Want a FREE book? Sign up for my newsletter!
Tuesday, December 5, 2023
Tell Me Something Tuesday: 12.05.2023 (Desert Island Book)
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Tell me Something Tuesday: 10.24.2023 (Supernatural Creatures)
Thursday, July 27, 2023
Kara's Book Cravings: Million Dollar Outlines
Anyone who knows me at all knows that I do not like to outline my books. I much prefer to sit and write and make things up as I go along, because once I take the time to outline, I feel like I've already told the story and know what happens, so I lose all desire to actually write the story.
But during an online class I took, a few people raved about the book, Million Dollar Outlines by David Farland. Knowing he'd mentored the author (Stephenie Meyer) of one of my all-time favorite series (Twilight), I figured checking out this book couldn't hurt. Who knew -- maybe his words and methods would change my mind about outlining.
As you can see based on all the sticky tabs sticking out of this book, I certainly picked up on a lot of useful information. Did reading this make me want to change my mind and start outlining my books? Nope. But, it did make me realize something that I think will help me moving forward.
I'd always thought outlining meant planning what happens chapter-by-chapter, but this book made me realize that's not necessarily the case at all. "Outlining" can be any prep work that goes into writing a book -- everything from deciding the genre to the emotional beats you want to hit to the setting. Which led to my realization...
When I'd started writing the Cursed Series, I took a solid few weeks to develop the curse, the timeline for the curse, Chloe's lineage, the vampire lore, and researching the town where the story takes place. Once I had all of that worked out, writing the actual story was rather easy. I didn't have to stop to look something up, or get sucked into a research rabbit hole because I had already done that prep work. So while I don't ever go in depth in terms of laying out what I want to happen in each chapter, I often do a little outlining prior to writing, and that seems to be enough for me to get the first draft written.
If you're a fan of outlining, you absolutely need to read this book. If you're more like me, still read this book because I promise you will find something useful in here. What I liked the most, though, was that the author didn't just talk about HOW to outline. He talked about the benefits of outlining, how to retrain your brain to view it differently, and he used examples from popular books to make his points -- and I don't know about anyone else, but seeing the tips translated into successful media / books is super helpful to me. Thanks to this book, I've also bought a couple other craft books that the author recommends. I haven't read them yet, but they are high on my TBR pile.
Anyone else read this book? Thoughts? Are you an plotter or a pantser?
Thursday, June 29, 2023
3 Tips to Dig Yourself Out of a Reading Rut
We've all heard of writer's block, and so many authors have written blogs and articles and essays and social media posts about how to overcome writer's block. But what happens when you're in a reading rut? When you can't seem to get into a book? And I don't mean a lack of reading materials, but the inability to get engrossed in a story or stick with a book longer than a few pages.
Being a writer myself, I draw a lot of inspiration and motivation from reading, so not being able to lose myself in books is almost as bad as not being able to write. I needed to find a way out of this rut. Here are 3 tips that helped me...
TIP #1: Don't stress about not reading. When you're trying to do something and you can't, you often obsess about it and stress about it and then that compounds the issue. At least, that's what happens with me. So, give yourself permission to not read. Occupy your mind and time doing something else you enjoy, and eventually, you'll get back to reading.
TIP #2: Change how you read. If you normally read digital books or only read paperbacks, switch it up. Sometimes the feel of something different in your hands can make a huge difference.
TIP #3: Change what you read. If you're normally a fan of YA or romance or fantasy, try reading something outside of your genre. This is probably the biggest thing that helped me. I love to read YA books of any genre, but even those hadn't been holding my attention.
Now, I almost never read non-fiction of any sort, but these books highlight unique places and stories throughout Michigan. They were short and set up so that each part / location was just a few pages. No long chapters. No complicated plot. No characters to keep track of.
It was easy reading, and that's exactly what I needed. I read both of these books in a single day -- and now I'm waiting for the other 4 volumes to arrive so I can read those, too. Learning about places I've visited and finding new places to go has been so much fun. I'm excited to visit some of these places when my daughter visits next month.
And then I found this gem at a yard sale for $0.50! Again, not a huge non-fiction reader, but this intrigued me because I'm a huge fan of anything spooky and scary. Written by a local author, I figured why not give it a shot -- and I'm so glad I did. This is essentially a collection of short stories about local Michigan areas and the ghost / haunted stories surrounding them.
