A Soldier

One friend had posted a picture of her husband. He’s in desert fatigues complete with helmet and vest. Her comment touched my heart. She indicated that though he was hot, tired, and far from home, in a place where the people didn’t want him, and he might not even had wanted to be there a smile lit his face. This so explained a soldier’s life. They may not like the administration or the orders given them, but they stay and fight.

I think of my uncles, one of whom passed away this summer from cancer most likely started with Agent Orange back in Vietnam. They went places and saw things that I will never be able to imagine. They came home to no thanks, no welcome. They stuffed their experiences and went on living even if they experienced PTSD. They fought their own demons as surely as they fought the Viet Cong.

A Hero

As I scrolled further down, I saw Massimo Marino‘s post for Veteran’s Day. With his photo, he told a story. To gain the context, the reader needs to be aware that Massimo is from France. This is the story in his words.

My mom was a kid under Nazi occupation in latest years of WWII.

Her little village in Central Italy… A large SS contingent temporarily occupied the scattered houses, robbing people of whatever they could. Prisoner US GIs were guarded nearby at gun point.

While playing with friends using round rocks in lieu of real marbles, one of her throws skidded and hit an SS officer’s boots.

The enraged man turned and aimed his gun at her. Livid, and ready to shoot. His hateful voice, screaming who knows what obscenities in German, froze my mom who paled and began to tremble.

As the SS officer’s hand contracted on the gun, one of the GIs stood up and put himself in the line of fire. The SS knocked him down with the gun and had him taken away.

My mom’s voice trembles when she describes the scene. She believes, and I believe, she was spared because of that unknown hero.

A Song

I am in my third year of teaching in a small school. After attending the leadership conference for student councils last weekend, I’ll define small school. Our high school has a total of 69 students in grades 9-12. I love working there. My first year, the ensemble sang the national anthem on 9/11 to start our day. Each year, we have held some ceremony for Veteran’s Day and honored the four out of ten teachers who served in the armed services. Yesterday, I stood with the student body around the flag pole. Two students raised the flags while the nine member ensemble sang the national anthem and God Bless America. Our vice-principal said a few words to honor those who had served, and then we returned to our classes. That little interuption in our regular routine meant a lot to me. I stood and heard the words to the first verse as if for the first time. The happenings of the week and the high emotions that accompanied the election and the days after shed an extra layer of light upon the words.

God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her, and guide her
Through the night with the light from above.

From the mountains to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America, my home sweet home.

I don’t know about you, but I am willing to share kindness and continue to smile even if I don’t like what is happening around me. I’ll be like those soldiers who served or are serving. Let’s not hate social media, but do our part to make it a welcoming place again.

I’m also excited to announce a contest from now until January 4.  I will be giving away five Ty Beanie Babies. As I hear feedback on Dragon’s Future, I hear that it is hard to keep the dragons separate. How is Wyn different than Wryn? What about Wylen and Wyden? So, here’s your chance to win a Ty Beanie Baby named Scorch. He’s a discontinued baby with tag still attached. He has been slightly loved and is still in good condition. I have five to give away–one for each dragon in Dragon’s Future. How do you get him? You draw a dragon, submit it to me via email kandijowyatt at gmail dot com, and then get your friends to vote on my Facebook page for your dragon. It’s really that simple. Don’t know what the dragons look like? Grab a Kindle version for $2.99 or check out my dragons page for the descriptions. Either works. May your dragon fly true!

I will also give away a large swag (that’s book related merchandise) package:

Besides all of this, I get to keep up with Facebook congratulations, Twitter tweets, and other miscellaneous social media contacts of well wishes and trying to get the word out to the world that Dragon’s Future is a real book!

The problem is that besides being an author I am a wife, mom of five (three of whom are still at home), and a teacher. That means that I also have housework that needs to be done, organizing kids so they don’t run a muck, and picking up a van from the school for a leadership conference that starts tomorrow. I think I have my work cut out for me and I had better go make breakfast, wake up the kids, and get started! Thanks everyone for the support you’ve shown me so far and “may your dragon fly true!”

