First Payment

I got an email last night - I almost missed it - my mailbox thought it might be spam. It was from Amazon and basically said my first payment is coming in. Took a few seconds to register, but soon I was elated! This means I've sold enough books to get a payment, even if the payment is small! Who would have thought? Even though this is very different than an agent picking the book and selling it to publishers and stores, it's still a wonderful feeling!!

I've sold 21 books so far. I can't wait to hit 25... and maybe 50... and I really, really hope someday 100!!

Writing on the Brain

I think of writing all the time. Ideas flow through my brain. Some I write down, some I don't. Some I kick myself later for forgetting. I wish I had some sort of program that took the ideas flowing through my brain, turn them into words, and type them out. Or maybe a voice program where I could just talk out ideas and the computer automatically types out everything I say.

So many of my ideas slip away and don't make it onto paper or computer. I need to work on that. Every idea is important. Even blogging - sometimes I think of something really awesome to blog about and then POOF! it's gone.

I think about the first story I ever wrote. It was about a couple of kids living on their own, I think it was shortly after reading The Boxcar Children. I was probably 10? I named one character Calliope, not sure what the other one was. As time went on, I wrote more and more edgy YA. Runaways, addicts, abuse, anything I could think of that would shock people. Why write this stuff? Why shock people? Because I thought there wasn't enough. I was a teenager with issues. If I wasn't going through some of this stuff, then I knew someone who was. And being a teen who liked to read, I wanted to read about it, but there wasn't much of anything about it.

No one dared.

Now it seems like lots of authors have dared. There are more and more stories out there considered edgy YA. Have I waited too long? I'm in my 30s now, can I still write YA? I think so. It might not be as crass as it once was, but some of it will still be edgy.

My first book, Natalie's Story, is about a 17 year old girl who falls in love with the wrong boy. He gets violent with her. She forgives and it happens again and again. Then to cope with things, she starts drinking and doesn't want to stop. It touches on abuse, pregnancy, and addiction.

My next book, Teagan's Story, is about a teenager with Epilepsy. I love Lurlene McDaniel. She's a wonderful author. She writes a lot about teens dealing with medical issues. I often read her books growing up and loved her stories. I wanted to branch out to other disorders or illnesses that aren't written about as often. Teagan, who has been home schooled because of her uncontrolled seizures, finds herself in public school when her parents unexpectedly die. This book is about how she deals with Epilepsy on a daily basis.

And coming up? Caelyn's Story. Another medical YA novel. She needs a heart transplant.

I have so many ideas... if I only knew people were interested.

Now is your chance! Leave a comment here. Join my Facebook fan page. Leave a review on Amazon. Help me get recognized! Be a part of it, I won't forget!

Writing Book #3

I've been working on my 3rd book and I've decided that I need to do something different with the beginning. Except I'm not sure what. I've already rewritten it twice now, but it's still not right. So, I've been sitting in front of a blank piece of lined paper for a couple days. The lines call to me. They want me to fill them up. They need words on them. I've even put my pen down on them a few times. I get ideas, but I just don't like the ideas. I feel like I can do better.

My husband has found me deep in thought a few times. He keeps thinking that something is wrong, but I'm just brainstorming.

Hopefully, I'll come up with the perfect beginning to my story soon.

It's Live!

I uploaded my book to Amazon and it didn't look right on their preview. So, I worked on the formatting again and again and again. I finally found a way to make the indents work right. Then there were 2 hypens I couldn't get deleted. Finally found that problem. So, I uploaded the book again - with a new cover picture I had taken at the beach a few years ago - and now it looks pretty good. The only problem I'm having now is the chapter headings are off centered. I guess I'll have to deal with that.

Anyway, I digress... MY BOOK IS LIVE!!!!!!!!!!! On Amazon!!!! It's unreal! I'm hoping that once the description gets put on there, that people will get interested and they'll buy it.

Natalie's Story

What are you waiting for??? GO! BUY! READ! :)

I Did It!

I uploaded my first book to Amazon. I had some trouble with the formatting, so I hope that once the good people over there look at it, they'll fix it. I'd hate to have my book up there with the margins all funny looking.

It's supposed to be up within 48 hours. Not sure if that'll happen on a weekend.

I'm so anxious! It's hard to be excited when there's no guarantees. But, there aren't any guarantees in life. Gotta take a chance sometimes. I hope there are people out there somewhere that will read it and like it!

So, book #2 is being looked at by some friends of mine. And I'm working on book #3.

It's Going To Happen!

I am editing my book one more time. Then I plan to send it to the copyright office and upload it to Amazon. I'm sure there will still be mistakes, but I hope people aren't overly harsh.

So, dear readers - all 4 of you - please feel free to buy my book when it is uploaded, read it on your computer or phone or Kindle, and then if you like it, leave a glowing review so maybe, just maybe, someone else will buy it.

Summertime Writing

It's officially summertime here. The hot, muggy days have been here for over a month, however now the kids are out of school. I love summer for one simple reason - I get to stay up late and sleep in late. It's after midnight now and I'm not tired. I could easily be up until 2am and then sleep until 10 tomorrow - if the kids let me. Of course, it's all about the kids. Some days they don't let me sleep in and some days they do.

Summer is usually the time my fingers get itchy and I need to write. The writing bug has bitten me. I hope I can write something awesome this summer. I have a few things started. Now, I just need to pick one and get on with it.

To Kindle Or Not To Kindle

That is the question.

My loving and supportive husband thinks that I should self publish on Kindle. Me? Not so sure. I know I write well - and by that I mean I have good stories - but I'm not the best with grammar and punctuation. So, to bypass the whole agent, editor, and publisher thing is well... scary. Can I edit my books well enough that there aren't a ton of mistakes? And if 5 agents weren't intrigued by my queries, would anybody want to read the whole thing?

And WHO uses a Kindle??? I seriously don't know anybody who does. I have never seen one in real life. Also, my novels are young adult, so my other worry is that most young adults don't have Kindles or credit cards to download to their Kindle. Am I mistaken?

I am scared, I have no problem admitting that. It's one thing to send a chapter or two to an agent and they say "no thanks". But, to send your entire book to the world and have the entire world not be interested, that's FAILURE!