Because, you know... I totally spaced on wishing you all a Merry Christmas yesterday and a Happy Chanukah the day before. Although I have a few more days to wish people a joyous Festival of Lights.
For us Americans, Boxing Day is an old British tradition. Back in the day on the day after Christmas, rich people used to give their servants gifts. In boxes. Hence, Boxing Day. Has nothing to do with the so-called sport where people beat the crap out of each other.
I got through an initial edit on the first book in the Lora Fletcher Chronicles. It's now divided into chapters and I'm beginning to start the laborious process of editing for continuity. There were like 11 continuity errors in Wildfire, and it drives me nuts! Nothing new yet on Earthquake. It's hard when your characters ignore you when you want to write them! Unfortunately, it doesn't turn out so well when you force it. I'm hopeful to get Lora Fletcher out sometime in February. I think I've picked a cover photo to mess with in photoshop, so once that happens, it feels more real.
Anyway, happy holidays from the Irvings!
Monday, December 26, 2016
Friday, December 2, 2016
Amazon.com Kindle Countdown Deal! And other updates.
Starting at 8:00AM on 12/4, I'm having a Kindle Countdown Deal on amazon.com :) From 8:00AM 12/4 until 8:00AM 12/6, Wildfire's price will be reduced from $2.99 to $0.99! Then from 8:00AM 12/6 until 8:00AM 12/8, the price will be $1.99. At 8:00AM on 12/8, the price will be back to $2.99 on Kindle. The price of a paperback on Amazon.com and Createspace is $10.99.
I'll probably do another amazon.uk Kindle Countdown Deal after new year's. I may try and do a free book promotion on amazon.com, as well. It depends on how much free publicity stuff amazon allows me to do.
I didn't get too much done on Earthquake, which is what I think I'm going to call the second book in The Program. I had hoped to write 5-10,000 words during NaNoWriMo, but I wrote just under 2,000 and that was all on thanksgiving day as my husband drove my family to and from my stepdad's house. Sara has her driver's license now, so I guess there's that! I was also seriously dismayed to read a book last month about a girl who does magic. And the cool thing she does? Lightning. And the bad guys? Beady black eyes. Wildfire was published first, so I guess there's that, but... Now I feel like my world isn't original at all, and I'm a bit sad about it. I think my book is better than the one I read, of course, but now I'm not feeling confident about The Program and I don't like that :(
Nothing new on the Lora Fletcher books. You can blame my favorite authors. Not only was I insanely busy grading papers this month, but a bunch of new books have come out in the past couple of weeks and I just can't help myself! Autumn Reed and Julia Clark put out Chameleon yesterday, and I am already done. For those of you who don't know, it's a reverse harem book. Many of them are terrible ripoffs of C.L. Stone's Academy series, and while this is similar in many ways, the writing is really solid. Jane Washington's Seraph Black series is another good one if you're into that same kind of book.
Alrighty. Only 9:02PM and I am ready to crash.
I'll probably do another amazon.uk Kindle Countdown Deal after new year's. I may try and do a free book promotion on amazon.com, as well. It depends on how much free publicity stuff amazon allows me to do.
I didn't get too much done on Earthquake, which is what I think I'm going to call the second book in The Program. I had hoped to write 5-10,000 words during NaNoWriMo, but I wrote just under 2,000 and that was all on thanksgiving day as my husband drove my family to and from my stepdad's house. Sara has her driver's license now, so I guess there's that! I was also seriously dismayed to read a book last month about a girl who does magic. And the cool thing she does? Lightning. And the bad guys? Beady black eyes. Wildfire was published first, so I guess there's that, but... Now I feel like my world isn't original at all, and I'm a bit sad about it. I think my book is better than the one I read, of course, but now I'm not feeling confident about The Program and I don't like that :(
Nothing new on the Lora Fletcher books. You can blame my favorite authors. Not only was I insanely busy grading papers this month, but a bunch of new books have come out in the past couple of weeks and I just can't help myself! Autumn Reed and Julia Clark put out Chameleon yesterday, and I am already done. For those of you who don't know, it's a reverse harem book. Many of them are terrible ripoffs of C.L. Stone's Academy series, and while this is similar in many ways, the writing is really solid. Jane Washington's Seraph Black series is another good one if you're into that same kind of book.
