Tag Archives: development

January 28, 2012 · 10:51 pm

Integration?

Part of this new writing experiment I’ve been conducting this past year, is marketing myself and mywriting. So, I have this blog, a website, a Twitter Account, and a Facebook account. I’ve tried to give them all the same look/feel for consistency and branding. My problem is they don’t all look/feel the same and they don’t really represent my brand. I have the right ideas, but my execution is less than average.

In addition to all of that, I’m going to be shopping my new novel around to agents very soon, and I’d like to have a website and web presence that represents the novel. So, I need changes. Who knew there was so much to all this?

I just want to write stories…

Well, those days are over. Even if I get a decent book deal, I’m not kidding myself into thinking that I’m going to have much, if any, help in promoting it. So, I better start figuring out how I want to do this.

Suggestions?

Here is what I know:

It has to be dark, because I’m writing horror.
It has to be original, or I won’t be taken seriously
It has to look professional, see #2 above
It has to represent my writing, see #1 and #2 above
All my sites should look and feel the same (i.e. integration), again #2 above

I also know that it is important to build a following for my writing. As writers, we have to have people read our stories, or what’s the point. The internet can be an excellent tool for this. Now more than ever we have to opportunity to really reach out to the entire world like never before. So, I want to make sure I reach out in a manner that is consistent with my 5 rules above.

Here’s a site that seems to have really good ideas about linking your sites and promoting your work: http://marketingforwriters.com/ The article mentions listing your blog/newsletter at online directories, but it didn’t provide any links to said directories. But, the ideas in the article make sense.

This one: http://www.marketingforwriters.org/ seems to have some great tools and articles. There are marketing techniques, articles on using promotional items, and how to articles including a great one by Elizabeth Kirwin on How to Pitch a Story.

I’m happy there are so many great resources, but now I have tons more information to sort through – I have to integrate my resources before I can integrate my online presence!

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January 20, 2012 · 1:33 am

Query This?!!?

With my novel, Summer Blood, finally finished and sitting with my Alpha-Readers, I’ve decided to write a query letter to send out to potential agents. So, what goes in a query letter? How do I capture the attention of a good agent when I know 50,000,000+ other writers are trying to do the same thing? I have to stand out somehow, right?!

So, I google’d it. Of course…. I found a decent website right away. Thanks Google!

http://www.writing-world.com/basics/query.shtml

This site says there are five points to a good query. They are as follows:

The hook
The pitch
The body
The credentials
The close

I think the hook is the most important. If you don’t grab the agents attention in the first two sentences, I think you’re screwed. RIGHT~?!~!?

So, what’s my hook? According to the writing-world website there are many ways to grab the agent’s attention, and many ways not to. The “don’t do this” section seems pretty common sense to me. So, what about the “do this” part? None of these really work for me. These seem to be good ideas for non-fiction writing. But, I get the idea.

Be real, be interesting, but don’t come across like every other ding-dong writer begging for attention. Then, the right agent will pick me!

Here’s my first paragraph:

Stories like True Blood and Twilight have been breathing life into the old classics making vampires HOT right now. My adult novel, Summer Blood, takes some elements of the classic vampire stories and adds new twists. These vampires leave blood, violence, and sex in their wake, and readers that love that will also love Summer Blood.

Does that grab your attention?

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Tagged as agent, book review, book trailers, challenges, character, creative, development, e-book, fiction, horror, inspiration, new, novel, paranormal romance, query, short story, vampire, writing

January 11, 2012 · 3:55 am

My characters are hi-jacking my brain!

I just finished editing my first novel, Summer Blood, and I’m discovering that the characters are not finished with me! I can’t stop thinking about them. When I drive to work in the morning, they start having conversations and doing things… I think that means I need a sequel… hmm.

It is an odd sensation. I thought I would be starting a new project by now, but I can’t let these guys go yet. Their story isn’t finished.

Summer Blood is about two wicked and powerful vampires that find love and their humanity when they kidnap a strangely attractive human – until their makers step in and change everything!

Gwinafel O’Dale is a sexy, flirty, and very tough vampire. She kicks ass or kisses it on her own whim. She meets Tobia. He’s the broody dark one that hates himself. Their relationship causes them to grow up a bit. She finds she can make a commitment past a few hours and he learns he doesn’t have to cast a gloomy shadow over everything in his life. Then they meet Matthew.

Matthew is an enigma. Gwinafel is drawn to him in a supernatural way…

That’s all I get to tell you!! I hate spoilers! But, I hope you’ll be interested in finding out more about these characters from the Desolate Incubus series. Summer Blood will be the 2nd installment. I’m going to release Blood Pact, The Desolate Incubus Histories first.

