New Home!

I've moved to a new home at

KatNichols.com

this will be the new place for information on books, blog posts and the like.  Or you can check out all the Rebel Writers at TheRebelWriters.com. 

See you there!!

Kat

Writing Groups

I mentioned them before, but I love my writer's group.  I can't tell you how fabulous they are or how important I think finding like-minded individuals is when you're writing your 1st, 10th or 100th novel.  So I have to give a shout out to the Rebel Writers!!

Members of a writing group can give you support, serve as inspiration, be your cheerleader, help you when you're stuck, be your biggest promoter and so much more.

Writing a book is hard.  It's probably one of the hardest things I've ever done and I might have given up (not forever because I don't think the writing bug would've left me) at least for a while.  Watching these women battle to finish their first draft and having them encourage me to finish mine was invaluable. It honestly kept me going.

I'm married.  I love my husband dearly.  But as proud as he is of my dedication to writing this novel, he's not very interested in the day to day process of the actual writing.  He's not a YA paranormal kind of a guy, and that's ok.  So its nice to have people who know what my book is all about, who can read my drafts and offer advice.

I do want to say be smart about who you release your work to.  This is definitely a relationship that involves trust and compatibility, so don't just jump in with the first group that has an opening. Get to know them, make sure these are people you can work with, and make sure there is something in place to be sure your work remains your work.  But if you can find the right group?  Its amazing!!  Good luck!

Free Writing Convention?? Oh my!

I think that getting to go to a writing convention is extremely important, especially if you are going to try to Indie Publish.  As I've said, I'm heading to my first this year and I'm very excited.  But what if you can't travel or can't afford to go to a convention?  Well here's the answer for you. 

This week, IndieReCon is hosting their free on-line convention.  That's right!  I said FREE and ONLINE!! 

In their words:

IndieReCon 2014, in its second year, is a free online writer's conference dedicated to indie publishing.

Last year with over 10,000 visitors, IndieReCon was awesome with chats and giveaways and days of helpful and pertinent information. 
This year will be even bigger and better!
To kick us off, our keynote speakers, Barry Eisler and Joe Konrath, will host a 2-hour chat to talk about The Evolving Indie Industry and Standing out in the Pile and then entertain your questions. 
You'll also discover insider secrets from representatives from Amazon, Kobo, Smashwords and Goodreads, and learn how to write fast, try your hand at serials, work with other authors to maximize your marketing efforts and much, much more.


So, check it out this week! 

Another Helpful Writing Site

There is nothing more important than having a well developed character.  If your character is one dimensional, your readers won't care about the things that happen to them in your story, the good or the bad.  And if the reader doesn't care, then they aren't going to read your book either. 

While searching for a good character chart to help me really get to know my main characters, I stumbled onto a website called EpiGuide,   In their own words, they are "the premiere community devoted to original online entertainment -- from web dramas and soaps to webcomics, RPGs and beyond".  

The character chart on this site is nine pages long... that's right, nine pages.  By the time you are finished completing this, you'll know your character better than you know yourself!  With questions like: What are your character's quirks? or What is their biggest accomplishment? or Who does your client want to emulate?  this chart makes you think long and hard about who your character really is and hopefully gets them to talk to you too. 

Where is this fantastic chart, you ask?  Click here to go right to it.  You will be able to download it as a PDF, RTF or DOC file, which is great.  I've used this chart several times to get inside my main character's skin and I definitely recommend it to others. Good luck!! 

Book Review for Gathering Water by Regan Claire

Book Synopsis
There are plenty of things I could tell you about my life; plenty of things happened during my years in an inept foster care system. But my real story--when my life really began--started on the day I turned eighteen.
It was the day I discovered who I was. I learned my real name, my dead mother's identity, and where we come from. These simple things prompted me to pack my meager belongings, hop on a plane, and come home to the dilapidated house in North Carolina that belonged to the mother I never knew.
Even though I have a home and a family for the first time, my thoughts are still burning with unanswered questions. Like why did my mother run away? Why the heck has my skin started to tingle every time it touches the water? And who--or what--is my father really? Because it definitely isn't human--
And if all that weren't enough, there's this guy, Dove. Yeah, he might be a distraction from my true purpose, but when he offers a healing hand to soothe the damage from my past, I'm helpless to resist.
All I ever wanted was to know who I am, but my journey to self-discovery might just lead to the destruction of mankind.
My name is Della Doe Deare and this, well, this is my story.

My review:
I received this book for free for an honest review, but after reading it I had to buy Gathering Water to support this up and coming author.  Some of the other reviews state that they thought this book started slowly, but I don't necessarily agree.  Della is such an interesting character and I enjoyed getting to know her before she discovers her family and all of the secrets that come with them. 
I love YA paranormal books and this one is right up my alley. But the paranormal elements weren't the only things that grabbed my attention in this book.  The  relationships were developed extremely well.  And as much as I love Dove, the relationship between Della and Cash is fabulous.  I need a Cash in my life too! 
All in all, I highly recommend this book to anyone (and I have been to my friends and family.)  Regan Claire tells a wonderful coming of age tale with a lot of magic thrown in.  I loved it!

Smooth(er) Sailing

Things have been moving a little smoother for me now.  I've reached the middle of my novel and the words are coming faster.  Lots of action, some deception and a little young love. (Sigh.)  Unfortunately, I don't have as much time to write, but when I do, its pretty productive. Of course, then inspiration struck and gave me an idea for a prequel novella and a book two.  I had to tell myself, "Slow down!  You have to finish the first one!"  Plus, once I'm done, I know that I will have TONS of edits to make.  My goal right now is just to finish a book.  I have so many half written novels from over the years, and the dream of finishing one is something I hope to complete this year. 

