Blog Tour Guest Post: Rahima Warren

Guest Post by Rahima Warren author of Dark Innocence: Book One of the Star-Seer's Prophecy

I don’t really know how they do it. Who? Those organized souls who write books by using outlines and plans, plotting and character sketches, or even computerized writing programs. I confess I’m not one of them. Heck, I didn’t even plan to be a fantasy writer. I always wondered how these odd creatures called writers could write such wonderful stories. Never thought I’d be one of them.

Nope. There I was, back before the turn of the century, minding my own business, seeing my psychotherapy clients, and exploring new ways to help them by working with dreams, symbols, and free creative expression. But life is full of zigs and zags! Little did I know that I was waking up my own creativity, too.

One day, I wrote a little short story in my journal. That story was like the proverbial crack in the dam. A torrent of passionate, creative energy shattered the whole darn dam and swept me off to my laptop! Next thing I knew, I was neglecting the laundry and my poor husband, and was sneaking off to continue writing the story every chance I got. It was the only way I could find out what happened next. And it was FUN!

I had no idea of where the story was going. I had no plot or plan. It was a right brain/intuitive process for the entire first draft of what turned out to be a trilogy (The Star-Seer’s Prophecy). That’s still how I work on editing Difficult Blessings, Book Two of the trilogy.

How do I go about this kind of writing? To get started writing, I grab a cup of Earl Gray tea – hot. (Sorry, geek girl here couldn’t resist – but you know resistance is futile, don’t you?). Next, I light a candle to the Goddess of Creativity, who sits on my altar. Then I take a few slow, deep breaths, and let myself sink down into my inner world of fantasy and imagination.

I allow the main character – his name is Kyr, by the way – to take up residence in my imagination, and to be in charge of the story. In my work as an expressive arts therapist, I learned to trust the free, creative expression of the unconscious, no matter how dark or ugly, and to ignore the inner judge/critic. So I just sort of “listen” to Kyr, feel how he is feeling at this point in the story, and write whatever I “see.” Pretty much an intuitive approach.

Well, I admit that in the editing process, I do sometimes use my left/logical brain to make sure things make sense. Gosh, for the first time ever, I recently went through Book Two and made an outline, of all things! And I confess it’s harder to get myself to sit down and edit than it was to write the first draft, when I had that incredible creative flow going. However, the entire story lives in my imagination, and I can re-enter that world whenever I make time to sit down and edit. And it’s still fun!

What is your approach to writing? Logical/Left Brain? Intuitive/Right Brain? How do you get yourself ready to write?

ABOUT Dark Innocence: Book One of the Star-Seer's Prophecy by Rahima Warren

The “twin-souled dark innocent,” Kyr, is a youth born and raised to blindly carry out the Soul-Drinker’s brutal commands. At first, Kyr’s one desire is death, the only escape from the Soul-Drinker’s hellish rule. Just when he is about to get his wish, the secret Circle rescues him. Now he has to choose between the familiar easy path of despair and death, or the hard path of healing, living, and a greater destiny, about which he knows nothing. How can a slave who has known only evil, pain and obedience choose to become a man of courage and compassion, and fulfill the Star Seer's Prophecy?

A Grand Prize Giveaway of a Custom Jumbo Tote Bag with your choice of fan art, chosen from here: http://www.starseersprophecy.com/fan-art/, plus other goodies, including a signed copy of Dark Innocence for one lucky winner, shipped to anywhere in the world!

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Author Rahima Warren

Rahima Warren is the author of Dark Innocence: Book One of the Star-Seer's Prophecy, a deep, rich novel of the healing journey. With Master's degrees in Clinical and Transpersonal Psychology, she was in private practice as a licensed psychotherapist for over 20 years. In 2006, Rahima retired to focus on her expressive painting, creative writing, and spiritual studies.

In her work with clients recovering from abuse, she was awed by the human capacity to heal, and to reach new levels of forgiveness, wholeness and happiness. She also learned to trust the psyche's own process. This enabled her to allow a dark and mysterious story to flood forth unhindered: Dark Innocence: Book One of the Star-Seer's Prophecy.

Rahima is a third-generation native of California and resides with her husband in Northern California, where she periodically chases squirrels off the wild bird feeders, and deer away from her roses. Her life-long love of fantasy is her parents' fault: they left sci-fi & fantasy magazines with fascinating cover art lying around the house.

