Tag: indie authors

The Best Fantasy Novels You’ve Never Heard Of by Andrea Lundgren

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I frequently get questions from fellow readers for fantasy book recommendations. I have well-known favorites (The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit) but then my list goes off to books that are less known, so I wanted to share the best with all of you. These have been picked based on the quality of writing, world-building, characterization, and the fact that…well, I love them all! 🙂

Check out Andrea’s list of The Best Fantasy Novels You’ve Never Heard Of  
I’m happy to say that my Wind Rider Chronicles series made the list! 

Andrea Lundgren is a Book Coach, Editor, and Author who enjoys books and all things writing–why we write, how we write, and what we read to write better.
Visit her blog at https://andrealundgren.com/into-the-writer-lea/

Is it possible to complete a novel in one month?

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National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is almost here! Today I’m sharing a post from author Jean M. Cogdell on whether or not it is possible to complete a novel in one month.

I’m not a particularly fast writer, and I have a very demanding schedule, so the thought of writing 50,000 words in just one month is very daunting to me. So far I’ve only been successful with Camp NaNoWriMo where you can set smaller goals, and even adjust them as you go along. Yet I know people do this every year, and I’m going to give it a try–with some helpful tips from Bridget at Now Novel! If you’re planning to join me in November, be sure to check these out.

If I succeed next month, I will have the next book in my Wind Rider Chronicles series nearly complete. I know my readers are eagerly waiting! But even if I don’t succeed, I’ll have more words written than I would have if I’d never participated, right? So really, I can’t lose.

Is it possible to complete a novel in one month?

If you’ve managed this amazing feat, I’m impressed.

But not me, I break out in a sweat just thinking about writing a novel from beginning to end in thirty days. 

Emails are pouring in for NaNoWriMo. Have you signed up?

Well, it’s that time of year, and the deadline is fast approaching. Almost time to start your engines, I mean computers. (Continue reading…)

(Original Source: Shared from Chris the Story Reading Ape’s blog.)

 

Infographic courtesy of Bridget at Now Novel–click to read the full article.

Infographic - NaNoWriMo - writing a novel in a month | Now Novel

 

4 Ways to Make a Scene Matter by Andrea Lundgren

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In writing, we’re told to “kill our darlings” and get rid of the bits of writing we love if they don’t serve the story.

But what if we could take those little scenes and transform them into something useful, incorporating the elements that are near and dear to our heart with the plot?

It won’t always work–some writing is just too self-conscious, too pretentious, and too wordy to survive the editing process–but you have some options of what to do with those scenes besides sending them to the chopping block…

Continue reading on Andrea’s blog: 4 Ways to Make a Scene Matter

How to Beat the Blank Page and Write by Janeen Ippolito

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We’ve all been there.

You sit down after a long day. You’re tired, but you made it. Your kids are at a sitter, or your dishes are getting ignored in the sink, or you’ve finally gotten off social media. You’re ready to write.

And then: nothing. Absolutely nothing. All of those brilliant ideas for your manuscript, blog post, article, or what-have-you are gone.

The screen is blank.

You glance at the clock. You’re down to fifty minutes of precious writing time before you have to get on to the next task, because you write in the margins. You don’t have the luxury of trying to wait for the muse. You have to get content onto paper NOW.

All of those thoughts only make you freeze up more. You decide to go on a walk. All you feel is relief that you’re away from your computer. Divine inspiration? Not there.

What about online writing gurus and experts? Surely they have an idea? You hop online just for a second, just to scroll through a few blogs and websites of successful writing experts and authors.

Man, these people look way more put-together than you. Look at those shiny websites! Even their posts look awesome. And who did those book covers? Yikes! How are they that famous that quickly? Is this normal? What are you even doing?

Maybe you’re not cut out for this. The doubts churn in your stomach.

Thirty minutes gone. What? No. How did time go so fast? This is not fair. Okay, focus. Gotta get this done. Otherwise, you won’t have any time until tomorrow. Professionals work best under deadlines, right? And you’re a professional. You’re making time. You’re doing things the right way.

The blank screen still looms large. You have nothing…

Read the rest of the article:  How to Beat the Blank Page and Write

Win an Autographed Book!

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It was time to say goodbye to the Weekly Fantasy fix

But you can still follow me through my author newsletter, which has deeper insights into my writing, inspirations, and book world.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, now is a great time to do it.

Why now? Because I’m giving away a free autographed book to one lucky subscriber. Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway before the end of April for your chance to win a book of your choice from the Wind Rider Chronicles. I will announce the winner in my May 3rd newsletter.

Want a peek at what you’ve been missing? View my last newsletter, Home is Where the Imagination Is. Or take my just-for-fun fantasy survey, and see how your answers compare those of others.

If you like what you see, subscribe, then enter the giveaway. Good luck!

Why You Should Consider Writing A Trilogy #SundayBlogShare #Writers @tonyriches

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(Shared from Blonde Write More)

When medieval historical fiction author Tony Riches contacted me to say that he had a fab guest blog post up his sleeve I was over the moon.

When I read his guest blog post I felt like one of my big writing related questions had been answered. The question being – why should you consider writing a trilogy?

Prior to Tony’s guest post, I spent a lot of time thinking about why you should consider writing a trilogy. I came up with the following points:

  • You should write a trilogy if you secretly crave literary pain. Writing one book won’t come close to satisfying your literary pain needs, so you need to write three in quick succession to get your fix.
  • You should write a trilogy if you can’t think of a way to end your story and you strongly believe that come the end of writing the third book you will have figured it out.
  • You should write a trilogy if you have fallen madly in love with one of your characters and can’t bear to be parted from them. Writing a story about your crush and spanning it over three books might help you get this fictional love interest out of your system. Your readers might not share your love for this character but that’s low level detail.
  • You should write a trilogy if you have an attention seeking diva of a main character who demands a bigger world stage. Give them a trilogy and watch their power hungry eyes light up!

To my surprise Tony has come up with a different set of reasons to me.

Check out this great post below.

Take it away Tony!

Source: Why You Should Consider Writing A Trilogy #SundayBlogShare #Writers @tonyriches