#IWSG: Thinking of Prequels / Wattpad Wednesdays: Reborn Prologue

It's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group meeting. IWSG was created by the awesome ninja captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can find out the other members of the group here.

Thank you for sharing your feedback on prequels last IWSG! The advice was really helpful, and at the moment I've decided I'd like to release the prequel and book one of The God Challenges around the same time. Of course, that's still a couple years down the road.

But the advice I'd received had me thinking about prequels and particularly about Magna's Plea, a short story prequel set 800 years before Reborn. I like the story I created, don't get me wrong, but it could be so much more. I basically plopped the reader at the end of the story, like any good short story out there, but thoughts of the story's beginning and what led to the end swirled in my mind. I got excited at what was there, what I realized about Magna and her world 800 years before Yssa's in Reborn.

Of course, when I published the short story, I didn't think of how to make it longer. It was what it was until I learned enough to know more. I feel like I made a mistake in titling the story. Magna's Plea is a perfectly good title, but I'd like it to reflect the other titles in the series. That led me to the idea of retitling it to be Repledged (it goes along well with Reborn, Remarked, Reforged, Reigned, and Redestined). Plus, I don't think I was as clear as I could've been that Magna's Plea is set within the same world as Reborn and has similar themes, but there is no overlap in characters, except gods. So, yeah, I could've done things better.

So I am. I've been writing Repledged now from new and I'm loving delving further into Magna's world as well as the history of the Kingdom of Amora. I've decided to take down Magna's Plea from all retailers. I've created a new cover from the old one, and once the new novella-length story is finished and edited, I will be republishing the extended cut of the story and offering it for free just as Magna's Plea was.

That is the good thing about self-publishing. Not that I like to redo stories and prefer to have them right the first time, but when the opportunity comes along to make things better for the reader, then I have the chance to make the changes. So hopefully Repledged will be back online in the next few months.

And if it's long enough, it'll even be in print (although print's not free).

---

And starting today and continuing every first and third Wednesday through December 2015, I'll be releasing a chapter of Reborn on Wattpad. Today you can read the Prologue as well as Part I's quote.

Fantasy Chat: Magna's Plea and W4WS

 

Today's the official release date of Magna's Plea, my YA Epic Fantasy prequel short story from The Fate Challenges series.

A princess will rise and challenge Fate.

While her father, brothers, and people fight against the Kingdom of Apentha, tenacious eighteen-year-old Princess Magna can only watch the destruction of Amora, her besieged city and kingdom. Her mother, Queen Vyvian, has refused to allow her heir to join the fray.

But Magna won't take no for an answer. She seeks out an end of the war from Prince Cyrun of Apentha, their prisoner. If she can't persuade him toward peace, then Amora may fall.

This short story prequel includes a sneak peek of Reborn, Book One of The Fate Challenges, forthcoming May 2014.

YA Epic Fantasy
The Fate Challenges #0.5
A 5500-word Short Story

To download for free: Amazon / Smashwords / iTunes / Nook / Kobo / Goodreads / Wattpad

An excerpt from Magna's Plea

Amora

12-13 Days of Luquiry

Year 1717 AUC

Tendrils of smoke swirled heavenward. The smoldering stench reached Princess Magna at the top of the palace’s northern tower. She wrinkled her nose at the unpleasant odor, yet it still smelled better than the filth plaguing the besieged seven-hilled city.

She’d vowed to protect Amora. Her heart shattered a little more each day at the devastation afflicting her kingdom.

The once grassy and flower-filled plain sprouted dust plumes from the trampling feet. As the sun neared the western horizon, a bloody hue washed over the battlefield. Tiny, metallic dins and men’s shouts rang out. Magical bursts flashed in the sky like Thean’s lightning, beautiful and deadly. A wooden catapult hurled a human-sized stone slab into the city’s wall. Magna jerked away from the opened window she stood before, as if the object had struck her instead. Rock crumbled from the impact, but the barrier held.

When the reddish orb sank lower, the fighting ceased. War’s chaos parted into two orderly sides, and soldiers crossed the field to gather their dead.

