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Saturday 30 January 2016

#WIPMarathon January Update

It's time for another #WIPMarathon update, hosted by Ifeoma Dennis!

Last report wordcount: Last month, I was plotting shiny new side projects. (Urban fantasy!)

Current report wordcount: I edited Divided (Alliance, #4) , and did the final proofread of Souls Forsaken (Darkworld 4) and the second-round edit of Darkness Falling (Darkworld 5).

I published Indestructible and proofread Ablaze (Book 2).  

I also outlined a new urban fantasy series because the idea wouldn't leave me alone. I rewrote the first chapter around 20 times before starting the draft. I got about 17,000 words written in total, including an absolutely insane 8K-word writing day yesterday. (Why do these things only happen when I'm about to leave the country? Why?!)

WIP issues this month: Having too many projects on at the same time, and publishing-related mental blocks. Once I switched to a project I was excited about, the words started flowing!

Four things I learned this month in writing:

  • The #1 reason I can write a draft fast (and one I always forget) -- I spend FOREVER writing the first chapter. It takes me longer to figure out how to start a draft than it does to actually write it. Seriously. In the middle of every project, I get sidelined by at least one shiny new idea and have to explore it in a hundred different ways before I settle on a clear focus. At any one time, I'm fiddling with the first chapter of at least two future projects, sometimes for months or even years, and I always seem to forget this when I actually start a draft! (I have three in progress right now. Oops.)
  • Related: I think it's because I need to know what the story's about before I start. I do get to know the characters better on the page, but I need to know the main story's goal and arc before I start writing. But once I've fixed it in place, I rarely have to make changes. (This is why I don't mind doing heavy revisions, because I'm only changing surface things. The actual story never changes.)
  • I always need to be working on a draft. I've probably mentioned this before, but it's not just because my ability to jump into a writing flow state totally stops if I take days off. I have a moth-to-flame-like tendency to get emotionally attached to ideas, and I'm still working on reconciling my sensitive artist tendencies with the reality that the ideas I like the most aren't the ones readers want to read the most. Quickly moving from one project to another is a defence mechanism I wish I didn't need, but this is one of the reasons I let myself play around with new first chapters, so I always have potential projects to dive into after finishing a WIP.
  • Sometimes it really does take a long time to realise which book I should be writing.
What distracted me this month when writing:  Everything, as usual. :P Book releases, another book signing in March (yay!), emails, freelancing, preparing for New Zealand (next week. AHHH!)...

Goal for next month: I'm not setting firm goals next month because I'm travelling. I'm taking a notebook with a story outline written down, but it depends on whether I have any free time while I'm over there. On my first long trip (Australia), I didn't have any free time at all, whereas when I spent five weeks in Costa Rica in 2012, I ended up finishing the draft of Darkness Watching by hand while volunteering in the rainforest. So anything can happen. :)

I'd like to get part of a rough draft down, if just because I have two 31-hour flights and a lot of time on the road... but I'm not committing to anything.

Last 200 words: ...are a secret, because edits. ;)

Friday 22 January 2016

Announcement: Alliance Series Rebranding!

*deep breath*

I've decided to revamp the covers for the Alliance series.

I know everyone loves the covers. I do, too. But the fact is, the covers might be pretty, but they aren't connecting with readers. I had to make a decision about the future of the series and ultimately, this was my last option. I've had to delay the release of the fourth book, but the rest of the series will be published, even if there are longer gaps between releases than I anticipated.

Anyway, I like the new designs. :)



What's coming next

  • I'll be signing books at the Leeds Author Event on March 5 2016!
  • My next release will be Darkworld Book 4, Souls Forsaken, on March 7 2016.
  • Afterwards, Ablaze (Indestructible Book 2) will be out on April 4. (Pre-order here.)
  • I'm going to be travelling around New Zealand for the next two weeks (2nd-20th February. :) I'll update the blog with photos when I come back!

Tuesday 19 January 2016

Author Interview with Deek Rhew!

Today I'm interviewing Deek Rhew, author of Birth of an American Gigolo 

Thanks for hosting me today, Emma! I'm really excited to be here today. :-)

Let the interview begin!

Tell me three interesting facts about yourself!

  * My wife, Erin Rhew, and I met on Twitter! She is a grammar nerd, and my stories are nothing more than long rambling emails in desperate need of her mad ninja abilities. We were part of the same critique group, so I sent her "Birth." She worked it over with her wha-cha-cha comma-placing, passive voice crushing skillz. We started talking in the comments section of that manuscript and have never stopped. Even if my writing career never goes anywhere, I'm a smashing success because it led me to her.

  * I'm colorblind. In ordinary day-to-day life, it doesn't make much difference, but it did have a profound effect on my career choice. In high school, I'd begun the process to enroll in ROTC and become a pilot for the Air Force, following in the footsteps of my father, who is a veteran. But, it turns out, the military does not accept the colorblind to fly their $15,000,000 fighter jets, so I changed course and went to school instead.