I don't think I'm quite ready to dive back into my trusted genres just yet, but I am going to keep reading non-fiction, and I think I might branch out into a few other genres I don't normally read. Like, I'm not a trend chaser. I rarely read books that are super-hyped, and if I ever do, it's usually years after the trend has died down. I never read Twilight until Breaking Dawn part 1 was in theaters. I've still never read the Harry Potter Series. Or Game of Thrones. Or Outlander. I've just never gotten into the hype around certain books.
And that's exactly why I'm going to jump in feet first and read some of them. I'm going out of my comfort zone, and I'm going to reclaim my love of reading! Naturally, I'm going to blog about this little experiment, too, with a new feature I'm calling, "Is it Worth the Hype?" I'll read popular books and give my opinion on whether I think they warrant the hype they get. I'll also continue to read books that have little to no hype and see if they should be getting more love than they are.
Stay tuned... and keep reading :)
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Is There a Place for Me in Traditional Publishing?
And all of it has made me ask a very hard question:
I'm honestly not sure. Yeah, I know publishing is vast and there's room for everyone. And that I shouldn't write for market trends. And that I need to stay true to myself and write what I want to write. That if one book doesn't sell, move on to the next. Publishing is so subjective. It's not you or your writing--it's the market. I've heard it all. Heck, I've said it all. So, what happened to make me ask this question?
Well, it all started about 8 years ago. (You'd better get comfy. This is going to be a long story.)
I started my writing journey out of boredom. Yeah, I know how that sounds. LOL. Bear with me. I'd always wanted to write a book, and I'd had a lot of false starts, but this time I'd found a story I was excited about and characters I instantly loved. I was determined to finish! And I did. In fact, I wrote the sequel, too. Then I was once again lost...What did I do with it now that it was finished?
I joined a local critique group and realized just how bad it was and how much I didn't know about writing. So, I began the lengthy process of revising. While doing so, I tried my hand at some shorter works--novellas.
And I had some success!!!!
On September 15, 2012, I had my first ever story published. It was an erotic romance novella published by a small press. For the most part, my experience was great! Working with my editor was a good experience. I loved my cover art. My reviews were awesome! My sales could have been better, but I think the pricing was a big factor here (something I had no control over.) I went on to publish two more novellas with this publisher. Those books released December 2012 and January 2013.
While I was working with the above publisher, I was also publishing a couple erotic romance novellas with a different publisher. The first one released in October 2012 with the second releasing in January 2013. Again, good experience, positive reviews, slightly better sales. I went ahead and published a full-length book with this press that released September 2013. Sadly, things went sour shortly after--but that's a different story for a different day.
During this time, I'd finished revising the book of my heart (or I thought it was at the time). It wasn't exactly YA (characters were in college) but it wasn't adult, either. New Adult wasn't even a thing yet. I queried agents, pitching it as an adult romance, and got nowhere with it. Looking back, I know now it should never have been queried. LOL. Live and learn, right? Having had some success and decent experiences with small presses, I began to research those options for this series, too. And guess what?
I had an offer from a small publisher. I signed on the dotted line and was well on my way. The experience with this press wasn't as great as the other two places, but it was okay. Editing was sub-par and sales are almost non-existent. This book released in June 2013. To this day, I have never revised or published the sequel. Partly because I don't want to work with this publisher anymore, but also because I've lost interest in it.
Throughout the process of getting that book published, I was busy working on a new project--a contemporary YA romance. I was so in love with this book and the characters (still am). I eagerly queried agents. Again, I got nowhere! By this point, I was starting to wonder what the heck was going on? How / why could I get published with a small press and have wonderful reader reviews but not be able to get an agent to show any interest? Again, I went back to my the place I knew I could excel--the small press! And again, I got an offer.
My book released in June 2013. I loved everything about this publisher--my editor, my cover art, the staff, the other authors. For the first time since I'd embarked on this journey, I'd truly felt like I'd found my home.
I had big plans, too. I was going to publish everything with this press! This is also where I got my start in editing. Some of my closest writer friends I have today, I met at this publisher. But then things went bad. Horribly bad! You can read about what happened HERE. This experience left me broken and very leery of small presses, and I knew I didn't want to go through anything like that again.