She brushed a shaky hand over her cheeks. Tears dampened her face, and she struggled to turn away from the battle before her. Almost two months had passed since the Apenthans had begun their attack Amora. How much longer could the Amorans—she—stay safe behind their impenetrable wall?

A special thanks to all who've signed up to help spread the word about Magna's Plea this week.

And join me tomorrow (October 22) on Untethered Realms as I talk about what's in store for the Kingdom of Amora.

---

It's time for another Writers4Writers this week, and we have Alex J. Cavanaugh and Isis Rushdan as the featured authors. Be sure to send out tweets to help these fabulous people out!

IWSG: Nicole Zoltack and Insecurity, A Little Help, and Cover Reveal of Crystal Collier's Moonless

 

It's the first Wednesday of the month, so you know what that means ... it's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group meeting. IWSG was created by the awesome ninja captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can find out the other members of the group here.

Today I have a special post from Nicole Zoltack. Her newest release Black Hellebore will be released on October 21st.

Thank you, Cherie, for having me today! I really appreciate it.

With every release date, an author melts into a puddle of nerves and insecurity. Myself included. For months now, I was counting down the days until Black Hellebore released on October 1st. As the date neared, I grew even more nervous because my cover wasn’t finished. And it still isn’t so needless to say, Black Hellebore isn’t released yet. It's new release date is October 21st. A setback, but hopefully it won’t cost me sales since I told everyone and their brother and mother and sister it was releasing on the first. All I can do is wait and hold my breath. I’m sure the cover will be well worth the wait.

Have you ever had to push back a release? What kind of a cover would you envision for a superhero romance?

I'm sure the cover will be well worth the wait, Nicole!

About Black Hellebore: Once a year for the past decade, Nicholas Adams returns to Falledge and leaves a black hellebore on his girlfriend's grave. While departing Falledge, he chases after a man sneaking into the laboratory and dies for his trouble. A witch brings him back to life, but Nicholas soon realizes he's not the same man. Turns out, magic combined with a black hellebore in his pocket changed him into a kind of a super man.

His girlfriend's twin, Julianna Paige, is Falledge's deputy, struggling to solve several murders. Nicholas, and his alter ego the Black Hellebore, helps her, even as she helps him move on and even start to love again.

Unfortunately, Nicholas wasn't the only one changed in the laboratory explosion, and now there's a supervillain bent on destroying Falledge, and killing the Black Hellebore. But falling in love might prove more dangerous than any supervillain.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author: Nicole Zoltack loves to write fantasy/paranormal, romances, horror, historical, for adults and young adults, novels, short stories, and flash pieces. She doesn't want to get boxed in by genre -- she might be claustrophobic! She's also an editor for MuseItUp Publishing and works as a freelance editor.

When she isn't writing about girls wanting to be knights, talking unicorns, and zombies, she spends time with her loving family. She loves to ride horses (pretending they're unicorns, of course!) and going to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, dressed in period garb. Her favorite current TV show is The Walking Dead.

To learn more about Nicole and her work, visit her website at www.NicoleZoltack.com or her blog at http://NicoleZoltack.blogspot.com.

---

Happy Wednesday!

I could use a little price-matching help, if you have a moment. I'd like to make Magna's Plea, a YA Epic Fantasy short story, free on Amazon/Amazon UK. It's already free on Smashwords, Nook, Kobo, iTunes, Wattpad, and Goodreads.

All you need to do is go to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F45NMJW and/or Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00F45NMJW. Find where it says, "tell us about a lower price" and click on it. [By the way, if you go to the page, and it says $0.00 for the price, then it means Amazon finally price-matched.]

 

Then, you need to click on "Website (Online)."

 

You fill in the information: url link, price 0.00, shipping and handling 0.00, and click "Submit feedback."

 

You can use these links for the URL where Magna's Plea is free.

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/magnas-plea/id710086775?mt=11

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/magnas-plea-cherie-reich/1116947107?ean=2940045273954

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/magna-s-plea

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/356298

I'm hoping Amazon makes the story free by the time Magna's Plea officially releases on October 21st.

Thank you!! And I apologize for not visiting blogs as much lately. I've been so very busy lately that all my time at work has been on other tasks. I'm hoping to catch up a bit by the end of work Thursday, or early next week at the latest.

