So What is Happening?

     You may be wondering what is happening with my book - The Goblet - and myself. Well, not much of anything with The Goblet. It feels like Tate Publishing has effectively turned its back on me. I tried to email them several times and have had absolutely no response. Nothing. Nada. Nichts. I have been dropped off the face of the earth.
     So, after attending the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer's Workshop in the spring and being, kind of, determined to self publish, I am now very determined to self publish my next books. Book two is done. I have contacted an editor and she is now going through and editing this book. I am not certain about the title of this book. This novel will be part of the series with The Goblet. However, this second novel is very different from the first book. It is about the Collins family in Maui, Hawaii. The family is being stalked by a serial killer with a cliff hanger ending.
      I have started work on the third novel for the series. This book brings the Collins family and the Grifton family together. However, this novel is focussing on Rachel Grifton who has now become an archaeologist. She meets a young man, Wade, on a dig in Israel. They decide, together, that they wish to search for various items from the Bible. They are helped by Wade's uncle, Richard.  They start their search in the Qumran Caves in Israel. I am not finished with this novel and I am not quite certain how to end this novel. I am still working on it.
     But then I started work on a fourth novel. This novel will not be part of the series. It is in a totally different direction. Still faith based but it is a paranormal novel. I have been fascinated with the many paranormal shows that are on television now. One day I was watching a show with a friend about a family who was being terrorized by a demon in their house. The family fled the house. I was quite angry about this and my friend asked what else the family should do. I said it wasn't right that the family leave and let another family go through such an ordeal. I said that I would stay and fight the demon. My friend just laughed at me. I became indignant and said that I would have help from above on this. Which started me on my writing of the fourth novel.
     So, as you can see, I am keeping busy writing. I entered the 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading contest with The Authors Show. I am a finalist but was advised that there is a fee to continue with the contest. Great. I am trying to decide if it will be worth it.
     I am also now in the stages of looking for a web designer for my website. Going the free route, by myself, hasn't provided me with much advertising or luck for my book. I just don't have the smarts to figure out all the SEO's, the social media sites, the linking of all of it, how to get a proper contact sheet and do updates. I just don't have the time. Between riding my horse, keeping a house, and all the other things I need to do in a day, my writing has been suffering. I keep picking at it but I just am not devoting enough time in the day to writing. I suppose my fear is, is there anything more to this than what I have already done?
     I want to keep writing. I have so many ideas in this head of mine. I would like for more people to read my books. And my blogs. There is a fear of the unknown. But if I don't keep going, if I don't keep writing, I don't want to ever say, I wish I would have given it a better shot.

My second novel

     I am currently editing my second novel. I have titled it "An Awakening". However, the more I get into my book, the more I do not think this title is appropriate. I am thinking of "Something, something Innocence" or "Innocence Something something". I think I will wait until I have the book edited before I make that decision.
     This second novel was written years ago. I am now revising, editing, etc. It is going to have a Christian base. But it is a thriller. It is about a serial killer. On my first draft, I did not get into the serial killer's mind too deeply. I fleshed out the victims and their thoughts. Now I am developing the victim's thoughts more and treading into the serial killer's thoughts.
     How does a Christian person write a thriller? How does one get into the mind of a killer? It is not easy. However, since I believe in Jesus then I certainly do believe that Satan is in our lives as well. There is good and there is evil. We humans can be easily led astray by evil. Evil makes promises that humans just can't resist. We struggle with good and bad choices every day.
     Unfortunately, I have seen the dark side of people. I have been in the middle of it and seen, first hand, what bad things do to good people. Then there are just bad people who let evil rule them. People look for quick fixes. They look for the easy way. Life is hard and making a good choice is very difficult. Staying on the right side, the good path is not easy. But it is a choice I have made.
     I can understand anger. I can understand how people get led astray. Watching a person let their life spiral downwards is difficult. However, there is not much anyone can do if a person does not want to change or help themselves. From my experience, unless a person realizes God is real and choose to have God in their life, they will never change.
     Writing about an evil person who is a serial killer is difficult. It brings up many memories and hurts. But evil is around us. It cannot be ignored. I have chosen to write about it. I have also chosen to write about how people with faith, handle that evil. I choose to write about people made stronger with their faith and how they come through the very difficult road in front of them.
   

Reviews

     Your book is finally published and you wait with baited breath for those reviews. You get a few really good reviews and then you get some horrible ones. Reviews are such a many splendid thing.
     I used to watch social media sights and saw that quite a few people were offering reviews for other people. But there would be a catch. They would review your book only if you reviewed their book. You scratch my back and I'll certainly scratch yours. Especially if you give me a good review, was the attitude that I discovered.
     Also, there are quite a few people who will review your book. If you want a free review, it could take months upon months to be reviewed. However, for a fee, your book could move to the top of the pile and be reviewed, in a while.
     Words of advice. Never pay for a review. Paid reviews are never worth the dollar value attached to the review and some times those reviews don't even happen. Then the author spends a lot of time trying to track the reviewer down who, surprisingly, has disappeared.
      I have had a number of reviews. There have been a couple of not so good reviews. I did not take them personally which is something an author really needs to learn to do. I read the review and took note of it. I had hoped to learn something beneficial that I can apply to my next books. But a writer needs to realize that you will never satisfy everyone.
     The best thing to do is to learn your craft. Mix and mingle with other writers. Take workshops. Attend seminars. But do not let yourself be swayed by one author. Just because a certain author has had great success with their writing style, does not mean it will work for you. Keep writing and trying to learn. Right now that is what I am doing. I am trying to learn and seek out what is best for my writing style. I can take the many tools I have learned and apply them to my writing. Then try to decipher what will work best for me.
     As for reviews, I would not hunger and starve for them. Take whatever reviews you get and make note of them. It is all the process of learning.