In Which I Finally Talk About Camp NaNo

 

Aight, so somehow the entire month has gotten past me and I have yet to discuss at any length what I am working on for Camp NaNo, or even how it has been going. Well, this post is supposed to help remedy that.

So, for this month I've been working on writing my book The Gods Created Monsters a story about four chaotic outcasts and a cat who are recruited to fight monsters, kill undead, and forestall the end of the world. It's the first book in a series that is set in Ruskhazar.

Here's a post going into more details bout this story as well as introducing my main characters:

Myths, Magic, and Madness: A Little About my Next Ruskhazar Projects (nickichapelwayauthor.blogspot.com)

And here is the extremely shiny and impressive official blurb:

The gods created the monsters…now it is up to the mortals to kill them.

Alya has always dreamed of adventure, but as a noble lady she knows that the only thing her future holds in store for her is marriage. However, when her engagement to the crown prince leads to her family’s murder, Alya loses herself to her need for revenge. She wants the future king dead and she is willing to do whatever she must to ensure his doom. Even if it means becoming a commissioned monster hunter and slaying as many undead as it takes to forestall the end of the world.

She is joined in her quest by the disillusioned guardsman who saved her life, a criminal who doesn’t want to do penance, a disgraced magicker who just wants everything to go back to the way was, and her cat. If they want to survive the dangerous duty of holding the line against the monsters then these outcasts are going to have to learn how to trust each other, ignore their selfish impulses, and do something right for a change. Because the world is ending and alone, they are not powerful enough to stop it.

Slay the monsters, defend the innocents, find the source of the rising dead… and don’t kill each other in the process. It shouldn’t be too difficult, right?

A band of novice monster slayers go up against creatures that have not been seen for a thousand years in this adult high fantasy series set in the world of Ruskhazar. It is perfect for fans of Michael J. Sullivan, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Witcher Saga.

My goal had been to write all of TGCM this month, but as all my writing plans go, I had failed to account for edits. Which I'm always doing and always slows down my drafting progress considerably. So, I don't know why I always forget to fit edits into my plans. Between doing Eirik's POV and editing Harbinger (which I finished! If you're one of my ARC readers, good news, your copy of Harbinger is on its way. And if you aren't an ARC reader but wish you were, sign up for my newsletter because that's where I send my extra ARCs) I've done about 180,000 words of editing so needless to say I've been busy.

Just not writing TGCM.

Currently I'm at just over 20,000 words in the first draft. 18,900 of that I have written this month. I still have one last week, and you had better believe that I'm going to be doing my darned best to finish the book in that time. I'm done with all my editing projects for the month so it will have my full attention.

I also forgot to write Folly of the Gods for one day and had already used my grace week so I'm out of the GTW 100-for-100 challenge (boo). But that just means that my writing time will be undividedly focused on TGCM this month.

I have no idea if that will be enough to get it done since I figure the book itself will be somewhere in the 70,000-90,000 word range. But I've managed to accomplish the impossible before when it comes to writing deadlines. So... who knows. Maybe I'll win this NaNo yet.

Indie Author Blog Tag

Time to discuss one of my favorite things... indie publishing. Okay, so I only just found out that I was tagged for this by R.M. Archer even though I was actually tagged forever ago. But better late than never, eh?

Rules

1. Link back to the original tag (idk where the original tag is from, sorry)
2. Link to the authors you mention (or their books) in your answers
3. Tag 5 other indie authors (I tag Jes Drew, Grace Morris, RES, Bryn Shutt, and HSJ WIlliams)

Questions

Why do you publish indie?

At first I published indie because it seemed like the thing to do. I figured that it was good way to gain some experience, but I always planned on someday switching over, perhaps permanently to traditional publishing. At least, that was until a few years back, I noticed that a lot of publishers were dropping authors mid series if they weren't selling enough. And that was when I realized just how much power a publisher could have over an author.

After that I decided there was no way I could do that. I would be devastated if a publisher were to drop my story, and even worse if they had the rights to it then I couldn't even finish the series and publish it myself. I write because I have stories that need to be told. I'm not going to leave it up to some company—that is in it for the money more than anything else—to determine which ones deserve to be told and which ones don't.

