Another Privilege of Being a Writer

As most of you already know, I simply ADORE being a writer. Yes it is really hard work and yes, sometimes I do wish I could step back and take a breather. But I have chosen the indie path and I couldn't be happier with my decision. For me I know there is so much more to come in this writing journey and I'm loving every part of it.

I feel very privileged to be in a position where my job is one I love. Writing doesn't feel like work to me and although I find marketing challenging, the fact I get to make up stories for a living takes the sting out of trying to get my books noticed. However one aspect of marketing that I really enjoy is the chance to talk about my books and writing to others...especially students.

Suzhou Singapore International School invited me to chat to some of their Literacy classes during Book Week. I had over 10 forty-minute sessions talking to high school students about my passion for writing and answering loads of questions - everything from cover design to how I go about constructing a story. Being able to rabbit on about writing this week was a privilege. Their questions were insightful and fun to answer. It made me realize that I have come to learn a lot about writing. The fact I could talk about it with such ease and no notes, means it must be ingrained. After 12 years, I still don't have the courage to call myself an expert, but I do have the courage to say I know what I'm talking about.

Another thing that occurred to me over this week is that last year, I used to tell people I was an indie author with a certain degree of shame. Like somehow because I wasn't traditionally published, I wasn't quite cutting it. I didn't feel that at all this year. As I was talking about what I had achieved in my two years as an indie author, I felt both pride and confidence. I am doing it. I am making a career out of writing and I am proud to be an indie author.

My biggest hope is that I have inspired the students. Hopefully they will realize that with a lot of hard work and persistence, they can become published authors...or whatever else they hope to be.

Thank you so much for having me SSIS. And thank you to the indie author community and my fans who have brought me to such a positive place in my writing life.

Where's The Line Between YA and NA?

The New Adult genre has been in play for a while. It's not until I joined Indie Inked that I really started to find out more about it. Some of the authors within the group have had great success with their NA novels. It got me thinking... Should I write one of those? And then I started thinking... Well what is the NA genre really? How is it different to YA?

From what I can tell so far, NA books deal with characters who are slightly older - 18+ years. They are dealing with some of those issues you face out of high school...the really big coming of age type moments. A character's first proper job, first serious relationship... possibly an engagement, a heart shattering break-up, having to take care of family. You know, the really big stuff that makes or breaks a person.

I guess YA novels deal with some of those issues too, but in NA the author can go into more depth, make it more gritty and intense. I think another big difference is that NA can be more violent and also more detailed with sex. 

I'm still deciding how I feel about this. These books are aimed at a 16 - 18+yrs . I know people are basically adults by then and I don't want to by an old-fashioned stuff, but I am still going to think very carefully about how I present the sex and violence in any of my books. 

Okay - so now that I have laid my foundations, I want to put forward a question. 

Where is the line between YA and NA books?

I am asking this because I am currently writing a novella - Before. It's a prequel to Betwixt and describes Dale's journey when he was going through his bad boy phase. He got up to a lot of mischief and I need to include this in the story to make his journey more impacting. I feel like it is an NA style story, yet it's about a teenage boy. Do I market this book as a YA or an NA?

I know some authors who have faced the problem of starting a YA series and as the characters grow older the books need to become grittier... more NA like. So does the marketing change halfway through a series?

I'm really interested to know what people think on this.

As a reader, I am open to both YA and NA books. I love both genres, although some NA's go too far for me. On the opposite side of the spectrum, I have heard one author comment that someone complained because her NA novel wasn't raunchy enough?

I feel like the YA/NA genres are very closely linked and I think people need to be open to the fact that some YA novels will be racier and some NA novels will not have as much punch. 

How do you define the difference between the two genres?

How important is it to differentiate between the two?

Good Stuff To Know - July Edition

I haven't done one of these posts in a really long time. Sorry about my inconsistency with posting lately. I am planning on getting back into after our vacation. It's hard to keep things up when you're away from home...plus I've had all these releases in quick session. It's been a crazy couple of months... yet so much fun!

Anyway - I thought it was about time I got back into this post as I know many of you find it really helpful.

Here are a few links I've been storing away that may come in handy.

Jonathan Gunson is a total legend when it comes to sharing great marketing tips. I thought this post had some excellent points. 7 Best Seller Strategies for Writers.

