Denied, yet unstoppable

Author: Lakisha  //  Category: Jewels Series, Short Stories, Werelove Series, Writing Industry, contests

Well, the results came in. Werelove: Dusk Conspiracy, my YA entry into the ABNA (Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award) contest did not make the top 1,000 cut.

This is once again another rejection in a string of rejections that has been going on since I first started submitting pieces to various contests in 2009.

It is true, it is part of the publishing world that rejections happen. And I will admit, it does not take away the sting of getting one. However, after the initial disappointment, I always remind myself that everything is subjective in this business and that what one person may turn down, another will like.

With that being said, I’m going to proceed forward with the plans I had outlined for myself in my 2010 Writing Goals. Jewels was the novel I wanted to publish and Werelove: Dusk Conspiracy was to be the second. Now that I’m freed to keep to my schedule, I’m looking to release Werelove, by May 2010.

When I told my editor and critique guru, Lyn, she grinned and was ready to get started. That’s what I love about Lyn. I think I might be giving her gray hairs, but we both have fun with making the stories in my head have life on paper.

My other works-in-progress, Mine Dreamer, Sierra Protection, and Moonbeams and Moonlight, are all still in various stages of being written with Mine Dreamer being one chapter away from having the first draft completed. Moonbeams and Moonlight is halfway done and Sierra Protection is still in its infancy (only 4 chapters so far).

For all those aspiring writers out there, remember that hope is a powerful thing. Keep it in the forefront and don’t let rejection take you out of the game.

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Published – Now The Fun Part

Author: Lakisha  //  Category: Interviews and Reviews, Jewels Series, New Release

Wow! Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity as I sat down to chat throughout the day with anyone willing to talk. I also did my first blogtalkradio show with my co-host and cover artist, JD Hollyfield.

We had a blast and we had quite a few people stopping by to give their congratulations and well wishes.

I’ve done two interviews so far and if you’d like to read them and leave comments, that would be great.

1) Novel Sisterhood

2) Romancing the Pen Today

I thought writing was tough but getting my novel out there will be just as big of a challenge. It is one that I am looking forward to.

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Release Day Is Here!

Author: Lakisha  //  Category: General

Yes! It’s finally arrived and I’m excited. Today promises to be a fun day all around.

There are contests going on, chats and a live online radio show as well.

Come join myself and my surprise guest at any of the events below. And don’t forget to enter the contest.

Chat with me at 9:30 pm EST in the Writer Support Chatroom – HERE

Tune in and listen to the live Blogtalk Radio show at 11 pm EST – HERE

Enter the contest – HERE

Get your copy of Jewels - HERE

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Countdown to Release Date #2

Author: Lakisha  //  Category: Jewels Series, New Release

Oh my goodness! Five days left before the paperback edition of Jewels is released. For everyone who has been following this journey with me, I thank you.

If you’ve just discovered me, I hope you will hop on the Kisha Express and learn more about me, my stories and the writing industry.

I’m happy to announce that I will be releasing Jewels for the Kindle on February 26.

Stay tuned for the contest and chat announcement for your chance to win an autographed copy of my debut novel.

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Countdown to Release Date

Author: Lakisha  //  Category: Jewels Series, New Release, contests

I sit here staring at the calendar and wondering where all the time has gone. Eleven more days until my release party for Jewels.

I can’t say it enough, how much the support for my written that I’ve gotten in the last year and half has helped and encouraged me to grow as a person and as a writer. For those that helped in my growth thank you. You know who you are.

To celebrate the big day, I’m giving away prizes and running a few contests. I will also be doing a live blogradio talk show later that night. For all the details, please visit here.

Everyone who participates will receive a $5 off discount coupon to Jewels. It’s my way of saying thank you to all my friends and fellow writers.

Also, my website Kishazworld.com has been remodeled, streamlined and up for your viewing pleasure. Feel free to visit any time.

Just a few more things. I have created a fan page on Facebook and if you like me well enough, you might join me here. You can find me on twitter and myspace as well.

