Guest post by Misha Gerrick: My Favorite Writing Quote

Today, I'm honoured to have the lovely Misha Gerrick on my blog talking about her favourite writing quote, as part of her tour for her new book, 'Endless' - what better for a little Tuesday inspiration for us all? Take it away, Misha!

My Favorite Writing Quote

I think that all writers have the same insecurity deep down. That niggling thought that says that we really shouldn’t be writing. The idea that in reality, we suck at it. That we’re deluding ourselves and we should be giving up.

Personally, I’m almost constantly battling against this little voice in the back of my head that says ‘you can’t write.’ Sometimes, the voice becomes as loud as a hurricane if I let it. But I have one thing I try to do every day in order to keep it under control.

And it comes from my favorite writing quote, which, ironically, isn’t actually about writing.

If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced - Vincent van Gogh

I’ve always thought of writing as painting with words, so for me, the quote totally works. It also goes to show that not only writers are hampered by that stupid little voice.

But it is an inspirational quote and instruction for being a writer rolled up in one.

Doubting that you can write today? Then write and prove yourself wrong. No one says you have to be good at writing. You just need to get a few words down for now. And then a few more tomorrow. Every word you write is proof that the voice in your head is a liar. You CAN write. And if you do it long enough, you’ll discover that you’re actually getting better at it.

What’s your favorite writing quote? Care to share a bit of encouragement with other writers? 

Endless - Misha Gerrick

“First, do no harm.” Blake Ryan swore that oath to become a doctor. Ironic, given that he spent most of his thousand year life sucking souls out of other immortals.

Things are different now. Using regular shots of morphine to keep his inner monster at bay, Ryan has led a quiet life since the Second World War. His thrills now come from saving lives, not taking them.

Until a plane crash brings Aleria into his hospital. Her life is vibrant. Crack to predators like him. She’s the exact sort of person they would hunt, and thanks to a severe case of amnesia, she’s all but defenseless.

Leaving Aleria vulnerable isn’t an option, but protecting her means unleashing his own inner monster. Which is a problem, because his inner monster wants her dead most of all.

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About the Author

Misha Gerrick lives near Cape Town, South Africa, and can usually be found staring at her surroundings while figuring out her next book.

If you’d like to see what Misha’s up to at the moment, you can find her on these social networks:

Tumblr | Twitter | Google Plus | Writing Blog

Guest Post: Birth of a Series by Chrys Fey + Giveaway!

The Birth of a Series

After I finished Hurricane Crimes and even after publishing it, I hadn’t planned on writing a sequel, let alone a series. But when readers started to ask what happened before the story and what would happen next, I sat back to think about the possibility. I had ended Hurricane Crimes in a way that I was happy about for a short romantic-suspense. Then I looked closer at the plot and realized something major. When Hurricane Crimes ends, Beth and Donovan had caught one of the killers who murdered Donovan’s brother, but one was still at large. How could I end a story like that with no real closure? I couldn’t!

(Technically, I did, but I couldn’t keep it that way.)

The moment I realized I had to continue the story, I immediately knew I would keep the disaster theme for the sequel. So say “Hello” to SEISMIC CRIMES!

The idea to turn this into several books came to mind a moment later, and I knew how to link each one with criminals and disasters. And there you have it: The Disaster Crimes Series was born.

Title: Seismic Crimes

Author: Chrys Fey

Series: Disaster Crimes Series (Book Two)

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Format: Digital and Print

Page Count: 282

DIGITAL LINKS:

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NOOK / KOBO / All Romance eBooks

PRINT LINKS:

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 The Wild Rose Press

BLURB:

An Internal Affairs Investigator was murdered and his brother, Donovan Goldwyn, was framed. Now Donovan is desperate to prove his innocence. And the one person who can do that is the woman who saved him from a deadly hurricane—Beth Kennedy. From the moment their fates intertwined, passion consumed him. He wants her in his arms. More, he wants her by his side in his darkest moments.

Beth Kennedy may not know everything about Donovan, but she can’t deny what she feels for him. It’s her love for him that pushes her to do whatever she has to do to help him get justice, including putting herself in a criminal’s crosshairs.

When a tip reveals the killer's location, they travel to California, but then an earthquake of catastrophic proportions separates them. As aftershocks roll the land, Beth and Donovan have to endure dangerous conditions while trying to find their way back to one another. Will they reunite and find the killer, or will they lose everything?

HURRICANE CRIMES 99¢ SALE!

DIGITAL LINKS:

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Amazon CA / NOOK / KOBO 

All Romance eBooks

The Wild Rose Press

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Guest post with Misha Gerrick: Why I Went the Self-Publishing Route

Today, I'm handing my blog over to the awesome Misha Gerrick, which is convenient as I still don't quite trust myself with technology after my ear operation on Thursday. So while I try not to stumble over at work, and get to used to actually being able to HEAR what children are saying to me (is this a good thing? I'm not entirely sure yet), I'll leave you in Misha's more than capable hands.