I am a "do it yourself" book trailer maker. I came across this blog post the other day with a bunch of links for finding awesome background music for trailers. Not all of these are free, but they are royalty free, which is really helpful. 21 Sites of Free Music for your Book Trailer.

I actually hunted for these two articles. With the new adult genre rising in popularity quickly it's been hard to find the line between YA and NA fiction. I think even readers are confused sometimes. I think authors need a really clear idea in their minds about what New Adult fiction is.
This post was brilliant: New Adult Fiction: The Next Big Thing in Publishing?
And this post was really helpful when dealing with YA writing: 5 Tips for Writing and Marketing YA/Teen Books.

I've actually decided to do a full post on this topic, so keep an eye out for that next week.

Hopefully these articles are helpful to you.
If you have anything else you've come across that you'd like to share, please feel free to add it in the comments section.

I LOVE New Ideas!!!

Do you know one of the best feelings in the world?

Well, for me it's that magical moment when a new idea pops into my brain. Like a lump of sugar plopping into a cup of hot tea, it's an exquisite moment.

Images crowd my brain, each scene filled with excitement and emotion as these characters come to life. A story unfolds, usually not in any particular order. The random chaos eventually culminates into a full length novel and I'm so excited I want to start writing straight away.

But I can't.
Usually when a new idea hits me I'm in the throes of writing a completely different story.

Sometimes this is frustrating, but it's actually a good thing. The fact I can't work on the book straight away gives it longer to mull in my brain. The characters become more real, acquire bigger problems, gain more intricate backstories. The scenes I originally came up with get replaced by better scenes. New scenes appear to me, giving me subplots and making the entire story stronger.

A few weeks, sometimes even months, to work on a story idea in my head has often been the best thing for me.

How about you?
How do stories develop in your mind?

So, why am I writing this post?
Well, a few months ago, I had a spark of an idea and it has slowly been growing and developing in my head and I AM SUPER EXCITED!!! At this stage it is possibly a four book series, but I promise I won't end the first book with a cliff hanger. The first story is clear in my head, the other three are still growing. As soon as The Elements Trilogy is out there for you to enjoy, I will be working on this series. I'm planning for a 2014 release as I have a couple of small surprises I want to put together for my readers first (three words...Dale and Nicole). Whoop! Whoop! Looking forward is so much fun when you have so many cool things planned.

Do you have any new projects on the go that you're super excited about?
I hope so!
Because it really is the best feeling in the world!

Goodreads - What's Good and What's Not

YA writers and bloggers unite each week to share their thoughts on what it's like going indie in today's publishing world.

As a reader and a writer, I am a big fan of Goodreads. 

From a reader's perspective, I love being able to add books to my reading list. I love being able rate books, tell people why I loved them and let people know what I'm reading. I love seeing what other readers think about books too. I have read some amazing stories thanks to recommendations on Goodreads.

From a writer's perspective, I really do love it. I think it is a great way to get exposure for my work. I love the Event feature, the Giveaway and the Listopia features. I have had many people add my books to their reading lists because of these. Unfortunately these do not always result in sales, but at least the interest is there. 

I know some authors do not like Goodreads. I think people are far more ready to leave their honest opinions on this site and they hold nothing back. Some authors have been badly burned by nasty comments and reviews. I don't have a problem with someone not liking my books. Reading is a very subjective thing and people have a right to their opinions. I do think people need to be careful how they word these opinions though. You can still be respectful in your dislike of something. 

All-in-all I will be forever grateful to my friend, T. G. Ayer, who put me onto Goodreads in the first place. It has been awesome for my writing career and it definitely motivates me to read more as well. 

What do you think of Goodreads?


Check out what the other YA Indie Carnival members think on their sites, which are listed below.

You can also check out the YA Author Club for the latest updates and news on what we're all up to.

1.	Laura A. H. Elliott	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series	4.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
5.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog	6.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
7.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter	8.	Liz Long | Just another writer on the loose.
9.	Ella James	10.	Maureen Murrish
11.	YA Sci Fi Author's Ramblings	12.	A Little Bit of R&R
13.	Melissa Pearl	14.	Terah Edun - YA Fantasy
15.	Heather Sutherlin - YA Fantasy

Indie Life - It's About Quality

I'm very excited to be part of The Indelibles Indie Life series. These posts run on the second Wednesday of every month and include ideas and articles from a wide variety of indie authors. Check out the links below to learn more about INDIE LIFE.

