Tag: editing

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giving thanks

I realized this morning that it’s been a while since I posted here.  The reasons are many: the continued issue with the pinched nerve, getting back to work full time, taking on an editing job, plus working on a new anthology, plus two novels currently in progress…all of which means I haven’t really had much free time to do promo work or write up blog posts!

When you’re surrounded by what feels like insurmountable debt, it’s hard to find your way to being thankful about much.  It is insane that a grown woman with a good job and decent insurance should be this deep in medical debt, but it is what it is.  You either suck it up and get the work done, or you continue to suffer. (I have a fundraiser set up to help me cope with the unexpected medical bills, if you’re interested: You Caring Fundraiser)

But, even with all of the doctor visits and the pain and the physical therapy, and the bills and prescriptions that come with that, I am blessed.  I’m living a dream I have had since I was pretty young, I’m a published author!  And I get to make a living working with words.

Not everyone gets to live their dream.  You can’t help but be thankful when you see a lifetime of learning and crafting become an actual reality.  My first book, Forever, took me years to bring to fruition and I learned a lot along the way.

Currently I am working on two different novels, the ending of the Shades and Shadows series and a new one that jumped up out of the abyss that is my mind a few weeks ago and took up residence in the front part of my Brain where it will not leave me alone.

And do you remember the anthology we published a few months ago? Once Upon a Broken Dream was the first in a series of anthologies from Creativia Publishing.  Each anthology begins with a prompt and writers are invited to submit stories using that prompt.  Well, the next one should be ready in December, so keep your eyes open.

So yeah, I’m pretty blessed and living a life that’s pretty amazing.  Even if I’m struggling in some areas.  I hope you can say the same.

Oh, yeah, and if you want autographed copies of my books this holiday season, hit up my facebook page or email me at natalie@nataliejcase.com.

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introducing Evan Chayton

Evan Chayton is a Shifter, though he keeps that fact very well guarded.  As he first appears in the beginning of In Gathering Shade, only a small group of people know his secret.  He is also a military man who is assigned to Adam Darvin’s secretive organization.

Raven chooses him to be her handler when Adam sends her on a mission because she trusts that his secret will ensure his loyalty.  After her previous handler turned out to be working for the 8th Battalion, Raven is wary and wants to know she can trust whoever is watching her back.

Evan is a by the book guy, he believes in discipline and protocol, and he doesn’t like showing weakness in any way, but he finds himself vulnerable and exposed when the psychic link between him and his brother forces him to experience his brother’s torture.

Evan grew up in a tight knit family presided over by his mother, who was a force to be reckoned with from as far back as he could remember.  His father was something of a home-body, preferring to spend time keeping their home clean and welcoming, while also supporting the work his wife devoted herself too.

There were aunts and uncles and cousins too, at least while Evan was young.  He started his change early, Shifting for the first time at only nine years old.  They had an older sister, but after an argument with their mother, she had flown away and Evan hadn’t seen her in better than ten years.

Evan and his brother could pass for one another, but they were very different outside the similarity in their faces.  While Sawyer was a risk taker and a thrill chaser, Evan preferred quiet and solid footing.  It was no wonder that when they reached the end of the change and were each fully in control of their Shifting, that Sawyer ended up a spy of sorts while Evan opted for the military.

We meet Evan near the beginning of In Gathering Shade, and he will also play an important role in the next book in the series.

 

I just returned my manuscript for In Gathering Shade to the publisher.  There will be a cover reveal soon, followed by the actual release!

 

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ready to share some broken dreams?

Today is the day, everyone!  The very first, multi-author anthology for Creativia publishing is LIVE.

Dragons, magic, fairies, angels, vampires, knights, a gollum, a vengeful child’s toy, a depressed cashier, a bridge made of stars, and a donkey… What do they all have in common? An appearance in this anthology.

This collection of short stories is as diverse as the Creativia authors who wrote them. Travel to Victorian London, an otherworldly slave market, a faraway planet, a quaint English town and other wondrous places in the pages of Once Upon a Broken Dream.

I am so very happy that this is finally ready for all of you.  We have a diverse group of stories, and I hope they serve to introduce you to a few new authors along the way.

