Saturday!

That's right, Saturday is the goal for uploading "The Guardians: Gateways" to Amazon Kindle. :) Keep an eye out for free days so you can download this story and give me GREAT reviews! Haha...okay, remembering that I'm writing this for me makes me chuckle. I sure do talk strange to myself. I suppose I'll download my book so I can see what it looks like, though. And maybe I'll even be able to talk my husband into downloading it...

Two more chapters to finish editing. 57% done formatting...I think I should be able to do that in two days, especially since I think the rest of the formatting will be quick and easy things. I'm so excited! And nervous, too. What if people don't like me? ;) Sorry, couldn't resist...

"April is your regular, first year college student. Not one who stands out in a crowd...until the crowd she's with suddenly changes.

Eddy is not the type  of crowd most people think about being with. And after kidnapping April, she wishes she had nothing to do with his crowd.

Demons, big foot, and black magic plague April's existence. She goes from hoping to survive college to hoping to survive life...the question on everyone's mind is, will she make it? Or will she destroy mankind?"

Publishing Woes

Well, I had set a goal to be up and running by this weekend with The Guardians: Gateways. And what happens? First the battery dies, then the power cord ceases to charge. So I lost an entire week. Luckily, this all happened on President's Day so I got a GREAT deal on a new battery and cord. :) Now it's back to formatting and editting (SO BORING!). Five more chapters to edit and formatting is about 33% finished. So my new goal is next weekend.

By the way, if you're going to be writing a book and publishing it through Amazon, look up Kindle Direct Publishing. They'll have you download a free book that will tell you how to format your story so that the transition to Amazon is as smooth as possible. Do that BEFORE you start writing! You'll save yourself A LOT of time formatting if you do.

Following

I guess you reach a point where you realize that you can't do things because you believe it will make a difference for someone else. The only change that I can be sure of is the one I make for myself. So, here we have it. This blog was originally to help ME learn and discover new things. Others learning and such was supposed to be a side-note. Somewhere, I lost track of that.

Now, it's for me. I am my audience. And I intend to enjoy every minute of it. :)

"The Guardians: Gateway" has 100 more pages to go before I'm finished editting it. Then I plan on self-publishing on KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing). I plan on this being a trilogy; "The Guardians: Revenge" and "The Guardians: Hope." The titles are tentative, but I'm pretty sure that they're a solid tentative. :) I also have a fantasy book in the works, another trilogy...although the third isn't very solid. Basically it's a "dilogy" or "duology." Hmmm, which word would you use? Probably Duology. Anyways, this series is "The Sword and the Shield" series. Not sure what differentiation to use between the titles yet.

The Guardians

It's done! As soon as some of my test readers finish reading through it, I will decide if "The Guardians" goes to agents (fingers crossed) or if I simply self-pub (simply...haha!). If you're interested in reading a chapter, post a number 1-30 and I will send you that chapter number.

The Guardians:

April is your average, first year college student. No tricks, no gimmicks. Her life is going the same place everyone around her is going and she's going through the same motions everyone else is going through. Until Halloween night.

Halloween night, the monsters are real...and they're taking April with them.

Uncertain Salvation?

Here's the first page to one of my books. I still don't have a firm title. Read it and let me know what you think!

A Letter:

            Dear Mom and Dad,

            I know I said I would be home soon. I’m sorry that I can’t make that come true anymore. It will probably be awhile before you see this and doubtless many will tell you that I’m dead. I’m not dead. I’m very alive. And if I could come home, I would. I love you both so much! I hope that this helps explain where I am and why you can never see me again.

1: Ogden-Heber City

            There’s a strange fascination with Sasquatch and skunk apes. People are constantly claiming that they’ve seen Big Foot or Sasquatch or whatever. Once, I knew what that fascination was. Now, I’d just as soon they left me alone. Now that I know what skunk apes are all about, I wish I didn’t. Makes it hard to sleep at night, ya know?

            You’re probably wondering where I’m going with this. After all, I think the majority of people are sensible enough to believe skunk apes are fictional, figments of an overactive imagination. While I enjoyed watching the shows about Bigfoot, I have to admit I used to be a skeptic. The irony of me being skeptical now…Well, let me tell you from the beginning. It will make more sense that way.

            My name is April. I was a student at Weber State University in Ogden, UT. I hadn’t really picked a major yet, so what I was studying didn’t matter. It’s not like I’ve really been able to use what I’ve learned. Who does, really? I had your usual paperwork to get done, just like other students; math homework, a research paper, reading and studying. Nothing big or unusual.

            Yup, that was me. Nothing big or unusual. It was nearing Halloween and my roommates and I decided to have a party. I was in the bathroom getting ready because my roommates said they had invited boys. So I needed to look good. Well, as good as possible. I’m pretty average looking, to be honest. I’d make a great spy if I had spectacular spy skills in my repertoire! I don’t, in case you were wondering.

            I have brown hair with honey and red highlights that usually show up in the summer. No amount of tanning seems to turn my pale skin tan. I’m pretty much a nightlight year round. Most people say I have brown eyes. I think they’re hazel because the brown is only on the inside. They lighten to a golden green color on the outside. But you have to look close for that. Most people don’t gaze into your eyes that closely. It would be pretty creepy. My height makes me stand out. A little. I’m about 5’ 10”.

            The apes showed up that Halloween night. I didn’t know what they were then, nor did I know what they really looked like. The skunk apes you see on TV are just ideas of what the creatures look like. And they’ve had several different species all lumped into one. The apes that showed up that night weren’t very similar to those make believe renditions.

Sasquatch

The first book that will be coming out (probably via cheap kindle books on amazon) is science fiction and will be about Sasquatch's cousin, the skunk ape. Okay, in most circles, 'skunk ape' is another name for sasquatch. That's the joy of writing..."creative liberties." :) Title is still forthcoming. I'll let you know a more precise release date when I finish the third review of the book. Although hopeful that I will be able to publish this book traditionally, I'm not entirely certain my chances will be good. This book will have a sequel.

The second book still has a ways to go. It will be a fantasy book about a young girl who accidentally bonds with a dragon and ends up becoming the king's intended. I'm probably 25% done with this book and hoping it will go more the traditional route of publishing. We'll see. :) This book will also have a sequel.

Books

So, I've been working pretty hard on two books. That's why there haven't been many posts here. I'm really excited about one. I read a lot and haven't read another with characters like this (that I can think of). I'll be sure to post some sneak peek chapters when I finish my books! One of them should be soonish. :)