Last month I spoke about balance.

This month, I want to talk about quality.

When I first jumped on the indie band wagon, I decided that I wanted to be seen as a professional. Whether we like it or not, there seems to be a stigma when it comes to self-published authors. Because our work hasn't been vetted by a traditional publishing house, people question whether our work is good enough. Heck, I even question myself sometimes, but that's a whole other blog post ;-)

The point is, if we want to lose the stigma, we have to act like professional authors. One way of doing that, is to produce quality work. Writing is not something every person can do and it only comes 100% naturally to a few. If you love writing as much as I do and you really want to make a career out of it, then I highly suggest you take the time to study the craft. I thought I could write before, but after taking a two-year writing course and reading many books on how to write well, I realized how many mistakes I was making. I'm not saying I am the world's best writer, but I have come a long way and I now feel confident that I am producing quality work. Work that deserves to be published.

So other than trying to master the craft of writing, what else can you do to strive for quality?

- Use critique partners and beta readers. These guys are worth gold to you. Honest feedback on your first drafts are key to ironing out the creases in your story.

- Pay a professional editor. I know they cost, but can you really afford not to? I did with my first books because I had no money, but I've always regretted it. I now refuse to publish a book until it has been professionally edited.

- Make sure your cover looks as though it belongs on a bookstore shelf. Don't settle for a homemade job when graphic design is not your skill. Covers do not break the bank, but they can break or make book sales.

Aiming to produce quality takes time and a little money, but you will never regret spending a few pennies to make your mark in the reading world. Act like a professional author and you will become one.

That's my theory :-)
What do you think?

Good Stuff To Know

Welcome to the March edition of Good Stuff To Know.

Because I've been holed up in my writing cave over the last few weeks, I haven't found as many articles as I usually do, but I still found some I'd really like to share.

My favourite article this month is by Mark Coker. He shared his opinion on the 5 Steps to Boost E-book Sales. I totally agreed with his opinions and thought it was an excellent post... well worth reading.

In no way am I a Twitter genius, so when I found this article - Top 10 Ways To Create Hashtags on Twitter - I jumped all over it. There are some good points here. I haven't put them into practice yet, but I plan to.

I wrote an article on Indies Unlimited last month sharing about how important I think it is to write the stories inside you and not just follow the trends of publishing. Bookshelf Muse published a similar post some time ago now. Because I think theirs was far better written, I'm going to share their version of the same message :-D Lengthening the Chain

And lastly - I have just started reading an excellent book that my friend recommended to me. Thanks Leigh K. Hunt!! 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love by Rachel Aaron. I'm only half way through it, but the author is making a lot of sense. Her advice is really easy to implement and I tried out one strategy yesterday with much success. For only $0.99, I'd say this book is definitely worth having on your e-reader.

That's me for March. Do you have any helpful tips or articles you've discovered? Feel free to share them in the comments section.

Thanks for stopping by!

Indie Life - It's All About Balance

I'm not sure where I spotted this, but when I clicked on The Indelibles link, I knew I had to be a part of Indie Life. This is a monthly series where indie authors can post about life as an indie. At the bottom of this post you will see the links for the other authors involved. This is a great opportunity to learn a little more about life in the indie world. I really encourage you to check out this series. You may discover some fantastic tid bits that you can store away for your writing craft and career.

This month, I want to talk about balance.

Most of the writers I know are passionate about the craft. I am. Writing makes me so incredibly happy and I would do it all day, every day, if I could.

My ultimate dream is to be a full time writer, something I am working hard towards achieving. At the moment I am at home with the kids, watching them grow, wiping up their tears, teaching one that throwing food all over the floor is inappropriate behaviour and teaching the other that kamikaze jumping from his top bunk bed, with a plastic sword in hand, is how bones get broken. My full time job at the moment is basically making sure my kids are feeling completely adored by their mother.

It's when my little one sleeps that I dive into my office and swim in the ocean of my imagination. It is my favourite time of the day and I always feel just a little sad when junior wakes up from his nap. My little bubble pops and it's back to playing mommy again.

