indie

25 posts

Things Unseen: A Long-Forgotten Song (Book 1)

It’s done! Things Unseen (A Long-Forgotten Song) is out! Things Unseen is the first book in my new dark, urban, Christian fantasy series. You can read an excerpt here, as well as find purchase links for ebooks and paperbacks. I’d also VERY much appreciate any reviews of Things Unseen if you have a chance! Check out the fantastic cover art! I love it! I even had the full digital painting made into posters in preparation for Awesome Con DC this weekend. I’m thrilled with the cover designer and look forward to working with him on the rest of the books in […]

Guest Post: World-Building and Authenticity

I’m hosting guest authors through most of April and May, as I am swamped with Awesome Con DC and welcoming Baby Boy Brightley into the world. This guest post was written by Ben Blake, the author of Blood and Gold (Songs of Sorrow), The Gate of Angels (Songs of Sorrow), The Risen King, and A Brand of Fire (TROY). World-Building and Authenticity There’s an old quote about building characters, which Stephen King attributes to Thomas Hardy. I don’t know myself, but it goes; “Compared to the dullest human being walking on the earth, the most brilliantly drawn character in any novel […]

Writers and Authors Beware!

If you’re considering self-publishing, you’ve probably been doing some research about how to avoid the various scams and predatory “services” and vanity presses out there fighting for your attention and money. It’s a rough world… there are a lot of people and businesses who are eager to take advantage of authors. Before you give any money to anyone for any service, please check out the following links as appropriate: Preditors and Editors Writer Beware, and here’s the page on vanity presses and scam warning signs, along with an extensive list of other places to check out any publishing house you […]

A Writing Soundtrack for A Long-Forgotten Song

This is a soundtrack / playlist that I’ve been listening to while I work on A Long Forgotten Song, my new Christian urban fantasy supernatural thriller series. Unfortunately I can’t figure out how to reorder the songs, so it’s not exactly the order I want, but oh well.

Writing a Book vs. a Writing Career

I just read this fantastic article by Kristine Kathryn Rusch on A Career vs. Publication. If you’re an author, a wanna be author, a just-for-fun writer, or have ever thought about writing, go read it. You might have noticed that the publishing world is changing pretty quickly these days. Among other upheavals, indie publishing has become not just an option, but a good option. As writing blogs, conventions, and advice proliferate, both online and in the real world, there is a lot of advice out there. Have you ever tried to parse through that advice to find what will work […]

Internet+Convention=Intervention!

So I attended (and was a vendor) at my very first convention this weekend. It was fun! Although I didn’t sell as much as I’d hoped, I think sales were pretty decent considering that I only had two books available (in one series) and that I’m a mostly-unknown author. Aside from sales though, I had a great time! Some highlights: My table was next to Rebecca of lossingfeathers.deviantart.com and papertulipstudio.tumbler.com. She had mostly cat and kitten art displayed, but she showed me her portfolio, with some fantastic pen and ink drawings. I may have to commission her for some future […]

Guest Post: Do What Works for You

This guest post is part of the 2013 Blogger Book Fair and was written by Kyra Dune. Her most recent publication is Firebrand. . Do What Works for You I’ve read a lot of articles about writing fantasy. I’ve heard it said over and over that every writer in this genre must spend copious amounts of time creating their fantasy world, its rules and laws and histories, its races and religions and magic, before ever sitting down to actually write out a story. I’m here to tell you it isn’t true. Okay, maybe in some instances it is true, if for […]

Guest Post: Magical Forensics

This guest post is part of the 2013 Blogger Book Fair and was written by Sophie Duncan. Her most recent publication is Sacrifice of An Angel.   Magical Forensics Thanks very much to C.J. for hosting me today as part of the Blogger Book Fair. C. J. asked me to write about the magical forensics my sister and I developed for our book, Sacrifice of An Angel. It is the first book in a new-adult contemporary fantasy series called The Haward Mysteries that mixes the modern British crime drama with magic, demons and all manner of dark arts. I write this series with my twin […]

Blogger Book Fair! My Schedule and Guest Posts

I’m participating in the 2013 Blogger Book Fair! I’m excited about the great group of authors and bloggers participating, and I hope everyone will have a great time.  I wrote the following guest posts for other authors and bloggers as part of the fair (links will be added as the posts go live): Beyond the Magic – for Sophie Duncan Interview with Daniel Sherrier Writing as a Man for Wendy Russo, with an extra spotlight here Writing Fight Scenes for D. H. Aire Managing Reader Expectations Through Cover Art for Sharon Bayliss Excerpt from The King’s Sword and Interview for Yolanda Renee […]

Writing Lessons from Martial Arts

Some of you know that I’m a martial artist. I’ve been training in martial arts for over 19 years as of this writing. I started in taekwondo when I was 12 and earned my first black belt in the now-defunct International Taekwondo Council (ITC). I trained for about two years in a Japanese Karate Association (JKA) Shotokan karate school before heading to college at 17, where I trained for a year in judo. When I transferred colleges, I ended up in a Chidokwan karate (basically Shotokan + escrima sticks + street-style self-defense) university club, where I trained for two years […]