Find the Author: Goodreads | Facebook | Website | Twitter | Read an Excerpt | Pinterest

I'd like to thank Rahima for taking the time out to give us this great post!

Guest Post: Indie or Independent Publishing House by Devri Walls

For a different perspective on the Indie Writer Series - I have Devri Walls with me today to share her experience: 

Hi everyone!! Miss Jaclyn wanted some information. If it’s information she wants, information she shall get!

First up on the docket: What is an indie author? An indie—or independent author—is someone who decides to self-publish their books. With Wings of Arian I used Stonehouse Ink basically as a consulting firm. In other words, I got advice, used their contacts, but paid my own way and made my own choices. Essentially, I was an Indie.

After books one and two were out the stress was really getting to me. The main issue for me was using my own money to put these books out, because if you do it right it is not cheap! I felt like I was taking money away from my kids and I don’t deal well with that. I kinda sorta turned into a nut-job. (My husband would probably vote to delete the “kinda, sorta.” But who asked him anyway?) So, this year, I have signed the series over to Stonehouse Ink as a regular published author.

What does that mean? It means, they will pay the bills, facilitate, run promos and so on and I get to do what I do best—write. Which, by the way, I do much better when I am not a nut-job. It was a hard choice at first because anytime you bring another person into the equation you pay for it! On that note, Stonehouse has an extremely fair royalty split, which is more than I can say for the big boys! You know the group, Random House, Penguin and the like. Not that the big house’s don’t offer advantages, but after doing some research, I just don’t think it’s for me.

Despite the difficultness of the choice, it was undeniably the right one. My stress level has dropped by about 300 percent (give or take a few points) and I am enjoying writing again, instead of bawling to my husband every other week.

Now the question remains, what does that make me? I am a published author through an Independent Publishing House. (Confused yet, I am.) Which people still like to call… Indies. Bahahahaha!

Stonehouse is an Independent Publishing House. Meaning, they are not attached to any of the Big Six. Now, Indie Houses vary immensely! Some are very reputable, Stonehouse being one of those. Others are more like facilitators; you pay them to help you along your way. And others, well… do your research, because others will rip you off six ways to Sunday. (Hmmm, I don’t think that’s a legitimate saying, but I am rolling with it. Just nod and smile people, nod and smile.) Please, before you agree to any contracts, read them thoroughly. Check with others in the industry to make sure they are standard. This is your work, your life! Don’t throw it away in your excitement to get that first book out there. This work is forever, and will earn you commission for as long as it exists. For some of you that may mean a couple of bucks, but it could mean thousands of dollars. I’ll say it one more time; do your homework!

Another big difference between Indie houses is their experience and areas of expertise. Aaron Patterson, the owner of Stonehouse Ink, happens to be an innovative thinker and a cover genius. If you look through their authors, and the covers used, they are all amazing. And let’s be real here guys. Covers are super important. It makes little difference how awesome the work inside the cover is if no one buys the book because the packaging is either lame, downright laughable, or inappropriate for your genre. My covers are not cheap, not at all. But Claudia with Phatpuppy Art does a phenomenal job and I can tie her work directly back to my sales! Don’t skimp! Not on the cover, not on work, and not on the edits. If you are going to go Indie, do it right!

There is so much information on this world of publishing we could turn it into a book. As a matter of fact, I am sure there are at least a couple hundred of those on Amazon right now. I tried to address Jaclyn’s specific questions today, but what do you guys want to know? Leave a comment and I will see what I can do to answer it for you.

About Devri Walls:

Devri Walls lives in Kuna, ID with her husband, two kids and one very bouncy lab. After suffering from an abundance of creativity with not enough places to put it, she turned to writing. Which in the end, turned out to be exactly where she should have been putting it all along.

www.writingmyfuture.com
www.devriwalls.com

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Guest Post: My Writing Path Part 3 by Robyn Jones

I'd like to thank Robyn for taking the time to write up this guest post. I hope you enjoy. This is Part 3 of the series. You can find Part 1 here.

My Writing Path (part 3)

Rejection. They say to be a writer you must develop a thick skin. Oh, sure since I haven't been able to do that so far, I'll just snap that armor into place. Tough or not, you're gonna have to put yourself out there. Query time!

