A new book - The Piper's Song and other updates

It has now been a week since Shift was released. It hasn't made much headway yet on sales, but I didn't expect that it would, due to the huge time gap between the release of the first and the delay before the release of the second (yes, I'm still griping about the broken laptop causing delays *grumble grumble grumble*). I also still haven't done much in the way of marketing, but that's neither here nor there.

I am already plotting out the third book, Curse, and am anxious and excited to start working on it. I plan to wrap up the other two books in the series this year, and hopefully start the next series on my long list of books to be written (no joke - I have at least 5 years worth of books already planned out. If I can increase my writing productivity, less than 5 years, but we'll see how it goes.) But, but, but... I am not working on Curse just yet. There are certain aspects of the book which make organizing it a bit more complicated than the first two books. I won't go into too much detail, because I don't want to put spoilers out there for those of you who haven't read Shift yet, but the point is, until I get certain things straight in my head, I can't start actively writing it.

In the meantime, I have started working on the first draft of The Piper's Song. Some of you may be familiar with this title, as I posted a few unedited scenes to Wattpad last year (if you haven't seen them and want to take a peek, you can find it here). I have been really excited about this particular story and wanting to work on it for quite a while now, but because my focus in 2014 was solely on The Crow Series, I had only plotted and written snippets so far.

Working on a new book, rather than on the next book in a series, poses its own complications. The writing is going much slower than it was writing Shift, mainly because I am still getting to know my characters, getting a clear grip on the locations and working out plot points as I go along, rather than working with places and figures I'm already very familiar with. With the Crow books, everything is so familiar already - the way Silas paces when he's thinking, the atmosphere of the subway tunnels on the way to Joel's makeshift home, even the layout of Henriette's brownstone is so clear in my head down to the smallest detail I feel as if I know it as well as my own apartment. Writing the Crow books is much easier and faster now (except for my little plotting issue) but starting a new story from scratch takes a little more time for character and world-building. I'm working out each characters' habits, their quirks, their motivations and flaws. In the end, it'll be just as comfortable and familiar as Crow, but for now, it's taking a bit more work to lay it all out.

For anyone who is worried what this means for The Crow Series, I hope to have Curse planned out by the time I finish The Piper's Song first draft, with the intention of immediately tackling the third Crow book as soon as it's finished.

For anyone curious about the new book, here's the current version of the blurb:

Piper has a wonderful life.

She has a gorgeous, adoring husband, a career she loves, and a beautiful baby girl.

Everything changes after Piper receives a mysterious gift - a music box. Listening to its haunting, beautiful melody transports her mind into a different time and place where another version of herself does strange and horrible things. The more she listens to the music, the more obsessed she becomes, all the while her perfect family is falling apart.

In another part of the city, women are disappearing, and things that Piper is seeing in her visions are coming true. The line between Piper and the other version of herself begins to blur, jeopardizing everything she holds dear.

That's it for now. Hope you're all as excited about the new book as I am, and if you haven't picked up Shift yet, both the paperback and ebook are available on Amazon.

Happy Reading!

New year - New plans (2015)

A new year is upon us and I'm incredibly excited about 2015.

Like many, at the dawning of a new year, I spent some time reflecting on the year before - the successes and failures and what I want to do better in the future. I had some hang-ups in 2014 - mainly my computer breaking at the worst possible time, followed by some difficult personal issues that left me depressed and the stupid frustration of having no internet just as I was trying to get myself back in order. However, this year has primarily been a year of triumphs for me. I published my first book, Crow, and then my second, Shift, which though they haven't found a huge audience (yet) have both been received positively. I still have a lot to learn about this publishing business and things change frequently and quickly. On the other hand, I've accomplished something I've wanted for most of my life and that is something to be celebrated.

With that in mind, I've actually spent more time developing my plans for the new year than I have reflecting on the past. There are loads of new things I want to try, and I want to get back on a regular blogging schedule, since the issues that arose this past Fall threw me off my rhythm. I've already started working on a new book, which I'll talk about later, and I intend to finish up the other two books in The Crow Series, as well as finish the Halloween surprise I had wanted to unveil in 2014 and couldn't because I had no computer. I really haven't done too much in the way of marketing, so I'm going to try and contact more book bloggers, and have a few more events / giveaways. I'm also thinking about finally starting to post snippets of my works in progress, calling it "Sneak Peek Sundays".

For an independent author, there is always a ton of work to do - not just writing, but editing, crafting enticing blurbs, book covers, formatting books for different formats (did I mention I want to try making audiobooks this year? Yeah, just one more thing on my list!) Then there's marketing - blogging regularly, contacting book bloggers, connecting with readers (or potential readers) through the million different social media sites, hosting giveaways, book signings (which I haven't done very many yet), hosting events, author interviews, guest posting.... the lists are endless and time consuming, but I'm tackling it bit by bit. I can only hope my efforts prove fruitful, and eventually my books will find their audience.

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That's my goal for 2015 - write more books and work harder at finding an audience for my work.

Hope you all had a wonderful New Year and the best things in the year to come.

What are your hopes and goals for 2015? Feel free to share in the comments :)