IWSG: The Dreaded, No Good, Very Bad Review

It's Insecure Writer's Support Group day, the final one of the year! No worries, though. It's continuous, just like clockwork, and occurs on the first Wednesday of every month, every year, all year long. If you want to join, go HERE. Thanks to Alex Cavanaugh and this month's co-hosts, Sandra Hoover, Mark Koopmans, Doreen McGettigan, Megan Morgan, and Melodie Campbell! 


Do you have your mediation ears on? Okay, here I go!

I got my first 1-star review on Amazon and it was a bit devastating. It made me doubt myself and my writing abilities. I know I'm not the best writer out there. I'm still a work in progress. But the reviewer was a bit unkind. 

First, she made fun of something I didn't write: 

Let me be clear. The writing is trite...please find a different way to say "right before my very eyes." As opposed to what? My NOT very eyes...my sorta eyes?

She quoted me on "right before my very eyes." I did a search of the final manuscript, even checked every sentence where "eyes" were mentioned, and it wasn't there. Nothing even came close to it. 

Apparently, here is the crux of the problem:

The story is good. I would have been willing to buy a new story had this one actually had an ending. I just hate being manipulated. This story and all others by the author are hereby banished from my kindle.

Even though the writing is "trite" she thought the story was "good" and would have been "willing to buy a new story". So the story wasn't actually that bad, she was just mad about the ending or what she considered the lack of an ending. 

Here's the dealio: I released the Afterlife series in three separate novellas. I tried to give each novella an ending for that particular story, while at the same time letting the reader know that there was more to the story and they'd have to buy the next book to get the full story. Second Death, the first book and the subject of this review is perma-free (so she didn't buy it). 

I sort of get where she's coming from, but I certainly didn't think in terms of "manipulation" when I set up the marketing strategy, i.e. read the first one for free, buy the other two if you're interested. 

I really do want to be fair, though. I want my readers to be happy and of course I always, always, always want to do the right thing. 

So, here are my questions for you:

Is this a bad marketing strategy?

Should I take books II and III down and only sell the series as a whole so that there is an "ending" readily available?

Thanks so much for your help!


What are your insecurities this month?

2014 Results Are In!

I'll admit, 2014 was a rough year for a lot of people. I know the world seemed to be falling apart at times. My year had ups and downs. I count myself lucky because whatever my problems may be, it's always compared to what. I have a home, a job, loving friends and family. A craft that I love. And I'm still thrilled with what the future might hold!

So with the future in mind, it's time to post my 2015 goals!

But first, let's see how I did with 2014.

Here are my 2014 goals with the result in red:

1. Blog less. Alas, it's true. I can't keep up with the posts, comments and return visits and still write. Something's gotta give. So, I'm on blog hiatus until April, then I'll be back blogging one day per week. And, I'll be doing the A-Z through Untethered Realms. It helps to share the load :) I'll still be on Facebook and Twitter if you want or need help promoting in that way. I'd love to help. DONE! I definitely blogged less and did the A-Z through Untethered Realms.
2. Implement a writing schedule. Since I've been working full time, I have seriously neglected my writing, and I miss it terribly. My new schedule will be 2-3 hours Monday and Thursday nights, and whatever I can fit in on weekends. DONE! Only I had to approach it from a different angle. I'm not, and never have been, a high energy person. No way can I spend 8 - 10 hours at the office and then write for another 2 - 3 hours at home. So, I set a word count of 2500 words per week instead, and did it on the weekends. I have a very understanding hubby.
3. Publish my three-novella series by May or June. The first one is done, the second is outlined and the third is just a glimmer. DONE. Again, not exactly as planned. But all three novellas from the Afterlife series were released in October and November, with the print version in December.
4. Publish my short story in the first anthology (of a 4-part series) with my Untethered Realms group in October. Then work on the second/third story. DONE. We published in October. I started the second short story in December.
5. Work on my idea for a new series. They might be novellas, I haven't decided. My goal is to outline and write the first novella. NOT DONE. I worked on the idea, outlined and even wrote the first chapter, but that's as far as I got.
6. Explore screenwriting. TECHNICALLY DONE. I did explore a screenwriting class and almost started it in September, but decided I was too busy with revisions on the novella series and getting it published to take a class.
7. And yes, the perpetual goal of losing weight, exercising and getting healthy; physically, mentally and spiritually. BLEH! Enough said.

