My FIRST INTERVIEW! Contest! Other stuff.

Howdy, everyone!  Me again.  This should be a pretty full edition of Overly Verbose.  I have a lot to say don't ya know.  I was going to post this last night but between a sick 6 year old, fussy one month old, sick wife, and trying to edit something, I didn't have the time.  Everyone's (miraculously) sleeping right now so I'm shoehorning it into my schedule.  

The biggest and coolest thing to discuss is having had my FIRST EVER INTERVIEW!  Amy Marshall over at A Diamond In the Dark happened to pick up Words With Fiends a few days back.  She also happened to love it!  She ALSO happened to ask me if I wanted to be interviewed on her page.  I just so happened to say yes!  That's right, people.  My FIRST interview EVAR!  How cool is that?  I'm still shocked at a couple of things here.  First off, that she liked it so much.  Second off, that she offered to have me as an interview on her page.  Seriously, things like this just don't happen to me.  Shock...I has it.  It was a really cool thing for her to do and I'm so appreciative for the opportunity.  Hop on over to her blog and check out the interview:  Writing A New Urban Legend.  There's even a preview of the story there prior to the Q & A.  Oh, she's also been cool enough to host a contest for me.  Just leave a comment after the interview and it'll enter you for a chance to win one of TWO FREE kindle copies of Words With Fiends!

In other business, the Vampire Bite Blog Hop hosted by Jolie DuPre at Precious Monsters went pretty well.  I got a bunch of hits here on Valentine's Day and the day after and even managed to rustle up a few followers as well  (you know who you are!).  Bloggers and hoppers left some pretty good comments for my short story Was, Am, Want To Be.  That made me feel groovy.  Thanks to everyone who stopped by and took the time to read the story and leave a comment.  I'm glad you enjoyed it!

So what am I doing now?  I'm knee deep in editing my Seth Gabriel novel (see the unedited prologue  here).  It's slow going, as I'm tearing into it with a fine toothed comb. So far, I'm about 25% into it. I've lost count but I think this will be the fourth time going through the mofo.  I'm usually a pretty good proofreader, having proofed several books for indie authors in the past year, but looking at my own work is another story.  While I did edit Words With Fiends on my own, this novel is completely different.  It's about ten times as long for one thing and it's told in the first person.  Second guessing myself has become the norm with this one.  About five or so beta readers have read it and liked it but still, I'm nervous.  Are my tenses right?  Is the punctuation spot on?  Is the grammar up to snuff?  Is it too descriptive?  Not descriptive enough?  Is everything consistent?  Readers and reviewers can be a hard bunch to please.  And they should be.  Speaking as a reader and reviewer myself, if I'm going to be plunking down money for a book, it had better be good.  I don't bash writers for mistakes, but I do rate their books accordingly.  It's not that I'm a grammar Nazi but formatting and grammatical errors do have the potential to take a person out of the story and some readers are more unforgiving than others.  Some can be downright brutal.  

What really worries me the most is that this is my first full length effort after self publishing Words With Fiends.  Not to toot my own horn or anything, but Words With Fiends has been pretty well received so far.  It's gotten 11 four and five star reviews on Amazon and is enjoying good reviews on Goodreads as well.  Additionally, I've had people message me on Facebook saying how much they liked it.  Not everyone writes reviews but I appreciate the feedback all the same.  Long story short, people like it.  It's not breaking any sales records but those who have read it have really enjoyed it.  So, the pressure is on to produce another good story that's engaging, well written, well edited, and just as polished.  That's why I'm second guessing myself so much.  You never get a second chance to make a first impression but what's probably even more important is being able to keep up a certain level of quality that people expect.  This is where my lack of confidence comes in.  Do I write well?  I don't think I'm half bad, and based on reviews and beta readers, others seem to think that I know what I'm doing.  What's more, I know I'm a good proofer/editor.  I've shown that on other people's books, so why not my own full length effort?  The time has come for me to get out of my own damn way.  I'm a reader and if I think the story reads well then maybe other people will too.  No more second guessing myself during the rest of this editing process.  Nobody who's beta read my Seth Gabriel book has had any issues with the story elements or how it's been written.  That should tell me something right there.  But, I'm stubborn like that I guess =)  I think it's time to grow some confidence, don't you?

Take care, thanks for stopping by, and hope to see you soon!