During my time there, I was working on a new project--an adult romantic suspense. When the publisher closed, I vowed to try my hardest to get an agent. I mean, I'd learned so much and was a much better writer. Surely now was my time, right?
And then I got the email -- An agent wanted to have "The Call." I promptly signed with my first agent. I was on top of the world! Together, we edited my book and got it ready to go out on submission. Then we waited and waited and waited some more. I think it was a little over a year before I had to face the fact that my book wasn't going to sell. Talk about soul-crushing!
But I didn't waste all that time just waiting--I had accepted my position with Anaiah Press, and I was busy editing. I also sought a co-author and together, we wrote and published two Christian romantic suspense books. They released April 2015 and February 2016. It was such a wonderful experience that I wouldn't ever change.
Somewhere in all of that, I had a call with my agent where we discussed my career and where to go next. We decided I'd write a contemporary New Adult romance--NA was hot at the time, and I had a fun idea for a series. So, I dove in. By the time I was finished and it went out on submission, we got a lot of "NA isn't selling anymore" rejections. Because, of course. (I'm one of those people that if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.)
But then! Then we got an offer from a very reputable mid-sized publisher! I was back in the game!!! I published two NA books with this press (under a pen name). They released May 2017 and October 2017. I wish I could say everything was roses and sunshine and rainbows--I really wish I could say that. But I can't :-( You can read about why HERE.
Throughout the years and all the ups-and-downs, I've been working on other things. I haven't finished many of them, but I've been working on different things.
Recently, I finished a project that has taken me 4 years to complete--and it's a book that I love more than anything I've ever written. It's a young adult paranormal romance (very Twilight-esque). I revised and edited and revised some more. I sent it to critique partners and beta readers. I even worked one-on-one with a mentor. I did everything right. I eagerly jumped into the query trenches, knowing this was the best thing I've ever written.
As of today, these are my query stats:
54 total queries sent.
22 rejections
1 full request (ultimately rejected)
1 partial request (ultimately rejected)
32 queries still awaiting a response. (Most of these are due to expire next week and fall under the "no response means no" category.)
Now, a note on the full and partial requests.... Getting those amidst all the rejections was a HUGE boost. Anyone in this business knows how it feels. Sadly, both of those came back as rejections. I was fortunate enough to get feedback as to why, and it boils down to this:
My premise isn't unique enough to stand out in the current market.
Let that sink in.
My premise isn't unique enough to stand out in the current market.
It's not my writing. It's not my query letter. It's not my characters. It's not a lack of connection between my book and the agent.
It's. My. Premise!
The entire concept of my book isn't good enough. Now, tell me, how do I fix that? Short of rewriting the book or shelving it, how do I make my idea--my premise--stand out?
Needless to say, I was gutted. I didn't write or edit or do anything but read and watch TV. Thank God for my awesome writer friends who pulled me out of the dumps. Once I wallowed in it for awhile, I took a deep breath and re-evaluated. I still have queries out, but honestly, I have no hope that any of them will result in a request or an offer.
BUT! Not all is lost. I'd sent it to my editor at my pen-name publisher, and I (naively) put a lot of my hopes into that single query. I prayed that she would love it and want to acquire it. Then I could rest easy knowing it would be published, and I could work with someone who I admire and trust.
Then, a few days ago, I get an email.... My editor has left the publisher.
She assured me my submission would be passed on to a new editor, but...
I'm tired, y'all.
I don't know how much more I can take. I've tried my hand at adult romance, romantic suspense, Christian fiction, young adult, new adult....and I'm not any further ahead in my career than I was way back when I started. In fact, I've gone backward!
And so, I've been pondering the question I posed at the start of this very long post. Is there really a place for me in traditional publishing? Do I even want one anymore? Should I keep trying? If I do, what do I focus on--adult? YA? Romance? Something else entirely? What if I never get another offer? What if I do and it turns out to be another horrible experience? Should I just throw all my efforts into self-publishing? Or should I stick to what I'm good at--editing--and throw in the towel on writing?
I don't have any answers right now. I'm not sure if I will anytime soon, either, but I know I need to do something because I'm taking an emotional beating, and I'm ready to crack.
