Crisis of Confidence

Demons have crept into my mind during the past few months, whispering that I should give up on my dreams.

“Nobody likes your books,” they taunt, “No-one is buying them. Just give up. Move on. Find a regular job.”

I almost began to listen to them. My subscribers were disappearing, my book sales flatlined, and no matter where I look, I cannot find a way in to the places where I might find help. I’m just one person. I cannot do this alone. I have to be writer, proofreader, editor, publisher, promoter, networker, business planner, and above all else, Mother. All I want to do is write, and have people appreciate and enjoy my books. Is that too much to ask?

 As I was about to give up all hope, finish writing book 6 in #TheRedcliffeNovels series, and then call it quits on my career, something compelled me to check my sales pages online. Amazon Author Central showed me that I had a new 5* review just last month for my first novel, Love Hurts (A Redcliffe Novel). A new reader discovered my work and enjoyed it enough to leave a positive review. Hopefully she will enjoy the rest of my published novels as well.

And, just like that, all hope was restored. Being an Indie author is a hard slog. There is no get rich quick scheme. If you have business experience and can operate yourself appropriately, then you might make it work. I do not have that. All I have is the skill for creative writing. Everything else I must learn as I go along, or else find people that are willing to help teach and support me. But for now, I have silenced the demons. I will never stop writing. And my dreams will never die.

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Paranormal Reader Appreciation Giveaway

In honor of reader appreciation month in March we are going to celebrate the best way we know how ... with books! Check out this hot new giveaway with over 50 paranormal books and be seduced by a new author.

Download your FREE copy of my Redcliffe short story It’s Complicated and discover a whole new world in beautiful Cornwall.  

Sally Frost is a mild-mannered NHS hospital nurse by day (and night). When she is not at her human job, she follows a rather more exotic path as lieutenant for the Redcliffe werewolf pack. Her alpha, Danny Mason, battles to hold his pack together, and he calls upon his lovelorn, reliable right-hand woman to get the job done.

This short story compliments the Redcliffe Novels series that is widely available in bookshops and online.

  

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#TheRedcliffeNovels – Love Hurts (A Redcliffe Novel) Book 1

Set in the fictional seaside town of Redcliffe in Cornwall, Love Hurts is about a young woman who runs a bookshop with her best friend. She falls in love with a local police detective and later discovers that he is a vampire, and that his identical twin brother is a werewolf. She is dragged into their complicated and dangerous lives, to her detriment, where secrets are told and lives are lost...

What vampire book genre is the book?

My novel is a contemporary paranormal romance

What are the ‘themes’ of this book?

There is adult content, sexually explicit scenes and scenes of violence

What is the setting of your book series or book?

The Redcliffe Novels series is set in the fictional seaside town of Redcliffe in Cornwall, England.

What’s in store for readers?

This is the story of my heroine Jessica Stone as she struggles with being in love with a vampire, while having sexual feelings towards his identical twin brother who is a werewolf. To further complicate things, Jessica discovers she is a witch, and since she was orphaned at a young age, she had no family to guide her into her heritage. Things kick off with the aid of her newly discovered non-human friends, and her easy life spirals out of control.

Words from the Author

I have always been fascinated by the vampire myth and wrote my dissertation on vampires for my university degree. Contrary to popular folklore, I have always viewed vampires as a romantic and misunderstood creature, although I do not doubt their ability to kill and destroy. To me they represent the primitive, dangerous part of ourselves that humans prefer to ignore.

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Castles and Caves for Inspiration

While I am busy editing a manuscript for a vampire hunter novel, my mind is beginning to wander away to new territory. I haven’t written any new stories for a couple of months, and now I’m feeling restless. I do have a few unfinished manuscripts that I should probably attend to, but surely, I can allow time for another project in the meantime?

Anyway, I found a little inspiration at the caves I saw when I visited Beeston Castle in Cheshire. As an English Heritage member, I have visited this castle a few times during the past couple of years, but up to now I had not seen the caves. I think my children had been difficult or unwilling to walk that far, although as it turns out, the caves are not too far from the main entrance to the castle grounds. We couldn’t actually go inside the caves as they are fenced off, but I pressed my face to the iron bars and let my imagination wander… would we find a vampire lurking in the darkness, or a pack of hungry werewolves? Or maybe something more sinister still… Let’s see what happens when I start to write a new story.

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Magic, Monsters and Mercs Giveaway

Come one come all, it's time for some high fantasy. Give us your dungeons, your dragons, and your dastardly villains!

 “Look out!” Damian shouted as something appeared behind me.

            I leaped round just as a female fist slammed into me. Falling back onto the grass for a second time, I saw Damian fighting with another vampire. It was Elaine. Snarling, snapping, she punched him and flung him across the cemetery.

            “Damian!” I shouted.

            Then she turned her attention on me. I was sitting on the ground, stunned. She was just as beautiful as I remembered. And just as deadly.

            “Hello, Hannah,” she purred, “After all these years, you still take my breath away.”

            I swallowed nervously.

            “You don’t breathe,” I said.

            She laughed, and the sound sent shivers down my spine. I tried to stand up, but my legs refused to work. Elaine offered a hand. I stared at it. The skin was white in the glow from the moon and the backdrop of streetlights. I was alone, in a graveyard, with an old, powerful vampire. This was a very bad situation.

Download your FREE copy of Return of the Vampire Hunter and see what the real housewives of Cheshire get up to in their spare time!

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The Bloody Valentine Giveaway

Come join the dark side of the Valentine season. Do away with romance and embrace the wicked. Here the flowers are wilted and the hearts are broken (or stabbed).

Download your FREE copy of Return of the Vampire Hunter and see what the real housewives of Cheshire get up to in their spare time!

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The Truth about being a Freelance Writer

I have reached a point where I am about ready to give up my dreams of making a living from my books and my writing. For the past five years or so, I have tried all sorts of strategies to try and break into the “professional” arena. But just last week I learned a valuable lesson: there is no right or wrong way to do it. When it comes to earning money from your writing, you simply need to have contact with the right people in the right places, at the right time. For example, I could submit a manuscript to a literary agent, but depending on if and when they find time to look at it, I probably won’t make an impression.

The key lesson, I realised, is that we should never give up. I only submit manuscripts once or twice a year to agents and publishers, unless I am paying a publisher for their services. I have probably submitted even less pitches for freelance writing work if I take an average. Mostly it is because the publications I want to write for rarely share their contact details in public places. And the smaller publications that I approach usually tell me they can’t (or won’t) pay for my work, but they are happy to publish an article for free. Well, I am done with that. I publish free articles on my SpookyMrsGreen blog three times a week, and I have submitted more work than I care to remember to professional organisations. It is time for some payback in the form of cold, hard cash. I am still searching for that lucrative contract, but I need to give myself a kick up the backside, stop being complacent, and get on with it. Let’s see how we get on…

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