ARC Review: What They Deserve by Sam Hendricks

This is a novella by Sam Hendricks and published by Kyanite Publishing. I had the privilege of being able to read an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of this engaging story. This title will be available on February 8, 2019, and is currently available for pre-order.

Find out more about this story and where to purchase this it here: https://kyanitepublishing.com/product/what-they-deserve/

This story starts off reading as a straightforward cyberpunk style story.  As it progresses, the author masterfully weaves a more convoluted tale of secrets and betrayal. The story builds, occasionally throwing the reader hints that there is more under the surface than what we are reading. It leaves the reader questioning what the real story is and who is on the what side.

The author keeps the momentum rolling right through until the end of the story which leads up to a surprise you don’t see coming when the curtain drops. With an exciting ending and a heartwarming wrap-up to this is a story that I think most will enjoy reading.

A lot of detail and worldbuilding are expertly packaged into this novella. The author avoids the use of unnecessary ‘info-dumps’. You learn what you need to know to be able to understand the world and technology that is presented in the story. I never had the feeling of being lost or unsure of what was happening in relation to the world that the author created for this story.

Indie Author Interview

Yesterday I did my very first interview as an author.

What an experience, one that I almost missed out on. Laura Mae's tweet looking for indie authors to interview came across my screen I was supposed to be trying to sleep.
It was my phone that dinged as if I had a new message that caused me to pick it up. There was no new message. I went to Twitter to double check that it was a DM on there (sometimes the icon doesn't pop up).
Nope, no DM, but there was this tweet. I've seen similar tweets before, but I'd always been too nervous to respond. Maybe it was because of how tired I was, but this time I responded.

And boy am I glad that I did.

Despite my nervousness about doing this interview, Laura made me feel comfortable and I enjoyed myself. I had a lot of fun talking with her. Hopefully, I didn't sound too insane. A normal amount of insane was inevitable, of course.

I can't wait for you all to read it one Friday when it goes up on her blog. You can check it out at https://lauramaeauthor.com/the-indie-go-interviews/ and read all her past interviews of some wonderful authors!

A Novel is Never Done

What comes after NaNoWriMo

Yes, there is life after NaNoWriMo. If you’re anything like me you’re feeling a little lost right now. You spent so much time dedicated to writing and now… you’re not.

Good News, Bad News

Good news is that life does quickly return to feeling normal as the holidays swarm us. Which, if you wanted to get in the habit of daily writing turns this into bad news. However, you just ran a writing marathon. Your fingers and wrists might be angry at you right now. You need to make up lost time with friends and family members. Take this time. Chill, relax. You deserve it.

Once your wrists no longer ache and people aren’t still surprised that you are, in fact, still alive and well, you can get back to writing if you like. And for those of you who are working hard towards publishing, this is the first step. You either have a good chunk of a first draft or perhaps an entirely finished first draft.

Now comes the Novel Draft Aftercare program. Editing, revisions and all the fun stuff. Believe it or not, NaNoWriMo doesn’t just end in November and you don’t think of it again for another 11 months. Nope, there are forums and events dedicated to what they call the ‘Now What?’ months.You can find those forums under the section like 'I Wrote a Novel, Now What?'

I’m not going to get into all the steps of editing and revision here but I want to give you some advice moving forward from this point.

There is no one RIGHT way

Say it to yourself a few times until you really believe it. Like with writing, we all have our own processes. Some of us take more drafts to get the story where we wanted than others will, but the one thing I can guarantee is that the first draft can always be improved. Don’t let anyone tell you that there is only the one way to do things. It’s simply not true.

Find out what works for you. Try different ways of editing. Try editing it right away or put it away and try again later. I know, for me, I am a strange one in that I don’t like putting space between me and my story before I edit, but almost everyone you talk to will talk about distancing yourself from your story. However,for me, I am fairly cut-throat with my novels. I love them, but I am willing to slice and dice for the best interest of the story. I am not the most emotionally invested person in the world.

Do what works for you, and if you don’t know what that is, then try all the methods and make up a few of your own.

A few things, though, that are nearly universal. Beta readers and critique partners are awesome. Another set of critical eyes on your story can really help you see the areas that you might have fallen short of your goals. I’m not saying you should, but I do highly recommend this process once you hit the point of “I don’t think I know how or what to edit in this story anymore”.

Okay, that’s enough. I have ice packs to put on my own tortured wrists here!

Standing on the Edge

You’re almost there, don’t look down.

As I sat alone thinking about what to sort of pep talk I can give you the day before NaNoWriMo ends, eating whipped cream straight from the can and drinking wine, I felt like the idea was right on the edge of my mind. Which is when inspiration struck.

Because, here we are, on the edge of the end of this crazy adventure. It’is so close we can almost taste it (and it tastes like whipped cream).

At this point in the journey there isn’t much I can say to you except to ignore all the words you’ve written. I’m being serious. Ahead, behind, on par? Who cares? I don’t and you shouldn't either. Take these last few hours and write. Write your hardest, as much as you can. Throw yourself into your story and see what happens.

Don’t look back, don’t think about the pitfalls of the journey, don’t reminisce on the great days where the words flowed like water (wine?) - just write.

