Insecure Writer's Support Group: Failing in Epic Proportions

Insecure Writer's Support Group is a blog hop hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh where totally insecure writers can get together and share the things that are making us go argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

          My debut novel POISON is a young adult dystopian. It involves quite a lot of action of epic proportions and took me a number of years to write and rewrite and then edit. The second novel in the series is mostly written and just needs a touch up before it goes to a professional editor. I worked on book three for Camp NaNoWriMo and am having the hardest time advancing the plot. Due to all the earlier epicness in the first two books, I feel like whatever happens in book three needs to be bigger and badder. I’ve already pulled out the big guns for the previous books and am left with what I can only describe as plot exhaustion. So much has happened to the main character that it’s a wonder she’s still functioning. With each new chapter I have to try and find ways to increase the tension but everything that could happen has happened and now I’m delving into territory that is just plain unbelievable in order to keep from stalling. So this month I’m having  a hard time completing the novel and it makes me regret not having a more solid outline when I began writing.

                I guess if I get nothing else from this experience I will have learned that I should pace my novels better so that I have something left for the grand finale! What about you guys? What’s making you insecure this month?

 

Poison: Review Tour and Giveaway

With all of the excitement of the holiday season I had forgotten that I organised a book review tour a while back when I was immersed in marketing for my debut novel Poison. If you're interested in seeing the tour lineup you can do so here: Xpresso Book Tours

There's also a Rafflecopter Giveaway to go with the tour that you can enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Insecure Writer's Support Group: The Art of Trying to Avoid Reviews

Insecure Writer's Support Group is a blog hop hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh where totally insecure writers can get together and share the things that are making us go argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

        I published my debut novel Poison in September and I’ve been really lucky (and dropped a bunch of money!!) and have received a good number of reviews. In the beginning, I was religiously watching as the reviews came in and depending on whether the review was good or bad my mood for the day would change accordingly. Am pretty sure this is the reason why the doctor suspects I’ve got a stomach ulcer. So a few weeks ago I decided that I would just ignore the fact that I have published a book altogether. If one of my goals before I turned 32 wasn’t to publish a book I would have waited until I had more ready go as per all the advice blogs I’ve read. I’ve stopped refreshing sales pages and Googling my book. For the most part it’s super easy to avoid all contact except on Goodreads.

         I love Goodreads. It’s a great site for readers and authors and the features are awesome…except if you’re trying to avoid looking at reviews of your books. As a Goodreads author, every time I sign on using a PC (the app is terrible IMO) and click on the home page in the top right hand corner is a summary of my book stats including how many rating and reviews I’ve gotten. From there it’s a simple click to see what my overall star rating is and how many people are currently reading my book. I can’t seem to find a way to not see these things and as a result I’ve pretty much avoided Goodreads altogether for the past few weeks. Even going on there to post a review myself is fraught with tension. Stupid, I know but one of the tiny ways I’m trying to do to manage my craziness.  So if you've tried to contact me on there, I'm sorry I haven't responded, it's not that I don't like you! What about you guys? How do you manage to stay away from having an author meltdown?

Book Blitz for Poison!

You know an author is unorganised when her book blitz is scheduled for a week after the release of her book! But it's here and it's happening! The lovely ladies at YA Bound Blog Tours are hosting my book blitz from 7 - 11 September 2015. During that period Poison will also be discounted to 0.99c so it's a great time to pick up a copy at Amazon or Smashwords.
       As an additional incentive there's also a giveaway in progress where two winners will received a $30 and $20 Amazon gift card! Enter to win below. Good luck and happy reading!! a Rafflecopter giveaway

I Finally Did It! Poison Release Day Post

It's been an extremely long time coming but Poison was finally released today! I am equal measures proud and petrified but looking forward to the journey ahead. 

Poison Synopsis:

Since the night her mother was murdered, sixteen-year-old Rory Gray has known one truth: There are no good Seeders.

In post-apocalyptic Australia, the scientists known as Seeders have built a Citadel surrounded by food-producing regions and populated with refugees from the wars and famine. To maintain their control, the Seeders poisoned the land and outlawed the saving of seeds.

It’s been six years since Rory graced the Seeders’ circus stage as the Wind Dancer and still the scars on her body haven’t healed. Even worse are the scars on her heart, left by a Seeder boy who promised to protect her.

