and I can hear my own thoughts, also known as the voices in my head. Shower-time provides a quiet oasis where I can imagine my characters, the situations they can get into, and what they would do to get out of them. I’ve even gone so far as to ‘write’ out, word for word, dialog scenes. I’ll repeat the conversations over and over in my head until I can get out and type or write them down.

Running Errands – In the car, walking, in the checkout line at the grocery store. I do a lot of notetaking while I’m out running errands. Many of my notes never amount to anything, but I still write them all down because every now and then there’s a great one that I can mold into something really fun later on. I’m the girl with her phone or iPad out typing up my book title ideas, character descriptions, conversations, etc. in my “notes” app. Yup, there’s an app for that. I even carry a notebook around in my purse, just in case I get a really good idea that I need to run with right then. That way, if inspiration strikes… I can grab the bull by the horns and run with it.

Where words meet paper…

At my desk – My favorite place to write has to be my desk. I mean, isn’t that every writer’s dream? To have a desk of their own… maybe even a whole office, with a window and a great view, some art for inspiration, and a wonderful bookshelf full of their favorite authors. I have the desk, the office, poster-size images of my book covers hanging on my walls for inspiration. I even have the window. However, my  bookshelves are full of “work” stuff – not books. But, four out of five isn’t that bad. 

When do I write at my desk? That’s a great question because I can’t always do it. If the kids are awake they tend to pull me in a thousand different directions and I get way to distracted. If it’s Monday – Friday between the hours of 7:00am and 3:00pm, I’m working… from home, but still working. Therefore, writing is put on hold. That leaves evenings, when the kids are distracted with other things, very VERY early mornings, and weekends. I actually prefer the mornings. I like waking up early, sitting down with a fresh cup of coffee, and getting into the writing zone. I try to devote 30-60 minutes every morning to my writing before I start work if possible, and one weekend morning each week. I feel the most productive in the early hours while the house is still quiet and birds are chirping outside my window. I leave the blinds closed and can imagine I’m out in a cabin, secluded and surrounded by trees. The idea of nature tends to help get my creative juices flowing.  

In Bed – My second favorite place to type is my bed. I get all comfy cozy and surround myself with pillows and cuddle up with my laptop. My favorite time to do this? Late at night, after I’ve put the kids to bed, or early Saturday morning before the kids have woken up. There is just something about being so comfortable that your body is lost halfway between sleep and consciousness. It’s like your mind can slip more easily into creative thinking… kind of like day-dreaming. I come up with some of my best action scenes while I’m writing this way, but I always have to go back and re-read them when I’m more awake, because inevitably I’m so tired that the number of spelling and miss-used words increases.

Starbucks – Just a little plug for my favorite coffee shop. The Starbucks I like has a comfy chair in the back corner where I can sit, without being bothered, and just zone out and type. The aroma of coffee surrounds me and I can just give into creativity. It’s wonderful but very rare that I actually get there to write.

So, if you’re a writer, where do you write? If you’re a reader, where do you read?

August 2015 in Review

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Well, August was an epic fail in terms of social media marketing. But, such is life.

So, back in July I made the decision to start focusing on marketing. I did awesome – back in July. August, however, was not a great success. In fact, I would say it was pretty much an epic fail.

Without further ado, let us take a look at the raw data.

WRITING

  • Blog Posts – 3 (I was shooting for 7, but I only posted 3. I guess maybe I should aim lower next time. How about 6 in September, let’s double down!)
  • Fiction Writing – In July I completed the manuscript for SECTOR C ~ The Hunted. In August, The Hunted went through the first stages of the editing process (Beta Readers) and plenty of re-writes from me.

BOOKS

  • Reading:
    • I started reading GREY by EL James. No, it is not YA, but I don’t just read YA. I have not finished it yet.
  • Finished:
    • This was a slow month for reading. I haven’t finished any books, but that is because I was more focused on edits.