---

Today, I'm also participating in the cover reveal for Crystal Collier's Moonless.

Alexia’s nightmares become reality: a dead baron, red-eyed wraiths, and forbidden love with a man hunted by these creatures. After an attack close to home, Alexia realizes she cannot keep one foot in her old life and one in this new world. To protect her family she must either be sold into a loveless marriage, or escape with her beloved and risk becoming one of the Soulless.

MOONLESS is Jane Eyre meets Supernatural.

Buy Moonless

Crystal, author of MOONLESS, is a former composer/writer for Black Diamond Productions. She can be found practicing her brother-induced ninja skills while teaching children or madly typing about fantastic and impossible creatures. She has lived from coast to coast and now calls Florida home with her creative husband, three littles, and “friend” (a.k.a. the zombie locked in her closet). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese. Blog | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook | Website

Writing Update: September Goals / Promotion Help / Cover Reveals for two Unrealmers

 

Happy Wednesday!

I must admit I'm so looking forward to September. It'll mean we go back to the regular schedule at the day job, which means more sleep! Yay!

Here are my September goals:

• Write "Mourner's Lament" from Neighbors of Foxwick. As I mentioned last week, I'm changing up the release date for Neighbors of Foxwick from October 2013 to February 2014. This way I'll have more time to make it the best collection I can.
• Create a map of Foxwick. I found some map-making software. I'm trying out the trial version to see if I like it.
• Write Part I and half of Part II of Reforged. I hope to be finished with this novel by the end of December.
• Finish editing Reborn, Book One in The Fate Challenges. I need to send this novel to my beta readers sometime in September, so they can get it back to me by December 1.
• Final edit, proofread, format, and publish of my prequel short story in The Fate Challenges titled Magna's Plea. This fantasy short story is the same one I've been giving to newsletter subscribers. I'd like to make it free, so I can draw more interest in the forthcoming Fate Challenges. This short story will also include a sneak peek of Reborn.

And that's it for September. Doesn't sound too bad, does it? What are your September goals?

2013 Stats

117,238 words

1681 pages edited

Stats taken from 1/1/2013 - 8/28/2013

***

Also, like I did for the release of Men of Foxwick, I'd like to do a promo post for the free release of Magna's Plea during the week of October 21st. You'll have your selection of a short, medium, or long post or create something yourself from the information I'll provide you before the cover reveal/promo. If you're interested, please sign up on the link list below. Thank you!!

***

 

It is with great pleasure and a thrill in our hearts that Gwen Gardner and I (Angela Brown *hugs*) reveal the covers for our follow up stories to our currently available novels: Givin' Up the Ghost (Gwen) and Neverlove (Angela)

*cue drumroll*
...
..
.

A GUILTY GHOST SURPRISED by Gwen Gardner (Add to Goodreads)

An Angel Among Us

Paranormal happenings at the Eady household are the norm. Recently, things have become downright peculiar. Childish giggles at odd hours of the night lead Indigo Eady to her little cousin, Bryan, a guileless cherub spirit, complete with Spider Man pajamas and a set of faux angel wings. The problem is that Bryan died nearly three years ago in a hit and run that killed him and his mum. The driver was never found.  Now the gang must solve the mystery of his death in order to send him back to heaven.  But where to start when the trail is three years cold?

Indigo Eady

Indigo Eady is not clumsy. At least, that’s what she keeps telling everyone. Can she help that the overactive spirit community of Sabrina Shores causes her psychic abilities to short-circuit? It’s unfortunate that her cute friend Badger is often on the receiving end of her mishaps. At times, she is positively hazardous to his health. Even so, sparks fly in more than one direction.

THEY ALL FALL DOWN by Angela Brown (Add to Goodreads)

Abby and Basil: New love reaches new heights as they finally give in to their lust and desire for each other.

Q: Consumed by the Devourer within and his base need to claim Abby as his own.

The crave: What it all boils down to. A crave for souls. A crave to keep love intact beyond betrayals. A crave for a second chance. A crave for power and The Fall of mankind.

“Love can conquer all” is put to the test and salvation may be impossible when it’s “ashes, ashes…they all fall down.”