Now on to my 2015 goals:

1. Blog once per week, with intermittent blog posts over at Untethered Realms. Make a point to visit at least five blogs per week that I don't visit routinely.
2. Write and publish a short story in the anthology with my Untethered Realms group.
3. Write and publish three novellas in my new series.
4. OR, think about submitting the novellas for traditional publishing. I'm still pondering this one.
5. Start on a new Indigo Eady novel because I can't stand the thought of not writing her anymore.
6. Think about taking a screenwriting class once again.
7. Be more proactive about posting on my Facebook author page. Perhaps give snippets of my WIPs combined with graphic designs.
8. Update my website and blog.

How was your year?

What are your 2015 goals?

Ever Met A Gargoyle?

Ever Met A Gargoyle?

 

Check out the awesome cover for my Afterlife series. I combined my three novellas into a collection for both ebook and print.

 

I absolutely love the whole cover. Corona Zschusschen spent many hours on the silver scroll work. Notice the intricate weaving, the lighting and shading. I'm always amazed at what illustrators can do. It's also kind of Christmassy and perfect for a December release.

 

 

I have to admit, though, that I'm enthralled by the gargoyle on the back cover. Gargoyles are interesting, intriguing, mysterious. They're hundreds of years old. They have a serious past. In modern history, gargoyles are used as spouts to direct rainwater away from buildings. But originally, they were used to frighten evil away and protect the inhabitants of a structure, such as a church.

 

In the Afterlife series I created creatures that I call "gardengoyles." The name combines the traditional "gargoyle" and the garden variety "gardengoyle". The garden variety is sort of a play on words as my gardengoyles, Gertrude and Glomp, are keepers of Gertrude's Garden, the paranormal social nightclub-type meeting place where some pretty interesting creatures gather. And then there's the adjoining cemetery where bodies are "planted," sort of a paranormal inside joke. 

 

See the gardening link?

 

Soooo, moving on then...

 

Gardengoyles are the descendants of the larger gargoyles and much more colorful, in both appearance and language. My gardengoyles are highly intelligent of course. It's not to say that the traditional gargoyles weren't smart, but perhaps they were just less vocal. Their faces spoke volumes.

 

Check it out. I was in England and France recently and met tons of gargoyles!

 

Here are a few...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazon ebook / Amazon print

 

Have you ever met a gargoyle?

How about a descendant, the gardengoyle? (Now if you've met a gardengoyle, I want to hear all about it, LOL!)

 

 

 

Some Secrets of Secret Keepers

First, I'm over at the awesome Shah Wharton's place today talking about the Problems with Paranormalcy. Please stop by!

 

And now...

 

RELEASE DAY SECRETS!

 

It's release day for Secret Keepers, the final novella in the Afterlife series.

 

Not only is it release day, but it's the official "cover reveal."

 

And by "cover reveal" I mean the little secret within the cover revealed...

 

First, check out the cover. It contains some of the items that appear in the book. There's the bowl with the special sachets used in a spell to cast out demons. Hazel's collection of wands that she doesn't know how to use yet. A painting of Penny, Hazel's "special" cat.

 

Then there's the jar. The jar contains smooth, black stones with names on them. These stones are charmed with a spell that allows the user to see ghosts and basically exist in their world. All you have to do is choose the stone etched with your name, kiss it and tuck it into your pocket. 

 

And voilà!

 

You're a ghost whisperer, just like Indigo Eady.

 

You can see that names are written on the stones, but the names are too small to read...

 

 

Cover designed and illustrated by Corona Zschusschen

 

 

 

 

 

But, when the jar section is blown up like this...

 

 

 

...you can see that not only do the stones have character names engraved (Simon, Badger and Hazel), but some of them contain the names of my own family members (Allan, Amber, John, Donna and Alyssa), along with my illustrator Corona, and me, of course!

 

I love knowing about the secret hidden within my Secret Keepers cover!

 

Are there any secrets in your covers?

 

 

Bonus Excerpt

 

Here's a little excerpt. To set up the scene, Indigo and Badger are making their way through the dilapidated ghost hospital. Using the stones allows Badger to go through the hospital without seeing all the cracks in the floors and the possibilities of falling five floors to his death. But did I mention that the stones only last for a couple of hours? This is what happens when the spell wears off the stones...



I shrugged my pack on and helped him with his. Once again we climbed upward. We were slowed to one step at a time, me using my shoulder to leverage under Badger’s armpit to push him up to the next step. What seemed like an hour later, we made it to the top. The fifth floor. Our last stand. The final frontier and all that.