I sometimes find this really frustrating and desperately wish to retire into my writing cave. But life is about balance. Stepping away from the computer to look after family, work another job, exercise, cook, eat, play, relax... is vital to becoming a quality writer. Your brain and eyes can only take so much screen time. It's amazing how often a storyline will come clear or a character will develop another layer as I'm going about my other tasks.

It's also important to find balance in your writing.
You need to find time to research, study (there's always room to improve your writing skills), write, edit and market.

Fitting everything in can be a mission. That's why I get up an hour before everyone else. The time difference works in my favour, so I spend that time marketing and working on social media stuff. During nap times, I work on my writing and on the weekends I do a little of both.

I'm not going to lie, I do get very excited about the idea of my youngest starting morning kindy next year - 3 mornings a week!!! That's like 6 hours of writing time. I am very much looking forward to seeing what I can achieve.

What do you think about having a balanced writing life? How do you fit everything in?

Facebook Groups - What They Can Do For You.

I belong to several Facebook Groups. I was a little unsure when I first started out on Facebook and kind of fell into a couple of groups without meaning to. Initially, I don't think I took advantage of them at all.

However, after nearly a year of actively using Facebook, I'm getting a handle on groups and am SO grateful to belong to them.

Due to time constraints and writing deadlines, I can't participate regularly in every group, but there are four that have become very precious to me and here are the reasons why...

1. They provide me with a place to ask questions, vent my concerns, celebrate my successes and feel supported in a job that can sometimes be quite lonely.

2. I have learned so many cool things about the publishing industry, gleaned helpful tips on how to market successfully and how to write better.

3. Reading comment threads on interesting questions or topics has helped me to evaluate my own writing journey and given me ideas on how I can tweak and improve my work.

4. My writing groups help me promote my work, vote for my books on Goodreads lists, like my book pages and generally help me get word out about any new releases or giveaways I have going on.

5. Belonging to these groups gives me the opportunity to give a little back. I love being able to support and promote other writers. I love feeling part of a group and knowing that I am doing my part to help them in their journey as well.

If you are a writer and you don't belong to any decent groups or networks yet, seek some out. Or you could form one of your own with a few contacts you know. It's great to be part of a team and makes the process of writing and producing books a million times better.

To my precious Facebook groups (Inklings, IU, II, SSoFIYA), thank you so much for your awesome support and friendship. I love and appreciate you all so much xxxx

2012 - Things I'm Grateful For

YA writers and bloggers unite each week to share their thoughts on what it's like going indie in today's publishing world.

Yay for Thanksgiving!! We don't celebrate it in NZ, but it's always so well advertised that we all know about it... and it always gets me thinking.

At Indie Carnival we thought this would be a great chance to mentions some of the highlights from our year and the things we are grateful for.

I have a wonderful life and find myself with a million things to be thankful for, so I'll just stick with the writing related ones in this post.

2012 has been an amazing year for me. I have released three books - Pure Blood (#3 Time Spirit Trilogy), Forbidden Territory (#1 Mica and Lexy Series) and Betwixt.

I am so grateful for...

- every person who has purchased these books. You guys are helping me write my next book... and my next... and my next.

- everyone who took the time to review the book or tell me what they thought about it. I so appreciate all your support, enthusiasm and honesty.

- the marketing & writing lessons I've learned throughout the year. I have come so far and learned so much. I know I have a long way to go still, but I'm definitely a better writer than I was last year. Long may I be able to say that :-)

- the fun I've had putting these books together. I love writing. I just love it!!

 - Brenda Howson, the co-author of Forbidden Territory and the YAlicious blog. Also my graphic designer. I love you, chick :-)

- ZealousDesign, the website that distributes my books for me in New Zealand.

- the schools I've been invited to visit and the awesome kids I've met. Some of them even wanted my signature. How cool is that?!

- librarians!!! I have met so many of you this year and I think you are all wonderful. Your passion for reading and sharing books with the younger generations is awesome. I have so appreciated your support and enthusiasm.

- the amazing people I've met and connected with through Twitter and Facebook. There are so many cool writers and bloggers out there who love to support indies. I have enjoyed building friendships with you and helping to support your careers as well. The writing world rocks!! Squee!

- Inklings - my writing group that I can go to about anything and they always understand. I love you girls.

- Indies Unlimited - another amazing group that has given me so many opportunities this year. I have learned so much from all of you and I love being a part of this awesome team.