Birth is something that binds people together. Women especially relate to birthing stories, but even farmers tell the story of the birth of their cow, horse, sheep, pig or other animal. The beginning of life awes even the most sedate person. It is no different with a book.

In late February, I sent my manuscript, Dragon’s Future, to Booktrope to be reviewed for publishing. It was a nerve-wracking experience. I didn’t even tell my husband or any of my family members that I had done it until I heard back from Booktrope! Then when I heard, I had the two to three weeks of deciding if I wanted to follow through with this decision. I couldn’t believe it had been accepted. The mayhem of social media, blogging, editing, proofing, and cover designing has filled up the last five and a half months, but now it is finally time! The moment is upon us. The due date is only six days away. Unlike my natural births that I had, this one will happen on the day scheduled, at least for the eBook. The print copy may be more like my natural births of not sure exactly when after the due date I will get to hold the baby in my hands. I can’t wait! I am so ready and excited to see it and to know that my baby is here. However, just like my children, I will then hand my baby into the world to make its own way. I look forward to hearing your feedback–good and bad, but hopefully mostly good.

As an expectant mother, please forgive any emotional outbursts that I have in the next week or so. Expect my Twitter account to be filled with comments about the book or the Facebook party (come join, there currently is a contest for whoever invites the most people). My Facebook page may be filled with dragon related links or photos and words about the book. Believe me, the excitement will wear off, just like the newness of a baby wears off with sleepless nights. Until then, allow me to exult and rejoice in the life of a new birth.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can follow the blog swap with this schedule:

 ** Blog Swap Schedule **

July 28 (Tues.): https://kandijwyatt.wordpress.com/ (Terry on my site)

July 29 (Wed.): http://www.terrypersun.com/#!blog/c23fy (Me on Terry’s site about Fantasy Creatures Big and Small)

July 30 (Thurs.): http://www.jonathangouldwriter.com/blog/

August 1 (Sat.): http://www.terrypersun.com/#!blog/c23fy

August 2 (Sun.): http://michaelgmunz.com/blog/

August 3 (Mon.): http://www.terrypersun.com/#!blog/c23fy

August 4 (Tue.): http://www.elisestephens.com/

August 5 (Wed.): http://www.terrypersun.com/#!blog/c23fy

August 6 (Thur.): http://davidmcovenant.com/?cat=1

August 7 (Fri.): http://www.terrypersun.com/#!blog/c23fy

August 9 (Sun.): (E.S. Tilton) http://sexyfantasyfiction.com/

August 10 (Mon.): http://www.terrypersun.com/#!blog/c23fy

Welcome Terry Persun as he talks about the window to a book’s soul, the cover.

Book Covers

I have wanted to talk about book covers for a long time now. I see so many of them on indie author books (even my own) that just don’t cut it. A good cover is expensive. Yes, you can go with a “cover house” for $100 or so, but even they start to look the same after a while. Check out the romance genre and you’ll see the same cover over and over again until it’s difficult to tell if the books are really different or not.

I’ve worked with small publishers, indie cover artists, friends who have better artistic senses than I have, and still find it difficult to get the right cover for a particular book. But, and I mean this, I find that Booktrope cover artist Greg Simanson (http://www.simansondesign.com/#!) is one of the best. He has everything a great cover artist needs: creativity, a willingness to try something different, and an open mind. He’s produced covers for me that were conceptionalized by another artist. He’s taken a theme and grown it from book to book. And he’s created abstract covers that say as much about the novel as the words I’ve written.

This is how I feel about his covers for my Doublesight novel series. Through open-mindedness and creativity, I believe he’s found a way to show the progression of the story lines simply and effectively through a single image for each cover. Here are the covers for the series.