Now the Seeders are withholding supplies from Rory’s region for perceived disobedience. Utilising the Wanderer knowledge she received from her mother, Rory must journey to the Citadel through uninhabitable terrain to plead for mercy.

However, the Citadel isn’t as Rory remembered. The chief plant geneticist is dying and rumours fly that the store of viable seed is dwindling. The Seeders are desperate to find a seed bank they believe Rory can locate, and they will stop at nothing to get it.

To defy the Seeders means death. But Rory has been close to death before--this time she’s learned the value of poison.

Recommended for fans of The Hunger Games, strong protagonists, circuses and nature!

*Pick up your copy at Smashwords / Amazon US / Amazon AU / Amazon UK / Kobo 

That Post Asking For Reviews!

After four years of all kinds of procrastination I am finally ready to publish what my good friend Cathy has described as my magnum opus. It’s just like me to be getting on to the dystopia bandwagon just as the wheels are falling off but I am still super excited and also super nervous.

       I’ve read many author accounts about how the writing of a novel is only half the battle and that marketing is a major hurdle. This has never been more apparent for me until now. The market is saturated with self-published novels vying for the attention of readers. Book bloggers are inundated with review requests and Amazon seems to be hyper vigilant about deleting reviews written by anyone remotely related to an author.

        Despite all these hurdles, I will push on ahead because I’ve worked too hard to give up now. To that end, I am putting out a call to all of my followers and friends to ask *cough* or beg *cough* if anyone would be interested in reading and reviewing my novel which is due to be released on Amazon and all major book retailers on 1 September 2015.

        If you’re interested please drop me a line at lc.novel@gmail.com and let me know what format your e-reader takes. At this stage I can only offer ebooks but there may be scope for print books later on. Poison's synopsis is below:

Since the night her mother was murdered, sixteen-year-old Rory Gray has known one truth: There are no good Seeders.
       In post-apocalyptic Australia, the scientists known as Seeders have built a Citadel surrounded by food-producing regions and populated with refugees from the wars and famine. To maintain their control, the Seeders poisoned the land and outlawed the saving of seeds.
       It’s been six years since Rory graced the Seeders’ circus stage as the Wind Dancer and still the scars on her body haven’t healed. Even worse are the scars on her heart, left by a Seeder boy who promised to protect her.
      Now the Seeders are withholding supplies from Rory’s region for perceived disobedience. Utilising the Wanderer knowledge she received from her mother, Rory must journey to the Citadel through uninhabitable terrain to plead for mercy.
      However, the Citadel isn’t as Rory remembered. The chief plant geneticist is dying and rumours fly that the store of viable seed is dwindling. The Seeders are desperate to find a seed bank they believe Rory can locate, and they will stop at nothing to get it.
     To defy the Seeders means death. But Rory has been close to death before--this time she’s learned the value of poison.

Recommended for fans of The Hunger Games, strong protagonists, circuses and nature! 


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I've organised for a book blitz to take place from September 7th to September 11th so please check back and enter the giveaway!

Eternally grateful,

Lan

Insecure Writer's Support Group: Publishing Woes

Insecure Writer's Support Group is a blog hop hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh where totally insecure writers can get together and share the things that are making us go argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

         I’ve been busily working away the last couple of months on the final touches for my YA dystopian novel. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind time of final edits, choosing my cover and having the formatting done. Although it’s been an exciting ride I can’t help but feel the anxiety starting to build as I get closer and closer towards publication. The procrastinator and perfectionist in me really wants to delay the inevitable but in my heart I know I’ve done as much as I can or am willing to do for this novel and it’s time to release it into the world. The insecure writer in me wants to keep it as close to my chest for as long as possible so that I don’t have to deal with marketing, the publication process and the inevitable unflattering reviews. In a way I think I might have even been sabotaging myself by being super picky about the cover even though the third version of it was perfect yet I asked for so many tweaks the poor designers had to send me through multiple additional drafts.(kudos to the team at Deranged Doctor Design for putting up with me!)

                I think this is in itself a sign that I’m ready and that I’m just creating ways to stop myself from publishing. So, considering this is something I’ve been working towards for the last four years, I have decided that I need to be brave and just publish. Though it’s super scary and I’m very insecure about the novel’s reception I have decided that I am going to just close my eyes and hit publish. Oh and if anyone is interested here is the cover: