Zombie Country (Title Subject To Change!)

I know a lot of people have been asking me about a sequel to my novel, Zombie Island, so I’ve decided to make a post addressing the most common questions. First off, yes, the sequel is definitely happening. It has already been started, and I am currently working on chapter four. So it will probably be awhile before the book is finished, but I am getting there.

Second, the book is being told from Madison’s point of view. If you don’t remember who Madison is, she’s Sam’s cousin who was going to school in New York at the time of the outbreak, and is briefly mentioned in Zombie Island. As of right now, the plan is to have Madison’s story kind of tie into Sam’s—they will be crossing paths at some point, unless the plot gets a drastic overhaul. Don’t worry, the plot is pretty much set in stone at the moment, and there is plenty of action, drama, and zombie guts. You won’t be disappointed.

And third, the pricing of this book will be different. Zombie Island is currently listed for free on Barnes and Noble, and I don’t plan on changing that anytime soon. However, the goal of any writer is to make money, so I’m afraid I won’t be making the sequel free, too. As of right now, I’m thinking it will be priced at $2.99 and I would like to know what people honestly think about that. Don’t be afraid to give me your opinions.

So, if you have anymore questions just leave me a comment and let me know, and I’ll try to answer as soon as I can. Thanks for being patient and for reading my book!

Dark Revenge (Dark Heritage #2)

Today I published my eighth book, Dark Revenge. It is the second book in my Dark Heritage series, and is available online at http://www.smashwords.com if anyone is interested.

Months after her battle with Andrew, Ronnie is beginning to settle into her new life at the compound. She has not only been training her powers with Annie and becoming friends with Tanya, Holly, and Ezra, but her relationship with the werewolf Finn has been deepening into something suspiciously like love. When another necromancer attempts to raise an army of the undead as well as threaten to expose the supernatural world, the Council demands that Ronnie help them find who is responsible.

It isn’t long before her evil sister succeeds in showing the world the true power of supernatural beings, and everything in Ronnie’s life quickly begins to unravel. When her mother passes onto the afterlife, disappearing from her life for good, Ronnie begins to feel the stirrings of something angry hidden away inside of her…and it might just be her dark heritage coming to claim her as it did her father and sister. Will Ronnie be able to fight her family’s past and save the world before it’s too late? Ages 14+

Not Everyone Takes Inspiration From Twilight.

Why does everyone that reviews a vampire book have to mention Twilight? Just because a book has vampires and werewolves in it does not mean that it is a Twilight rip-off. Many authors wrote about vampires long before Twilight, and they will continue to write about vampires long after Twilight is gone. I wish people would stop saying I copied Twilight just because my book has vampires and werewolves in it. My vampires are far different from hers—they have fangs, the sunlight gives them headaches if they haven’t fed, they feed on humans, they aren’t invincible, and they die by being staked through the freaking heart—I can’t think of a way to make my vampires more different than Stephenie Meyer’s vampires. Seriously, they’re not even close. So for someone to tell me that I copied Twilight just because I have vampires and werewolves in my book really hurts. It makes me feel like my writing can’t stand on its own, and that people only like my book because they for some reason think it’s a Twilight rip-off. The only way a book can be a Twilight rip-off is if the book features vampires that sparkle in the sunlight, feast on animals, have special powers, and are invincible. Since my vampires are nothing like that, I have to be honest and say I don’t see what people are talking about. Not everyone takes inspiration from Twilight.

Non-Reviews.

Why do people leave one star reviews on Barnes and Noble without actually reading the book first? They’ll ask if it’s any good, or if it has inappropriate content in it, or they’ll ask people to be their friend, but they don’t seem to realize that people can’t answer back. Do these people understand how devastating a single one star review can be to a self-published author? When you only have a few reviews, a single one star review can take off a whole star from your total rating. And if you get more than one “non-review”, it can really damage your total rating. What if someone decides not to read the book after taking a look at that rating? Not everyone reads reviews. Some will see that low rating and just think, “Nope. That book must suck. I think I’ll pass”. I really wish people would stop reviewing books they haven’t read.

Consumed By War (Arena Wars #3).