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Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest

Author: Lakisha  //  Category: Werelove Series, contests
Well, I did. Thanks to Lyn (my editor) for putting in overtime to help me get all the errors corrected. We’ve both sweated while waiting for the first day of the contest to arrive (Jan 25).  I stayed up late in order to get Werelove in early.

 

The contest was supposed to open at 12:01 am EST on January 25. I was logged in, ready and waiting. The hands on the clock seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace.  Finally the appointed time arrived and I did a refresh. Imagine my surprise when the ENTER CONTEST button did not appear. I tried for an hour and half before the button was there. I then spent another hour trying to get my information and Werelove uploaded.

 

All in all, not a bad night’s work. You can read excerpts from Werelove using the links below.

Or listen to me read an excerpt from Werelove.

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Publication Journey – Reflections

Author: Lakisha  //  Category: Jewels Series, New Release, Writing Industry, nanowrimo

I am so excited. I am inching closer to my debut novel’s (Jewels) release date and I’m trying to take it all in. I have to say that it was not the first book I thought I would get published. But that doesn’t matter. It’s the fact that I can say I finally did it.

After choosing to write a story with the intention of later getting it published, my publishing journey started in 2004 when I moved to Florida and joined the Inverness Writer’s Workshop group. I met so many wonderful people, Elissa Malcohn, Belea Kenney, Nelson “Grandpa” Williams, Meredith and more. I brought my manuscript, “Moonbeams” with me and embarked on the writing adventure of trying to churn the novel out.

Life, however, got in my way. Several things happened starting in 2005 that spanned the next three years of my life and changed me and my writing irrevocably. I got married in 2005, got pregnant, had my husband decide to split before the birth of our child and our first year anniversary in 2006; he filed for divorce two months before the birth of my second child in November 2006. I spent the next two years dealing with lots of issues associated with the ongoing divorce and dealing with my soon-to-be ex-husband.

Any desire to write had slowly dwindled away at the start of the marriage and stopped during the upheavals following the separation/divorce. I tried to make it to the writer’s workshop meetings but my attendance was spotty at best.

In 2006, in the middle of all the drama, I learned of a friendly writing contest called NaNoWriMo. I thought it would be the perfect way to go back to doing something I loved–writing. The birth of my youngest daughter on November 1 stopped that plan but I was determined that 2007 would be different.

2007 rolled around and I was still smarting from the divorce procedures and being a single parent again. My oldest daughter was having trouble being sociable at school, throwing tantrums and living up to the expression “holy terror.” I spent many nights crying and trying to muster the energy to even bother to write. I watched November 2007 looming closer but the idea of trying to take the NaNoWrimo challenge of 50,000 words was too much. I resolved instead to write one new chapter for my unfinished novel Moonbeams, which I managed to accomplish with a bit of a struggle.

The following year, 2008, so an improvement in my mental state of mind and attitude. I started getting rid of things that were weighing me down. I went back to college to earn an Accounting degree and I made a solemn vow that I would finally finish Moonbeams. Between August – October 2008, I added 3 new chapters to the novel and I was elated. Finally my dry spell was ending. I just didn’t realize how much of a creative well-spring I had unleashed until I participated in NaNoWrimo 2008.

This time I was ready for the chapter and though I didn’t hit the 50,000 mark (I made it to 40,498), my new novel, Werelove, was born. Everything changed for me. I couldn’t seem to stop writing. And if it hadn’t been for a half-joking, half-serious statement made by Nelson Williams, I might not have finished Werelove. But because I had to prove Nelson wrong and show that I could indeed finish something I’d started, I fell into a writing zone and didn’t come out of it until July 31, 2009 when I typed the last words of Werelove. I had written a whooping 86,000+ words in nine months.

My writing bug didn’t end there. While I was writing Werelove and giving Moonbeams apologetic looks, I read an email that said Samhain Publishing was doing a submission call for a Space Opera (think Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars) anthology. It had to be a novella and no more than 30,000 words. I contemplated doing it but wasn’t sure. It wasn’t until I pulled out a piece I had stashed away that was my fooling around with using first-person in a story, that the idea for Jewels emerged.

