Books published in 2013

Today is the last day for the year 2013. Aside from book stuff, I had two gigs this year: PR and editing. The PR gig was my dream job: I worked for a publishing company. I got that gig near the end of last year and I'm so grateful I had a chance to work in that position. It's true when they say that being a PR rep is a 24/7 kind of job! You really can't turn that stuff off. There were times I was emailing clients late at night and struggling to keep my eyes open. I don't regret resigning from that job and I am grateful for that experience. 

The editing gig, unfortunately, is not exactly a well-paying one, but I'm happy that at least it brings in SOMETHING and have enjoyed working in this capacity. At the end of last year, I was ready to say goodbye to editing forever. I only took this gig because the client insisted he only wanted ME to edit his book. I am glad, too, because I have enjoyed the work. So I am not saying goodbye forever to editing!

A decision does NOT have to be set in stone.

Now, as far as the books are concerned, this year was a good one. This year I wanted to do one poetry book, one nonfiction book, one children's book and a novel. And, thankfully, that happened. Hooray! But I also had an extra “fiction book” come out this year, which was a nice slice of awesome!

The first book to come out this year was my first attempt in self-publishing, Hunter’s Upcycling Adventures. I managed to get this one out in time for Earth Day. Woot-woot! My daughter, Jennifer Wilson, illustrated this book. You can read more about this children’s book here.

Next came the poetry book my daughter and I collaborated on, Satyrs Are Cool: Poems of Mythological Creatures. Last year, Jen and I collabed on our first poetry book together, and this time ‘round it was her turn to put a theme for our next book. A fan of Greek mythology, she wanted to do a book on mythological creatures. She also illustrated it. Read more about Satyrs here.

The next book to come out was the first two books in The GHOST Group series, The Ghosts of Sarah Travers and The Crying Valentine. This one was released as an ebook only but we have plans to combine editions for a print book every so often. I was thrilled this book came out. This series was a long time in the making! I was also happy it got a good review. Check it out here.

My poetry book for this year was the autobiographical collection, Touched by Fire. I felt it was important to do a poetry book about being a burn survivor, but there are also poems in there about being deaf. It was edited by Denise Bartlett and the cover was designed by Charlotte Holley – both very talented ladies in their field! Read more about this book here. 

And, yes, my novel came out this year. HOORAY!! I was so thrilled to finally see the release of my dark fantasy novel, Shadow of Samhain. It was quite some time for me to write the book, get it edited, rewrite it and everything else involved before it finally came out. I am so grateful to everyone who helped make this book possible, including Denise and Charlotte at Gypsy Shadow Publishing! THANK YOU! Read more here.

And the last book of 2013 was … the nonfiction book! Thanks to my co-author, Martha Jette, for all of her hard work in getting Terror In the Night edited and released! I am very excited about this book and grateful to Martha for taking me on board for it! Read about this book here.

So it seems that I managed to get one of everything published this year. Yay! That is 6 books I had published this year! Not bad. I am so grateful for these accomplishments and to all of the people involved who helped to make it happen.

Next year will be different. It seems there will be “two of everything” in 2014, except there won't be a novel next year. More on that coming soon.

Here’s to a busy 2014!

The Missing Hat, a new book by Jennifer Wilson

Earlier this year, my daughter, Jennifer Wilson, brought home a "book" she made at school. The book was called "The Missing Hat" and it had been a school assignment. When I read it, I told her I thought it was pretty good. Since I've been publishing her books through Createspace, she asked me if I would publish this one, as well. I told her I'd be happy to do it; it did have an appeal to kids who have a favorite hat/cap, and it was a good story about a brother and sister learning how to work together and get along. It also sent an important reminder about how we shouldn't let our hobbies or obsessions make us neglect our siblings. But first, a bit of edits on the manuscript had to be done.

When I edited her manuscript, the first thing I pointed out was that, technically, the story was about a missing "cap" and not a "hat." A cap is more recognized as the kind of headwear she had in her pictures for this story. It's actually inspired by her beloved Kidsports baseball cap that she got for the last season she played baseball, although the cap in the book does not have the "KS" logo. (She stopped playing baseball for a while because in her very last game, she got hurt, but now she's ready to get back into sports again except she wants to play softball next year. She didn't want to play basketball again this year.) She LOVES that cap and she wore it to school practically every day fo her last year in elementary school, except for a time while it was lost. (Maybe that's what inspired her to write this story?) And, against my wishes, she even wore that cap for her school picture! (GAH!!!) So, it is technically a "cap." But Jennifer said she likes "The Missing Hat" better than "The Missing Cap." So, we kept "hat."

Next, I tackled the story itself. I asked Jennifer to clarify a few things ("how old are your characters?" and "where is the story set?"), as well as a reminder to show and not tell. I asked her to show me how her character was sad when he realized his hat was missing. I also asked her to add a bit of background to the story ("why did things all of a sudden change between the character and his sister?").

After Jennifer finished the requested edits, I next took a look at her illustrations. The big issue I have seen with her books is that reviewers complain her illustrations are not in color. Like they are only "sketches." When looking at her drawings, I thought it would be nice to add some color to them so I asked her if she would do that. At first, Jennifer said she would, but after several weeks of nothing, I checked in with her about them. She finally admitted she didn't want to add color to her drawings. She WANTED them to be that way. She wanted her illustrations to be in black and white. Now, I know we should respect how an artist wants her pictures to be, so I told her okay, we'll leave them without color.