I had to cut a lot of juicy material out of Summer Blood, and it will end up in Blood Pact. Yes, I do mean juicy!

So, I’m excited about these characters! I hope others will be too… and I hope I can write enough about them so they’ll get out of my head.

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Tagged as author, book review, challenges, charachters, character, creative, development, e-book, fiction, horror, inspiration, novel, paranormal romance, peek inside, stories, vampire, writing

November 12, 2011 · 10:09 pm

What the heck am I doing?

I’m still so new at writing that I often wonder if I’m doing this right. There is so much more to writing than just telling a story. Of course telling the story is the most important part. Without that, I wouldn’t really be doing any of this… so, what am I doing exactly? Well, I’m writing, promoting, and learning about the craft of writing.

The first part, like I said, is writing, telling the story. I’m getting better at that, but I still don’t have a novel published. I have two written, but both are in the editing stages and are not ready yet to be published. It takes a lot to get a story from the first inkling of a tale to a published novel.

First, you have to think about it for a long time and work it out in your head. Then, you have to start writing things down, and that isn’t even the story yet. You have to write out character sketches, outlines, research notes, and more… I suppose these things are not always necessary, but I don’t know how to write a novel without doing this. I keep a notebook on my stories and jot down ideas, plot lines, and other details constantly.

Then, I start getting serious about a chapter outline. The chapter outline keeps me going and keeps my plot on track. It is not permanent, however. I’ve learned that the best stories have characters that take on a life of their own, and when that happens they change the plot. So, I change my outline. But, the outline helps keep things from getting too far off the original track.

Once I have a pretty good start on a chapter outline, I’ll start detailing the chapters. I start with a loose outline and just start adding more and more details. This is the most flexible part. I don’t put any rules on it. Whatever I think or feel I write, keeping it free and easy. This is where the real creativity comes out, and this is what is turned into the novel.

After the novel is finished, what am I going to do with it? I’m really interested in self publishing and being and indie (or independent author), but I still don’t think I know enough about it. I’m learning. A lot of what I’m learning has been found on Twitter. I follow a lot of other indie-authors and resources for indies like the following:

@WoMensLitCafe

Indie_Kindle

@IndieKindle

@IndieBookIBC

@AuthorNetwork

and others…

They help. I also like following book bloggers that do book reviews and other bloggers that help indie-authors promote their work. Some are:

@PattiRoberts7

@Tynga

@piercebooks

and many others… too many to mention them all. The point is there are so many people out there willing to help. It is a network of people helping people and returning that help. I’ve been very surprised to see so much support and such a robust community. So, I’m learning a lot! Thanks all!!

So, now I’m editing my novel and soon will be publishing, and in doing so, I’m sure I’ll learn even more!! And, somewhere along the lines, hopefully, I will figure out what I’m doing!!

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October 27, 2011 · 3:37 am

In search of Trailers

So, I have content, a story, nearly completed. What next? I’m starting to think about some of the marketing aspects of writing. What do I need to do to promote the book?

I started looking at other writers’ websites, blogs, book covers and trailers. Yes, trailers. Authors are now making video trailers for their books. I’ve seen some really good ones out there too. I’ll post some of my fav’s (their books are awesome also!):

This one has several on one page. A different trailer for each book. Each one has a different feel that represents the different styles of the novels. http://www.smreine.com/

This one has one trailer that shows all of her work. It is a little longer and a bit different, but visually, it is very distinctive. http://www.penelopefletcher.co.uk/video

This one is really cool; she actually did the animation and recorded the music herself… very talented: http://maggiestiefvater.com/

So, that kind of gives a brief idea of some great video trailers, and gives me a high bar to measure up to! (Kudos ladies!)

So, I’ll be thinking about what I can do for a trailer over the next few months (wish me luck). I need to have good images that represent my story. I also need great music that has inspired me while writing. Then, I need some text to explain my story without giving too much away, but enticing the public to read my book.

This is going to be a fun challenge!

I have sales!! Woot!

Woot! It really isn’t much, but the fact that I have sales is really exciting! It means that there are a few people out there that actually purchased my writing for the first time ever AND it is more than just my family!