Alrighty. Only 9:02PM and I am ready to crash.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Thanks!
I just wanted to thank everyone for the very positive reviews I've gotten on Amazon and Goodreads! I am a little embarrassed to say that I have been concentrating a lot more on Amazon, and I had completely forgotten about Goodreads. It was a really nice surprise and one more thing to be thankful for :)
Monday, November 7, 2016
Amazon.uk kindle countdown deal!
From 8:00AM GMT 11/10 - 8:00AM GMT 11/14, Wildfire will be offered for £0.99, a 57% discount from its usual price of £2.29. This only applies to purchases on amazon.uk, not on amazon.com, amazon.ca, amazon.au, or other amazon marketplaces. I'd love to discount more to you lovely Australians who keep buying my book, but so far Amazon only lets me do kindle countdown deals in the US and UK marketplaces. I can do a free book giveaway my next go-around, which I think applies to all markets. Stay tuned for details!
Monday, October 31, 2016
National Novel Writing Month
Halloween is just about over. The boys got a pretty good haul this year. I look forward to stealing Reese's Peanut Butter Cups from them...
Good things can come out of National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo as it's commonly known. The goal is to write a 50k word novel all in the month of November. You win bragging rights if you reach your goal.
Most things written in the mad dash of NaNoWriMo aren't stellar, but they can become great. I wrote Wildfire last November. Well, most of it. I had written parts of it in The Program, Not My Magic, and Wildfire (the short story), maybe 10,000 words. I had 50,000-60,000 at the end of November. The other 25k or so words were written in April and finished up by June. I wrote the first book in the Lora Fletcher Chronicles (still working on the title) in November of 2014. I wrote a semi-autobiographical book in 2000 or 2001. Maybe it was 2002. I forget exactly, but that will probably never see the light of day. Even I don't want to read it, and I wrote it!!!!
Publishers hate NaNoWriMo. Or so I'm told. The influx of sub-par writing in December and January is said to be just awful. Perhaps that's why I dragged out my novel writing and editing for almost an entire year after the fact. Or two, if you consider poor Lora Fletcher, who no one but my oldest brother has met. A few others have met her best friend though. Man, I should get to editing that.
I like NaNo because it helps me focus. Gives me a goal. Keeps me accountable. Unfortunately, this year.... I doubt I'll be able to work on much. Between grading papers, the boys' activities, my activities, and trying to hang out with my husband, it hasn't left much time for writing. I do have some holiday time in November, but nowhere near enough to finish a 50k word novel. I have about 4500 words in the second novel in The Program. I'd like to come up for air over Thanksgiving though! But I will sign up. Maybe I'll surprise myself.
Maybe I'll surprise all of us!
Good things can come out of National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo as it's commonly known. The goal is to write a 50k word novel all in the month of November. You win bragging rights if you reach your goal.
Most things written in the mad dash of NaNoWriMo aren't stellar, but they can become great. I wrote Wildfire last November. Well, most of it. I had written parts of it in The Program, Not My Magic, and Wildfire (the short story), maybe 10,000 words. I had 50,000-60,000 at the end of November. The other 25k or so words were written in April and finished up by June. I wrote the first book in the Lora Fletcher Chronicles (still working on the title) in November of 2014. I wrote a semi-autobiographical book in 2000 or 2001. Maybe it was 2002. I forget exactly, but that will probably never see the light of day. Even I don't want to read it, and I wrote it!!!!
