Would you like to know the
most frustrating thing about being a book writer? You might guess that
it's the headache of attempting to compose a concise and gripping query letter
meant to convince an agent to please, please, please consider your work.
Or you might think it's the effort of maintaining blogs and tweets and
social media when what you really need is to be writing your manuscript.
Or maybe it is sweating over another revision where words and phrases
have become déja vu protected by some muse-conjured force field outside your
ability to edit. Or perhaps it's just the futility of trying to find ways
to make your book stand out among millions and millions of probably far
superior...
Whoa, wait. Let me rewind here.
Would you like to know ONE of the most frustrating
things about being a book writer? It is holding this completed novel in
your hands―a work you've fallen in love with over the months it's taken to
research and revise and carefully compose until
it is now a wondrous reading experience―that only
you have tasted. You're alone in knowing how grand the story
is; you've no one to talk to about this fantastical, life-altering journey
you've been on! More than anything in the world, you want to post it
everywhere for the multitudes to read―because
they'll surely want to―and share in the remarkable triumphs your clever characters have
fought to overcome!
But you can't simply give your hard work away... even though you
long to do just that. I mean, what about your goal to profit off your
books? You've spent years putting them together, hoping someday to live
the dream of supporting yourself as a novelist! All that work... all that
time... and you just want to give it away?
Ah heck, why not?
I'll admit that when I complete a writing project, all I really want is for someone to read it. Just read it! Take it in. Experience the story I crafted. That's why I always post beginning book chapters on my author blog. That's why two years ago I started writing online stories available for free. I add new chapters annually to my developing adventures, a tradition I look forward to.
How did this ritual begin? A few Halloweens back I had the idea to write a short story for a friend who happens to be a fanatic when it comes to All Hallows Eve. I wrote the story and titled it The Tarishe Curse. It was posted on Halloween 2012. My friend loved it! *Whew* And as far as I was concerned, the task (and the tale) was over.
But then she asked, "What happens next?"
What do you mean? The story ended. Well, sort of. But a good imagination can take it from there. However...
An idea was planted in my head—an idea I fell in love with. Why not write a story online for everyone to read? A story that develops into something greater every year! Yeah, why not? And so I did.
You can read it for free and anticipate more to come. Perhaps consider adding this to your holiday traditions.
This is a developing online book with new
chapters added every Halloween.
Catherine
fights every Hallows Eve to protect her village from creatures of the night. She has sworn to avenge the deaths of loved ones, but a witch's curse may
prove a stumbling block impossible to overcome.
"A thrilling piece of fantasy fiction from the Queen of Werefolk's point of view. It is challenging enough for Duvalla and Kresh to protect their young family in a world of Hallows Eve creatures, but such a feat proves near impossible when a witch bent on vengeance against the werewolves casts a Tarishe curse that manipulates both heart and mind. The fight is not only with the sword but an internal struggle to love the ones Duvalla has sworn under a spell to hate, and hate the one who through evil enchantment manipulates her heart."
And please share! Leave your reaction; write a review; talk to others about it. Talk to ME about it! I write to entertain―myself first and then others.
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