Consumed By War, the third and final book in my Wars trilogy, has been published and is available online at http://www.smashwords.com. Alanna and her family are preparing for the fight of their lives. They’ve been given a short reprieve from danger while Roger prepares to finally carry out his plans for revenge. While Alanna prepares to give birth, war threatens them from all sides. Elias plans to get his revenge against Ray for the death of his mate many years ago, Roger wants to destroy all traces of Charlotte’s memory by destroying Alanna and her family, and they’re waiting for news from the Council. Mixed up in all of this is Ilene, whose dwindling hold on her sanity makes her a dangerous opponent who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. By Alanna’s side is Quinten, who is finally coming to terms with his approaching fatherhood, and Alanna’s own father, who is desperate to save not only his children, but his grandchildren as well…

Reviewers

Normally, I love reviewers. Whether the review says my book is poor or excellent, it always makes me happy to know that someone took the time to read my book, and that they’re taking the time to write a review. However, today I got a review on one of my books, and before I was even finished reading it, I knew I was going to have to write about it. This person read thirty-seven pages of my book, and he or she decided to give it a one-star rating on Barnes and Noble. In their review, they “took issue” with the fact that I named my main character after myself, gave her my age, and made her look like me. They said that it spoke to a lack of creativity. I’m not sure how they could have missed it, since I practically spell it out. This girl in “Zombie Island” is me. She has my name, she looks like me, and she is my age because she is literally supposed to be me. This is my story. The story of how I would survive during a zombie apocalypse, and for someone to tell me that doing this “lacks creativity” really hurts. This story started out as a daydream and I turned it into an actual story. And in a moment of inspiration, I decided to keep myself as the main character, so I could have better insight into the mind of my main character. I think doing that showed a great deal of creativity. I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong…

How Long Has It Been?

It’s been a while since my last post, but I have a good reason for not keeping up with this website…I’ve been busy working on a few different projects right now, one of which is the third and final part to my Wars trilogy. Another one is the first book in a trilogy centered around necromancers, werewolves, vampires, fairies, and witches. It’s got a little bit of everything, but mostly focuses on evil forces attempting to raise an army of the undead. Right now it’s about eighty-five percent of the way done, and weighs in at 56,500 words. I think it’ll end up being about 70,000 words by the time I’m done, which will make it one of the longest books I’ve ever written. I’m eagerly anticipating finishing it, because I can’t wait for the reviews to follow. Hopefully people will be as thrilled with it as I am. I’ll post more about Dark Heritage at a later date, as I’m closer to finishing it.

Problems

Problems

I’ve just recently found out that there is another author with the same exact name as me. Normally, I wouldn’t mind this, because I know that Samantha is a very common name. However, whenever I do a google search of my books, some websites that I’ve found have lumped my books in with hers, and have put them under her author profile. There is no mention of me, just of her, and this concerns me a bit. I’ve started to wonder some very troubling things.

Can I be sued for using the same name as an author who was published before me? Is she going to somehow get the royalties from my books? Is there a way I can fix it so my books stay separate from hers?

Unfortunately, I haven’t found the answers I’m looking for yet. I hope I don’t get sued for using my real name, because I didn’t know there was another author with my name, and I can’t figure out how to change the names on my books. Surely if she found out about my books, she wouldn’t take offense, right? She would understand that it was all just a misunderstanding, and wouldn’t seek to press charges, right?

Dark Arts

I’ve recently been working on my sixth and seventh books. I’ve been stalled for a couple of days on the one, and have decided to work on the second, which has turned out to be a very good idea. I’ve gotten quite a bit of work done, and I’m slowly but surely chiseling away at my writer’s block. Soon I’ll be able to work on the other one again, but until then, I can make do with Dark Arts.

Vampires and werewolves are the most popular in YA fiction nowadays, but I’ve been working on several other projects. I have one about angels, one about mermaids, and Darts Arts is about all types of supernaturals, including the main character, who is a necromancer. I’m about halfway done with it, and I’ll hopefully have it done by the end of the month. Hopefully when it’s done, everyone can see it, and leave me a review at http://www.smashwords.com.

Reviews on my other works are always appreciated.

Progress

So far this month, I’ve been hard at work trying to finish my sixth novel, The Dark Arts. Right now it’s about 25,000 words, and I plan to have at least 55,000 by the end of the month. Right now, I also have several other story ideas saved to my computer, and I can’t wait to get started on them. They’re all fabulous, they’re all Young Adult, and they’re all Paranormal. I can’t wait to get started on them, and debut them for your reading pleasure.

A look at my http://www.smashwords.com account tells me that I’ve reached over 1050 downloads between my five books that are available, and I can’t believe it. When I first started publishing, I never thought I’d get a hundred downloads, let alone over a one thousand of them! It’s so exciting to see that people like my books as much as I do, but a lot of people aren’t telling me that. I’ve got several downloads, but very few reviews. If anyone has a spare moment, a quick and honest review would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.