Also, I started realizing all of the aspects that I have sole control over when it comes to my books. From how the interior will look to who will design the cover and what that design will even be to the title. And call me stubborn or a control freak, but those are things that I don't want to relinquish control on. If my book can't have the title that I spent hours coming up with or the cover I have daydreamed about during the months of writing it then what's the point?

What’s your favorite indie standalone?

Son of War, Daughter of Chaos by Janette Rallison

What’s your favorite indie series?

The Black Mage Series by Rachel E. Carter

What’s your most anticipated indie book release?

Illuminare by Bryn Shutt

What was your most recent indie read?

Actually, the only books I've read this year have been indie published. Coincidentally enough they have also both been King Arthur retellings. What's with that? Not too long ago, I finished Legends of Avalon: Merlin by RES

And I've been reading Jody Hedlund's Knights of the Brethren series as well and really enjoying them.

What is your favorite part of being an indie author?

As you have probably already gathered from my previous comments it is having full control over my books. Titles, cover concepts, how long a series will be. Those are all 100% up to me. Will there be spinoffs? Yeah, if I want to. Should I add another book to the series? Why not?

What’s the hardest part of being an indie author?

The flip side of my last answer. I have to do everything or hire out. And it can get both exhausting and expensive.

Do you ever plan to go hybrid?

You know, I'm not going to say never. But I see it becoming less and less likely. There is however an artist who is a fellow indie author who opened up her own publishing business, and I might someday query to her. But other than that, no I don't have any real plans to go hybrid.

How many books have you released?

Twelve now! The thirteenth is coming out next month and my fourteenth in November.

Where are you with your current project?

Currently I'm working on 4 projects. Rage Like the Gods I'm working on the second draft and I'm about 1/3 of the way through having finished the longest section. And I'm gearing up to start the final read through of Harbinger of the End.

Then I'm working on drafting two other projects, The Gods Created Monsters (which is nearing 20k) and An Apprentice of Death (which is sitting steady at 1k but we're getting there slowly yet surely). At this stage, I'm not only writing out these books, but figuring out a blurb, and brainstorming since I'm such a pantster, figuring out the direction I want the series to go, spending too much time on Pinterest aesthetic boards, the usual. TGCM is actually my Camp NaNo project this month (which I failed to talk about at all before this point, whoops), so I'm definitely writing that one more than AoD. I hope to have it finished by the end of the month, but I'll let you know if I manage to accomplish that.

The Jolly Genre Jubilee Tag

 

(image from Pinterest, I take no credit for it)

Okay so I've been tagged by the marvelous Christine to do the Jolly Genre Jubilee tag. The above image has probably already given away what genre I'll spend the majority of my time talking about, but anyway let's get on to the tag. I'll try not to be too predictable, but by now you guys have probably figured out that I'm obsessed with fantasy.

• Thank the blogger who tagged you, and leave a link back to their blog (eyyyy thanks Christine!)
• Leave a link back to the creator of the tag (Here’s the ORIGINAL POST.)
• Answer the questions honestly, and include at least one (1) gif of a pelican >> it’s in the rules, folks. you have to do it.
• Tag 3+ friends to do the tag on their own blogs! >> and make sure to give them cookies. because that’s always fun

What is your favorite genre of fiction to write?

FANTASY!!!!!!!

Ahem... I mean, yeah, I tend to lean toward the fantasy genre.

What genre would you NEVER get caught writing? . . .EVER.

Non-fiction, but also just flat out contemporary, romance, and historical. If I can't add a dragon and am required to do research with no leeway to just make up whole ways that the world works then I am not interested. I will however be highly interested in writing alt-history, fantasy romance, and contemporary fantasy books. I'm the type of gal who needs a little bit of magic in every book. And if not magic then something else equally cool like super powers.

What fictional genre feels most like home to you?

Again, fantasy.

If you could transform your real life into any genre of your choosing, which would it be?

And for this one it is... fantasy (I'm beginning to sound like a broken record). I think dragons are exactly what this world needs to spice things up a bit.

What genre does your real life most resemble at the moment?

Apocalyptic... with a side of just regular old contemporary for the slow days.

What’s a genre you’re interested in writing, even though you’ve never written it before?

Sci-Fi and zombies (although RLtG has a bunch of necromancers and undead so does that count?). I have a Sci-Fi project that I have started on numerous occasions, but never made it very far in. I love the characters and the world though and someday I'll finally get around to focusing on it. Until then, enjoy it's very aesthetic Pinterest Board...

