Yes, I use a pen name. Do I feel like it's necessary, no but I do have my reasons for using one. Initially I used it to maintain anonymity. I had this silly idea that I could use my pen name and no identifying pictures to gain a following and publish my book so the risk of writing a book would feel a little less scary. If I failed no one except the people closest to me would know what happened.
Anyone close to me knows I'm not one to tout about my accomplishments or my ventures. I play my cards close to the vest so to speak. So this was going to be my way. Keep things quiet and try to be successful. I call it a silly idea because not only was there a crack in my plan but you can't connect with your readers if you're not willing to be at least a little personal. I changed my instagram picture so people could actually see my face and I started posting about my life. I'm so glad I did because now I'm close to reaching 300 followers and I have found a community of writers who have reminded me I'm not alone. Writing a book is scary. The idea of failing is, at times, debilitating. So why do it? If I inspire at least one person, help one person escape to Rocky Falls, or one person enjoys my book so much they want more then I will feel like I'm on top of the world. (I'm mean, I hope it's more than one person but I'll take what I can get) So why didn't I switch to my real name so I could see it on the cover of my book (a dream I've had for a long time now). Well the gist of it is while I find it sad to see my pen name on the cover of my book instead of my real name, I have always dreamed of writing children's books as well. Typically if you're going to write in multiple genres it's wise to use different names. I can't say when that will happen especially with as busy as I am. The only thing I can tell you is that at some point in my future I want to bring the stack of children's stories sitting in my mind to life and that day I will see my real name stamped on the front cover of a book. Until then, I hope you all stick around to see what romance is cooking in Rocky Falls. Thank you for stopping by and I will see you next week!
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Happy Wednesday! I figured it was time for an update on the progress of Rocky Falls book one. This dream is finally becoming a reality as I move into the next phase of self publishing.
I have received feedback from my last beta reader and am currently in the process of booking a proofreader to make sure the manuscript is polished before release. I am still working on a timeline for the debut so stay tuned for more details. The cover work is almost complete and will be revealed soon. If you are interested in an ARC copy of my book, follow me on Instagram and subscribe to my newsletter to stay up to date. I will be posting a sign up for those copies as we get closer to release. As for book two, I'm currently in the heavy editing phase. Adding chapters, removing chapters. Putting in new characters to spice things up and ramping up the tension as the characters unravel the mystery of the attacks surrounding them. I will continue to keep you all updated. Thank you for your support as I fumble my way through the process of self publishing. Wishing you all a great week! What is your favorite line? You wouldn't think it would be hard to answer. When you watch a movie there's always that one line (maybe more) that sticks with you long after you hear it. Or you read a book and remember the moment that made you connect and the line that will be tied to that book forever. Yet, when someone asks you that question about your own book, you hear crickets. I mean, seriously, you wrote the book. You should know what your favorite line is right? Not so much.
I have my favorite moments in the book, of course. So why can't I figure out what line is my favorite? The gist of the issue is that I love how lines fit together. The line itself is ordinary but when you add the delivery, the person speaking, and the scene as a whole it gives the line power. The power to make you feel for that character. To empathize with them. To feel the sadness, happiness, or anger of the moment. The line is just words until the character gives them meaning. So maybe the better question is what is your favorite moment? And while I would love to answer that for you all right now...I can't. Wouldn't want to spoil the book or my favorite moment. Another time maybe. On that note I want to thank you for stopping by and apologize for being a day late on my post this week. Stay tuned for an update on Rocky Falls progress as we get closer to coming up with a launch date and some upcoming news for book two of the Rocky Falls series which has yet to be named. As always, thank you for your continued support! Stay safe and see you next week! As an aspiring author one of the biggest pieces of advice, outside of reading books in your genre, is to experience life. If you don't experience life how can you write about it. There's also advice like "write what you know" and "write what makes you explore outside your boundaries." Whatever the case I think we can all agree that when you read a book, if the author does their job well, you will experience life in a way you never did before.
An author takes time creating a world for you to immerse yourself in. For you to feel like the star of the show or the greatest wizard that ever lived. The idea is to get you so captivated by the story you almost forget that you are sitting on your couch in your pajamas sipping your favorite drink. An author works to help you see the world through a different view. A different time or place. Or a different world completely. Maybe it's something similar to what you've experienced in your life and you finally feel like you're not alone. Or maybe it's something that inspires you to do the one thing you only ever dreamed of. Which brings me to my goal as a writer/aspiring author. I hope with all my heart that I can do that for at least one person. That someone will read my book and be transported to Rocky Falls, Washington. They will experience the fun in hiking. The terror of a killer on the loose. The love felt between the two main characters. The friendship shared, the love that's been lost, the small town appeal, etc. If I can inspire at least one person with my writing then I will have reached my ultimate goal. Thanks all for your continuing support and I look forward to entertaining you again same time next week! I'd like to take a moment to thank my group of beta readers. Without you, I couldn't do what I do. Yes, I went through my manuscript more times than I can count but you guys keep my story solid. You are my first line of defense against plot holes. If I got 'em, you'll catch 'em. You tell me what you think about the characters and whether the story is one worth reading. You take time out of your busy schedules to read what is still not a completely polished story then you take even more time to tell me your thoughts.
