Reaching out and finding love

These past couple of days have been quite the emotional roller coaster. I've managed to accomplish one of my life long goals, publishing my first ever book and realizing, at the same time, the kind of loving support I have from my friends and family while doing so.
Going through the process of releasing this book was daunting. Anytime you put into writing something that comes from within you, and choosing to share that with the multitudes will give anyone a panic attack. After all, it sort of gives the readers an insight into what goes on in your head. And these stories of mine, based on my dreams, are definitely a window that a lot of people don't want to peek through. Still, my husband and my best friend have insisted for some time now that I ought to see where publishing my stuff could take me. So I braved it out and I did it. Now the positive responses I've gotten have made me eager to share more and maybe, just maybe, my dream of publishing my full out novel will also come true.

A Cover Made

My e-book cover edited by the ever talented Tiffany L. Cook of TLC Candids in Bellevue, NE.
After a few more failed attempts at finding an artist to create a cover for my short stories, I finally decided to compile them all into one book and publish it under the title of Violent Dreams & Dark Fantasies. Thankfully, I happen to know a very talented photographer that graciously accepted the job of editing the cover photograph for me, and this was the end result. I couldn't be happier. This meant that I could finally finish the e-publising process and get my stories out there for everyone to read. I just hope now that they are well received, but overall I am grateful for the support of my friends and my family in achieving this lifelong dream. I am now a self-published author!

The endless search for cover artist

I never realized how hard it would be to find that one perfect cover for my stories. I've looked at countless artists' profiles and portfolios, sending emails and messages to every possible option. It's been hard. Not only am I facing the harsh reality that free-lance artists are asking for a fee way beyond my starting budget, but also finding one that truly can capture the idea I have in my head for each of these short stories is downright hard. Seeing how each of my short stories is slightly different, and all vary from urban fantasy, to historical fantasy with some romance thrown in there, getting the artwork pegged just right is quite the homework. But I won't give up.
Somewhere out there, an artist has created just the right work to match my story and I'm devoted to finding it. By the end of this month, my first short story will hit the Kindle market and it'll have the most amazing work of cover art I could have imagined for it. So, future readers, stand by to be amazed at my discovery!

Decision made...what's next?

My best friend Ryan got me on to the idea of getting self-published on Amazon's Kindle, as they offer a pretty good deal for those of us dreamers who have had the desire to publish our books but just never were brave enough to face the harsh world of publishing houses and literary agents. As a full time military member, the amount of free time I have on hand to sit down and write a full out novel is not only limited, but not very inspiring. So for the past several years, I've just been content on getting short stories out of my head and type them out on my computer, to never see the light of day. It is a depressing thing, when a story isn't shared with the world. But then e-readers became the new thing to own, the latest gadget to allow those of us who gobble up books on almost a weekly basis, to carry with us countless titles anywhere we go. From there, it was just a matter of time until the smart people that run these gadgets made the next evolutionary step...to cut out the middle man and bring books from the writer to the reader directly!
After much deliberation I finally took the steps to do it. I will get self-published. I will have these trapped short stories released on to the world and hope they receive a warm welcome. I will hope that after all these years, the talent I have believed I had for creating works of literary fiction won't be something I made up, but that it will be proven factual by the countless readers out there. I might not know who they are, but I hope to bring them what they want.
So after this decision has been made, what's the next step? Well, getting this blog started is definitely something. I hope to give future readers a place to come to if they have questions, comments, or even suggestions on these short stories. I want to keep the idea of the direct link from writer to reader going. If I can let my readers into my head to see these stories, they should be allowed to talk to me directly, too!
So here I am, writing and inviting you, the reader, to put forth anything you want. Constructive criticism is how we evolve, how we improve. And praise is the sustenance that keeps us going. So both are welcome here. Looking forward to that interaction!