February Author Newsletter Welcome to my everyday, sometimes writing, life: |
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The second planned email of each month offers you some insight into how I write and where I live. Please reach out to me on social media or via email - I would love to get to know YOU, as well! |
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Did I mention I write because I hate to speak in front of people? I really do hate it. Heck for years I didn't even want to use a drive thru and speak into the nothing of whoever would take my order. (Having kids pushed me over that hump.) So it's a really big deal that I set a goal of attending one author event every month this year. I did start soft as a speaker tonight at Author Night at my school. But I have also agreed to another school engagement next month, a Kids Con in NH in May, and a Bookfest in June. I'm looking for a semi-local events for April and after June. Time to channel my inner warrior queen. | | |
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Have you read any of my Kindle Vella's yet? I thought I would give you a sample of the first chapter from one of mine (remember the first three of every Vella are free). I have quite a few genres if children's fantasy isn't your thing. I also have non fiction around homesteading, small town romance, YA fantasy, and adult fantasy romance (think ACOTAR). And yes, the first three of every one is free, just hop over to Kindle Vella. | | |
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Latest Project This is my latest Kindle Vella that I started publishing. This actually began as my senior thesis in college. A cozy, sometimes sarcastic fantasy, inspired by the great stories like The Belgariad and Wheel of Time. The wisdom of the ages and the silliness of Humanity must come together with the balance of Nature to save the world. Follow Ierrai and her "family" as they struggle to understand what may very well break the world forever. Brand new YA fantasy series!
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Use Smashwords?We are fast approaching Read an Ebook Week - a week that encourages readers to pick up the digital device of their choice and download a new book to read. I'm excited to announce that my book, Growing Up As Fairies, will be available as part of a promotion on Smashwords to celebrate Read an Ebook Week 2023! This is a chance to get my book, along with books from many other great authors, at a discount so you can get right to reading. You will find the promo here starting on March 5, so save the link:
https://www.smashwords.com/ebookweek If you wouldn't mind taking part in promoting this celebration of Ebooks and reading, please feel free to share this promo with your friends and family. Just forward this email to anyone who would love a chance to find their next favorite book and, as the name suggests, read an ebook! Thank you for your help and support! Happy reading! | | |
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A challenge I struggle with: Many authors I know never speak to their readers about the struggle to find enough time for our own hobbies like reading. I used to read a ton, and I used to read every day. Now I read a few times a week (beyond what I do for school prep), but not nearly as much. There's two problems with this. I miss it, first and foremost! But over time, this could lead to an author becoming too disengaged with their audience and losing sight of what people want to read. To a degree, one should always write what gives them pleasure, but it's good to be aware of what people like for style and content as well. Moreover, I believe we are constantly improving our art by being exposed to more of it. In essence I become a better writer the more I read. | | |
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Artificial Intelligence and how it affects our books. As a teacher and as an author, I have been loosely following AI, have you? Artificial Intelligence has been around for a long time and will only increase it's presence. I acknowledge this and I see many benefits from it as well as some downsides. As a teacher AI writing concerns me as I may not always be able to tell when a student writes a response and when AI does. I was playing around with it the other day (using Chatgpt) giving prompts I might ask students and I couldn't tell on the first few whether a student had written it or AI. Until it started using semi-colons and then the game was up. lol The US government (and probably others) has stepped in to say that no AI written piece can be copyrighted as it must be created by a human to receive a copyright. However, that doesn't say that we won't be reading far more blogs, articles and books that are mostly or entirely AI written. I see plenty of ads for blog writers and marketers to try AI and I know that there was a rash of serials released on Kindle Vella that were. This is an issue in the visual art world too, and I have to imagine every other art format. At what point do we the consumer need to know how much is human created and how much is AI. I use AI when I use spellcheck, right? So I already use it, but everything I "write" is unique to my creativity...and this I can copyright it. But at what point do the tables switch. And is there anything wrong choosing to read a good story if it is AI written? It is a complicated issue... | | |
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