GOODREADS & AMAZON STATS

Aug 2015 Stats

FANS / FOLLOWERS

THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO:

  • SECTOR C ~ The Hunted – Book 2 of the SECTOR C Series will be out late October/early November. It is currently with the editor, but I will post a blurb soon, so be watching.
  • Author Event- I will be attending the Rocket City Nerd Con in October 2015 and will have copies of all of my books available for purchase.
  • YA FICTION NEWSLETTER – The 2nd instalment of my quarterly newsletter all about young adult fiction will be out sometime in November. It will include reading suggestions, reviews, author tips, etc. I hope you will sign up and join the mailing list (I WILL NOT SPAM) to check it out. I will also be doing Newsletter Subscriber Giveaways too. Sign up by clicking HERE .

I’ve linked to all of my social media sites throughout this post, so please help my numbers grow in August!! Friend, Like, Subscribe, and as always, please share my posts with your friends. Lastly, thank you to anyone who follows me and especially to those of you who have read through this entire post. I know it was long, but I think we all need a little accountability in our life. Putting everything out there, is how I hope to keep myself motivated to do all this marketing stuff everyone keeps telling me I need to do.

The 777 Challenge

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777challenge

Jonas Lee, the awesome SciFi author of A Time to Reap, A Time to Live, and the hopefully soon to be released A Time to Die has so kindly tagged me in the 777 Challenge. The point of the challenge is to share seven lines from the seventh page of your current work-in-progress then tag seven writers to do the same. I’m sharing a portion of The Hunted, the 2nd book in my SECTOR C Series. It’s a conversation going between the Sector Leader, Councilman Remy, and the rest of the Council members.

“We are all well aware of what the child is,” Remy said.

I’m not a child! I decided not to argue, though. I was already in enough trouble—besides, it wouldn’t have done me any good.

“What she is capable of is still undetermined. We have all heard Britt’s testimony, and although I have respected her opinion in the past, in this situation I do not agree with her recommendations. I also feel that she is no longer capable of maintaining an unbiased assessment of the situation.” Serenity became restless, turned away, and leaned against the far wall. She was struggling not to argue her point again. “This is not the first murder we have covered up in Sector C and I am confident it will not be the last.”

Serenity couldn’t stop herself. “Sir, you can’t possibly—”

Writers I have selected to play:

Heather Marie Schuldt

Shelley Workinger

Shayla Lee Raquel

Jennifer Bolling-Johnson

Stephanie Nett

Anita Merando

Tammy Spruill

 

 

The Top Reasons Why BOOKS make Great Gifts…

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So many books… not enough time. Such a wonderful problem to have.

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

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July 2015 in Review

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July 2015 in Review

So, I have finally made the decision to really focus on marketing. Yes, as an indie author, I should have been doing this all along, but I didn’t feel like I had the time. However, recently I had the opportunity to talk with Shayla Lee Raquel, of Curiouser Author Network. We talked all bout why marketing is so important for indie authors and what I can do, with the little time I have available, to increase my visibility.

In order to keep myself motivated I have decided to post my monthly progress/stats here, for the world to see.

WRITING

  • Blog Posts – 6 (I’ll shoot for 7 this month. Since this is my first one in August – I better get to work.)
  • Fiction Writing – Completed the manuscript for SECTOR C ~ The Hunted, it is now officially in the editing process.

BOOKS

  • Reading:
    • I need to find a new book to read. Anyone have a good suggestion?
  • Finished:
    • 61YCasIvf9L._SX320_BO1,204,203,200_ by John Berendt
    • by James Schannep
    • Never Never 1  by Colleen Hoover

 

GOODREADS & AMAZON STATS

July Stats

FANS / FOLLOWERS

Quotes from some of my reviews:

“Loved it. Could not put it down. Finished it in 1 day. Gotta get the next book!” – Rockings03 (Amazon.com 5-star review of Awaken)

“The stakes are raised, the action is fierce, and the suspense KILLED ME. I nearly skipped several times just so I knew what happened! But of course I didn’t, because the story was so great. All the time. The romance is sweeter, and the plot twists twistier.” – Amazon Customer (Amazon.com 5-star review of Beginnings)

“The pace of this story was fast and steady throughout this story. Many twists and turns were presented that kept my curiosity piqued and when truths and secrets were revealed, I was simply shocked because I had no idea or inkling that these would occur. That in itself makes this a perfect story/ending for me.” – WisperingWillo (Amazon.com 5-star review of Revenge)

