Indie Life: The Happenings

Hosted by the Indelibles, Indie Life is a monthly feature on the second Wednesday of the month.  This is a chance for indie authors to post about indie life, find each other, offer support, encouragement, news, helpful hints, and anything else that makes life as an indie author a little easier.
  
What happened to the year?  It feels like I’ve blinked and the year is gone.  And Christmas is right around the corner and I haven’t started shopping. 

So I missed last month… bad me… BUT I was writing in NaNoWriMo and so I really don’t remember much of last month but the mad dash to 50k. ^_^ Pariah is going well, too and hopefully I can get it turned around for a May/June release. *crosses fingers*

I did an internet radio interview last night with Shannon Delany.  If you want you can actually relisten to it here.  (I think I sound like a guy and sound really young… I am not that young I swear. Lol) I was completely nervous the whole time though Shannon made the entire event easy and fun.  I learned a lot from that. 

I did a cover reveal without the use of a blog tour agency and that was an experience.  I always thought a blog tour company was a must but apparently it’s not.  There were a lot of really cool bloggers that were willing to post a cover reveal without bribery. ^_^ It was definitely a lesson learned. 

I have a book release coming in January and I’m debating on a release day event or not.  Budgets right after Christmas are tough and I’ll be lucky to squeeze enough out for my editor.  Though if I did have the funds I should probably do a blog tour instead of a release day event… which one is better does anyone know?

There’s another release slotted for March too… good grief I feel busier than I probably am… I blame NaNo.  I’m also tackling a Beta read for a fellow author but that is slow going.  I’m hoping to carve out more time for that too. 

Hm… apparently this month is the month of learning as I’ve learned a bunch of new tricks between posts.  I’ve semi-mastered InDesign.  I shouldn’t use the word master – I should probably say adequately proficient.  Which of course thrills me to the bone.  I love having that MUCH easier way of formatting books. 

What has everyone else been up to?

 

Cover Reveal Time!

I finally get to share my cover with everyone!! I'm so excited and so nervous.  I don’t think I was this anxious about my first book. T_T This was my NaNoWriMo winner for 2010 and then I shelved it because I didn’t like it.  Three years later and now it’s been pulled off the shelf, dusted and polished. I suppose in a way this is my first book more so than Of Gaea though that one has a very special place in my heart as well. ^_^ 

So a little about the book first.

Just About Healing by Victoria Escobar

Expected Publication: January 14th, 2014

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

And the synopsis of said book:

My sister was my lifeline, my beacon, my North Star. I could rely on her, depend on her, turn to her when the world was just too hard to face. She could depend on me for the same.

I laughed with her; cried with her; rejoiced her success; and part of me died with her too. I lived for her, loved no one greater than her. Without Savannah, I had no one to turn to, no one to share my soul with. My other half, closer than twins we were, was just gone.

Grief broke my soul and crushed my heart to dust. I didn’t know how to put the pieces back together. I wasn’t sure I even want to without her. How could I live knowing she would never share anything with me again?

Time, supposedly, heals all wounds. I don't believe that. But I do know there are other ways to heal. I just had to find them.

And now the part everyone’s waiting for! The cover:

 

Well, what do you think?  I’m pretty tickled with it. ^_^ And because I’m feeling generous here’s a teaser from the book:

     “Evelyn, I am truly sorry.”  He began.  His shadowed face seemed more so in the light and it hurt to look at him.  He wasn’t much older than me, but at the moment he looked antique. 

      I shook my head and looked away.  “I mean no disrespect to you, but right now, when I look at you, all I see is the one who was supposed to die.”

      Out of the corner of my eye I watched his hands slide into his pockets.  “I know.  It’s what I see every time I look in the mirror. Even knowing… Even knowing the treatments weren’t working, I still feel like she should have been allowed every second she could squeeze out.”

      Thrown off guard, I stared in the distance.  Beyond my control, my eyes welled up.  I hadn’t a counter for his simple acceptance.  I didn’t think he would simply accept without argument.

      “I wanted you to know, I had asked her if she would marry me that night.  I told her I wasn’t officially asking until I got your blessing, but that was my intent.”  His eyes glossed as he struggled with his emotions.  “She was rushing home to get your blessing.  I know very well it’s my fault.”

      I was relieved of further conversation when Douglass pulled the car to the curb.  I didn’t have an answer for that.  They were both so young, and being musical geniuses didn’t mean they had a grasp on the concept of life.  It was something I would have had to think about before giving a blessing. 

      “Evelyn?”  His voice was so pained I couldn’t turn to face him for fear I’d start crying again.

      I opened the door and without turning around said the only thought that coursed through my mind, “No one loved her more than I.”

Woohoo!  I really look forward to everyone’s responses! Let me know what you think!