Take it away, Misha!

Why I Went the Self-Publishing Route

When I started out writing, I never thought that I would ever self-publish. It wasn’t really about
the traditional reasons for me. (You know, all the usual myths about self-publishing, like how
people buy into the publisher’s brand, or how self-published books have lower quality etc.)

To me, it was always about the money. See, I live in a place where one US Dollar equals thirteen
units of my country’s currency. Which means that the usual rates for a good freelance editor to
edit one of my books equal three months’ salaries to me.

So when I started out, the cost of self-publishing something up to standard was prohibitive. In
my mind, I had to find a publisher who’d help to defray the costs.

But then I got a publisher, and things went spectacularly wrong. The whole experience made me
take a long and hard look at royalties and what they really are, and today, I’m sharing how I
think about it.

When signing with a publishing house, we agree to trade in a portion of the value (or net price)
of our books in return for services for which we would otherwise have had to pay upfront.
The thing is that these days, those services just aren’t what they used to be. Don’t get me wrong,
I loved working with my former editor and I’d possibly jump at a chance to do so again. But.
I’m someone whose critiques have been credited by multiple writers to be the thing that landed
them publishing deals. And I have a good eye for people who make me good critique partners.
So why, if I have every confidence in my skills as editor for other people, would I not be
confident enough to edit my own work? Especially when I’ve been able to put together an
awesome team of people to help me find my own errors, all in return for me helping them in the
same way.

What else does a publishing house offer?

The cover?

I take pictures and edit them myself. I knew what I would be going for in the cover. After
investing in Photoshop, it wasn’t all that hard to get what I wanted. You’d laugh if I told you the
total cost. Most of it was actually measured in time and effort.

Formatting?

This was actually the one I was scared of, but I got an awesome how-to self-publish guide that
was gold when it came to tips pointing me in the right direction. (Like where to get cover
templates and how to format a paperback so it looks nice.)
E-book formatting turned out to be laughably easy, after another self-publishing friend told me
where to get the right how-to guide.

This leaves…

Marketing.

Which anyone who isn’t Lee Child or JK Rowling or someone along the same lines of
famousness knows to be laughable in any publishing deal anyway.

We’re expected to do all our own marketing. (Never mind that it doesn’t really seem to work all
that well all the time, but that’s a subject for another story.) So what’s the difference between
doing my marketing for my book with a publisher and doing the same marketing for the book I
self-published?

You’ve got it.

There is no difference.

Of course, money isn’t the only thing that made me strike out on the self-publishing path. Far
from it, but it’d probably take a small book for me to explain them all. But out of the many
reasons I have, the (tiny) value of services rendered to me in return for a substantial portion of
income derived from my book (and MY hard work), is the big one.

Anyone thinking about self-publishing? What’s the big deciding factor for you when it 
comes to self-publishing or not?


The Vanished Knight

The entity living inside Callan’s soul orphaned her at age eleven. By the time she’s sixteen, it’s
ensured her being shunted from one foster family to another.
Her thirteenth foster assignment should be routine. Except... it's not. A psycho in medieval armor
kidnaps her and she ends up in a magical world. There, she accidentally discovers a secret her
parents had kept until the day they died.
Both actually came from this magical world, but left before Callan was born. To cover their
tracks, they’d lied about everything. Even who they really were.
Driven to find out where she comes from, Callan’s trapped in a race for life and death. Walking
away isn’t an option, but if she stays too long, the entity will find its next victim.
In this world where secrets are sacrosanct and grudges are remembered, finding the truth will be
near impossible. Especially when Callan has her own homicidal little secret to deal with.
One with a taste for destroying her life.

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The Heir’s Choice

After discovering her parents had kept a whole world secret, Callan races to discover her past.
Not easy to do with an increasingly agitated entity living in her soul.
Going to her long-lost elvish roots should answer all her questions. Instead, she ends up in the
middle of a nightmare.
The elves are on the verge of an apocalyptic war. Their enemy, King Aurek of Icaimerith, will
only be appeased if Callan marries his heir. It’s either her life getting messed up, or an entire
country’s lives lost. Simple enough, right?
Wrong.
Because when the entity wants the elves blotted out of existence, saving them gets taken to a
whole new level of complicated.

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Bio

Misha Gerrick has been creating stories long before she could write and is currently going after
her dream of making a living as a writer.
If you’d like to see how that’s going, you can visit her on her blog, where she also discusses all things related to writing and publishing.
Or, if you’d just like to know what she’s reading and get updates on what she’ll be publishing
next (Sorry, no newsletter just yet):
You can follow her Tumblr
You can follow her on Twitter: @MGerrick1
And you can circle her on Google Plus: +MGerrick