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Why I Gave Up -- A Failed Reading Challenge
I'm one of those people who, when I start a book, I have to finish it. I always hold out hope it might get better, or that I might change my mind and start to like the story. After years of reading, I should know myself better by now. lol. If I'm not fully engaged by chapter three (five at the most) then it's safe to say I won't suddenly become engaged. I'm also one of those people who has a high tolerance for stuff--violence, cursing, sex, etc--but I do have some limits, which I'll get into here in a minute.
I have (easily) put down the last two books I've read and labeled them as DNF (did not finish).
After I reached my limit with The Vampire Diaries, I moved on to My Blood Approves by Amanda Hocking. It was a little...harsher than Twilight and TVD in terms of the main characters attitude and internal dialogue. But that didn't really bother me once the initial shock of it wore off. For the most part, I was engaged in the story. The pacing was a bit fast, and I was bummed there wasn't much in terms of high school setting / drama / conflict. I was able to get past that, though. What I couldn't get past was.... {{SPOILER ALERT}}.... The hero killed a dog.
The hero and heroine were walking in the park and were attacked by a rabid dog. The hero stops the dog from attacking the heroine and then kills the dog. The hero gets bitten, but heals quickly and has no real side effects, which clues in the heroine that something is off. Now, I fully get what the author was doing. The hero is a vampire, and so the author was looking for a unique way to show he's different, because let's be honest, in terms of vampire fiction, everything has been done to death. Pun intended ;-) But this rubbed me the wrong way. It was completely gratuitous, in my opinion. So, I stopped reading and moved on to the next book....
Laney (The Brookehaven Vampires #1) by Joann I. Martin Sowles. I didn't make it past chapter three. The premise of this one is great, and I was really excited at first because it seemed to have the nice, slow burn that I loved so much in Twilight. But the writing itself is...bad. Allow me to show you...
Chapter 1 -- "Oh, my!" Professor McBaldy Bald said all frantic-like, with his bird face and balding head.
Chapter 1 (same page) -- I just stared at Beautiful Boy, amazed by his beauty...
Now, I don't point these out to poke fun, but rather to show the quality of the writing. There was a lot of time spent on descriptions of rooms and furniture and driving and not nearly enough time on dialogue or characterization. The entire opening was like this, and I'm going to guess the rest of the book is, too, and I just can't. Yeah, I know Twilight droned on in places and there was a lot of telling, too, but it worked in that book because we were moving toward something. In this book, it felt like it was all there simply for filler, that it served no real purpose. *shrugs* If that makes me a writing / book snob, then so be it.
So, there are two more books on my list, and I'm admittedly weary to dive into them. I think, for the time being, I'm going to put them on hold and move on to other books on my TBR pile. Don't worry--I'll continue to blog about random things :-)
Monday, March 12, 2018
The Vampire Diaries (Book 5): This is a joke, right?
Before I dive into the insanity of this book, take a moment to catch up on my personal vampire reading challenge:
All caught up? Good. Let's get started then.
Book 5: The Return: Nightfall
I can sum up my thoughts about this book quite easily...
Okay, so, a bit of context. The fourth book was supposed to be the final book, and it was released in 1992. The TV show first aired in 2009. This fifth book, The Return: Nightfall, was published in 2009-- SEVENTEEN YEARS after the series ended. See what happened here? The TV show was starting and so the publisher probably decided to cash in on that and publish new books in the series, and let me tell you, this book reeks of a money grab. It is so far beyond ridiculous that I actually stopped reading and DNF-ed it. (Which is something I almost never do!)
As you'll recall, at the end of book 4, Elena had come back to life--again--but now she's an angel. I think. Or she's something like an angel. She has some sort of energy / power in her veins that makes her irresistible to vampires (or any supernatural creature, really) and everyone wants to steal her power and kill her in the process. Stefan is protecting her. Damon is still trying to claim her and wants to share her power so they can reign together. Her friends are, as always, super supportive. And there is, once again, a dark, evil force in town that they need to fight as soon as they figure out what it is.
But here's where I have a major issue.... In the book, Elena is in a child-like state. She can't read. She can barely speak, yet she can still write in her diary (???) She needs help getting dressed. Even her thoughts are very innocent / confused / child-like. She floats and needs someone to keep her grounded (literally). In fact, at one point, Stefan ties a rope to her waist and takes her for a walk!
