Playlist: February 2023

Playlist: February 2023

Playlist: February 2023

From Tangled Roots Come Twisted Wings

This playlist was inspired by From Tangled Roots Come Twisted Wings, book two of my debut series, Not the Same River, which released on all major online retailers at the end of January.

Navigate to the Books or Not the Same River sections in the menu above for more information on the series.

Happy listening!

Gothic Christmas witch with amber eyes and fiery red hair

Touch – Daughter

Oxytocin – Billie Eilish

Demon – Sad Night Dynamite, Moonchild Sanelly

I Must Cry Out Loud – Mother Mother

Stakes – Vancouver Sleep Clinic

Faux – Novo Amor, Ed Tullett

Murky – Saint Mesa

Torches – X Ambassador

Dangerous Game – Klergy, BEGINNERS

Play with Fire – Sam Tinnesz, Yacht Money

You Made Me Human – Richard Wells

Temples of Our Gods – M83, Anthony Gonzalez, Joseph Trapanese

SkyWorld – Thomas Bergersen, Two Steps from Hell

Singularity – Elephant Music

Muddy Waters – LP

Don’t Close Your Eyes – Sam Tinnesz

Despicable – grandson

Made for the Battle – UNSECRET, GAITS

I’m Sending You Away – M83, Anthony Gonzalez, Joseph Trapanese

Outro – M83

Time – Mikky Ekko

Marigolds – Kishi Bashi

Resolutions – Scott Buckley

The Best Investment I Ever Made in Myself

The Best Investment I Ever Made in Myself

The Best Investment I Ever Made in Myself

Settle in because it’s essay time.

This is a post for writers, especially for those of you who’ve been struggling to get your publishing shoes on. It’s about the one course to rule them all: Publish & Thrive.

I’ve been writing for many years. I finished writing my first book long before the self-publishing boom, but I put all thoughts of being a published author on hold while I raised my family. Then, in 2014, I heard about NaNoWriMo (forever late to the party), and started writing a book that had been in my head for almost thirty years. It was supposed to be a standalone, but we all know how that goes. One book became two, then four, then five, then six.

Then came the endless rounds of editing, the relentless grip of impostor syndrome, and the exhausting spiral of self sabotage.

Self publishing had become a big thing by the time I finished writing that series in 2017, but I couldn’t publish yet because what if it wasn’t good enough? What if I just tweaked those books for another few years? That would make them good enough, right?

I mean, no.

Adding extra glitter to a cake doesn’t make it more edible. My books weren’t necessarily getting better; they were just getting a teeny bit prettier, but not to everyone.

The weight of those people’s opinions had me making minor fixes for years, until I realised that I’d just been slathering my books with frosting only to scrape it off again.

Don’t ask me why I went with a baking analogy here. Not that I don’t love cake (who doesn’t love cake?), but I’m not any kind of baker. I should probably have just gone with too many cooks spoiling the broth, because that’s what was happening to the books I’d poured my heart into.

That’s just the writing part of the story. I haven’t even got to the publishing part yet.

I assumed I would just put my books into Kindle Unlimited because that seemed easy, but I had made a lot of writer friends on Twitter by then, and the hassle they had with Amazon put me off publishing altogether.

I started using their experiences as an excuse to never put myself out there. I was so scared of trying and failing, but I was getting older, and my health wasn’t what it used to be. And I started thinking about regrets. What if all my good health years were behind me? What if I never published a book? Would I resent myself forever? Just how many regrets did I want looming over me for the rest of my life?

So, I looked into wide publishing, learning all I could, so I would never be at the mercy of Amazon’s algorithmic whims. And I learned a few things. I learned lots of things in fact, including that I really wanted the freedom to make my books available to libraries, and to those parts of the world that Amazon doesn’t serve. I pumped my brain full of information, determined not to make the same mistakes others had made. But that doesn’t worry me anymore. Mistakes are inevitable part of any new business starting out.

