Going Through Withdrawals

By Kimber An

Good morning, Blog Buds!

I just finished writing the third story in the Ophelia Dawson Chronicles on July 6^th.  Oh, yes, of course, it’s an enormous relief to finally be done, but after engaging my imagination on one particular story for several months it’s hard to stop.  

An enormous amount of energy goes into creating a full-length novel.  For me, the story itself is easy.  This one dumped on me like a ton of bricks overnight.  No big deal.  It’s the writing and rewriting that’s exhausting.  And painful!  I deal with tendonitis every single day.  It was not a pretty day when I realized I’d finally achieved publication and that chronic pain was the price I paid.  So, there’s the physical pain.

But, there’s also the emotional.

It’s like to a fabulous party and having the time of your life.  Plenty of dark chocolate, all the guys want to dance, the music is hot, and I get lots of presents.  Most importantly, I know I won’t have to clean up afterwards and the babysitter was Grandma, so she doesn’t want to be paid.  

And then it’s suddenly over.

The chocolate’s gone and the music’s stopped.  The guys went home and all the presents have been opened.  

 

The Party is Over.

The novel is rewritten and as pretty as I can possibly get it all by myself.  I’ve pressed Send and it is gone.  That’s it.

Now what?

At our house, we call it the Post-Party Let-Down and my eldest is the supreme Drama Queen when it comes to this.  I may not do everything she does when her parties are over, but I feel like it.  I twirl around and whine about how much I miss my friends (my characters) and wail about whatever will I do without them until the next party (the next book) and then sent down for a good, long cry.  

It’s pathetic, really.

And there’s only one solution.  Write another book.  That’s what authors do, you know.  Write a book.  Write another book.  And another.And another.

But, before I do, I’m going to rest my hands while my husband installs my new voice-activated software.

Not a Newbie anymore!

by Kimber An

Hey, Blog Buds,

I’ve been putting together promo for my upcoming release, Crushed Sugar, and I must say I’m having a lot more fun this time.  This will be my second published story.  Decadent released my first one, Sugar Rush, this past October.

I remember when I was a book reviewer, I could spot a debut author a mile away, or so it seemed.  They were always freaked out, poor things, and I just wanted to give them hugs and chocolate chip cookies.  Despite that experience, I freaked out and had daily migraines for a while when it came to be my turn.  It was awful.

And wonderful.

This time around I know what works.  I know to find my groove and get into it.  I know the stories are the most important thing, so I need to keep crankin’ ‘em out.  I know a lot more cool stuff than I did last time and it feels good.

Aw, yes, I have arrived! 

Not.

 

Ever watch that 80’s movie, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure?  The boys travel back in time to ancient Greece and stumble upon Socrates.  They read in their textbook that he said, “’The only true wisdom is in knowing we know nothing.’”  One of the boys exclaims, “That’s us, Dude!” 

Yeah, that’s the level I’m at right now.

Dude.

.

A YA Paranormal with strong romantic elements, Crushed Sugar, is set to be released on March 25^th.  It is the *prequel* novella to Sugar Rush, my first full-length novel.  By *prequel,* I mean it takes place three months before the start of the events of Sugar Rush.  It is a much shorter tale of a faint heart, a fair maiden, and a blood-sucking dead guy.

Here’s the blurb-

Be careful what you wish for.

Ophelia’s had a wicked crush on Martin since they were kids, but she was always just his geeky little friend.  Then, on the first day of her junior year, he’s suddenly and wildly attracted to her.  She can’t imagine what’s changed, but shocking her small school’s social order fills her with vindication for insults suffered.

Ophelia meets Adrian right after and true love extinguishes the wicked crush.  In secret, he gives her courage against a specter threat.

Tristan is pale and hungry, and draws Martin’s immediate ire.  He knows things about Ophelia which she assumes are delusions brought on by an aggravated illness like her own, diabetes.  When battle breaks out between his ancient race and new blood, even the courage of her secret love might be crushed.

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Thanks, everyone!  Please feel free to Tweet, Facebook, blog, shout, scream, do a Snoopy Dance, anything to help me spread the word about Crushed!  Pretty, pretty, pretty please!

Show & Tell Saturday with Kimber An

Hi, I’m Kimber An

and this is my first published novel, SUGAR RUSH.

Of course, it’s not my first written. I wrote my first novel when I was eleven years old and I just broke forty. It’s also not the first I’ve tried to get published. It’s my fourth, four in four years and I have four children. Ow. No wonder I’m tired.

To me, Sugar Rush is Young Adult Science Fiction Romance, which is no big deal among most of my blog buddies who hang out at places like the Galaxy Express and Alien Romances. But, Sugar Rush has to get along in the world at large, and so I call it YA Paranormal with a strong romantic element.

YA Paranormal? Oh, vampires! Right, actually, well, no, I mean, yes, well, they’re

ALIEN/HUMAN HYBRIDS!

Uh, yeah, do they sparkle?

Nope. No sparkling. Brandon’s eyes shine when he sees Twinkies. Does that count? Brandon seems to be a reader favorite. He’s supposed to be a vampire, but he isn’t a very good one. He did make Level Nine in Supermario on the heroine’s Nintendo DS in just a couple of hours though.

Sugar Rush is so new that it’s only had a couple of reviews so far. Here’s a quote from Nayuleska’s Reading Corner- “I was so scared about her safety from her psycho boyfriend (who is incredibly creepy and will have you double-checking you've locked the doors), more so when I discovered just why he was so smitten with Orphelia.”

And here’s the blurb-

“Running and screaming will have to wait. A blood-sucking dead guy may be a vampire to you, but he’s an alien/human hybrid to Ophelia and she really must examine his olfactory nerve under a microscope first.

Ophelia longs to be free, free of diabetes, free of her ex-boyfriend, free to live. Something transformed Martin and made her his drug. If he has his way, she’ll never achieve the freedom to learn his true nature and origin.

Adrian’s the new guy in school. He faked his identity to get close to Ophelia, knowing the monsters who took his diabetic sister would try to take Ophelia, too. Then, he’d have them. But, he knew better than to get too close.

Oh, yeah, he did. Seriously.”

These days I’m learning to balance promo with writing. I’m in the last stage of rewriting and revising a Short Story (or is it a Novella?) prequel called CRUSHED SUGAR. I just didn’t have time to do it justice before Sugar Rush. I’ll take a break for the holidays and then I’ll get right on SUGAR BABY on New Year’s Day. It’s the next full length novel in the series. By the end, Ophelia’s learning how to seriously kick bad guy buttocks, but she’s no Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Oh, no, she doesn’t get really cool weapons, like wooden stakes and Holy Water. She soups up a salad shooter and unlocks DNA, and pretty much makes do with whatever she can find around the house. Ever watch that old TV show McGiver? She’s more like that, always fixing things and figuring out scientific solutions to her problems. And the baby in question is not hers. The baby belongs to another Sweet, fathered by a Newblood, the first such hybrid to survive.

Anyway, see you next post!