  * I had a rock band in high school and college! After choosing to not join the military, I planned to tour the world sharing music with the masses! But, well, things like that don't usually work out. So, I became a geek to, ya know, eat. #RockNRoll

Summarize your book in one line.

A party girl turned domestic diva drops her wrath upon her prissy, cheating husband and begins a unique business venture that will elevate her to queen of Alabaster Cove.

Tell me something cool/crazy/quirky about the book – it can be anything!

Angel, a drifting twenty-something with plans to have plans, works at a grocery store after she drops out of college. She's feisty and smart, but completely directionless, and is dating Dios, the gigolo. One morning, after Dios dropped a life-changing bomb on Angel, she gets a call from her friend Monica, who needs help. So Angel beats feet, off to save her friend.

We see the other side of this conversation in my novel, 122 Rules, from Monica's perspective. Angel and Monica are a bit like Thelma and Louise in 122 and truck all over the country being chased by a mad man, the FBI, and other unsavories. I love story-overlap. Angel appears in 122's sequel too, so be on the lookout for more and more Angel!

Why did you decide to write this particular book?

I didn't actually decide to write it per se; I more or less stumbled upon it. This books is actually a section I pulled out of 122 Rules that didn't fit the overall storyline. I remember writing this part thinking this doesn't help the story, but I understood that Lindsey, Dios, Angel, Cindie, and Stewart had their story that needed to be told. I plowed on and, after I finished it, pulled it out and tucked it away for future release. That was about six years ago, and now they're getting their moment in the spotlight!

Best part of the writing process?

I LOVE being surprised by the story. I don't plan or plot, and usually I feel like I'm just a transcriptionist. Like I'm reporting the story as it unfolds with absolutely no idea what will happen.

Share one thing you learned writing this book.

That I still have a ton of bad writing habits! After going through the editing wringer of 122, I thought I knew my weaknesses and what I needed to work on, so I looked through "Birth" for those things. Yeah, still missed a lot of 'em. Sigh. Maybe the next book?

Tell me about one strange experience you’ve had. Again, it can be anything!

When I was three or four, my family and I lived in a mobile home in Great Falls, Montana. In the winter, the winds can really kick up the dickens. I was pestering my mom to go outside and play. I vaguely recall her telling me that the weather was too bad, but being omnipotent--like most kids--I opened the front door and then the screen and was flung across the yard. To this day, I remember sailing over the lawn thinking, Well that was stupid.

Name one fictional place you’d love to visit.

Alabaster Cove! This is the SoCal surfing town where I base my books!

Name one real place you’d love to visit.

Italy! I've always dreamed of living there. Erin and I are planning to become professional vagabonds in a few years, and this is one of the places we're going to stay.

Share one sentence/mini-excerpt from the book!


Breaking about every road law created since 1945, Lindsey flew back to town. She didn’t slow as she crossed the bridge and directed the beast to Stewart’s office. Cindie’s little Vespa scooter sat parked on the sidewalk in front of the building. When Lindsey’s large vehicle bumped up onto the curb with
nary a complaint, she floored the accelerator and aimed down the walkway. With a satisfying crunch, the SUV hit the Vespa, smashing it under large, all-terrain tires.

Lindsey slammed on the brakes, dropped the hulking beast into reverse, and drove over the efficient little mode of transportation again. She smiled as one little scooter wheel rolled pathetically out into the street, pirouetted a couple of times, and then came to rest on its side.

She put the SUV into drive and drove the beast home.

Birth of an American Gigolo, the deets from Deek!

Okay, so what the heck is "Birth of an American Gigolo" about?

Here's the blurb from the back of the book:

An old party girl shoehorned into domestic divaship, infuriated by her husband's cheating and his holier-than-thou, tree-hugging, no-tits and no-hips girlfriend, inflicts her wrath by training a local boy in the fine art of seduction. She and her new boy toy turned love god start a gigolo business as a distraction for the neglected and mistreated housewives of Alabaster Cove.

Lindsey, the queen of Alabaster Cove
In a nutshell, it's about screwing up. Lindsey compromised her principles and force herself into being something she's not. In college, she had a scare and crammed herself into a life of domestication. Years later, she's stuck in a smelly armpit of a marriage and a life that's foreign and dismal. But when she finds out her husband is a cheater and liar, she and her inner, long-dormant party animal load the cannons and battens down the hatches. Together, they concoct a plan to revenge themselves out of the cesspool of their existence and create a new throne from which to plant her royal tush and rule the town.


George is nowhere in sight!


What isn't it about? Sex! There is a little of course, because, well, it's about an angry and betrayed party girl and her boy toy. But if you're looking for long descriptions of people's kibbles and bits and how they sizzle and sauté them into a goulash of passion and uninhibited fornication, then you'd better look for a different blend of Chex Mix, cause, brother, this ain't it.

Okay, domestic diva...check. No George Michael in sight...check. Humorous situations where an angry party girls runs over a scooter with a Hummer...check.