I checked out all the books on agents and publishers I could find at my public library. I bought a how-to book on creating a winner query letter. And I had endless websites saved on my favorites list, all touting the perfect approach to writing this one page pot of gold. The bombardment of information sat in my head for months afterward because I couldn't write a single word. Writers should be able to do this in their sleep. But here's what I equate to creating a fantastic query letter: free throws.

I cannot believe I'm giving a basketball analogy, but here it goes. It's a memorized shot. You practice in the same spot, standing the same way. If you're on a team, you do this hundreds of times a week. It's the one shot where no one is in your face. Yet, being 60% at the line is star material. I've decided query letters are free throw shots. We have all the tools. We write thousands of words, build worlds out of nothing. We live in our heads a portion of our lives. Why not dream up this one page necessity? 

Despite procrastinating forever, I wrote my query letter (many times). I had others read it. I entered my most promising version in a query letter contest. They shredded me to unrecognizable pieces. I started from scratch, thought I totally rocked, and finally chose a dozen agents. The first rejection email broke my heart and made me feel unstoppable at the same time. I was a real writer. I even emailed a thank you note to the agent. So sappy. I heard back from every agent I emailed. All no's. How many root beer floats can a girl consume before someone in the right position and in the right mood sees something special in Anna (or Maggie)? I decided too many, and made the bold decision to become an indie writer!

Helpful Tips:

The tab key is not your friend. Whether you use Open Office or Word, when you get to the formatting stage of your book, all your tab usage will come back and haunt you in an awful, cussing (crying) way. Go to the ribbon at the top of your page, then format, paragraph, indents & spacing, first line. Type .3 or .5; both are standard. If you've already gone all tab crazy, go to find and replace. This is a tricky function to remove tab spaces. Experiment.

The days of hitting the space bar twice after a period are over. Single space or perish (okay, I got a little dramatic there).

The special characters function can often translate into weird errors when you convert to Kindle. Weird like fractions and a stream of dashes. I avoid special characters like the plague!

Everything is researchable (I made up that word). If you can't figure out how to do something, check out eHow or Youtube. I learned how to create a table of contents through Youtube. Also, the Kindle Direct Publishing community page is a wealth of knowledge.

   

~Robyn

About Robyn Jones:

I laugh when people fall down. It's a glitch in my programming, but even my mom has suffered this quirk. I have a BA in Studio Art from the University of Puget Sound. My boys make me laugh every day. I steal pens; I try real hard not to. I collect those free bookmarks at the checkout counter at libraries. I've had more stitches than anyone I know. I love stories; writing them, reading them, watching them. You can email me at robgirlbooks@gmail.com.

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Guest Post - My Writing Path by Robyn Jones Part 2

I'd like to thank Robyn for taking the time to write up this guest post. I hope you enjoy. This is Part 2 of the series. You can find Part 1 here.

My Writing Path (part 2)

I made a teensy mistake regarding my creative process. I wrote book after book without stopping to edit, or stopping to learn how to edit. You hear all over the place, “Authors wear many hats.” I ignored that. The Touched Girl series blazed by until book four, which I wrote into the ground. Granted, I was maxed out on stress because my one year old just had his kidney taken out and he recovered much quicker than the rest of us. I decided after 200,000 words to stop.

Without taking taking a breath, I dreamed up Maggie. I had a couple starts and stops with her. I knew her name, Maggie Lane. I knew she'd be rude and unlikeable to most people in her life, and I knew she'd be tough. Then one day a utility truck sat in front of my neighbor's house. I growled. I really did. Last time a utility truck was in our cul de sac it was in my driveway. The guy had his clipboard and attitude problem and he was about to cut my power all because they mailed my bill to the wrong address as well as the late notice. I paid my bill on the wrong address to top off the perfect storm. It all seemed fixable, so I told him, “You can't turn off my power in the middle of winter because of a clerical error.” He said, “I can do anything I want.” And Maggie's first book had her opening scene.

In college, my writing teacher told our class, “Write what you know.” I knew so well that feeling of someone wielding power over you. I knew that feeling of pure arrogance being shoved in your face. And I knew the tenacity of a girl who was not going to let that guy stay employed if he tried to take one more step on her property. As you can guess, the man did not cut off my power, but to this day, I growl at the power trucks.

