I'm moving!

I'm leaving the nest! As I've been blogging less frequently lately, I've decided to move the main part of my blog over to my author website. It's a change I've been meaning to make for a while, but my overloaded schedule's made it tricky to find the time, and I was reluctant to lose my audience over here. However, I think it's time for a change. It's tough to manage both an author website and blog and keep everything up to date, so this is my attempt to make things more streamlined.

This blog was a wonderful way to build relationships with other writers within the community, but at this stage, I want to focus on reaching readers. You'll still be able to find me on social media and I might post the occasional update over here if I go travelling again or I think something might be useful to share.

For readers and fans interested in keeping up with my new releases, you can subscribe to my newsletter to get early updates on my latest books.

If you're interested in writing advice, I'll leave up some of my old blog posts here on the Writer's Nest. It's important to note that some of these posts are quite old, so the advice might be slightly outdated (especially when it comes to self-publishing).

Thank you to my readers for sticking with me over the years. Happy reading/writing!

Out now: Faerie Blood (The Changeling Chronicles, #1)

I’m Ivy Lane, and if I never see another faerie again, it’ll be too soon.

Twenty years after the faeries came and destroyed the world as we knew it, I use my specialist skills to keep rogue faeries in line and ensure humans and their magically gifted neighbours can coexist (relatively) peacefully.

Nobody knows those skills came from the darkest corner of Faerie itself.

When a human child disappears, replaced with a faerie changeling, I have to choose between taking the safe road or exposing my own history with the faeries to the seductively dangerous head of the Mage Lords. He’s the exact kind of distraction I don’t need, but it’s work with him or lose my chance to save the victims.

It’ll take all my skills to catch the kidnappers and stop Faerie’s dark denizens overrunning the city — but if the faerie lords find out about the magic I stole last time I went into their realm, running won’t save me this time…

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Random Authorly Updates!

It's been a while since I did a general update on where I am with all my series, and since I have another book out next week (EEEK), I decided now's a good time!

Firstly, it's less than a week until Faerie Blood hits the virtual shelves! I also finished writing the sequel, Faerie Magic, and I’m working on edits.

Speaking of edits, I finally finished the last round of edits on Divided (Alliance, #4), and now I'm proofreading and formatting it. I set a release date: 7th June. My cover artist is just starting work on the covers for the other Alliance books, so hopefully I'll be able to share the fourth book cover soon!

As for the Darkworld series, I finished the final check of the PDF file for Souls Forsaken (Darkworld Book 4)! Hopefully that means cover art’s on the way.

Updated publishing schedule:

April 21st - Faerie Blood (Changeling Chronicles Book 1)
May 2nd - Souls Forsaken (Darkworld Book 4)
Late May - Faerie Magic (Changeling Chronicles Book 2)
June 7th - Divided (Alliance Book 4)
June 28th - Transcendent (Indestructible Trilogy Book 3)

Other miscellaneous updates: you might have noticed my blog header and website have changed. That's thanks to the wonderful Rebecca Frank, who designed my Changeling Chronicles series covers! I decided to update my website to make it more streamlined.

I'm also working on some new cool things for newsletter subscribers including a Changeling Chronicles prequel short story.

And I made a Pinterest board for the Changeling Chronicles series. :)

New Release: Ablaze (Indestructible Trilogy: Book 2)

It's release day for Ablaze, the second book in the dystopian fantasy Indestructible trilogy!

Two years ago, the fiends invaded Earth. Two months ago, I joined the Pyros, a group of warriors with astonishing powers, to fight the monsters that destroyed our world.

But then I found out they were keeping secrets from me. Jared, the sadistic scientist who betrayed them, has captured my ally, who’s linked to me through a blood-connection that’s slowly killing us both. To get him back, I have to leave my new friends and face the wilderness alone. But Jared’s not the only threat out there. The fiends are moving, forces stir on the other side of the divide, and if Jared’s plan succeeds, it’ll spell disaster for our world.

And that’s if the dark transformation in my blood doesn’t kill me first.

Amazon   Add on Goodreads

For a limited time, you can also grab the first book in the Indestructible trilogy for $0.99!

Two years ago, the fiends invaded, with a devastating explosion that split the world in two. Even now, energy blasts strike without warning, destroying everything in their paths. The fiends hunt anyone unlucky enough to escape.

My name is Leah. An energy blast killed my group. It should have killed me, too. Instead, I woke up alone in the wilderness, stalked by the fiends. Until a deadly, ruthless warrior appeared from the ashes and saved my life.

