Thursday, July 4, 2013

Free e-book! Kami Cursed

Happy 4th!  Kami Cursed will be free this Saturday and Sunday (the 6th and 7th). Please spread the word :)

    Yesterday, Kit Callahan was fourteen years old.  Today she is a seventeen-year-old resident of the local psychiatric hospital- all thanks to an evil library book. 
    Kit has no memory of the three years that have elapsed since she touched the cursed book.  Freed from insanity by her best friend, an infatuated younger boy named Ryuu, Kit awakens to a world of cursed objects, evil kami spirits, and Shinto legend.  Ryuu’s growing spiritual powers give him the ability to sense evil objects that prey on unsuspecting people, but he can’t destroy them.  That ability lies hidden within Kit, and she discovers it when she turns an ordinary baseball bat into a weapon of spiritual destruction. 
    When a girl at their school falls under the influence of a cursed locket, Ryuu and Kit must figure out how to use their newly emerging powers to save her-even if she is a cheerleader.  Armed with a blessed baseball bat, a talking dragon, and a few Buddhist monks, Kit sets out to cleanse the world of evil one cursed object, Shinto prayer, and failed math test at a time. 

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Insecure Writers Support Group

The first Wednesday of the month is Insecure Writers Support Group day.  This group was formed to support writers along the long, and sometimes rough, road.  Writers can share their insecurities, vent, and give and get support from others who are in your shoes.


My current insecurity revolves around direction.  I have written and self-published eight adult works.  This is my first young adult release, and I'm very excited to continue working on this series, but I often get anxious and stressed about whether I'm expending my energy in the right place.  Should I be focusing solely on adult?  Or maybe solely on young adult? I've planned to keep writing for both audiences, but can I do it?  Can I keep up with a full time job, a family, and basically two writing gigs?  

Completely exasperated with myself, I told my husband, "I need someone to manage me!"  But hey, it was me who decided to give up the submission game and do this on my own.  So I guess it's time to just pull it together.  I know all this worry is just my own insecurity and ability to stress myself out about stuff that really doesn't matter.  All that matters is that I keep improving, keep writing and keep putting it out there. But I worry nonetheless.  

Are any of you self-published?  Do you worry about the same thing?  How do you choose a direction for yourself?  Do you have a rigid gameplan, or do you tend to wing it?




Monday, July 1, 2013

Favorite Young Adult Books?

Since this is a new blog, I'd love to get to know my followers as they join (and even if your aren't a follower, I'd love feedback ;)

What were some of your favorite young adult books when you were a kid? How about as an adult?

When I was a kid my favorites were  A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (which by the way has a 50 year commemorative addtion out now), The Witch of Blackbird Pond  by Elizabeth George Speare.  Even then I loved magic and romance!  I also really enjoyed the Hobbit- though I thought it needed some romance ;)

As an adult, I read the Harry Potter series and loved it.  I'm also gonna just go ahead and say I liked the Twilight series too.  A lot of literary people will grumble about that one, but hey, obviously somebody liked it... ;)