So I proceeded with the "fun" job of getting the manuscript turned into a book. (Until I get better at this publishing stuff, it usually takes me a week to get everything done!) After it was satisfactory, I ordered the proof. Jen approved the proof (yay!) and I clicked on the link to make the book go live. A few days later, Jennifer's new book, The Missing Hat, was on Amazon. Yay!

We are very excited that she has a new book out and I'm proud of Jennifer for putting in the effort to make her story shine. I hope other readers enjoy her book, too.

Congratulations, Jennifer!

Here is the blurb:

Koku dreams of being a professional baseball player, so he is excited when his parents buy him a baseball cap. But he spends so much time practicing and playing baseball that he forgets about his little sister, Kokuboro. Kokuboro hides his hat, but then it disappears! Can this brother and sister work together to find the missing hat and have fun together again?


And the links:

Paperback

Kindle

Interview with author and illustrator, Jennifer Wilson

It's been a while since I have had a guest on my blog, so I was thrilled when my daughter, Jennifer, who is an author and illustrator, volunteered to be interviewed for today's post. I must say that I am very proud of her for taking the initiative to write and illustrate books. She has illustrated pictures for my children's books, and some of her pictures have been used for the covers of these books. It's been a pleasure to work with this young talented artist and I look forward to collaborating on many more books with her. (And thanks for recommending me as one of your suggested authors to read, Jen. You rock!)

Interview with author and illustrator Jennifer Wilson

About Jennifer: Jennifer Wilson is 11 years old. She writes poems and short stories. She is also a young artist, and her favorite type of art is Anime. She draws a variety of pictures and has created mini comic books either alone or with her friends. She has also written short books, creating her own cover art, and she also likes to write songs. She also likes to read, especially Japanese comic books, play video games and watch a good horror flick. Some of her favorite authors are Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein, and Jeff Kinney.

Check out her Facebook page here.

How long have you been a writer?

Since 9 years old.
 
What was your biggest obstacle in getting your book published and how did you overcome it?

I don't think I had any obstacles....other than spelling words right and drawing the pictures as best as I could there has been no obstacles.
 
How did you end up getting your newest book published?

Well after finishing my first poem book about dogs Dogs Forever! Poems for the Dog Person, I wanted to do another one with my mom, Dawn. So she asked what I wanted to do and I said I wanted to do a poem book about mythical creatures. So Satyrs Are Cool was born.
 
How did you get the idea for your book?

I really like mythical creatures and Greek mythology so I thought it would be cool if we did a poem book about mythical creatures!
 
What is the most important lesson you have learned as an author?

That it’s harder than it looks. We read things so fast but it takes longer to come up with the right and perfect words. If you think it’s so easy and you start saying stuff like, "Wow, what a short book! This author was pretty lazy! She\he could have written more!" well, don't say that! Who knows how much work the author put into that book? It’s harder than it looks.
 
What genres do you write in? If more than one, how do you balance them?

So far I have done poetry and fantasy. I do the same amount of each genre in each book, sometimes in one book!
 
What are some of your other books we might want to check out?

Besides Sarah's Special Angel, Dogs Forever and Satyrs Are Cool...You could keep an eye out for a book called A Million Doughnuts! Written by my mother and cover and pictures done by me! Also, Hunter's Upcycling Adventures!
 
What else do you do besides write books?

Draw, of course! I also sing a little or play Neopets, Tinkatolli or Animal Jam. (Which I recommend to kids tweens and maybe even teens BTW!) I also read, or watch a little TV. (Doctor Who specifically! LOL!) I also like listening to music or watching videos on YouTube. (You can always find something entertaining on there!) And lastly, emailing my best friends or texting them. Nothing like talking to friends when you can't hang out right? :)
 
It’s common knowledge that writers are also readers. What kind of books do you like to read?

I just LOVE reading adult books or mature books. They are always so interesting! Or space books or books about knowledge. (Even though I am not very smart I still like reading those.) Right now I am reading A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. But I would not recommend it to children younger than 10 years old. It is ok for me so I think it would ok for 11 years olds. :)
 
Do you read books in the same genre you are currently writing in? Why or why not?

Actually, yes. I like reading poetry books by Shel Silverstein! I like other books but I can't tell if they are fantasy so I would list them as fantasy. :) I read Shel Silverstein's poetry books because the poems and pictures make me laugh. And I love to laugh.
 
What can we expect to see from you next?

I am currently writing a book called The Legendary Wolf but I have changed the name to The Wolf Guardian. You can also expect A Million Doughnuts to be back out soon!
 
What is your advice to a writer trying to get a book published?

If the publisher doesn't want to publish the book for age reasons or something like that, don't give up! Keep trying and ask different publishing companies! If you can't publish it for editing reasons and word choices or because its inappropriate, then you should try to fix them if you don't want to keep going to different publishing companies. If you can't find one then you either change it, publish it yourself, or don't publish it at all. Also keep open to different genres, don't keep writing fantasy unless the publishing company will let you and if the people like it. But I think you should try out different genres so more people who like those genres will buy them and enjoy them, which is the whole point of books, to enjoy them! :)

Here are some recommended authors for children and/or adults: Dawn Colclasure, Erin Hunter, Shel Silverstein, Jeff Kinney, Rachel Renee  Russell and, lastly, Brian Selznick.

Goblins, vampires, Cyclops and a zombie bodyguard! If you enjoy mythology or reading about Mythological creatures, Satyrs Are Cool will show these creatures and others in a new light through verse.

Check out Satyrs Are Cool here.