I changed the name that I had first chosen in that rough draft and renamed my heroine Jewels because of the multiple meanings the name and title would later have. Of course being the procrastinator I was, I didn’t start on Jewels until two weeks before the deadline. I wrote 27,550 words in seven days and the week before the deadline, was lucky enough to have two friends read over and help me edit it.

I wasn’t satisfied with it because I knew there was more story that I had to not put in for the sake of the word count. When I got a rejection from Samhain, I wasn’t disappointed for long because I realized that now I had the change to add more. And man did it grow. I went from 27,550 to 55,000+ words. I couldn’t have done it without Lyn Ehley who I shyly asked to read my work. She used to teach English and of course put a red pen to the manuscript but all the changes and suggestions were worth it.

I tried pitching Jewels to Freya’s Bower at the Muse Online Writers Conference and the Freya’s Bower rep asked me to send the first chapter and synopsis in. This happened in October 2009. I sent it in and settled in to wait the required number of weeks mentioned on their website for a response.

During that period, I stumbled across an ad for Createspace. Curious as to what it was, I followed the link and found Amazon.com’s print on demand company. Intrigued, I read everything and then some before deciding that I needed to reevaluate what I wanted from my writing and writing career.

I had to acknowledge after some soul searching that I really wasn’t trying to get famous from my writing. I only wanted others to read my work and enjoy it. That decision led me to the path of self-publishing and Createspace seemed the ideal way to go because p.o.d. companies like Lulu, Xlibris, Yorkshire Publishing and others, charge to publish your work.

I’m a single parent of two. Money does not grow on trees. Createspace wasn’t going to charge me anything, only catch was I had to literally do it all–edit my book, layout the book interior, and create the book cover. That’s of course if I wanted to keep it free. If I wanted any of those services, Createspace has packages that offer them. You do have to pay for those.

Being the entrepreneur that I am, and having always loved a challenge, I decided to do it all. If my college friend and artist, JD Hollyfield, hadn’t seen my post about needing a cover artist, I might have had to settle for one of the generic cover templates that Createspace offers (not that there is anything wrong with them).

On February 19, 2010, Jewels will be released in paperback from Createspace with the Kindle edition becoming available the following week.

And if this is exciting enough, I am submitting Werelove to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest that they are running in conjunction with Penguin Books. The Grand Prize: a $15,000 advance against royalties contract with Penguin Books.

Looking back, I would never have thought I had it in me to finish one book, let alone, two books in such a short span of time. I hope to continue riding my creative wave and sharing my writing adventures with all of you.

**IMPORTANT ADDITION: I was made aware that I didn’t thank or mention people who helped me along the way and feelings got hurt. It wasn’t an intentional oversight. So with that being said, I want to apologize to Dianne Dykstra. She put up with my long ramblings and screeching kids in the background when I would call and needed to hear an adult’s voice. She also helped me in the self-publishing decision because of her own thoughts and feelings on the matter.

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Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines!

Author: Lakisha  //  Category: General, Jewels Series, Werelove Series, contests

I’m beginning to understand why authors lament about deadlines. They can be nerve-wrecking, especially for a first time author.

Although I don’t have a publisher (I’m self-publishing my first novel), I chose to treat the whole process of publishing my book as a serious deal. I set deadlines for everything and I will say this much, it has taught me that procrastination is definitely, not an option.

I have two WIP (works-in-progress) that are nearing the finish. The first one is my novel, “Jewels,” that is waiting on cover art and final revisions (not that there are many after six rounds of intense editing to find all the little grammatical and punctuation errors). The release date is February 19.

Then my second novel, “Werelove: Dusk Conspiracy,” is being revised and checked over thoroughly because I will be submitting it to Amazon.com’s “Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award” contest that they are hosting along with Penguin Books. The prize: a contract with Penguin Books. I thought, why not? So I’m going for it.