Speaking of dreams, one of the women in my writing group said that she had to follow her dream of writing her novel otherwise how could she tell her kids to follow their dreams.  This really struck me.  How do we tell our children they can do or be anything they want if we are afraid to do it ourselves?  My son sees me work on my novel every night after working a 40 + hour a week job.  He sees me research, read and write almost every single day.  He sees that following your dream requires hard work, dedication and determination.  And what a fantastic lesson this is to teach him at the age of nine.  I hope that by seeing me work hard to achieve my dreams will encourage him to follow his. 
And I hope that you decide to follow your dreams too! 

Book Review for The Relentless Warrior by Rachel Higginson

I received a copy of this book from the author for an honest review.  Let me start by saying that I love Rachel Higginson and her Star Crossed series.  Actually, I like all of her books, but I started with the Star Crossed series so its always been my favorite.  I have been impatiently waiting on the 6th installment, The Relentless Warrior and I was not disappointed.

The gang's all here, or most of them anyway, and they are still trying to track down Terletov who has continued his testing on humans and immortals alike.  The story focuses on Jericho and Olivia, a human who has survived Terletov's testing.  Sparks fly between these two, who seem to argue more often than not.  Olivia isn't happy with the immortal world because she sees it for the reason she was tortured and why her sister is in coma.  She clearly sees Jericho as part of that world even while she feels he is her safe haven.

I loved this story.  The struggle that Olivia has with accepting the changes in her life is something that many of us can understand.  The tension between Jericho and Olivia is fabulous.  I don't want to give to much away, but needless to say, it was another terrific book by Rachel Higginson.  I can't wait for the next one!

Book Review for Broken Skies by Theresa Kay

From Goodreads:
"Thirty years ago, there was the Collapse. A massive war fought with biological weapons and followed by plague. Almost everyone died.
Ten years ago, the aliens showed up. They made one of our cities their own and that's where they stay, for the most part anyway.
One year ago, I killed two men and went a little crazy.
Today, the aliens took my brother and I will do whatever it takes to get him back even if it means partnering up with the enemy, an alien boy who makes me think things I shouldn't and makes me feel things I don’t understand."

Here is my review:

I received this book free from the author for an honest review.  I typically don't read Sci-Fi, but in this case, I'm so glad I did.  Theresa pulled me into Jax's story from page one and kept me on the edge of my seat until the last.  Her world building was spot on and I could see the world she had created in my mind.  I was glad to hear that there is a second book in the works as I definitely want more.  I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Sci Fi novels, or even if you don't, you should give it a try, you won't regret it!  The release date is March 14, 2014. 

Slacking, Sort of...

I didn't get much writing done this week but I have an excuse, I swear!!  Earlier in the week I received an ARC from an up and coming author for her first young adult Sci Fi novel, Broken Skies.  Now, if you know me at all, or even if you just read my bio, you would know that Sci Fi isn't really my cup of tea, but this debut novel was good.  Really good.  It's the first in a trilogy, so there's more to come!  The release date is March 14, 2014. The full review will be in a separate blog.  

Then one of my fave Indie authors, Rachel Higginson, gave me an ARC of her new release The Relentless Warrior from her Reckless Magic series.  Since I absolutely LOVE her and the series, I had to sit down and read it, immediately.  So, that's what I am doing now.  Review to follow when I am done.

Finally, I received another ARC from Regan Claire for her debut novel, Gathering Water.  This one is a young adult paranormal which is right up my alley.  I can't wait to start reading it!  Gathering Water is also the first in a trilogy, which I love.  Review will follow on this one too!  

I plan on getting back to writing as soon as I can.  I swear! 

Back on Track

If you read my prior posts, you know I was in a funk earlier this month.  I decided to stick with my original plan and not edit until the end, but I was still missing some scenes that were needed later in my novel.  So, while I did go back and add those in, I'm moving forward.  I'm almost at 40,000 words now! Woo hoo!!

I've set my current word count goal at 3000 words per week for Sophia's story.  Working full time with a son in almost every sport cuts into my writing time year round, but I just got a bluetooth keyboard for my tablet so I can write at work.  If I get stuck on it, I've been working on two other WIPs (works in progress) as well.  Probably not the most efficient way of writing a novel, but it keeps me writing, which is the important thing. 

In other news, I'm going to my first writing convention in June.  I can't even begin to say how excited I am and how MUCH I am looking forward to it.  I've wanted to go to a convention for a while and since I am looking at publishing maybe within the year, I decided now was the time to go. The panels at UtopYA caught my attention and I want to go to almost every single one.  Plus some of the fabulous women from my writing group are going so I get to meet them in person. If anyone else is going to UtopYA this year, I will see you there!  If you are even thinking about it, click here to check out what's going on and who is going to be there!

A Little Late

So, this post is coming a little late.  I did hit 30,000 words before I got pulled under by the holidays, but I wasn't really happy with them.  I am trying not to edit as I go because my internal editor will never let me finish.  I'd scrap anything.  But, I feel like I'm missing some things,  maybe some additional scenes that could add to what I can write in the future.  So, right now rather than work on a word count goal, I'm editing.  Even the best laid plans... right??  I guess that goes to show that when you're writing never say never.  You need to do whatever you can to keep the words flowing, and if that means taking a break to do a little editing then so be it.  Wish me luck!!  Laters!!