My First Glimpse...

Well, my Author's Copies came in the mail the other day and I was able to once again feel the satisfaction that comes with seeing the finished product of my labors and holding it in my hands. My cover is beautiful...Even more beautiful than seeing it on screen and if I could change anything about it, it would be that it was longer. But, that was not how I had intended to write it. It is a short little book of stories that form a prequel, or history, on Aspen's parents and gives some very clever insight to why certain things happened in Noble Courage. I loved writing it and I loved reading it as I checked it over for errors. It is definately different than my first book, but not less lovable!!

The Tales of Elgolan has a cover!

Well, I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised at how wonderful my cover is! I received it just the day before yesterday and with some minor changes, we have this! I think it is a marvelous cover for a marvelous story! So, it now goes on to the printer and will be gifted it's release date very soon. I am so very excited to pass it on to all of you!

Moving On

As you may have read before, I had moved to a different project and had been working on my teen's series for a while. Well, a girl at work did me a great justice simply by picking up my book and reading it, falling in love with it and providing me with the inspiration I needed to open the Darktower's back up and begin writing in my usual fashion once again. I have figured it out...Talking about my characters and their drama is my muse. It makes me excited and brings fresh ideas to my mind as I get so animated and passionate about them as if they are living people. I have to smile and even giggle a little, for I have recruited another great fan...another one who wants to see my story become a movie, who plots the cast as other readers have and envisions the set. She has even told me I should have a role where I appear in every movie as they come along!! I wouldn't go that far. But to have that kind of response from my readers means the world to me and I want to take this moment to thank them for their support for without them I would not be where I am today...And without this gal's excitement I fear that I would not be moving on in the story. She has given me the key to unlock my creativity and I have produced some great writing these last days. I say Thank You and I blow kisses your way!

Text Files Came

Well, my text files came to me from my publisher the day before yesterday. I had a forty-eight hour window to edit them and make certain all was how I wanted them to be. I finished them last evening and sent in my corrections...Thank heavens there were very few. Now, they make those corrections and send the files on to the cover department where they will design the art for the cover, put the blip on the back along with my bio and my picture (last time I did not have my picture there). I get more anxious everyday to see the final product. I think every author does, it is a tremendous feeling of accomplishment. I must admit, as I was reading through my text I got so wrapped up in it that I became emotional again with the power of the words and the situations. I always get emotional as I write it as I am right there beside them, but to read it so long after and still feel the emotion, I hope you all feel it too.

Perhaps an Illustrator!

I have been working on my kids' series and have still had no help from the one I queried so long ago, not even a "sorry, I can't help you", so on I go. I will make it up and hope it is believable!
Anyway, I have someone that is a tremendous artist and have asked if they would paint pictures of my characters. We shall see! I am so excited I can't hardly wait to see what they will say! I only hope I can afford it! hehe
But it would be nice to have beautiful color paintings of the people and the castles of my books to use for covers and trailers and such, wouldn't it?

Research is Tough

I finished another chapter of Renaissance last evening. My kids will be so happy as they have been begging for more after I read them the prologue and chapter one several months ago. I am having my trials with it as I am doing research at the same time as I am writing to prepare for further pages. The research I am doing is proving hard to find and the books are all on modern versions and not medieval historical versions. I have tried to enlist the help of an alchemy researcher and fellow author...we will see if he will help me out or not. I cross my fingers and hope he can unravel the mysteries and piece together the puzzle with all the little bits that I have from all the parts in all the books I have read. Perhaps I can finish one more chapter before my kids return home this week! They would be so surprised!

Going in a New Direction

I had started a series for teens some time ago...well, earlier this year...and I had set it on the back burner to my Darktower family series. Well, I decided the other day to let Aspen and Thorne rest for a little while while I am in the publishing process with my new book that is coming out, The Tales of Elgolan. I have pulled out The Legends of Renaissance and started working on her a bit and lo and behold, seven pages spilled out of me in a matter of a couple of hours. It was amazing! I have some more research to do to continue working on it, but it was a fun change of pace. I decided to use a pen name when I publish this series since it is a different genre, audience and storyline. So, teens can watch for books by Giselle Bessette or visit www.freewebs.com/gisellesbooks.com to catch a glimpse of Princess Renna and her story! It should prove to be great fun!

Life is Funny.

Life is funny, life is crazy...it creeps up on you and when you least expect it, it pounces. If you are not careful it can wrestle you to the ground and win or you wrestle it to the ground and feel so good about things that it could be your downfall.

Family may not always tell you straight for they don't want to hurt you so they spare you the horrid details rolling around in their heads and thus keep you in the dark while your ambitions in life keep you oblivious that anything is wrong.

