My author copies of Vermin arrived! I was so excited to cut open the box and pull them out. They’re so pretty. I love unboxing new books. I kept flipping through the pages of the one I pulled from the box…it was so satisfying. My brain is still processing the fact that the first book of the series is now in print.
I’m also blown away by the support of my friends and family! I’ve gotten so much feedback, and currently Dianna’s a very popular character. One thing that I’ve noticed is that I’m constantly having to remind myself that I’m the only person who knows the events that follow after book one and have to be very careful what I say when readers discuss the book with me because I don’t want to give away any spoilers.
Signed copies will be available to purchase soon. I will be making an announcement of when that will be, and will also be working on scheduling in person events once it is possible.
If you’re currently reading Vermin, and would like to see your review displayed on my main website, leave a review of the book on either Goodreadsor Amazon, and we will add them from there.
My novel is now listed on Goodreads! This is so cool. Now I’m even more excited for the author copies to arrive.
This also means that I’ll be doing the cover reveal later today!
ARCs are also being sent out this morning to those who signed up to do early reviews. For those who requested a copy, thank you so much for taking the time to read my book. Your enthusiasm and support is greatly appreciated and I hope you’ll enjoy reading and spending time with my characters.
If you would like to add the book to your TBR you can find it here on Goodreads.
Today I got to see the mood board that’s being sent off to the cover design team and oh my goodness…I absolutely adore it. I’ve looked at it over and over again. It has the exact feel that I want and there are so many amazing books on it as well!
I’ll share the mood board itself at a later date just because it’s really special to me at the moment…and I kind of want to keep it to myself just a little longer (I hope that’s okay?).
This is so cool. Like I keep asking myself if this is real.
While that’s all being done, I’m jumping back into editing and working on the draft for the sequel. I’ve been trying to take everything I’ve learned from this first book an trying to apply it here. I hope that my efforts pay off.
I know that there’s still so much to do and there is definitely a lot more for me to learn, but I’m going to keep having fun and I cannot wait to for my next set of instructions and to see what the team puts together!
When writing there are times when I consider changing from a 1st to 3rd person narration. I like reading both and I like writing both, but I find depending on the story one works better than the other. My debut was written in 3rd person but I’d say around least 85% of my other work is in 1st person P.O.V.
Right now, I’m having this debate with myself while editing one of my projects. This book however is a stand alone project, which I miraculously churned out nineteen chapters for in a week. I still have no idea how I did that. I just couldn’t stop writing. At one point my Dad asked me about my progress and when I looked at my plot chart I went “Oh no…I’m almost at the end.”
Personally I think it was because I’d been on a writing break for so long while editing and prepping my debut for publication.
I felt like my character’s in this book were just so mad at me for dropping them two words into chapter twenty (sorry!).
I really want to capture this story properly, so I’ve decided to take notes and potentially rewrite it in 3rd person. I’m not 100% sure about the perspective change yet…but it can’t hurt to try right? What I am sure of is that the opening scene is currently lacking. The setting isn’t clear until around the 5th chapter and the first few lines are…the best way I can describe it is awkward and clumsy like me at thirteen hiding behind a book from my long-time crush during lunch like Violet from The Incredibles and then when he says hi I blush, slam my face into the book and scream internally like, “HE NOTICED ME!”
Anyway, I’d say this has been enough procrastination.
Just a heads up, the video below has swearing in it!
Howdy there friends! I’m answering questions from the Writer’s Edition of For Every Like I’ll Answer! Woo!
In this post I’ll be answering questions 7 to 10. If you’re interested in doing this on your own blog, Twitter, YouTube etc…there will be a link below. Also feel free to answer the questions yourself in the comments!
7. What’s your favourite tense to write in?
I usually write in past tense, however I did attempt to go outside of my comfort zone and write in present tense. You can check out that post here! Honestly, it made me feel as though I was going cross eyed. I think I’ll try it again someday. I like to play around with different styles and genres. It definitely didn’t go well but at least I gave it the good old fashioned try!
8. Do you write romance in your projects? What kind?
I hate to admit it but yes. I don’t intend for it to happen but alas, my character’s sometimes end up in relationships. On rare occasions my character’s have a love interest while I’m planning the book but normally it happens during the actual writing process. I personally blame my shojo manga obsession. It’s all romance. It’s the only romance I intentionally read. Sad huh?
The type of romance that I write tends to be on the milder side. It depends on the ages of the character’s their personalities and how important their relationship is in comparison to the plot. For example, if two character’s being together will ultimately save the world from devastation, then they’ll obviously confess their feelings and end up together at some point.
Most of the time my character’s have crushes on people. It’s awkward and I wish them the best as they navigate through their feelings.
9. What inspired your recent project?
It all started when I was in the 12th grade. I needed to write a piece for my creative writing class. One night I went to bed and had a dream about a little girl with a red dress named Rose who lived in a large old house with her uncle. She told me a really sad story of her best friend Nicholas, who had grown up. I woke up and ended up writing the story for class.
The story I wrote for class turned into a novel series.
I have not had a dream about Rose or Nicholas since though. Isn’t that odd?
10. Is it hard for you to kill your darlings?
Yes but no. It depends on the character. Sadly, I get attached to all of them. Even the ones I hate! Have you ever loved to hate a character? That’s what happens to me. I’ve cried after killing off a character. It wasn’t hard to do or anything–which sounds creepy–I used to kill character’s off all the time when I was a kid. It’s just that after I really miss them. It’s almost like having a close friend move away.