Swept into the world of the Pyros -- flame-conjuring warriors born to kill the fiends -- I learn to unlock the fire buried inside me. But I swiftly learn my allies aren't what they seem. The literal skeletons buried underneath their base are my first clue. The darkness stirring in my blood, showing me memories that don't belong to me, is another. And the man whose memories I see hides dangerous secrets behind his eyes.

If I don't uncover the truth about why the world ended the first time, my new safe haven might go up in smoke...

Amazon   Add on Goodreads  Read the first chapter

And the third book, Transcendent, is now available to pre-order. It’ll be out on June 28th!

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New Series Announcement: The Changeling Chronicles

I've been keeping a secret. Actually, if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, I haven't exactly been subtle about the new series I've been working on over the last few months. But so far I've only shared that it's adult urban fantasy, and that I'll be publishing the first book in April.

So here's the official announcement: Faerie Blood, Book 1 in the Changeling Chronicles, will be published on April 21st 2016. It'll be a series, with three books planned. If sales look promising, I'll extend the series. :)

Here's the fabulous cover!

Here's the blurb:

I’m Ivy Lane, and if I never see another faerie again, it’ll be too soon.

Twenty years after the faeries came and destroyed the world as we knew it, I use my specialist skills to keep rogue faeries in line and ensure humans and their magically gifted neighbours can coexist (relatively) peacefully.

Nobody knows those skills came from the darkest corner of Faerie itself.

When a human child disappears, replaced with a faerie changeling, I have to choose between taking the safe road or exposing my own history with the faeries to the seductively dangerous head of the Mage Lords. He’s the exact kind of distraction I don’t need, but if I don’t work with him, I’ll lose my chance to save the victims. It’ll take all my skills to catch the kidnappers and stop Faerie’s dark denizens overrunning the city — but if the faerie lords find out about the magic I stole last time I went into their realm, running won’t save me this time…

The book will be out on April 21st 2016. I'm currently drafting the sequel, which I'm hoping to publish between May and July.

Meanwhile, my next release will be Ablaze, the second book in the Indestructible trilogy, out on April 4 2016. Those of you who've been reeling over that cliffhanger: you don't have long to wait now! :)

So April's set to be a busy month. I'll be publishing two books, working on a sequel, finishing up revisions on Divided (Alliance, #4) and working on cover art for that and the fourth Darkworld book. It's a truth universally acknowledged in publishing that you get radio silence for months, then everything happens at the same time!

*runs around in circles*

One year indie-versary: how to balance writing and publishing!

It's exactly a year since I first published Adamant, and I can't believe time's flown by so fast!

I've already shared a fair few posts on my indie publishing experience:

Marketing: What I've learned.
Thoughts from six months of self-publishing.
Indie publishing: What I did wrong, what I did right, and future plans.

Today, I'm blogging about how I balance writing with the million and one other things that need doing. Planning, writing, editing, proofreading, formatting, writing blurbs, uploading and updating files, pre-orders, series planning, scheduling, websites, blogging, social media accounts, advertising, newsletters, other platforms... and juggling multiple books at once. At any given time, I'm working on a draft, have at least two projects in edits, and others to proofread, format and publish. Plus marketing my backlist and evaluating promotional techniques, while researching and planning future series. It's the best job I've had, but it isn't easy, and has challenged me in ways I never anticipated.

So,  how do I do it all without going insane?