When we stepped out into the corridor, Badger yelled, “No!” He pulled me back, but clung to the doorjamb, as if we might fall into a pit of vipers.

My brief glimpse of the corridor hadn’t revealed anything untoward. “What is it? What did you see?”

“Th-the floor,” he stuttered. “There are gaping holes. It isn’t safe.” He ran the fingers of his free hand through his hair. “I don’t know what we’re going to do. We can’t go out there.”

The corridor on the fifth floor was dark and dilapidated, true. But it was no worse than the other floors.

And then it dawned on me as I looked closer. “Badger, where are your stones?”

He eyed me strangely. “Seriously? You’re going to question my masculinity right now?”

I rolled my eyes. “The charmed stones, you dork. The ones Hazel gave you.” Seriously.

“Oh. Yeah. In my pocket.” He reached in and pulled one out, our eyes meeting as he did so. The fire-engine red blush was adorable. Kissing the stone, he rechecked the situation in the corridor, then released a held breath. “Bloody hell,” he muttered.

“Better?” I asked.

He nodded. “Although it’d be even better if I didn’t know what lie underneath. What the bloody hell is holding us up?”

“Don’t think about it.” I wrapped his arm around my neck again. “When you kiss the stone, you are no longer in our dimension. You’re in theirs. Just go with it.”

“Go with it, she says,” he muttered under his breath. “Don’t think about falling through the gaping holes to your death, she says.”

I smirked.

He cracked a smile. “Oh shut up.”



About Secret Keepers:

In Second Death, Indigo and her team of sleuths escape the clutches of underground evil.

In Ghostly Gallows, Indigo and the gang managed to dodge the falling ruins and free those spirits trapped by the evil spell that bound them to Gallowsgate Prison.

Now in Secret Keepers, even though Indigo speaks to ghosties, there is so much about the afterlife she doesn’t understand. Such as…how can spirits be sick? They’re dead, for goodness sake! But once again Indigo is forced to go where she made it a point to never go: the hospital. There, the mystery of the sick and missing spirits explodes into a frenzied battle for souls where dawn may bring life or final death.

 

About Indigo Eady:

Much to her chagrin, Indigo Eady is a celebrity among spirits. She’s the girl who can see and speak with them. She has a proven track record in helping spirits find their murderers, so it’s no surprise when she’s drafted onto the Missing Paranormal Committee. Who better to help them than the experienced teenage ghost whisperer- investigator and her friends?

 

 

Tweets if you feel like tweeting:

“When you kiss the stone, you are no longer in our dimension. You’re in theirs. Just go with it.”  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NUKXL9Y @UnRealms

"... correct me if I’m wrong, but… spirits are dead people." Secret Keepers. #Afterlife #Supernatural https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NUKXL9Y @UnRealms

"I have to admit, having friends who could float through walls came in handy." Secret Keepers. #afterlife https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NUKXL9Y @UnRealms

 Secret Keepers available now!

 

Amazon / B&N / Google Play / iTunes

Ghostly Gallows: Come Hang With Me

Launch Day!

Ghostly Gallows

(Book II - Afterlife Series)

Cover by Corona Zschusschen

 

Ghostly Gallows:

The case of missing paranormals is far from solved.

Hundreds of Sabrina Shores’ spirits are still missing.

In Second Death, Indigo and her friends escape an eternity underground in evil clutches. Back aboveground with a few missing ghosties happily in tow, one truth is painfully clear: the size of their problem is bigger than the village cemetery itself.

Now in Ghostly Gallows, new information leads Indigo and her fellow investigators to the ruins of Gallowsgate Prison, long abandoned by everyone and everything except malevolent spirits. It’s not called Gallowsgate for nothing when the noose swings a little too close to home.

Indigo Eady:

Much to her chagrin, Indigo Eady is a celebrity among spirits. She’s the girl who can see and speak with them. She has a proven track record in helping spirits find their murderers, so it’s no surprise when she’s drafted onto the Missing Paranormal Committee. Who better to help them than the experienced teenage ghost whisperer- investigator and her friends?

 

Blog Tour Schedule:
(Come hang with me here!)