- YA Indie Carnival. You guys are an amazing bunch of writers and I am so honoured to be associated with you. Tina & Laura - I have to give you special mention. You have done the most amazing job with this group and I so appreciate your time and effort.

- the coming year. I have four books planned for 2013, plus the launch of my own website. Excitement!!! There is so much to look forward to and on the days I feel low, I just need to think of all the things I mentioned above and all the cool things that await me in the future and I can do nothing but smile.

If you'd like to find out what the other carnival goers are grateful for, you can follow the link below.

And you can also check out the YA Author Club for the latest updates and news on what we're all up to.

1.	Laura A. H. Elliott	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series	4.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
5.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog	6.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
7.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter	8.	Liz Long | Just another writer on the loose.
9.	Ella James	10.	Maureen Murrish
11.	YA Sci Fi Author's Ramblings	12.	A Little Bit of R&R
13.	Melissa Pearl	14.	Terah Edun - YA Fantasy

NB: We are taking next week off, so there will be no Friday post from me on the 30th :-)

Recommended Reading For Writers

In October, I ran an Author-fest. It was so fantastic having such great authors visit my YAlicious blog for a small interview. It was awesome to get to know their work a little better and the history behind some of their stories. One of the most interesting questions for me was...

 If you could recommend any book to aspiring writers, what would it be and why?

There were some fantastic suggestions, so I thought I'd compile the answers into a list for you.
If you'd like to add any others into the comments section, please feel free.

So - in no particular order....

On Writing by Stephen King. He talks about writing with the passion of the story—getting caught up in the story without worrying about perfection or errors. I think a lot of beginning writers get so caught up in their mistakes that they become stymied. My favorite quote about first drafts is “A first draft is a celebration of everything that can go wrong on a page.”

The Writer's Guide to Character Traits by Linda N. Edelstein, PH.D. It's an absolute goldmine for character development, and helps to really make your characters three-dimensional, real people.

And Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder. It's a book about plotting out screenplays but it 

DEFINITELY applies to novel writing. BIG TIME.

Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon is hands-down the most comprehensive, helpful book on revision. Lyon covers not only copyediting issues, but also voice, theme and symbolism, pacing and characterization.

And here's one from me...

Writing Great Books For Young Adults by Regina Brooks. This book is full of helpful suggestions and things to consider when writing for a YA audience. I took screeds of notes that I refer to all the time.

I hope you manage to get your hands on some of these books. I know I will be working through the ones I haven't read yet.

Do you have any books you'd like to add to the mix? What's your recommended reading for writers?

The Story Behind Betwixt

As a reader, I love to know the history of a book - how it came to be, what inspired the author to come up with the concept.

Since we're having a Betwixt Pre-release Bash, I figured I may as well include how Betwixt was born and raised.

To be honest, the premise for Betwixt is not my own. I saw a preview for the movie, Invisible, and thought it was amazing. I couldn't wait to see it and when I did, I actually came away a touch disappointed. In spite of that, I couldn't stop thinking about the movie - the stuff they'd done well, the stuff I thought could have been done better.

As the movie played around in my head, a story of my own was born. I never thought I'd write though, because it was too similar to the movie and I didn't want to be a copycat. So I filed it away in the back of my brain and forgot about it.

Last year the story kept coming back to me. I don't know why, but as it did, it transformed into something different. My characters changed in personality and appearance and as they did, a completely new story evolved. It changed from a search and rescue type story to one of redemption... and these small character changes took it from a light read into something with emotional depth.

Planning and writing Betwixt was easy. Once those few major changes popped into my head, everything fell into place. This project has been nothing but a pleasure to work on.

I was able to draw from some of my own life experiences as I wrote this. There's always something cool about being able to leave a small piece of yourself behind in your work and my hope is that this story will touch your heart as it has touched mine.

* * * * *

If you'd like a chance to win a copy of Betwixt, please check out the giveaway below. Only three days to go!! Eeeeekkkk!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It's All About Love

I love to write. It's like I've finally discovered my passion in life... what I was born to do. When I write, time disappears. It's the first time in my life I've actually enjoyed studying a craft and there is no aspect of this writing journey that I do not enjoy... maybe formatting :-)

When I was working on the first draft of Betwixt, I couldn't help thinking about how incredibly lucky I am. Sure, writing takes a huge amount of effort and I pour hours of my time into producing books and then sharing them with the world. But then readers pay me to read them, so not only do I get to do what I love, but I get paid for it as well.

