Lies I Told Myself About Writing

I’m really good at negative self-talk (thanks, Inner Critic). Here are some things I’ve told myself about my writing, that I now know not to be true because hello, I have a novel out.

Caveats: (1) I had an awesome co-author, so I didn’t do it all on my own; (2) we didn’t go the traditional publishing route, but published it ourselves through Turtleduck Press, with help from professionals and semi-pros. My Inner Critic would like to have a field day with those caveats, but they don’t negate the fact that there is now a novel out there in the world with my name on it, and people are even buying it.

And so, the list of lies:

1. You don’t have the discipline to be a writer.
2. Your wrists can’t take that much typing anymore. (They can. I just rack up the words a little slower these days.)
3. You don’t know how to edit a novel. (I’m talking the big stuff, structural editing — I usually flail around and get tied up in knots. This time, somehow, I knew what needed to be done and I did it.)
4. You don’t have the temperament to edit a novel.
5. You’re too afraid of failure to ever put anything out there.
6. You’re too addicted to the Internet to ever put anything out there.
7. You’re not a good writer. (I’m still and always learning. That’s different.)
8. Your writing process is fatally flawed.
9. You can’t be a writer and have other interests / a life at the same time. (I don’t have kids. But I do work full-time, have a significant other, and have several other hobbies that  can be fairly time-intensive.)
10. You can’t plan, write, edit, and publish a novel in a reasonable amount of time like real writers do. (It took nine months from the start of planning to when we published it. In retrospect, that wasn’t really enough time, but we did it.)
11. You’re not a real writer.
12. You’ll never be a real writer.

WELL ACTUALLY…I did it. And will do it again.

So can you.

City of Hope and Ruin

Aaaaand it’s out!

City of Hope and Ruin, a fantasy-with-lesbian-romance novel by Kit Campbell and yours truly, is now out in the world! You can buy it in the following formats:

(Amazon | Paperback | Nook | iBookstore | Kobo)

Announcement: Novel Release Imminent!

Hello, did you miss me? I’ve been slightly busy, and here’s why: next week I have a novel coming out! It’s a co-written fantasy novel with romance, and…well, here:

Every night the monsters hunt.

A city that is the whole world: Theosophy and her companions in the City militia do their best to protect the civilians from the monsters, but they keep crawling from the Rift and there’s nowhere to run. Theosophy knows she’ll die fighting. It’s the best kind of death she’s seen, and at least she can save lives in the meantime.

They say the Scarred carve you up while you’re still alive.

A village in the shadow of a forest: Refugees from the border whisper about the oncoming Scarred, but Briony can’t convince her brother to relocate his children to safety. Briony will do anything to protect them. She owes them that much, even if it means turning to forbidden magic.

When Theosophy and Briony accidentally make contact across the boundaries of their worlds, they realize that solutions might finally be within reach. A world beyond the City would give Theosophy’s people an escape, and the City’s warriors could help Briony protect her family from the Scarred. Each woman sees in the other a strength she lacks—and maybe something more.

All they need to do is find a way across the dimensions to each other before their enemies close in.

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We’ve been blogging about the novel creation process at Turtleduck Press, here. You can read Theo and Bree’s first meeting here, and preorder the ebook in your format of choice over here. Print copies will be available from Amazon on May 11, at my book launch in Toronto on May 29 (details to come!), or in person from me or Kit.

We’re slowly rolling out social media for City of Hope and Ruin as well: Goodreads, Pinterest. And stay tuned for some blog visits and other surprises over the coming weeks.

UPDATE: We’re having a virtual book launch party on Facebook on Wednesday, May 11, from 8:30 to 11:30 PM EDT, and you’re invited!

If you’re inclined to help, here’s how you can:

• Preorder the ebook. All preorders count towards our first-day sales numbers, which gives a boost to our all-important sales ranking at Amazon.
• If you’re not an ebook person, of course buy the print copy instead! It’ll be a trade paperback (that’s the bigger size).
• Once you’ve read it, leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, LibraryThing, etc. Visibility and perceptions of quality are the biggest problems for indie authors, and reviews help with both those things. They don’t even have to be 5-star reviews — we’d really rather you were honest. (An honest 3- or 4-star review will tell a prospective reader more about whether they’ll like the book than a glowing 5-star review.)
• Tell others about our book, whether on social media or in person.
• If you’re in Toronto, come to my book launch on May 29.

5 days and counting!