Notice how the main character, a crow shape shifter, appears in each cover (yes, even the last one—with crow wings on the dragon). Notice how the circular element indicates movement and growth at the same time. And notice how the colors go from warm to hot, intensifying from book to book. Cover art is as important as the book itself, and I’m very happy with Greg’s work. When I saw the cover of my latest novel in the series, Gargoyle, I could feel the tension of the story all over again. Here’s a quick synopsis:

Not in control of his own abilities, and unsure about shape-shifting into his beast image, Korlan must learn about his skills, limitations, and power while struggling to save his mother from certain death.

Nashtin, King Belford’s cousin, took over the throne of Weilk Alshore, and is out to find Zimp, who he believes is the last of the doublesight to have infiltrated Castle Weilk and started a bloody battle that took many soldier’s lives. Zimp, along with other doublesight, now live in a hidden village where they hope to raise their children in peace.

When Nashtin finds Zimp and her friends’ village, he captures Zimp to take back to the castle. Barely able to control his own beast image, Zimp’s son, Korlan, pulls together a band of the most unusual doublesight shape-shifters in the village, and goes on a mission to save his mother.

—GREAT NEWS—

Starting on September 1st Doublesight will be one of Amazon’s Kindle Worlds (https://kindleworlds.amazon.com). Join me, by writing a short story (5,000 to 10,000 words), novella (10,000 to 50,000 words), or novel (over 50,000 words) and get it published. I need to have a handful of stories ready by the September 1st, 2015 launch date, so if you’re interested, please contact me for more information. Any characters you create are yours to keep. Let’s have fun together. TerryPersun@gmail.com

My Best in Fantasy Review:

http://bestinfantasy.blogspot.com/2014/08/doublesight-terry-persun.html

BIO:

Terry Persun has been writing and publishing short stories and novels since the early 1970s. He has been the recipient of seven novel and poetry awards over the years, including the Star of Washington Award, a Silver IPPY for historical fiction, two Book of the Year finalist awards in the science fiction category, two finalist awards from the USABookNews International Book Awards (one in science fiction and one in historical fiction), two poetry chapbook awards, and a Jeanne Voge Poetry Award. Terry writes in a variety of genres including science fiction, thriller, mystery, and mainstream fiction. He is a respected keynoter and speaker at libraries, writers’ groups, writers’ conferences, and universities across the country. Terry has an MA in creative writing from SUNY Stony Brook.

Tomorrow, I will be a guest author on a Facebook party. What is a Facebook party? It is a time to interact with authors and enter to win great prizes–usually books! I’ll be giving away an e-book of Dragon’s Future and a prize package of goodies. All you have to do is comment on a picture anytime from 12:30 pm-11:30 pm EST, on Friday, July 24. The party is in celebration of a re-release of a young adult mystery called Shadow Dancer.

Check out the guest interview here and the Facebook party, here.

Back in March when I signed up with Booktrope and began the process of publishing my books, I was encouraged to have a website with a blog. That means that at least once a week I am suppose to write about something book related or at least my life related. Sometimes that gets a bit overwhelming. Coming up with ideas isn’t quiet so hard as finding the time to sit down and write! The next hurdle that I tackled was creating a Facebook author page. That was a little easier because I know how Facebook works. However, it can be time consuming because I get caught up in the lives of my friends and acquaintances and forget I am suppose to be writing blogs and other things. My book manager really had to twist my arm to get me to set up a twitter account. I had been resistant to the efforts for years. I didn’t see a need, but when Pam said I needed one, I decided to try it out. I was quite glad that I did. I have found some really amazing people on there and some wonderful authors. It is a fun way to get a good laugh and to cheer up my day. The last social media step was to create an Instagram account. I am not quite as enamored with it as I am with Twitter, but I am learning the ropes thanks to other Booktrope authors who are helping me out. Why do I need all of these social media outlets? Because people want to know what an author is up to. They want to interact with the writer and know he or she is a real person. So, every day, I am on at least one of these social media outlets trying to connect with readers and writers.