I know not everyone in the world can say that and I never want to take this fact for granted. Writing gives me so much, so for Betwixt, I've decided I want to give a little something back.

For every copy of Betwixt sold, I am donating $1 to a charity organisation - Love146.

These guys are working to try and prevent child exploitation and trafficking. They also work with the children that do get free, to help rehabilitate them and give them a chance at a future filled with hope.

Because Betwixt is all about being rescued and redeemed, I wanted to find a charity that works with helping to restore brokenness. I believe Love146 does an amazing job of this.

To give you a better idea, I asked a member of the American staff - Ryan Day - if I could interview him and give you a bit more insight about how they came to be and what they are doing.

How did Love146 first get started?

Love146 was founded in 2002 when co-founders Rob Morris, Lamont Hiebert, Desirea Rodgers and Caroline Hahm visited Southeast Asia on an exploratory trip to learn what they could do to fight child trafficking and exploitation. They were taken into a brothel with undercover investigators and encountered girls being sold for sex. From that point on, they've said, they had to do something.

How did you come up with the name Love146?

In the brothel, the co-founders said one girl stood out to them. She had had the dignity of a name taken from her and was instead given the number "146" as her only identification. The look in her eyes shook them from any apathy and they went to work immediately, taking her number to represent the millions of children still in situations of slavery.

What is the most impacting story you've experienced since working for Love146?

This is the most impactful story I've ever heard here at Love146: http://www.love146.org/blog/forgiving-their-father

When people hear the name Love146, what do you want them to think?

I want them to think of two things: First, the girl who wore number 146 and the millions of children still enslaved that she represents. Second, I want people to remember that love is powerful -- powerful enough to inspire people to rise up and do something. We've seen love work restoration and healing in the children we've encountered who have been through situations of trafficking and exploitation. We've also seen love motivate people generously so that hundreds, even thousands of children could be protected and defended.

If you'd like to find out more about Love146, you can follow the links below:

Facebook

Website

Thank you so much to all my supporters. Because of you, I get to do what I love for a living... and I get to give back to those in desperate need of love as well. I feel very privileged to be in this position.

YA Indie Carnival - Opportunities

YA writers and bloggers unite each week to share their thoughts on what it's like going indie in today's publishing world.

Today the carni goers are discussing opportunities that indie publishing has given us. 

Well, where do I start?

My story goes like most authors probably does... I wanted to write, I wanted to share my books with the world. I learned a few lessons along the way and eventually started (correctly) looking for an agent. After a few years of trying and also improving my writing skills, I got to the point where I had to make a decision. Did I keep submitting my work in the hope I might one day get published, or did I take matters into my own hands and check out the indie route?

I took the plunge and jumped into the indie river... and I'm SO glad I did. Sure - I'm not getting the same sales numbers and exposure as a traditionally published author, but I love being in charge of my writing career. I have met so many amazing people, I have been able to write stories that inspire me and some of my readers, my books are getting great reviews and I am on my way to turning this "hobby" into a career :-)

So - what opportunities has the indie road presented to me?

- the chance to share my work with the world

- the chance to meet amazing authors and bloggers, some of which have become great friends

- the chance to learn and improve my skills as a writer and a marketer

- the opportunity to talk to students about writing and hopefully inspire them to follow their dreams

- the opportunity to own a business (I never in a million years would have thought I'd do that, but when you're an indie author, you own your work and therefore are plunged into the business of writing) I actually love keeping accounts and tracking my stats. I must have more geek in me than I realized :-)

- most importantly, it's given me the opportunity to write stories I love, because at the end of the day - why do we really do this? Because writing makes us come alive :-)

Are you an indie writer?

What opportunities has the indie road opened up for you?

To see what the other carni's have to say, check out the links below.

T. R. Graves has been doing an amazing job improving the YA Author Club blog. Don't forget to stop by and check it out :) 

1.	Laura A. H. Elliott	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series	4.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
5.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog	6.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
7.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter	8.	Liz Long | Just another writer on the loose.
9.	Ella James	10.	Maureen Murrish
11.	YA Sci Fi Author's Ramblings	12.	A Little Bit of R&R
13.	Melissa Pearl	14.	Seo Company