Friends...hmmm...I am not sure there is such a thing. If you feel a family like bond with someone, they could be a friend. If not, they are merely an acquaintance. I have a hard time trusting either anymore. They always prove most forgetful when times are tough and most critical when you need their support. I have very few "friends" because these relationships are so one-sided.

Careers are great if you are fortunate enough to find one you like. Not all moms get to be home with their children if they want to be, not everyone gets to follow their dreams and be what they wanted to be as a kid. What did I want to be? I said I wanted to be a doctor more than anything. I wanted to save lives, help people. That was my dream before I discovered writing, so I was very young. I would make a hospital in my bedroom and use my dolls as patients, take those old big pepsi bottles and fill them with water and red food coloring, replace the caps and run plastic tubing to my dolls' arms for I.V.'s. I had dr. kits with little pretend syringes and a stethescope. I was going to be great. But, I slacked off in high school and ended up going to a medical technology school where I graduated with honors and went to work in the medical field and found out that it was not about helping people at all! My medical dreams were dashed and I left the field and have never been back.
I was told that it was very possible that I may have pituitary cancer some years ago and that prompted me to begin writing after not lifting a pencil since high school, I began what is now Noble Courage and realized that writing is what I love to do...It is just getting it to my audience that is diffucult. Obviously, I do not have cancer and it was a false alarm...but it was one of those funny things in life that prompted me to do what I had always wanted to do and I have accomplished it.

Life will throw you twists and turns and make it hard to exist sometimes...so do with it what you can!
When Life gives you lemons...Make lemonade!

What I Am Meant To Do

I was able to establish contact with an author friend of mine and she broke the news to me that she was picked up by and agent. Good for her! I can't even imagine the feelings that would run through me at the news that I would finally be represented by an agent. Perhaps one day my talents will be noticed, my characters will be loved by all and my books will soar to the top of the lists. It is something I will work toward until the day I die...something I want my children to see happen...something that will change my life forever. That is what I was born for, to provide others with a means to escape their ordinary lives by slipping into my imaginary one...to take a vacation with people who have become as dear to me as my own family. That is what I am meant to do.

I Won the Stare Down

Well, I won the stare down with the laptop. I opened it up and I started the next chapter, formatting it as I always do. I could almost feel it shaking under my fingers as I showed it who was boss! hehe Seriously, I sat in the quiet and resumed my writing and yes, I skipped over a day or so in the lives of the Darktower family, but I finally put them where I have been just DYING to get them. Now it will get good and the story can fully begin. I have full reign now and who knows what will happen!! Too much power for me!! hehe again. Yes, I am in lighter spirits today, for I won the battle. I wrote just over a page when I thought I would not write a single word so I am happy.
It is time...time for me to open it back up and write some more. It is calling to me today instead of shouting at me to stay away. I suppose I had better be sociable or it may be like most of my other friends and just stop calling altogether!

The Intimidating Notebook

I finally got my own trailer done...it wasn't what I really wanted it to be, and I can always make some changes, but it is there. I think I will take a stab at some writing this morning before I go to work...We shall see what happens there. Perhaps I will find that the inspiration will flow and I will have nothing to fear any longer! hehe
My husband and I went and saw The Dark Knight last evening and I was amazed at the imagination, the special effects and the casting. I loved it...but I am a Batman fan, after all. But the story line got me all the way. It twisted and turned with many low blow moves on the Joker's part...and I loved that it showed several of the villains in one show that we used to see on the cartoons as kids. It was great.
So, I am off to see the Intimidating Notebook for a visit and see what we can accomplish today!

Time Will Tell

Here I am...a woman, a mother, a wife, an employee, a friend, a daughter, a sister, an author...with no time in my day for the things I would like to get done and all the time in the world for all the things that will get me nowhere. I desperately want the time to make memories with my children, to visit with my friends and not feel guilty, to be able to write my novels and entertain the world and not feel that I am putting my family out. It is tough. I feel unappreciated where I work hard everyday and put much pride into a minimal job...but when one reader compliments my handiwork in a book, I feel elation and I want to spread that to more readers. I feel a little bogged down with so much to do and no time to do it...
But on a good note, I was able to send in my required documentation to mypublisher today to finish my end of the deal, so to speak. Now my manuscript goes to an editor who will format it and get it ready to print. Then it will go to the cover design team who do a great job. I look forward to seeing what they do for this one.
I hope to begin a trailer for this book soon...I usually wait until the cover is here, but I may have it done and waiting by then, who knows? Time will tell, it always does.

