Beyond the Pages of Ashbury

  In the last year since publishing my book, More Than Human, I have learned tremendously. I would like to share with you what my experience has been. Publishing a book is not cheap, by any means. It’s expensive in both time and money. Sure, you write a whole book (by the way, it took me about 6 years to get this book out of my head, piece it all together, and complete it), but through writing you’ve made subconscious typos and mistakes. Therefore, you have to read it over again and again and again, catching new errors every time. Then, you’re too familiar with your own work to find all of the inconsistencies and misspellings, so you need someone else with fresh eyes to look it over. Sometimes this takes several people, which is why having beta readers is a phenomenal asset. Once a few other people have read it over and made their suggestions or corrections, you need to read it over yet again. This takes a lot of time. Reading a 50k word novel can take at least 8 hours for most r...

 In my books, I honestly try to tackle common stereotypes that I feel have been misrepresenting certain groups. One example is my main character, Jule. In the book More Than Human, it should be fairly obvious that she is bisexual. Not, through a lot of different literature and movies and shows, very often if a woman is portrayed as bisexual, she falls into one of two categories. She is either kind of "butch" or masculine whether it be in appearance or personality, or she is feminine but still falls for another woman. In either case, both seem to always end up with the woman. Jule, however, is a bisexual woman in a committed hetero-sexual relationship. Yes, people, it is possible.  I'm attempting to put more emphasis on choosing a person rather than a gender. This topic is a very personal one, to me, as a bisexual woman myself. Can we just stop stereotyping all-together? Maybe?

 So, a few days ago I had my first interview. Now, this interview wasn't designed for me nor was I particularly sought out for said interview, it was more of an offer from another blogger for any new authors to help get their name out there. Nonetheless I was ecstatic! I mentioned to the author that it was my first interview ever and she reached out to another friend of hers who also conducts interviews for his IG and scored me second, more involved interview. I still don't know when the interview will be published, but this new one will be advertised and hyped up for about two weeks leading up to the drop of the entire interview. I'm super thrilled because I was also able to include two excerpts from my book (the two that I have previously shared here) getting a sample of my book out to new potential readers. I worry, though, that the segments that I chose don't do my story justice or aren't a good representation of what you're getting in my book.  I'm real...

  Chapter 13 Pain shot through Jule’s head as she regained consciousness; the effects of the drug that was pumped into her bloodstream still lingering. She strained to open her eyes. The sunrise, with its blinding pink and orange light, peaked over the hill. She struggled to her feet, her body sore from lying on rocks and sticks for hours throughout the night. Still in a haze, she took in her surroundings and tried to piece together her broken memory. She remembered being with William by the fire, and then having to pee. “Oh no, William!” Panic swept through her again as she wasted no time in rushing back to the house. She burst in through the back door and frantically began searching for a phone. “The kitchen,” she said to herself as she darted towards it. A phone hung on the wall just inside the kitchen across from the sink. Jule grabbed the phone and immediately started punching in Loki’s number memorized by heart. Not a single signal came from the phone. Not even th...

Chapter 14 ... Jule, panting heavily, stepped back and looked down at the body, giving it a hard nudge with her nose. The body gave no response, confirming that Jule had killed the threat. She turned back towards William and trotted up to him. Positioning herself underneath him, she attempted to relieve the weight of his body from the hooks and supporting him on her back. William mumbled something incoherent, too weak to be able to speak. His breaths were slow and shallow. Blood still steadily dripping from his wounds onto Jule’s back, staining her brown fur. She could feel he was slipping away. She whined frantically as she didn’t know what else she could do to help him. She knew she needed to return to her human form, but her adrenaline rush prevented her from calming her mind enough to do so. She was still on edge and needed to be ready to fight off the next threat if one happened to appear. ... Order your copy here: More Than Human

 Honestly, as far as I'm concerned, my book More Than Human has exceeded all of my expectations. I didn't anticipate this much wonderful feedback that I have received nor how many new "fans" I have acquired. As of right now, I have 12 positive reviews on my book on Amazon (11 5-star and 1 4-star) and 2 positive reviews on GoodReads. I am still waiting for that one person who hates my book and leaves me the worst review. If/When that happens, I can promise you that I will be printing that review, framing it, and mounting it on my wall for inspiration. I recently added my book to Kindle Unlimited (temporarily) and have so far gotten about 295 pages read (my book is 183 pages). In the near future I am hopefully doing a promotional deal, assuming I don't run into any more snags delaying the idea, that should increase some sales. Book 2 is painfully slow-going and I am lacking the mental capacity and creativity to make much headway. I am really excited for this story t...

 My husband has been an invaluable help to me as a writer, but my oldest son is my biggest fan. Considering his age, I've been hesitant to allow him to read More Than Human. He has been the most enthusiastic about my book and he listened in on me discussing my ideas, plot and characters with my husband every chance he got. My son is an avid reader who reads high above his own grade level, so my book would surely be no challenge to him. Since I received my proof copy he has been begging me to read my book (LOL). I kept telling him that I'd have to think about it, as I was. Finally, on Christmas eve, I handed a copy to him and gave him the permission he's been dying for. Without a single second's hesitation this kid's nose was buried in the book. I hope he likes it.