And that’s what I’ve made myself—a new business. I am an author, publisher, marketer,  formatter, copywriter, web designer, and more. I hesitate to call myself any kind of designer, because my attempts at promo images are stone cold trash, but I’m working on it.

All this is to say that self-publishing is not for the weak. It’s a long hard slog, but as soon as I realised I needed to treat it as a business, I became both more terrified and more determined than ever. But I was still floundering.

I’d found the Heart Breathings YouTube channel by then, and had become obsessed with Sarra Cannon’s kanban board and HB90 planning system. And through that channel, I found the Heart Breathings Writing Community  on Facebook. I was participating in their YouTube sprints, meeting other writers, showing up for them, and for myself.

But I still wasn’t publishing. I was still letting fear rule me.

I’d bought a publishing course for indie authors before, but I’ll be honest, I never finished it. I was a little reluctant to buy another one, but I knew I would get through Sarra’s course because I work best with accountability, and those weekly live Q&A sessions gave me the kick up the bum I needed to get the work done.

I’m not sure I would have been ready for it even a year before, but when I took Publish and Thrive back in August of 2022, I was in the process of setting up a newsletter and giving my scrappy blog a makeover. I was fiddling with things tweaking and gilding.

But the course had a huge impact on my mindset. The “Thrive” part of Publish and Thrive was absolutely what I needed to hear, and by the time the course was over, I’d set up the preorder for Book 1 of my series, which launched the following month.

The confidence I gained from this course was astounding, and I can’t wait to go through it again, knowing just that little bit more about being a published author.

Because that’s the best thing about Publish & Thrive—you get lifetime access, so you can join in over and over again, go through it at your own pace, or go back to lessons when they become more relevant to where you’re at. And you get access to any new content Sarra adds in the future, including her excellent masterclasses.

Sarra has been busy re-recording all the videos for the February 2023 round with new and updated content, and she is currently opening only one round of Publish and Thrive this year, so if you’re thinking about taking it, now’s the time.

I can’t emphasise enough how the live weekly Q&As motivated me and helped me realise I’m not alone in this. Writing can be a lonely business without community, so if you do nothing else with this post, please do yourself the favour of joining the Facebook group.

But if you can relate to my struggles if you’ve been putting off publishing until you’re better prepared, or your book is perfect, or you’re certain you won’t make any mistakes, there will never be a right time to publish. There will always be some reason to wait.

I know this because I’ve been there.

But now I’m here. On the other side.

I’m a published author, with a second book coming out tomorrow, and a third going into preorder. And those books are available everywhere. I have a steadily growing newsletter and even get emails from readers. I’m not quite living the dream yet, but I can feel it coming.

Now, it’s your turn.

I don’t endorse things often, but this course is without doubt the best investment I ever made in myself.

So, when I got the chance to become an affiliate, I jumped at it. It means that at no extra cost to you, should you decide to click on the link below and purchase the course, I’ll receive a commission for sending you in Sarra’s direction.

Trust me when I tell you that she will help you find yours.

Publish & Thrive

Registration closes on February 4th at noon EST (5pm GMT).

Gothic Christmas witch with amber eyes and fiery red hair

Here’s what’s included in the six-week course:

  • Live kick off call on 4th February
  • Weekly live Q&As at the end of each of the six modules (typically 2 hours)
  • Hours of videos for each module, unlocked one week at a time
  • Additional masterclasses
  • Workbooks
  • Past Q&A videos
  • Lifetime access (including new content as it’s added)
  • A private Facebook group for students

Topics covered:

  • Market research and preparing to publish your book
  • Publishing your book, including vendor upload walkthroughs
  • Running your author business
  • Marketing your books
  • Sustainability in self publishing
  • Successful author mindset
  • And more!

For more information, head over to the course page here.

Heart Breathings Links

Looking Forward to 2023

Looking Forward to 2023

Looking Forward to 2023

Now December is here, I’m getting ready for Sarra Cannon’s brilliant planning system, HB90 Bootcamp.