Yeah, I wish I was kidding. But oh! It get's worse! Knowing she's extremely child-like, you'd think Stefan would morph into a guardian / protector / parent role. And he does. But he does more than that, too! This is from page 95 of the hardcover version. Pay special attention to the sections in the yellow box.
But this is where I stopped.
Yes, I know what you're thinking. But Kara, in Twilight Jacob imprints on Renesmee and that's just as gross / creepy. Why is that okay and this isn't? Well, for starters, I never said it was okay in Twilight, despite how much I love that series. Secondly, in Twilight, we don't see Jacob kissing or hugging or otherwise having physical / sexual thoughts and/or contact with her. For me, that's the difference, and yes, it is a fine line. But it's still a line I feel was crossed in The Return: Nightfall.
I honestly have no idea what happens in the rest of the book, and I don't plan to keep reading to find out. I'm officially done with this series and plan to move on to the next series.
Up next is My Blood Approves by Amanda Hocking. Stay tuned!
Monday, February 19, 2018
Does the World Need Another Twilight?
Okay, let me back up and explain why I'm asking this question, especially about a book that was first released more than ten years ago. For anyone who knows me, you know I'm a HUGE Twilight fan. I mean, look at my bookshelf:
Four entire shelves dedicated to Twilight. And yes, those are in fact, the Twilight Saga dolls. #NotAshamed This picture doesn't reflect all the DVDs I have, because of course I have the all the movies and all the special features, too! Nor does it show the other stuff currently sitting in my Amazon cart that I haven't bought yet.
Now, I know Twilight isn't a literary masterpiece, but I'm not here to talk about the mechanics of the writing. I want to talk about the story itself and the characters. There's an innocence and simplicity to this series. A human girl falls in love with a vampire. That's the crux of it. Throughout four books, they deal with angry vampires, werewolves, and other conflict. The author, Stephenie Meyer, has said in numerous interviews that this story is about first love and all that entails. The healthiness or abusiveness of this relationship is a different post for a different day, but yes, I'm well aware of the arguments and limitations of this series. Putting that aside (for now), there's just something about this story and these characters that pulls you in. I haven't been able to pinpoint exactly what that is, and maybe that's why it's such a pop culture phenomenon.
For me, though, it's more than just the story. It's the story behind the story. The story of how a normal, stay-at-home mom wrote not one, but four books (well, technically six counting The Host and The Chemist). She is responsible for getting admitted non-readers to fall in love with reading. Through her writing, she united thousands of people which resulted in lifelong friendships and even writing partnerships. Personally, she gave me something to bring me and my oldest daughter closer during a time when things weren't so great between us, and it's something we still share to this day.
Before Twilight, there was Harry Potter, which is arguably the most successful series of all time. Since Twilight, we've had The Hunger Games and Divergent, to name just a couple, but there really hasn't been anything as big as Twilight since it's release in 2005. Sure, lots of authors have written paranormal romance books about humans and vampires falling in love, but none of them are quite like Twilight. Now, I realize there will never be anything exactly like Twilight--believe me, I've tried to find something--which is what led to this post.
For years I've been trying to find another series that is similar to Twilight. When I say I want a book "similar to Twilight," what I mean is I want a book that's simple, a book that focuses primarily on the romance, a book that has the same kind of innocence. I want something that will suck me in and not let me go. I've Googled until I was cross-eyed, and while I've found numerous lists of books to read, it's not exactly what I'm looking for.
I have kept an open mind, though, and I have tried other authors and series. So, I have decided to share those other books with you. I will write a review and share my thoughts on why it is or isn't (strictly in my opinion) the "next Twilight."
Here are the books I currently have on my list:
- My Blood Approves (The My Blood Approves Series) by Amanda Hocking
- The Vampire Diaries by LJ Smith
- The Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
- Evernight by Claudia Gray
- Laney (The Brookehaven Vampires) by Joann I. Martin Sowles
When I get to the end of my similar-to-Twilight-TBR, I will have an exciting announcement for all of you, so I hope you'll stick around. In the meantime....back to my original question:
Does the world need another Twilight?
It doesn't necessarily have to be vampires, (although I wouldn't personally object if it was), but with the current state of affairs, I don't see anything wrong with another book or series taking the world by storm and uniting people over their mutual love of a story.

.png)
.jpg)
.png)