I plan on asking each of the authors to do a short interview and I will be featuring each one here in the next week or two.

So for $.99 you can get your copy of Once Upon a Broken Dream for your Kindle!

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want to win a book?

I got my manuscript back from the editor this week, which means evenings and this weekend are made for editing.  It’s always reassuring when the editor comments throughout with kudos along with the editing.

I’m fortunate to have a pretty awesome editor who never fails to help my work be better.  She’s worth every penny I spend (and then some).

I hope to have the polish finished this weekend so I can get it in to Creativia.  Hopefully, that means a release date in September.  In the lead up to that release, you can win a free copy (ebook or paperback, your choice) of the new book!

How, you ask?  All you have to do is write a simple review on any of the Amazon sites (US, UK, CA, etc) or Goodreads for either of my current releases (Forever or Through Shade and Shadow) and email me at natalie@nataliejcase.com with the link to the review.  I will pull one name from all of those reviewers to win the new book (and probably a few surprise goodies as well!).

But wait! There’s more!  For every site that you post your review on, you get another entry for the prize!  Post it to Amazon US and Amazon UK and Goodreads? You get three chances to win!  Post a review of both books to Amazon US and you get two entries.  See how this works?

But wait, there is still more!

Review BOTH books on TWO Amazon sites AND Goodreads, and you will automatically get the new book for free.  No strings attached (though a review once you’ve read it would be awesome…not required).

**Only new reviews (8/23/17 and later)**

How’s that for a contest?

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the hard work of writing

I used to think that writing a book was a big accomplishment.  Then it became writing a good book was the hard part.  Of course, both don’t begin to compare to the work that comes after the writing is done.

You have to find a way to summarize the entire plot of your 300+ pages into a single paragraph, then a single sentence.  They have to tell enough of the plot to hook people, but not so much to give the whole thing away.  They have to be intriguing, exciting even.  Here you’ve spent a year or more of your life telling this story in detail, and now you’re expected to sum it all up in a as few words as possible in order to get an agent or a publisher (or if you’re lucky both).

I’m fortunate to have a publisher for In Gathering Shade already, but I still need to summarize the story for the back cover of the book.  Generally, this takes quite a few attempts for me.  This will be my third book with Creativia, my seventh book overall (I have four under a pen name in the M/M Romance genre), and it doesn’t get easier.

The blurb on the back cover of  Forever took something like 10 different iterations to get right. Through Shade and Shadow took at least that much work.  So, now as I anticipate getting In Gathering Shade back from my editor, I’m filled with an icy dread at the thought that once again, I need to distill my story down into a paragraph that will invite readers to come into my world.

But, I’ve never been brief.  I spent the better part of my junior year of high school learning how to cut my essays down to size for the Regents exam at the end of the year.  My pre-test saw essays between 1000 and 2500 words, and I was required to cut that to 500 words.  It was a year filled with tears and frustration, but I did it and when my exam was done, I had turned in two essays of 500 words (almost exactly), though I was convinced they were crap.  I scored 95% on the exam overall, and got full marks on the essays.

I learned then how to boil sentences down to their bare essences and use precise words, but that isn’t as easy when working with creative work.  *sigh*  I suppose there is no cure for it, I should just get on with the work of it.

But maybe a cup of coffee first.  For strength.

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*so excited*

It won’t be long now before this anthology is on it’s way to Amazon for all of you to snap up and enjoy!

We’re just finishing up the final little things and then we’ll be off and running.  There are twelve stories for you to enjoy.  But for right now, I have the cover to share with you, isn’t it gorgeous!?

Once-Upon-A-Broken-Dream-Main-File

I think it’s gorgeous!

Stay tuned for purchase links!

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once upon a broken dream

I woke up this morning to an email from my publisher with a sneak peek at the cover for the anthology I’ve been working on.  I’m excited to get to share this with all of you!  Twelve stories from eleven different Creativia authors.

All twelve stories stem from a single prompt, and that is the only thing that ties them together.  They cover a number of genres, everything from inspirational tales to horror, from sword & sorcery style fantasy to paranormal fantasy, from steampunk to science fiction.