It kicks off on the 11th of December with a livestream, and course enrolment is open until early that day. If you’re a writer, or just a busy person who needs to inject some planning into their life, take a look.

I can’t recommend Sarra’s courses highly enough. HB90 is a game changer.

You can find more information here.

*I’m not currently an affiliate, but I may be in the future.

Mugs of hot chocolate in front of a blazing fire

So, once the course starts, I’ll be planning for the first quarter of 2023. Here’s what I already know:

  • Book 2 of Not the Same River, From Tangled Roots Come Twisted Wings, will be released on January 27th (it’s already available for preorder).
  • A historical spinoff novella, featuring my MC’s neighbours, the Merryweather coven, will be released some time in March.
  • I’ll be prepping Book 3 of Not the Same River, Of Blood & Oil, for its release in April.
  • In March, I’ll be doing HB90 again for Q2. This planning stuff is neverending!
  • My writing projects are as yet undecided.

This has not been a writing year for me. Last year, I wrote eleven books. This year, I’ve written one, which I steamed through during NaNoWrimo, and finally finished on December 4th, which would’ve been my grandad’s 100th birthday. If he was immortal. It was a desperate race to the finish line, but it’s done. In the bag.

To be fair to myself, I also wrote a 40k bonus story for members of the Th1rt3en Club, which is what I call my monthly newsletter to make it sound fancy.

It is fancy. Come join us!

So, no. It has not been a writing year for me. At least, not as much as usual. But, I did rebuild my website, which was a huge undertaking given the state it was in. And I did set up my newsletter, which included a tonne of automations, thanks to that 40k bonus story I mentioned up there. I also formatted and published a novella, which is also free and exclusive for members of the Th1rt3en Club. And I published my first book. It’s not like I’m slacking over here.

Self publishing is hard work. You have to be all things. I outsourced my cover design and editing, but I did everything else myself. I’m a fiction writer, a formatter, a proofreader, a website builder, a marketing manager, a copywriter, a publisher, a business owner. It’s a lot, and I hope it’ll turn out to be worth it.

I’m proud of my achievements this year, and can’t wait to see where next year takes me. What I do know is this: by next December, I will be the author of seven published books instead of one, and I’ll be back here to celebrate with you.

However you spend the holiday season, I hope you have a wonderful time with the people who love you.

WIP Snippet #5

WIP Snippet #5

WIP Snippet #5

Of Blood & Oil

 

Directly from the pen of Sean Morrigan, who first features alongside Albert in The Weakest Link, a free prequel novella available exclusively to my newsletter subscribers. If you already have book 1 of my series, A Storm of Paper Starlings, you’ll find a link to bonus content, which includes the whole story of how Sean met Albert.

character art of Raven Albright. Young man with long black hair and makeup.

WIP Progress

Of Blood & Oil: draft complete, 129,485

Series: Not the Same River (#3)

Stage: awaiting line & copy edits

Projected publishing date: April 2023

Albert Habsburg

I never met a vampire who couldn’t sire another before. Albert was unique. He couldn’t be bled, and his bite killed. His desire to feed was weaker even than mine. We met on the fourth of March 1744, during the War of the Austrian Succession, and he recognised what I was immediately.

He was young when he was turned, I’d say little more than twenty, but he’d attained a great age in his eyes. I didn’t know at the time whether to attribute it to his years or an innate wisdom. I eventually learned it was both.

Our friendship was firm and fast. He was born to be a soldier, he told me. He grew up in the middle of a war and had never known peace. After the death of his mother, he was raised by his half-brother, who became a soldier just a year or so after he rescued Albert from the riots surrounding a burning synagogue.

Albert and his brother came under the protection of a benevolent bloodborn, also hailed a great general, who took an avid interest in Albert and paid for his education. He later offered Albert the world.

He took it, one war at a time.