Social media isn’t the only thing an author does. Once the novel is written, then it must be edited. The editing process is different for each editor. Since I have two genres of books, I have two editors. The one takes my book, reads it and writes down all of her first impressions in a word document, then re-reads it and edits for grammar, clarity, word choice, and plot consistency. Then she sends it all back to me. I then read through the novel and accept or reject her changes and add notes to explain why I didn’t or to help clarify things. Then I send it back to her. She goes over it again and sends it back to me. This final round may take one to three passes depending on how much we differ in our opinions. My other editor sent me my manuscript in chunks with the grammar edits first. Then after reading through it that way, I then received a full manuscript with the word choice and plot consistency issues. I read back through the novel to accept or reject those changes. When it is to the editor and author’s standards, it will go to a proofreader.

However, while it is in the process of editing, the author not gets to consider cover design and blurb. What will portray the genre and the book in a single image to make the book stand out so that people want to pick it up and check it out? What words should go on the back cover to intrigue a reader to gather it to himself or herself and read it? We don’t want too many details given away and yet at the same time we want to say what the book is about. So, while editing goes on, the outside is decided on as well. Then begins the proofreading.

The proofreading process is less stressful than the editing process. In editing the author’s very words and ideas are brought into question. With a good editor, though, the author knows her best interests are at the heart of the changes. Proofreading is for format and those little things–spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word usage. Word usage is easy. It isn’t did you use the right words, but rather did you use the same word repeatedly in one section. The proofreader offers suggestions of how to change that. She or he will also work on typos. Throughout the whole proofreading process though I read through my novel at least one more time!

After proofreading, the novel is ready to be submitted for layout. To do this, the author must make sure that everything is exactly as she wants it in print. So, back to reading meticulously the novel. (Note this is at least the fourth reading after submission to the publishing company.) Once satisfied that all looks good, it is submitted to layout. Layout then puts it into a pdf file and sends it back to the author for a final proof. Again I read through my book to make sure there are no errors. I was fortunate with Dragon’s Future to not find many. I could adjust and change them without a cost to me.

Now that the book is in layout, we are down to the last month or so before it is released. That means that my job is done, right? Wrong! I am now very busy on-line making friends and letting people know about my book. I am doing Facebook parties, Twitter posts, and blogs. What is a Facebook party? That was my question back in April when I first heard about them. They are a way of getting people from all over together to learn and celebrate the release of a book or other event. A Facebook event page is created, and on the day and at the time set, the party begins. Usually there are different authors set up to take over a half-hour to an hour slot. During this time, they engage the audience who has logged onto the event page. There are giveaways, fun memes, photos to comment on, and ideas shared. The theme usually relates to the author’s book or books. There can even be question and answer time for the author. It is fun when there are lots of people involved and commenting on the different photos or threads. It was at one such event that I sold my first book!

I am also busy creating advertisements for my book. I didn’t know it three months ago, but books have trailers just like movies do. So, I am learning Photoshop CS6 and other multimedia applications to create trailers, and still images with reviews and endorsements for my book. I am also looking at what is called ‘swag’. My teenage children laugh every time they hear the word. It is a teenage word to mean something is cool, radical, awesome (choose your era of word). In the book realm it means promotional giveaways such as bookmarks, coffee mugs, pens, notebooks, t-shirts, magnets, stickers, lip balm, etc. The list is as big as your imagination! These are used on those Facebook parties and at signings as ways of bringing people in to purchase your book.

One final touch happens during all of this. The cover artist receives the information on how long the book is, the final blurb, any endorsements to add to the book, and then finalizes the cover. This is the last step layout needs to be able to print the book, whether that is a Kindle or a print version.

While all of that is happening, I am also counting down the days to the release! For me, my first release will be Monday, August 10, only three weeks away! That will be when I will have a Facebook release party and celebrate the birth of my novel! Then in September, I will have my first signing.

Are you exhausted yet? There is the energy of excitement and suspense of wondering what will it be like when it is finished, and the ups and downs of technology communications, or real life happenings that cause your team to change mid-way through. These keep you on your toes and everything fresh. So, yes, being and author is more than writing. It is being a person who is active in the birthing of a book.