I’d like to thank my fellow authors for taking this journey with me.  You can find out more about them at the links below.

Richard Ankers
Susan-Alia Terry
Leo Kane
J.W. Goodwin
Mari Collier
Chris Tetreault-Blay
Amber Gulley
Eve Gaal
Melanie Mole
Michelle Lynn

I hope to have an ARC soon, if you are a review who would like to get an early peek, let me know and I’ll get it to you as soon as I can.

If you’re an author looking for an editor, I have decided to offer editing services beyond just the small group of friends that I have edited for in the past. You can find it all about it on my page: Editing Services.

On that note, I should get this day started.  I wish you all a wonderful Friday and a glorious weekend!

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in gathering shade

I am very excited this morning, Readers!  I have just sent book 2 in the Shades and Shadows series to my editor!  I am excited to introduce you to some new characters as well as to continue telling the story of Alaric and Mason.

In Gathering Shade picks up right where Through Shade and Shadow left off, with Mason and Alaric prisoners of the 8th Battalion and thrusts you immediately into a world that is tipping off it’s axis and into war.

We follow Shades and Shifters, Shadows and Sages through the growing minefield of fear and deception as they struggle to find a way to survive in a world that wants to destroy them.

In the coming weeks, here on this blog, I will introduce you to the new characters, as well as give you previews of things to come.

I hope you’re as excited as I am!

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not all inspiration is inspirational

Image by PETEWILL VIA GETTY IMAGES

Today, as  I was walking to work I was noticing that there were a larger number of homeless than I am accustomed to seeing.  All of the “regulars” were around, and I checked in with those I’ve been friendly with, at least by eye contact, as I generally do.

When I heard yelling across the street, I looked up, slowed my steps.  I wasn’t alone in wanting to know what was causing the ruckus, several other pedestrians slowed their steps or stopped, necks craning to try to see around the large truck blocking the view.

The truck had a sign on the side that said something like “The Clean Team” and there were about ten men (I couldn’t tell their ages from my vantage point) who seemed to be trying to roust a homeless couple who had been sleeping in a store doorway.  The woman was very upset and yelling.  The men made fun of her, and she got angrier (obviously).

I watched for a long few minutes, phone in hand, prepared to call for help if things got physical, which seemed likely when the male half of the couple stood up and tried to intervene.  I couldn’t tell for sure, but it seemed as if he calmed her enough and convinced her that they should just gather their belongings and move on.

A few blocks up the road, one of the regular street cleaner guys was using a far gentler approach with one of the regulars that I’ve offered coffee and breakfast to on occasion.  Down every side street and alley, in doorways and on the curbs, homeless people were being forced to get up and move, as if there was anywhere else for them to go.

It made me wonder when we turned our street cleaning people away from picking up trash and cleaning graffiti and started tasking them with homeless duty…when did we decide that our homeless were little more than garbage, with no more value than a cigarette butt or empty food container?

I felt a little hopeless as I climbed the hill toward my office, a little stifled under the privilege of who I am.

As with all things, the whole scene is already percolating in the back of my brain, trying to decide where it fits in current writing projects, or how it might inspire a new one to come.

Until then, remember that Forever is only 99 cents on Kindle, through July 16th.

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forever and a week (at $.99)

Here we are again, another Monday, another day in the office.  We’re into the middle of July already, which seems ludicrous, really.  Before you know it, the holiday season will be upon us!

I have something to celebrate, however, and we don’t have to wait for Christmas!  My first book with Creativia Publishing is on promo this week, today through the 16th and you can get a Kindle copy for only $.99!  Yes! That’s right, just ninety-nine cents for Forever!

I spent a bunch of time over the weekend working on a short story anthology that I hope to have ready for the publisher by next Monday, and part of that was working on a story of my own that I hope to include.  It’s a short piece in the world of a novel I hope to write next year, when I’ve finished with Shades and Shadows.  It’s going to be a sci-fi novel and I’m excited to get into it, even if only in a small way.

I suppose I should go pour that cup of coffee and get my day started.  So much to do and all that.  Have a great Monday, Readers!