• Plan ahead. In self-publishing, this doesn't just mean outlining -- it means writing my whole publishing plan months in advance. I do keep things flexible, firstly due to the fickle nature of story ideas, and secondly, I need room to re-evaluate if something doesn't work. (And I'm definitely no stranger to that!)
• Have a minimum daily word count goal. I work freelance, but I had the same goals when I worked in an office. 2000 words per day is my bare minimum. It's easy to get distracted by the other parts of being an author, but if I'm not writing a new book, I won't have anything new to publish or promote.
• Related: schedule activities to reduce stress. Most of my stress comes from my inbox, so I only check it at intervals a few times a day. That way, I can spend the rest of the time focusing on working, be it writing or freelancing. I'm gradually moving social media to certain times as well.
• Cut back on non-essential tasks. This means I've had to be ruthless over the past year as my workload climbed. If I feel like something isn't providing returns, I cut it down. (For instance, blogging -- I enjoy it, but it's something I do for free that doesn't sell books.)
• Be careful who you work with, and make sure other people's schedules don't compromise your own. I'd always advise authors to work with cover artists and editors, but make sure you aren't constantly rearranging your schedule and adapting based on other people's deadlines rather than your own. (This is one reason I prefer publishing independently to working with a publisher -- no matter their intentions, you are never going to come first. It's just the way it is.) Your work is important, and so are your deadlines. If you find yourself constantly having to chase up and send emails to make sure the work gets done as it should, it might be time to find someone else to work with.
• Watch out about letting marketing and promotion take over. It can be a time-suck, and in my experience, it relies on trial and error. I've designated one day a week to marketing tasks such as social media scheduling, blogging, advertising, newsletters, research, admin-related tasks and other miscellaneous things that eat up more time than I expect. (Ever tried updating the covers on four books on all retailers? Yeah...)
• Be strategic. I worked twice as hard in December and January so I could take most of February off to go travelling and not end up behind. I'm still trying to find balance, but I'm a lot less stressed when I can incorporate breaks into my day.
• Work out how much you can realistically do, and don't be afraid to say no. This is tricky. I still struggle, because I want to do all the things. In reality, though, I have less time after each book release, not more. I'm happy to cross-promote and help out my fellow authors, but there are some things I used to do -- like book reviews and Facebook events -- that I rarely have time for any more. I'm never going to be the organiser of a huge multi-author book event, because I just can't foresee being able to work it into my schedule.

I usually try to write first thing in the morning, then devote the rest of the work day to client work. I check emails at intervals, and in the evening, I deal with admin tasks and ongoing marketing (if I have a book release, for instance). Then I can go back to writing (either my draft, or planning future books, or working on a fun side project). I also read for at least an hour a day. I take weekends off freelance work (after last year, I know it wears me out to work two jobs seven days a week). Saturdays are writing sprint days, and Sundays are devoted to marketing and admin.

How do I manage this? Well, I rarely watch TV, and I'm trying to cut down on the number of hours I waste on the internet. During busy times, I cut everything out except my 2000-word-a-day minimum and a certain amount of freelance work (this varies depending on the project). Obviously, I don't have a husband or kids, so I'm able to put work before everything else. Having said that, I also set boundaries. When you work freelance, you'll always run into people who expect you to be online to answer questions 24/7, and if you say "yes" to everything, at some point, you'll burn out. By "boundaries", I mean I won't answer emails after a certain time of day. Because of time zone differences, that means catching up to night emails/messages in the morning. Alas, most of us aren't superhuman enough to stay coherent on social media at all hours of the night...

Everyone finds different ways to motivate themselves. I'm probably not a healthy example, because I find fear pretty motivating. I tend to work under the assumption that if I don't get the work done now, it'll come back to haunt me later. On the plus side, I do give myself leeway if I fall behind, and so far, I've managed to stick to all my deadlines. Speaking of which, I have to write 100K in a month, so I'd better run back into the cave...

Pre-order: Ablaze (Indestructible, #2)!

The second book in the Indestructible trilogy will be out on the 4th April 2016, and it's already available to pre-order!

Two years ago, the fiends invaded Earth. Two months ago, I joined the Pyros, a group of warriors with astonishing powers, to fight the monsters that destroyed our world.

But then I found out they were keeping secrets from me. Jared, the sadistic scientist who betrayed them, has captured my ally, who’s linked to me through a blood-connection that’s slowly killing us both. To get him back, I have to leave my new friends and face the wilderness alone. But Jared’s not the only threat out there. The fiends are moving, forces stir on the other side of the divide, and if Jared’s plan succeeds, it’ll spell disaster for our world.

And that’s if the dark transformation in my blood doesn’t kill me first.

Pre-order on Amazon

There's only a few days left to grab Indestructible at a bargain price of $0.99! 

Two years ago, the fiends invaded, with a devastating explosion that split the world in two. Even now, energy blasts strike without warning, destroying everything in their paths. The fiends hunt anyone unlucky enough to escape.

My name is Leah. An energy blast killed my group. It should have killed me, too. Instead, I woke up alone in the wilderness, stalked by the fiends.

My only hope is the red-cloaked strangers who call themselves the Pyros. They can do the impossible and make flames shoot from their hands. Right now, my one chance for safety -- and revenge -- is with them.

But they’re keeping secrets from me. Like those skeletons hidden under their base. And the reasons I developed a psychic link with someone who can’t stand the sight of me -- after he saved my life.

If I don’t uncover the truth about why the world ended the first time, my new safe haven might go up in smoke…

Indestructible is the first in a YA post-apocalyptic superhero-fantasy trilogy.

Amazon   Add on Goodreads