Monday October 6th - Double-Edged Spark - Susan Gourley

Monday October 6th - Indigo Children, the New Evolution - Susan Oloier

Tuesday October 7th - Author Interview - Catherine Stine
Tuesday October 7th - Untethered Realms

Wednesday October 8th - Sabrina Shores Fictional Setting - M. Pax

Friday October 10th - Danger and Romance - Elizabeth Seckman
 

 

Tweet if the fancy takes you:

Ghostly Gallows, where #Afterlife takes on a whole new meaning. #supernatural #paranormal #ebook http://tinyurl.com/kedsdp9 @UnRealms



#We’re surrounded by spirit energy,” I whispered, as if the spirits couldn’t hear me. Ghostly Gallows http://tinyurl.com/kedsdp9 @UnRealms
 

 

Giveaways!

 

1. Everyone who comments here or at any of the stops during my Afterlife Blog Tour will be put into a drawing for FREE ebooks of Second Death, Ghostly Gallows and Secret Keepers. Five copies will be given away during the two week release period of each book.
2. Everyone who leaves a review of any book in the Afterlife series by October 31, 2014 will be put in a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card.
3. Everyone who purchases the complete ebook set or boxed ebook collection set by the end of the Afterlife blog tour (by October 31, 2014) will be put in a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card (boxed ebook set available October).
4. A print book giveaway of the series will also be up for grabs - stay tuned for more details!

Send your purchase links with the heading "AFTERLIFE" in the subject line to GwenMGardner@cox.net to be entered into the drawings.

 

 

 

Available Here:

Amazon / B&N / Google Play / iTunes
 

Connect with me here:

 

Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Amazon / B&N

 

 

 

Second Death: Is It Possible?

Today is Launch Day!

Discover the phenomenon of a second death.

How is it possible you ask?

Read to find out.

 

 

Second Death

Book I
The Afterlife Novella Series

 

Cover by Corona Zschusschen


Tweetable Character Quotes

 

“When faced with the strangeness of afterlife, a morbid sense of humor is a must...” Badger, Second Death. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N6TYPOE @UnRealms

 

 

 

“What do you mean by under the weather? He’s dead, how can he be sick?” Indigo, Second Death. #YA #PNR http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N6TYPOE @UnRealms

 

 

 

“If looks could kill…if he wasn’t already dead, I mean.” ~Sarah Scroggins, Second Death
#Afterlife series http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N6TYPOE @UnRealms

 

 

 

 

Blurb:

 

Second Death:

The Sabrina Shores spirit community is in crisis.

Ghosties are mysteriously disappearing at an alarming rate.

They’re simply…gone. A second death.

The clues are limited, but it’s clear that the one common factor is Gertrude’s Garden, the nightclub social center of the spirit community which just happens to adjoin the Sabrina Shores cemetery: the one place Indigo makes a point of not going. Ever. She has her reasons.

 

Indigo Eady:

Much to her chagrin, Indigo Eady is a celebrity among spirits. She’s the girl who can see and speak with them. She has a proven track record in helping spirits find their murderers, so it’s no surprise when she’s drafted onto the Missing Paranormal Committee. Who better to help them than the experienced teenage ghost whisperer- investigator and her friends?

 

***
 

Blog Tour Stops:

(Book I)

(Yeah, I rub elbows with some awesome peeps!)

 

Monday 9/22/14 - Julie Flanders

Tuesday 9/23/14 - Untethered Realms

Tuesday 9/23/14 - Christine Rains

Tuesday 9/23/14 - Miranda Hardy

Wednesday 9/24/14 - Angela Brown

Wednesday 9/24/14 - Jamie Ayres

Friday 9/26/14 - Ellie Garratt

 

Check back in two weeks for book II release

of Ghostly Gallows and tour schedule beginning October 6th!

 

Then, two more weeks on October 20th is the release of book III, Secret Keepers - still need hosts for book III!

 

Giveaways!

 

1. Everyone who comments here or at any of the stops during my Afterlife Blog Tour will be put into a drawing for FREE ebooks of Second Death, Ghostly Gallows and Secret Keepers. Five copies will be given away during the two week release period of each book.
2. Everyone who leaves a review of any book in the Afterlife series by October 31, 2014 will be put in a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card.
3. Everyone who purchases the complete ebook set or boxed ebook collection set by the end of the Afterlife blog tour (by October 31, 2014) will be put in a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card (boxed ebook set available October).
4. A print book giveaway of the series will also be up for grabs - stay tuned for more details!

Send your purchase links with the heading "AFTERLIFE" in the subject line to GwenMGardner@cox.net to be entered into the drawings.

 

 

 

IF you feel like buying now:

 

Amazon / B&N / iTunes / Google Play

 

 

Connect with me here:

 

Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Amazon / B&N