Publishers hate NaNoWriMo. Or so I'm told. The influx of sub-par writing in December and January is said to be just awful. Perhaps that's why I dragged out my novel writing and editing for almost an entire year after the fact. Or two, if you consider poor Lora Fletcher, who no one but my oldest brother has met. A few others have met her best friend though. Man, I should get to editing that.
I like NaNo because it helps me focus. Gives me a goal. Keeps me accountable. Unfortunately, this year.... I doubt I'll be able to work on much. Between grading papers, the boys' activities, my activities, and trying to hang out with my husband, it hasn't left much time for writing. I do have some holiday time in November, but nowhere near enough to finish a 50k word novel. I have about 4500 words in the second novel in The Program. I'd like to come up for air over Thanksgiving though! But I will sign up. Maybe I'll surprise myself.
Maybe I'll surprise all of us!
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Kindle Countdown Deal starts tomorrow!
Wildfire is $0.99 starting tomorrow at 8:00AM PST.
Someone posted a review on Amazon. 4/5 stars! Glad the first one was so positive. I know they all won't be!
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Kindle Countdown Deal
Starting Thursday, September 29th at 8:00AM PST, Wildfire will be available for a discounted price for a limited time through Kindle Countdown Deals.
From 8:00AM PST on 9/29 until 8:00PM PST on 10/1, Wildfire will only cost $0.99!
The price will increase to $1.99 from 10/1 at 8:00PM PST until 10/3 at 8:00PM PST, at which time it will go back to its regular price of $2.99.
Hopefully this will get the word out so more people will hear about Wildfire and consider giving it a read. I have to give a shout-out to whoever bought it in Australia. Definitely not a friend or family member, which is incredibly cool. Thanks so much for your support!
I am hard at work on the second book in The Program. The new job is cutting into my writing time, for sure, but the book is definitely moving along. I'm not sure about a name, but I usually think of those at the last moment. I am also working on another unrelated book, which is nearly complete. It's a YA fantasy novel about a girl who can swordfight and sling around some pretty cool magic, which is extremely unusual in her world. Stay tuned for updates on that!
From 8:00AM PST on 9/29 until 8:00PM PST on 10/1, Wildfire will only cost $0.99!
The price will increase to $1.99 from 10/1 at 8:00PM PST until 10/3 at 8:00PM PST, at which time it will go back to its regular price of $2.99.
Hopefully this will get the word out so more people will hear about Wildfire and consider giving it a read. I have to give a shout-out to whoever bought it in Australia. Definitely not a friend or family member, which is incredibly cool. Thanks so much for your support!
I am hard at work on the second book in The Program. The new job is cutting into my writing time, for sure, but the book is definitely moving along. I'm not sure about a name, but I usually think of those at the last moment. I am also working on another unrelated book, which is nearly complete. It's a YA fantasy novel about a girl who can swordfight and sling around some pretty cool magic, which is extremely unusual in her world. Stay tuned for updates on that!
Saturday, September 3, 2016
Wow!
Thank you so much to everyone who bought a copy of Wildfire or who read it on Kindle Unlimited. While it's not an enormous amount of people, I'm overwhelmed by the support of my friends and family as I take this personal journey.
I have my goodreads author page set up now. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14108619.Andrea_Irving
I also have my author page on amazon. https://amazon.com/author/andreairving
I also have my author page on amazon. https://amazon.com/author/andreairving
I plan on doing a countdown on Amazon in the next week or so. It's typically a specified amount of time a book title is discounted. The amount increases over a period of days until it's back to its normal price. It places the book on the ad pages and suggested authors of similar books. So maybe someone I don't know will read the book. This is cool-- even if they hate it.
Speaking of which. Please leave a review on amazon! And goodreads. People seem to want to read something other people have read.
Thanks again!
Speaking of which. Please leave a review on amazon! And goodreads. People seem to want to read something other people have read.
Thanks again!
Monday, August 22, 2016
Wildfire has been uploaded!