About Gwen

Gwen Gardner is a native Californian living in sunny San Diego, where her love of reading and writing led to a BA in English literature. Life is now complete with her husband, two dogs and a daily call from her daughter.

Since ghosts feature prominently in her young adult Indigo Eady Paranormal “Cozy” Mystery series, she has a secret desire to meet one face to face - but will run screaming for the hills if she ever does. Gwen adores travel and experiencing the cultures and foods of different countries. She is always up for an adventure and anything involving chocolate - not necessarily in that order.
Haunt at the following: Blog | Twitter | Facebook

About Angela

Angela is a lover of Wild Cherry Pepsi and chocolate/chocolate covered delicious-ness. Steampunk, fantasy and paranormal to contemporary - mostly young adult - fill her growing library of books. Mother to a rambunctious darling girl aptly nicknamed Chipmunk, life stays busy. Her favorite quote keeps her moving: "You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Haunt at the following: Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Writing Update: Changing My Plans ... Again

 

Happy Wednesday!

This will probably come as no surprise, but I'm changing up my plans/goals again. *sighs*

The first couple weeks of August threw my goals out the window. I was supposed to finish up the last four short stories in Neighbors of Foxwick, but it didn't happen. In fact, I only finished my rewrite of "Dragon's Sacrifice" on Sunday, and I still have three more short stories left to write ("Mourner's Lament," "Prince's Price," and "Love's Challenge"). I had originally planned to publish Neighbors of Foxwick in October, but that's not happening. I don't want to rush the stories just to have them finished. Of course, if I push back Neighbors of Foxwick, then that means I can't publish People of Foxwick when I originally planned either.

So the new production schedule for 2014 is:

Neighbors of Foxwick - The Foxwick Chronicles Short Story Collection - February 2014

Reborn - Book One of The Fate Challenges - May 23, 2014

People of Foxwick - The Foxwick Chronicles Complete Short Story Collection - August 2014

The Loveless Princess - The Foxwick Chronicles Novel - November 2014

Of course, all these dates are subject to change, but by reexamining my schedule, it has made it easier on me to get everything I want accomplished. As for the rest of the month, I'm working on editing the first half of Reborn based on critique partners' suggestions and rewriting/writing the rest of Part I of Reforged.

So does that mean I won't have anything else published this year?

Not exactly.

I want to start getting word out about Reborn, even though it won't be out until next May. It's my debut novel, and I think it's pretty special, so I've decided to take a short story I wrote back in 2010 based in that world (just 700 years earlier) and publish it as a freebie (story has had extensive edits since then and is going through my critique partners again before a final edit/proofread from me). This story is called "Magna's Plea," and it's about 5,000 words in length. I will have a sneak peek of Reborn with the short story as well. Since Amazon can take awhile to price-match a title to free, I plan to publish "Magna's Plea" in September with an official release date in October. Next week, I'll have information on how you can help me spread word about "Magna's Plea."

Here is what "Magna's Plea" is about:

A princess will rise and challenge Fate.

While her father, brothers, and people fight against the Kingdom of Apentha, tenacious eighteen-year-old Princess Magna can only watch the destruction of Amora, her besieged city and kingdom. Her mother, Queen Vyvian, has refused to allow her heir to join the fray.

But Magna won't take no for an answer. She seeks out an end of the war from Prince Cyrun of Apentha, their prisoner. If she can't persuade him toward peace, then Amora may fall.

This short story prequel includes a sneak peek of Reborn, Book One of The Fate Challenges, forthcoming May 2014.

So what are you up to this Wednesday?

***

By the way, several of us spec fic authors with Untethered Realms took up the prompt "awesomesauce." Stop by the blog to see what it is.

Short Listed

I decided a little while ago to edit "Magna's Plea" and submit it to Pill Hill Press's Shadows & Light, Vol II: More Legends anthology. On Saturday, I edited the first five pages, and I finished it up tonight. I didn't change much to the actual story, but I did add more emotions, which is something a previous publisher who rejected the story suggested to me.

At 6:47 PM, I submitted "Magna's Plea" to Pill Hill Press.

At 6:57 PM, I received an email from Pill Hill Press saying that "Magna's Plea" had been short listed.

Yes, in ten minutes it was short listed.

Wow. Just wow.