A story can start that simple. Editing it is a whole different beast. At my trusty library, I found “Self-EditingFor Fiction Writers,” by Renni Browne and Dave King. I fell in love with the first read through, so much so I raced around town to find a used copy to own. I read it again, this time completing all the exercises. Man, did I feel armed and awesome. The book provides definitive do's and dont's, which sounds perfect...until you reward yourself with pleasure reading. Grrh! A little knowledge in eager hands can ruin books. I couldn't find a rhythm because I kept stopping and scolding the author, then myself, then the manual.

What to do? You can't be a writer and hate reading. I remembered a different professor in college, my wonderful Asian Philosophy teacher who liked to get creative with his interpretations of Zen Buddhism. I'm not sure if “unlearning” is an actual tenet of Zen, but I tapped into the art of unlearning. Now I strive to appreciate the voice behind the words in both my work and others. 

~Robyn

About Robyn Jones:

I'm the mom of two hardcore boys. My oldest trained me to be matter-of-fact, no frills. My youngest wants the whole singsongy sweet package. Thank goodness for reading and writing because they are my sanity makers. I know life is all about the journey, that's why I like my fiction to be all about the destination. I want to be taken somewhere not here when I read, same goes with the stories I create. Thrills, chills, tears, and laughter, but there has to be something to hold on to at the end.

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This week is the tour for Robyn Jones' Soul Bender (Touched Girl Series #2) that I am hosting. Please check out all the stops on this tour. This is the schedule:

There is a tour-wide giveaway of a $50 Amazon gift card and 3 ebook copies of your choice of Soul Walker or Soul Bender available for winners. 

Schedule:

April 15th

Bookworm Brandee - Review, Top 10

PRUFreads - Review

April 16th

Forget the Housework, I'm Reading... - Review, Top 10

Sycho Faerie's Book Obsession - Review

April 17th

Rainbows and Books - Character Interview, Excerpt

JC's Book Haven - Review

Margay Leah Justice - Top 10

April 18th

My Favorite Escape - Excerpt

Donnie Darko Girl - Review

Bookshelf - Review

April 19th

WeaklingNo14's Wondrous Reviews - Review, Character Interview, Excerpt

Bookwyrming Thought - Top 10

Aussie Bookworm - Review

Guest Post - My Writing Path by Robyn Jones

I'd like to thank Robyn for taking the time to write up this guest post. I hope you enjoy. This will be Part 1 of a series.

My Writing Path (part 1)

I wrote a story and it sucked. Without meaning to, I tweaked and twisted my life into a novel, only with a happily-ever-after-guy in the mix. I wrote another story. This time I only touched on my life. My fate was sealed; I had become a writer.

Funny thing about discovering a dream, it comes loaded with fantasies. Write a book and voila! You land an agent who quickly secures an attentive publisher and top of the line editor. With magic at work behind the scenes, your wonderful story ends up on a bookstore shelf! Oh my goodness, people you haven't spoken to in decades call and email you. You're so awesome because you wrote a book. There are two truths in this ramble, the wrote a book part, and the awesome part.

My path post fantasy started with entering contests. I discovered Romance Writers of America. Reading through their contests felt like reading through the course book for the college of my dreams. I wanted to enter each one. I dove in and submitted Soul Walker. Another truth revealed itself. I suck at waiting. I turned to root beer floats. Honest. I hit them hard.

So here's what you need to know about entering contests. Each one has formatting guidelines. Read them carefully. Make sure you choose one that will benefit you even if your work doesn't place. Just so you know, tons of people suck at contests. They do...okay, I do. Oh, and Marissa Meyer does too. I know this because I went to one of her book signing events where she spoke about her process post cementing herself as a writer.

~Robyn

About Robyn Jones:

I'm the mom of two hardcore boys. My oldest trained me to be matter-of-fact, no frills. My youngest wants the whole singsongy sweet package. Thank goodness for reading and writing because they are my sanity makers. I know life is all about the journey, that's why I like my fiction to be all about the destination. I want to be taken somewhere not here when I read, same goes with the stories I create. Thrills, chills, tears, and laughter, but there has to be something to hold on to at the end.

Blog / Twitter / Goodreads