If you’re a writer and interested, you can read about the contest rules here.

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Rejected…again

Author: Lakisha  //  Category: Short Stories

Well yesterday I received a response in the mail from the Writers of the Future contest. My entry, “Moon Feast,” was not a finalist for this quarter’s top three.

I had a feeling my very…unique fantasy story might not be what they were looking for, but I thought I’d give it a shot anyway. So for now, my lovely, but different short story, will cool its heels for a bit. Don’t worry, I have in mind a place where I can use it later.

Though no one likes to get rejected, I will admit to having fun at least trying even if my style is not the judges’ cup of tea.

The moral of the story: Rejections are a dime a dozen. Do not let it keep you from pursuing your dreams.

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Buh-bye 2009!

Author: Lakisha  //  Category: Beams and Light Series, Conventions, General, Jewels Series, Short Stories, Werelove Series, nanowrimo

Wow, another year has come and gone. I have to say that this year has been the best year for me writing-wise since I started my journey to become a published author in 2004. I thought it would be fun to take a quick recap of my 2009 Writing Year and give a glimpse into my 2010 plans.

January – July 2009

I spent the bulk of 2009 working to complete my first draft of my first completed novel. The journey for “Werelove: Dusk Conspiracy,” started in November 2008 as a NaNoWriMo novel (I managed a little over 40,000 words) and steadily progressed to a finished first rough draft on July 31, 2009 with a word count of 85,960 words.

August – December 2009

Samhain Publishing had put out a call for submissions for its space opera anthology contest. Though I had known about the contest for a little while, I was consumed by Werelove and wanted it finished first. I wrote the novella form of “Jewels” in one week and with the help of several writing buddies, managed to get it edited and turned in. It didn’t make it, which was a little disappointing. I decided then to go back and add more to the 27,450 words already existing.

I still had more story to tell and the work of fleshing it out began. The novella went from 12 chapters to 14 chapters and became a novel. My enthusisam for “Jewels” was so contagious that one of the librarians from my local library asked to read and edit “Jewels.” Thanks to her insights and encouragement, “Jewels” sits at 16 chapters with close to 55,000 words.

I also started on a short story for another anthology, The Writer’s Support Group: The Writer’s Challenge, which I will finish in January 2010.

In November, I once again participated in the NaNoWriMo contest and turned out my third novel for the year, called “Mine Dreamer” which is set in the same universe as “Jewels” but focuses on a different part of the culture. I hit the 50,000 word goal and celebrated my success. The current word count on this one is roughly 55,000 words contained within 18 chapters.

The other great thing that I did during the second half of 2009 was to form an online Writer’s Support Group, in an effort to help my fellow writers that needed encouragement and support, as well as a place to pool knowledge and resources about writing and the publishing industry. I wanted to give something back to those who helped me learn so much in the last few years about writing and publishing.

So what about 2010?

 

I’ve made definite plans and goals for 2010 and here they for your reading pleasure:

  1. Submit “Werelove: Dusk Conspiracy” to the Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) contest. The prize: a publishing contract with Penguin Books.
  2. Self-publish “Jewels.” It will be available via Createspace/Amazon on February 19, 2010.
  3. Complete the short story, “Sierra’s Protection,” for the Writer’s Challenge Anthology.
  4. Edit and revise, “Mine Dreamer.”
  5. Complete first draft of my fantasy novel “Moonbeams and Moonlight,” which has been patiently waiting since 2004 for me to complete it.
  6. Attend Oasis and Necronomicon and set up a table at each event to promote my novel(s).
  7. Self-publish “Werelove” (if it does win) and self-publish “Mine Dreamer.”
  8. Start the writing on my middle grade fantasy/mythological story that I’m writing for my oldest daughter who really wants to read mommy’s work.

And if all my writing goals weren’t enough, I will be graduating from Kaplan University with a Bachelors in Accounting. How’s that for a busy year?

May everyone fulfill at least one goal or dream. Catch everyone on the flip side.

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