I hit the publish button on kindle direct publishing a few hours ago. They said Wildfire would be available in roughly 12 hours. Very nerve racking. Exciting. Adrenaline running high and all that.
So, what's the book about?
Well, Wildfire is the first in a 3 or 4 part series called The Program. The Program is essentially about a bunch of teenagers who get their magical skills too early. Because this is dangerous for a variety of reasons, they're all immediately shipped off the the Montana School for Advanced Magical Studies' Adolescent Program.
Being torn away from family and friends when you're a teenager is a recipe for all kinds of angst. Especially when you're dealing with both hormones and potentially out of control magic.
Wildfire is about Sara Lake, a 16 year old girl from Happy Valley, AZ. Shortly after her birthday, she discovers her ability to create lightning. Her mom finds out, and she gets shipped off to the Montana program that same day.
Upon arriving in Montana, Sara notices something off about the program director, Jake Sorenson. He steals the teens' magic in order to hurt and sometimes kill others. He's even made it so they can't tell anyone without serious consequences. With the help of the other teens in the program, as well as a few other students, Sara figures out a plan to get help and bring about Jake's downfall.
This is considered a "mature young adult" story and is suitable for readers 15 and above. It contains vulgar language, violence, and kissing, which may be unsuitable for younger readers. The content is similar to what would be found in a PG-13 movie.
I'll post again when it's available on kindle. I'm still working out the kinks with amazon's print-on-demand, but it'll be available in paperback in a few days.
I'm totally doing a happy dance right now. And biting my nails because I'm so nervous.
Until tomorrow!!!
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Welcome!
I've been working really hard (and fast) this past week to get my FB page, my website, and my blog up and running. I made a split second decision last weekend and decided to self-publish my very first novel. I had just hit "send" on an e-mail to a literary agent and kind of freaked out. The timeline of traditional publishing scared me. I wanted anyone who wanted to read my stuff to be able to read it when I wanted them to read it. Not three years from now. Yeah the timeline has shrunk with the advent of e-publishing, but... I'm impatient. Plus if it's a big success (ha!), I can get an agent later. Supposedly.
So... The Program! It's essentially good conquers evil with magic and teenagers. Wildfire is the first in either 3 or 4 books (not sure yet). The cover is my first attempt with photoshop. Totally humbled by that experience, BTW. A graphic designer I am not!
The website (www.andreairvingbooks.com) is a work in progress. I'm using godaddy's web builder, so it's going to be very basic. Same with this blog. Blogger is great, but not fancy. I can't do fancy. Not one of my many talents.
I do have the beginnings of a FB page. It's @andreairvingauthor and will eventually have links to this blog. The website has a link on there. I'm still not sure if I'll be entering the twitterverse. I don't have a personal twitter account, so... I just dunno. If there's ever a demand, perhaps. I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment.
So that's my welcome to you all. I'll probably have some kind of "about me" post once I get Wildfire uploaded, and that will hopefully be in the next few days. Wish me luck!
TTYL!
Andrea.
So... The Program! It's essentially good conquers evil with magic and teenagers. Wildfire is the first in either 3 or 4 books (not sure yet). The cover is my first attempt with photoshop. Totally humbled by that experience, BTW. A graphic designer I am not!
The website (www.andreairvingbooks.com) is a work in progress. I'm using godaddy's web builder, so it's going to be very basic. Same with this blog. Blogger is great, but not fancy. I can't do fancy. Not one of my many talents.
I do have the beginnings of a FB page. It's @andreairvingauthor and will eventually have links to this blog. The website has a link on there. I'm still not sure if I'll be entering the twitterverse. I don't have a personal twitter account, so... I just dunno. If there's ever a demand, perhaps. I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment.
So that's my welcome to you all. I'll probably have some kind of "about me" post once I get Wildfire uploaded, and that will hopefully be in the next few days. Wish me luck!
TTYL!
Andrea.
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