As promised, you can find the link to the original post with all of the questions here.
I am once again on break from work because of the pandemic, but I’m trying to make the most of it. It snowed just in time for Christmas and I got to snuggle up in my nice new blanket. I luckily got some books for Christmas so I’ll be reading those during the lock down and working on book 2 until I get word about the next step for my debut novel.
I may create another list of blog prompts during this time too so that I can entertain myself. Perhaps I’ll share my favourite reads of the year?
I’ve been working on a lot of other projects, so my editing had to take a backseat for almost all of August while I adjusted to my new schedule.
However, during my break period I’ve been playing around with a particular scene in my head, trying to see what I could do with it to really raise the stakes.
This may sound a bit silly to a handful of you reading this but my burst of inspiration came while watching cartoons. I kept thinking to myself while watching Miraculous Ladybug and Young Justice (I’m a sucker for superheros), how excellent the writing of the shows were. Especially in the case with Miraculous.
I’m on the edge of my seat (as an adult viewer), wondering what’s going to happen next. Im scared for them. Will they lose their miraculous this time? Will Hawkmoth finally win? Will they find out each others secret identities?
This is what I want to create for my readers someday. I want them to think “I need to know what happens next!” That anticipation and excitement is what makes stories so fun.
So, in regards to this particular scene it finally hit me that, in order to make sure that I actually accomplish this, I need to instill that same emotion in both myself and my characters.
Honestly, I don’t know what it is about this one scene that has made it so difficult these past few months, but I’m ready to tackle it.
Of course, I’m also being mindful of my other obligations (recordings, auditions, part-time job etc). Sometimes I wonder if I should get a t-shirt that lists what it is I do. I have a hard time explaining it to people.
I know I also promised to record this last edit, and I will…but I have misplaced my tripod at the moment so fingers crossed I can find it.
This is the final song on my character D’s playlist. I honestly love this song so much, I taught myself how to play it on guitar. It also ends up on my Instagram stories…often. It’s just pretty. I think I instantly fall for songs that remind me of my character’s or certain scenes. This song makes me think about D and R’s relationship both past and present.
Maybe I’ll post a cover of this on my YouTube channel later this month. When I have time to record it haha. I’ve got about 4 things to record tomorrow morning before I go to work. Still adjusting to this new schedule but I am glad to be working again after such a long time.
I’m also aware that I haven’t done an official AuthorTube video yet. I tried recording it twice now haha. I just didn’t like how it turned out, so I’m going to try again sometime in the near future as well. I think I’ll feel better about it once I finish this round of edits and pass them on to my editor.
In my last post I shared some Book Trailers that I thought did a great job of engaging potential readers. Although they all had different approaches, they were great to watch, visually appealing and had me interested in learning more about the books.
As a reader, I know what I look for when buying books, and those are the same things that I like to think about when I’ve completed the first draft of my novel. I always write books that I would enjoy reading, but I get curious about the different ways authors and publishers choose to market their books. There are so many different options, that sometimes I find myself going down a marketing rabbit hole. You’d be surprised at how long a person can spend looking at everything from great book covers to how to set up a bookstagram tour.
I think it’s honestly really wonderful how much information is out there.
There are hundreds of articles on how to grow an engaged audience of potential readers as well, which is something I believe every author strives for.
I’ve thought of all of the different techniques I’ve seen, and imagined different ways I could implement them for a successful launch, when the time comes. Even just thinking about launch prep can be a lot of work. There is so much that has to go into publishing a book, regardless if you are traditionally or self-published! Luckily there are so many unique approaches to this, many of which, I’ve seen done well with fantastic results.
The main thing that I’ve noticed from these successful approaches is the amount of planning people did. They figured out their budget, they thought of how far in advance they needed to begin promoting their book, they came up with events, got a team together, made a detailed list or calendar of everything they wanted to do prior to and on launch day.
The majority of the success stories I’ve heard has been from people who took their time to plan things out in advance.
Something I wonder is how far in advance should a person begin planning? I honestly don’t know. Is it when your book is picked up for publication? Is it when you have an actual publication date? Is it when the editing is complete? I haven’t the slightest idea.
Regardless, I’d like to hope that by at least looking into these different strategies others have used, that when I get the go ahead, I’ve already got a ton of inspiration to pull from and possibly things that I’ve already decided that I want to do.
Something that I am very excited for is having Beta Readers. Although my editor and I are currently on our 3rd round of edits, seeing her feedback and enthusiasm has really got me wondering what other’s will think of my novel. Will they enjoy my characters? Will they like my style of writing? Will want to read more?
I’ve missed having people read my work. I used to share my stories with my friends, family and classmates when I was in grades 7-9, but stopped being so open with it. Instead I only shared my writing in my creative writing classes and clubs at school, or in online writing communities. Most of what I shared however, were poems. Mainly I miss talking to people about my stories and characters, and I think most storytellers long for that.
I definitely have a lot of things that I’d love to do with this debut…and because of the current situation, and the uncertainty of 2020, I’m also making sure that I have alternative ideas to each of my main ones because I saw how devastating it was for people to have launches that didn’t go as planned. I’ve still got a ways to go, but I am having fun brainstorming ideas in between editing and work.
Ardin Patterson 