Alright, my friends, first, check out the amazeballs cover by Anita from Race-Point.com:

Birth of an American Gigolo by Deek Rhew
Bask in the glory that is awesome, spellbinding art. <cue Hallelujah Chorus>

Visit the "Birth of an American Gigolo" home page.
Birth of an American Gigolo

Take a gander at Goodreads! 


Cruise on over to Amazon. "Birth" is available January 19, 2016!



About the Author
Deek Rhew
Deek lives in a rainy pocket in the Pacific Northwest with the stunning YA author bride, Erin Rhew, and their writing assistant, a fat tabby named Trinity. They enjoy lingering in the mornings, and often late into the night, caught up Erin’s fantastic fantasy worlds of noble princes and knights and entwined in Deek’s dark underworld of the FBI and drug lords.

He and Erin love to share books by reading aloud to one another. In addition, they enjoy spending time with friends, running, boxing, lifting weights, and exploring the little town--with antique shops and bakeries--they call home.

Connect with Deek!







Friday 15 January 2016

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

Tuesday 12 January 2016

New Release: Indestructible by Emma L. Adams




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

Friday 8 January 2016

An announcement... book signings!

I have some awesome news today. I've just been accepted to do my first signing in March. I'll be signing books at the Leeds Author Event on the 5th March 2016!

Here are the details!

Location: Leeds Marriott Hotel 
http://www.marriott.co.uk/hotel-search/leeds.hotels.united-kingdom.travel/ 
4 Trevelyan Square, Boar Lane
LS1 6ET Leeds
United Kingdom

Saturday 5th March 2016, 10am-5pm

I'll be bringing copies of the first two Darkworld books and the first three Alliance books (the paperback of Demon Heart isn't available yet, but I'm checking with the publishers to see if it'll be up before March). I'm so excited for this event!

Friday 1 January 2016

2015 in review and 2016 plan

At the beginning of the year, I posted about my goals for 2015.

So, how did I do?
  • Self-publish at least three titles - I published Adamant, Nemesis, Delinquent: An Alliance Novella and Collision. Demon Heart (Darkworld, #3) was also published.
  • Draft at least 3 books - I definitely did this!
  • Fully edit at least 3 books -  Yep!
  • Be flexible, and listen to the shiny new ideas! - Yes!
  • Write what I love. Be crazy about it, be madly, passionately in love with my own story. Make magic happen. - Oh, hell, yes.
  • Read 300 books - Definitely surpassed this, but I did a lot of rereading.
  • Travel! - Didn't end up happening... yet!
  • Go on a writing retreat - Didn't end up happening, but I did go to YALC for book-related awesomeness!
  • Actually get a tattoo this time! - Er... no. I will do this at some point!
  • Kick fear, self-doubt and adversity in the face. - Ongoing!
As for my non-writing life, I had a great year freelance-work-wise -- one goal I didn't write on my plan was to build my freelance editing income to sustainable levels, which I managed to do earlier this year. I'm not working for any publishers and I'm no longer interning, so I wanted to focus on building my client list. I also took part in the Pitch to Publication contest as an editor-mentor.

One thing I epically failed at was finding a work-life balance. I went through a bunch of shifts in my personal life and had to adjust to losing a major part of my support network as well as dealing with the emotional fallout of self-publishing. I'm trying to work on finding a better balance between my writing/editing and non-writing life.

The first quarter of the year was all about finishing the Alliance series and preparing to publish Adamant. Once I'd finished drafting the series, I decided to revamp some 2013 projects (Beneath the Waves and the Indestructible trilogy) and added them to the self-publishing plan. The second half of the year was mostly about revisions and promotion, but I did find time to do some drafting and outline some potential future projects. The problem is, I write faster than I can afford to publish, and I've had to stop taking risks on projects that aren't going to make back the initial costs. So one of the things I'm doing next year is switching my focus to "publishable" projects and working on side-projects when I have time to spare.

It also means cutting back on social media and blogging, and other non-essential things. I have more work than there are hours in the day, and I've really struggled this past year. So if I'm online less, it's for my sanity's sake, and will hopefully make for a more productive year.

So, here are my aims for 2016!
  • Publish the Indestructible trilogy (scheduled for January, April and June).
  • Finalise schedule for Alliance Books 4-6 -- exact release dates tbc.
  • Darkworld Books 4 and 5 are scheduled to be published in 2016, too.
  • Write and publish at least two books in another series.
  • Read 300 books.
  • Travel. I'm going to New Zealand in February! :)
  • Book signing! :D 
  • Watch Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. (Woo!)
  • Try to reduce stress, if possible.
I think this is achievable. :) Normally, I'll aim to publish 3-4 books per year, but I spent a lot of last year revising my backlist (especially from 2013). I'll also be rearranging my release schedule this year based on reader responses and anticipated sales. So it's likely the first in my next urban fantasy series will be out later this year.
    Goals for January:
    • Publish Indestructible.
    • Edit Divided (Alliance #4).
    • Prepare for New Zealand trip. (2nd-20th February!!!!!!)