Creating Trailers...Like Movie Trailers

I have found that I absolutely LOVE creating trailers for books. Although I find it difficult to make them for myself, I enjoy making them for others. I was so tickled when my good friend and fellow author asked me to make her trailer for her second book...I had made the one for her first...and at the same time I felt a little intimidated by the task. What if I could not produce the same results as the last time? What if she hated it? But, as I forced myself to get started and just dig in, it all just kind of came to me and I could see what I wanted to accomplish and what kinds of phrases I wanted to use...It was amazing to me how my mind can be so creative sometimes! I could happily spend my days snapping photos and putting together these trailers for authors for the rest of my life and think I had the best job in the world...next to writing books, of course! lol

Writing is Like Poker...

I was at a game of poker last night with my husband and some friends and it occurred to me that writing and playing the publishing game is a lot like playing poker...very much like gambling. You put your words together and throw your "ante" out there to the publisher, who is like the dealer because they hold all the cards, and as you sit around the table of marketing and promotion with your fellow authors you hold in your hands your secret weapon...the "cards" that you feel will win the table over and enable you to win. And so you toss in your chips as you pay endlessly for items needed to promote yourself, whether it is bookmarks, posters and announcement cards or a fee you pay an agent, those chips go into the middle of the pot and it grows. Some hide behind a name and bluff their way to the top as everyone folds to them, intimidated. Some have true talent and hold the winning hand. Some just play to have a good time and do what they enjoy. Regardless, it is difficult to find your way around those who up the ante higher to be able to play with them and you find yourself questioning your own worth in the business. But, no matter where you fall in the ranks...if you love doing it, never stop because you can only get better!
I am not a very good poker player but I keep going back and I learn something new each time I play. The same goes for writing. Everytime I publish I learn something new, every booksigning I learn something new, every author I meet I learn something new. I just have to get better...

You Just Never Know...

I was at work last evening and a woman handed me her card. She told me to come down and see her so she could cook for me and my husband at a fine restaraunt. I jokingly replied that I would come and eat her food and I would leave her a copy of my book for her to read. She laughed a moment and sobered quickly. Her interest piqued and she asked what I wrote and remarked about how fun it would be to host a booksigning at the restaraunt. She acted genuinely honored to have met me...ME! of all people. Perhaps it will lead to a very exciting event for the both of us! Furthermore, it was interesting because the woman's daughter was with her and she works in a marketing firm directly across the street from my place of business. She offered to take my card and my bookmarks and see what she could do to run some pricing through the industry and get some quotes for me! What fate will do for you when you open your big mouth!! hehe

The Fear of Moving On

I am currently writing book two in my Elgolan Series and am finding it rather difficult to continue to move forward. I find it funny that I just punched the final period of chapter four the other night with bittersweet feelings as I knew that would mean I would have to, in a sense, start over with a new chapter. I have yet to begin chapter five. How odd, when the book is laid out for me in my mind and even sketched on paper that I would have this fear of moving forward with my own book. Here I have readers wanting the next book and I am cowering on my couch staring at my laptop unable to open it and let the inspiration flow. I know I had times like this with the first book but it also took me seven years to write it...I don't have that luxury this time around. I had wanted this book to be done by now and it isn't, which makes me disappointed in myself. Well, I will just have to take it one sentence at a time for they turn into paragraphs and then into chapters. I will get there eventually!

Prequel in preproduction

July 22, 2008

I am well on my way to the release of my second book, although it is actually the prequel to my first. It is quite a unique little book of only 150 pages, but instead of chapters it is made up of five short stories...each with it's own name. This has been very different for me since my first novel was 483 pages and twenty-four chapters and the "second" book in the series will be similar as well. So, it makes this little prequel very special.
I had to sit and decide what I wanted to have displayed over the back cover two nights ago. That is always a tough thing to do. I wanted it to reflect the fact that it ties in with the first book and answers questions that the reader didn't even realize were there in the first place but I also wanted it to tell the reader briefly about the story itself. I also wanted to add a blip to my readers at the end. So, here is what I came up with...

Before there was Thorne and Aspen, there was Vatric and Lyndsay...
Before Aspen discovered the village of Cliffehaven, there was a small settlement camp called Little Harbour where death and poverty overshadowed all who lived there. But there were two who dared to break free of the gloom and move on to promised paradise. Together, Vatric and Lyndsay embark on the journey that would shape their lives as they fight to remain just beyond the clutches of the greedy Earl St. Michael.
Before there was Noble Courage, there were the Tales of Elgolan!

I thoroughly enjoyed writing about these two very subtle characters from Noble Courage and I smiled the entire time as the pieces all fell into place like a puzzle. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did! Please feel free to drop me a note at darktowerfamily@yahoo.com .