Race for the finish line because it’s right there over that last little rise. Run for it with all your might. You can do it.

Go! Go! Go!

Stop reading this. Why are you still reading? Oh, because I put words here, is that why? Okay. I’ll stop now. I have writing to do too!

Take a Deep Breath...

We’re not done yet, but look how far we’ve come

Every year about this time I tell people to take a moment and look at their word count. Don’t obsess or even think about if it’s more or less or on par with where you wanted to be. Just look at it.

You wrote those words. That is all you.

It doesn’t matter if you are ahead, behind, or on par, what matters is that you have written words. You have done something incredible in these three weeks and you should be proud of yourself no matter what.

Now, take a deep breath. Hold it for a second and let it out slowly. It’s been a hard three weeks for most of us. Which means that is time to remind you about self-care.Which is why I want you to take a moment to take a good deep breath before diving back into your stories.

If you’re behind you probably feel like you don’t have time for this, but it’s important to make the time. Breathe with me and relax. As much as you want to make either the NaNoWriMo goal of 50K words or your own personal word count goal, it’s not the end of the world if you fall a little short. Take care of yourself first then worry about those numbers.

In the end, what really matters is that you made the effort. You wrote a lot of words.

Go you. 

Okay, time to get back to the writing for all of us!

Ride the Rollercoaster

Time to sit back and enjoy the ride - even when it goes off the rails

Remember back on November 1 when I said that the weeks of NaNoWriMo tend to follow the same general track for most people? (If not read it here) Well, congratulations, you made it to week three. We’re at the halfway point now. In an ideal world, you should have 25,000 words by the end of today. Too bad this isn’t an ideal world. It’s scary as hell rollercoaster ride.
We all experience ups and downs in the writing process. You’ve been working yourself hard for two weeks here. You’ve written a lot of words even if you are nowhere near crossing 25K words today I want you to be proud.
Look at those words. Just look at them. You wrote those words in two weeks. That was all you and that is an awesome accomplishment. These are words that you may never have written if you hadn’t attempted to do NaNoWriMo.
If you listened to my advice in the above-referenced blog post, then you have been building a buffer of words for the days when the words don’t come so easily.

If you look to the right you will see my stats for 6 consecutive years. Some years, like 2011, I really needed that buffer. Not sure what happened, but I had some trouble going into week three. Some years I stated behind and picked up the pace. But in every single year you will notice that I have days where the words flowed like waterfall and days where I would have better luck getting blood from stone than words on the page.

We all have these days. Every year is a new kind of rollercoaster and I can never predict how my year is going to go. I've learned to accept that these low points happen. I hate them, but I accept them. I never beat myself up over the days where I just cannot make the words happen.
But those days where I can write? I write. When the words flow, I let them carry me away. Low days or high days makes no difference. In the end, I have written. Some years more than others.

This is me telling you that anything is possible. Ahead, behind, or on par - keep writing on. Not every day will go well, not ever year will go well, but you're squeezing out a few words. Focus on that. You are writing.

The Benefits of Being Bad

How Terrible First Drafts Can Make You a Better Writer

It took me three attempts to end up with my first completed draft of a novel. Each failed attempt taught me something new about how to write. And I was excited when I finished the novel. So excited that I printed the whole thing off and started reading it.
It sucked.
If I am being honest, there were some great lines. A few nicely conceived scenes. I loved the characters, but the story itself has holes you could swim a whale through. Maybe a couple. In the end, I shelved that novel and some of those characters and scenes proved to be the basis for things that ended up in other novels.
I never focus on how bad this novel is because the important thing is that I learned a lot in this attempt. Lessons that have stuck with me over the years.

Being Bad is Good
When you let yourself be a terrible writer for the sake of finishing that first draft you learn the most important lesson of all. How to finish a first draft.
Awkward prose can be smoothed out. Rough scenes can be polished until they shine. Plot holes can be repaired. However, none of this can happen until that draft has been written.
We can only be good writers by starting out as bad writers. It’s a part of any learning process. You get better through practice, but you need to allow yourself to be a bad writer before you can be a good one.

You Got a Problem with That?
Not even joking here. Some people have a harder time letting themselves be bad for the sake of getting it written that I have encountered a lot of useful tricks over the years. I don’t use any myself
because I’m okay with being bad. Give some of these a try:

• Type in a white font
• Type in a font so small you can’t read it.
• Turn off spell check features
• Never read back on what you wrote
• Type with your eyes closed.
• Tilt your laptop screen to an angle where you can’t see it.
• Write in unerasable pen if you're doing this by hand
• Try using a program like 'Write or Die' or 'Written Kitten' to keep you focused on writing the words instead of the quality of what you're writing.
• Word sprints or wars - engage your competitive bone to focus on writing faster instead of better. 

Got another suggestion? Leave it in the comments and help your fellow writers out. Editing is for later and now is for the writing.

And one last reminder before I let you go back to your draft-

Comparison is the Thief of Words
Don’t compare the words that you have put on the page with the images you have in your mind. Or to your favourite novels. Please, let this draft be bad. Let it be terrible and clunky and cringeworthy. Most importantly, let it exist.