“Think of a recipe that has a dash of Hunger Games, a pinch of Mystic Falls and a splash of Divergent. Then mix it all thoroughly with Nina’s flair of the supernatural and you have a great novel” – Jonas Lee (Amazon.com 5-star review of The Chosen)

THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO:

  • SECTOR C ~ The Hunted – Book 2 of the SECTOR C Series will be out later this year. It is currently with the editor, but I will post a blurb soon, so be watching.
  • YA FICTION NEWSLETTER – I have decided to start a Monthly (maybe quarterly – we will see how it goes) newsletter all about young adult fiction. It will include reading suggestions, reviews, author tips, etc. I hope you will sign up and join the mailing list (I WILL NOT SPAM) to check it out. I will also be doing Newsletter Subscriber Giveaways too. Sign up by clicking HERE .

 

I’ve linked to all of my social media sites throughout this post, so please come help my numbers grow in August!! Friend, Like, Subscribe, and as always please share my posts with your friends. Lastly, thank you to anyone who follows me and especially to those of you who have actually read through this entire post. I know it was long, but I think we all need a little accountability in our life. Putting everything out there, is how I hope to keep myself motivated to do all this marketing stuff everyone keeps telling me I need to do.

Where is Publishing Headed?

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Ever wonder where publishing is headed in this ever-changing paperback vs. e-book world?

Publishing

I have to say, as an indie author, John B. Thompson’s article, in the Huffington Post, gave me hope. Sure, things might be getting harder for the publishing houses, but they are also leveling the playing field of book marketing for those of us indie authors. On a day-to-day basis, we are fighting through the weeds, trying to figure out how to get our names out there. We’re attempting to find new and innovative ways to get our books in front of readers.

By the time the publishing houses figure out that they also need to focus more on the online social media platforms, maybe some of us indie authors will have a small advantage. Having worked for years, build our online communities or readers and other authors, we indie authors are developing a strong network. No, I might never be the next Stephen King (Oh but I wish I was), or the next J.K. Rowling (wouldn’t that be amazing), but that doesn’t mean as an indie author I can’t still make my place in the literary world.

[The section below is provided as an excerpt from Thompson’s article. Check out the full article here, written by John B. Thompson on the Huffington Post.]

Today, the publishing business is in turmoil. For 500 years, the methods and practices of book publishing remained largely unchanged, but today the industry finds itself faced with the greatest challenges since Gutenberg.

These challenges are the outcome of two processes. On the one hand, the publishing business has been transformed beyond recognition by a set of profound social and economic changes that have been underway since the 1960s, resulting in the publishing landscape we see around us today: a handful of large corporate publishers based in New York and London and owned by large multimedia conglomerates; an array of powerful agents who have become the unavoidable gateway into publishing for writers and would-be writers; and a retail landscape dominated by a dwindling number of retail chains, mass merchandisers and Amazon.

On the other hand, the technological upheaval associated with the digital revolution is now having a major impact on the book publishing business. After a decade of numerous false dawns, e-books have now arrived and they are here to stay. In 2006, e-book sales amounted to only around 0.1 percent of the overall revenue of large US trade publishers – an accounting irrelevance. Today this figure is around 20 percent, and for some kinds of books, like romance, science fiction and thrillers, the percentage can be 60 percent or more – a huge change in five years. The digital revolution is disrupting many of the traditional practices of the publishing industry, opening up new opportunities and at the same time threatening to dislodge some of the players who have shaped the business of book publishing for half a century or more.

So where is book publishing now headed? Will the traditional print-on-paper book become a relic of a bygone age, a collector’s item to be found only in second-hand bookstores and garage sales, much like the old vinyl LP? Will publishers – and perhaps agents too – be displaced by a flourishing of self-publishing and by powerful online retailers like Amazon who can offer to publish writers’ work on royalty terms that are much more favorable than those traditionally offered by publishing houses?

[The section above is provided as an excerpt. Check out the full article here, written by John B. Thompson on the Huffington Post.]

So, if you’re an author (traditionally published or indie) I would love to know your thoughts on this topic. Leave your comments below and let’s start a conversation on the future of the publishing world.