I actually have ideas for paranormal horror, western zombies, dystopian regency horror with zombies and aliens, dystopian, super heroes... and a whole host of other ideas that don't quite fit in the fantasy genre that I'll probably publish under a pen name but that's quite the long way off... for now my fantasy ideas keep me quite busy.

What genre is your most recent plot bunny, and where did it come from?

So, my most recent plot bunny is for a, well, a fantasy story (is that a big surprise to anyone?). But also with a far heavier focus on the romance than some of my other books (not that my other books don't focus on the romance but, yeah these will definitely be kissing books). It is for a series of standalones about these uppity elves who are all in the same class at a magic school. Each member of this class gets a book about them where they have their own stories told, with a heavy focus on some of my favorite romantic tropes (friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, arranged marriages, fake relationships, academic rivals... etc) because why not? I can't really say where the original idea came from, but it probably originated from all the amazing books I've seen around and even read which are in a series but every individual book is about a different character finally getting their story told and their own happily ever afters.

How many genres have you written thus far in your writing journey?

Let's see... I've written:

Portal Fantasy,

Romantic Fantasy,

Fairy-Tale Retellings,

High Fantasy

Epic Fantasy

Dark Fantasy

YA Fantasy

(are you sensing a theme yet?)

I like me some fantasy. And I mean, how could I not? It's just so flipping aesthetic. And literally ANYTHING can happen in it. Time travel? Absolutely. Zombies, monsters, horror, scary stuff? I think some of the scariest monsters I've seen are fantasy monsters. And don't even get me started on all the possible setting choices! Not to mention the staples of fantasy like elves, dragons, and magic...

Gif Via Pinterest

I hope you see what I mean *heart eyes*

.... what a strange creature

All right and finally I tag Grace, Jes, and Skye. Hurry up and grab your cookies before the pelican gets them!

(image from Pinterest, looks yummy tho, am I right?)

Mistakes I've made in my publishing journey: Of Dreams and Nightmares edition

 

While publishing this series, I made far fewer glaring mistakes than I had in the past. I also didn't release the first book until I had five years of publishing under my belt. There is only one thing that I think I would really do differently with this one.

And that is I would have hyped it up more pre-release. I published Of Gold and Iron in September of 2020 in the midst of my almost year-long internet hiatus (cause 2020 was a rough year y'all), and I did next to nothing to spread the word about its release.

I had no newsletter, I had no social media presence, I only posted on my blog like once a month and no one was watching me, which means that no one saw it when I just quietly put this one out there.

Basically, these blog posts are all I said about my book leading up to the release.

Myths, Magic, and Madness: AN ANNOUNCEMENT (and guess what it STILL isn’t the one you think) (but you’ll like it) (nickichapelwayauthor.blogspot.com)

Myths, Magic, and Madness: Update on Of Gold and Iron (nickichapelwayauthor.blogspot.com)

Myths, Magic, and Madness: Of Gold and Iron Cover reveal (nickichapelwayauthor.blogspot.com)

Myths, Magic, and Madness: Of Gold and Iron release party (nickichapelwayauthor.blogspot.com)

And then I turned around and was like, why is this book not selling? It's literally so good, one of the works I'm the proudest of. With excellent plot twists, a compelling enemies to lover's romance, not to mention that it is a YA faerie book which was a super popular genre at the time. It has faeries, and soul binding magic, and bargains that could kill you, and an iron blade that only an assassin that has been chosen by the courts can wield.

Well, I'll tell you why it didn't sell. Because no one knew about it.

Now I will point out, that I did open up my Instagram just before I released Of Gold and Iron, and by just before I mean it was literally the month of the release (I think I started my Instagram on the 15th and published OGaI on the 22nd). So it didn't do much, but it did help a little.

And I honestly think that due to the lack of marketing and pushing my book out there that I did before it released, I've been playing catch-up with this series ever since. Which is such a huge pity, becuase this series has so much potential, and I think it would be a lot of people's favorite books. If only they knew it existed...

All right, so that's the end of this series. I'll probably choose something more uplifting to be my next series, but I hope that you learned a lot from my previous mistakes. I know that I have.