Did the story work? Did you like the characters? Did they seem real? Were you rooting for any of them while reading? Did you know who or suspect who was the killer before you found out? Were there too many breadcrumbs leading up to the reveal or not enough? You answer all these questions and more to ensure the story is one that will bring an enticing plot to life. Can't have success as an author without a great team of beta readers. They are important to the structure of your story. So, thank you to my outstanding group of readers for your continuing support! Writing is not a career choice for the impatient. If anything, you need a lot of patience. I can't think of a single part of this journey where I haven't had to summon up patience while waiting to move onto the next step. When you read a book you see the finished product. The cover, the back blurb, and the story that seems to flow through the pages. If your lucky, that book will breeze by in no time at all. This didn't happen by magic.
Under the surface of that book is many, many hours of struggle, time, and patience. Maybe you started with an outline or maybe you just sat down and started writing. You probably even felt great because you got the story you'd been thinking about writing finally down on paper. It's out and you may even consider it a masterpiece. Then you move into editing your first draft and let me tell you, it wasn't the masterpiece you thought it was. Every author hits this phase. The one where they question whether this was even a good idea to begin with. The thing to remember is your first draft was your way of getting it on paper so you could fine tune it. Now school taught us that when we write there is the first draft, second draft, then our final draft which we turn into the teacher. So naturally the same could be said for a book, right? Wrong. Let me show you what's under the surface. You edit your first draft which you feel is terrible because it was a basic skeleton version of your story. It's full of plot holes, missing descriptions, and substance to make you feel the story. When you finish editing your first draft you probably put it to the side for a couple weeks and work on another project while that one marinates. When you go back to the revised first draft, you edit again. And again, until you feel like you have a story that's worth reading. Now this next part varies depending on whether you are self publishing or traditional publishing. Whether your looking for an agent or going it alone. Either way it's still a long process. For me it was time to share my book with others. My first round of beta readers. Then revisions. Then came my second round of beta readers. Another revision. Third round of beta readers. And yet another revision. Then I had a meeting with my beta readers to test out ideas and get a feel for how they liked the characters or if there was something they thought I could improve upon. More revisions. More time. More decisions. I spent time querying agents and even had a few interested parties read my book and give me some great feedback to help me along. Now you'd think after all that I'd be ready to publish but not so much. I still have two beta readers I'm waiting for feedback from. More revisions. Then my very last round of beta readers which will hopefully not include revisions but probably will. Then it will go to a professional editor. After all is said and done, with the story part of this anyway, I'm still not ready to publish. The book needs to be formatted, pages need to be included, copyright needs to be decided on, and a cover needs to be created. Needless to say, I am getting closer to publishing but we are still a long way from complete. I hope that you all continue to stick with me during this journey. I also hope this helped enlighten you to the process and why when Amazon says your book can be published in a day that there's more to it than that. Sending love out to you all and thank you for your support! Any of you who know me know that social media is not my strong suit. Before I became an author I barely posted and when I did it was usually because a family member had requested pictures of my kiddos or an update on our home remodel. Not because I thought to myself "This would make a good post or I should share this with family and friends." In fact, social media was one of the things that almost made me decide not to pursue this career choice in the first place. Well, that would've been a big mistake.
As you can see, I got over it enough to venture out into the world of social media and it has been interesting and eye opening. I found a community of others like me on Instagram who have made this journey far less scary and daunting than before. I found followers in people I wouldn't have expected to care what I was doing at all, let alone enough to follow my path to publishing. I found support in the most unexpected places. For that I am extremely grateful. So here's a big thanks to all my followers whether you are from instagram, facebook, or my blog. I appreciate the support and hope I can continue to provide you with entertainment and stories as you follow my journey. My initial plan was to spend my time adding scenes and rewriting pieces of book two in my Rocky Falls series while beta readers went through book one for the last time before sending it to an editor. However, life always has its way of interfering.
In short, I went back to book one and started my path to self-publishing. I went through far more research about the best practices than I probably needed to. Then decided to design my own book cover. Although, I am quickly realizing just how picky I am about said cover. Then there are the added tasks of everyday living so basically I have been spending my late nights cramming as much work in as I can before my tired eyes tell me it's time to quit. The good news in all of this, I'm making progress. It's scary and exciting but it's progress. I'm happy to announce that my first manuscript Rocky Falls has been thoroughly reviewed. By that I mean I have read and edited it about 50 times. You might think that's an exaggeration for dramatic effect but I promise you, it's not.
I sent the manuscript for its last round of beta reading so fingers crossed I will get some good news. While waiting for feedback on the first manuscript I will be working on adding more intrigue to book two so I can launch it quickly after book one's release. Even with all this progress I'm still a long way from the Rocky Falls series being released to the public but if you would like to know about release information as it comes in sign up for my newsletter and follow me on facebook or instagram. Thank you all for following me on this journey. I hope I can keep you entertained and interested while I turn this dream into a reality. Hi All, My name is Daphne. I've been writing since I could hold a pencil. I have two beautiful children. They are quite a handful for sure but that's just their adventurous spirit. I also need to give a special thanks to my supportive husband who not only took this picture but has encouraged my writing...even read my stories and books that have yet to be seen by the public.
I have three books that I am currently working on all of which are at different stages of the writing process. I love hiking, baking, photography, reading, sewing, painting....basically, if it's a hobby I've probably dabbled in it. Most of my days are spent entertaining my two young ones but when possible I find myself working on a project. I look forward to the day my book is sitting on the shelves but until then I'm working like mad to fine tune my manuscripts and send query after query. Thanks! |