In this new journey to become a real author, I published a book of seven short stories called, Stories to Fight Demons By. These are twisted/surreal stories about different kinds of demons; perfect for Halloween! You can purchase this on Amazon or B&N. I’ll include the links here:

http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Fight-Demons-ebook/dp/B004RH3T46/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319329943&sr=8-1

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stories-to-fight-demons-by-sherri-jordan-asble/1030426408?ean=2940012183842&itm=1&usri=sherri%2bjordan-asble

I hope those that purchased the book liked it. I don’t have any reviews on Amazon or B&N yet, but I’m hoping I’ll get one. So, if you purchased the book and are reading this… hint, hint!

I also have a teaser for my first novel posted on my website and a plug for it in the back of Stories. Website:

http://sjordanasble.com/Page_2.html

So, this is truly another awesome step forward in my writing journey. I hope that others will celebrate with me – go ahead, raise your hand in the air and give me a “Woot!”

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September 14, 2011 · 3:00 am

good reading = good writing

I’ve noticed that I tend to write better when I’ve been reading really great books! So, as part of my writing journey, I thought I should mention and share some of what I’ve been reading. I’ve posted a few book reviews on my website that you may want to check out…

http://sjordanasble.com/Books__Reviews___Links.html

I’m also going to share the latest awesome book I’ve read, Blood Song by Cat Adams. This was a fast read. I read the book in a day and a half and I cannot wait for the sequel. The book is about a tough body-guard who is half turned into a vampire (yes only 1/2 way!) It is partially a mystery to find out who did

this to her and why, part kick ass vampire book, and there is a nice little surprise twist at the end leaving the reading drooling for the sequel. The author’s style of writing is easy flowing, easy to read, and gets your attention quick and keeps it. I highly recommend it and rate it 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. I have to take off 1/2 a point because she had so many characters in the book that I lost track a couple of times. I had to say, “Who? Who was that?” a couple of times. Otherwise, excellent read!

So, these are the awesome books that I’ve been reading lately. You can enjoy them to and hopefully, see their influence positively reflecting in my writing.

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April 16, 2011 · 5:15 pm

Inspiration

Earlier this week I was asked what inspired my writing. Since then I’ve been thinking about that question. What inspires me was originally supposed to be a big part of what I was writing about in this blog, so I guess it is a good time to address that question again.

The short answer is life; everything. I take in everything and slice a little from this and a little from that and put in a blender and make something else entirely. Sometimes it is from what is going on in life and my emotions, and sometimes it is from other literature or music. Whatever I take though, ultimately becomes something else entirely.

When thinking about what inspires me and how it shows up in my writing, a particular scene from my NEXT e-book about vampires, Desolute Incubus, comes to mind. I wrote the scene years ago when living in Orlando. One of my neighbors really made me mad. The one thing that infuriates me above all else is when someone is being irrational and shuts their minds off to any other possibility than the one they have created. So, this neighbor got it in her head that my family wronged her daughter in some way, and her response was to yell and scream at my daughter and then at me. She would not even give me a chance to explain or talk about the perceived slight, which of course enraged me. I wanted to kill her. In real life I ignored her and we eventually moved, but in my writing I ripped her throat out (yeah, vampires!) It made a great a scene.

Another example of where I get a lot of my material is from other literature. The example that comes to mind is one of my more recent favorite series by Kim Harrison. In her “Hallows” series, her main character kicks ass. I really like that, and in thinking about my own writing, I don’t really have a lot of characters like that. But, when I create one, that character will be like Harrison’s character, but completely different.

Here’s what I mean. I love Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series. The symbiotic relationship between the riders and the dragon fascinate me. So, I wanted to make a character like that, but completely different. So, I held on to that thought for a while. A long while. Then, years later, I had another inspiration. I read C.S. Freidman’s Feast of Souls. This series has an ancient monster, the stuff of legends, that suddenly returns to cause much world-shattering trouble. I liked that idea. It was a bit like the boogey man, stories you scare the kids with. Be good or the boogey man will get you. But, then the boogey man steps out of the closet and starts eating people. Hmm… I added that to my blender. I wasn’t finished though. The other inspiration came from music. Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks have a song called Rhiannon. The lyrics and the feel of the music added to this development as well. This is the story of a nasty creature, the stuff of nightmares, that swoops down on an unsuspecting boy and both their lives are changed. The character has a symbiotic relationship with a nasty creature that is vicious and makes dragons look like kittens. The sentient creatures that share the relationship are just as dark as their partners. They have a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth and they share the kill of their partners to feed. They are black legend come to life. So, add a little of that ass-kicking quality and I have something altogether new; the Wynath. This story is still under development, but I hope to put it out within the next year.

So, the long answer then is that it doesn’t really matter where the inspiration comes from; it comes from everywhere. The more important question is what I do with it and what comes out of my metaphoric blender.