This Post is Dedicated to...Nobody

 

This is sort of an op-ed piece I decided to write today. I've had this subject on my mind, lately, and being an avid reader, how could I not? I see it so often....

 

Have you ever wondered why authors write those little one-line dedications at the very beginning of their novels? You may very well BE one of those authors dedicating a line to someone you deem special enough to have made writing your entire novel worthwhile.

I don't have anything against authors who like to do this. After all, show me an author who doesn't do this in their books. It'll be hard to find one. But, I personally can't understand why practically every author perpetuates this practice. It seems rather pointless to me. 

Consider that an "Acknowledgments" page gets included in just about every book along with this dedicatory page and I am really left scratching my head. Why bother to write some sentimental line to your dog or your mom when you've just spend a page-and-a-half thanking everybody under the sun you've ever known plus the kitchen sink? It's completely redundant. 

I know--it's a tradition and one that's been around for centuries. I looked it up, although I can't seem to find out why this tradition started. It just seemed to have popped up one day and never looked back.

I promise I won't judge you for keeping this redundacy alive, although you could avoid it by just not writing an Acknowledgments page. You know, pick one and not both! But, even if you insist on doing both, I won't hold it against you. I'm cool with people doing what they feel they have to do and one sentence is hardly anything to lose sleep over. 

But, I don't think I'll be joining this long-standing bandwagon. I feel the need to go against the grain and leave this little one-liner out of my future published novels. Acknowledgments will be plenty, since I see that page as being essential. What book can be made without tons of help from tons of people? But, why should any one person or animal or cosmic phenomenon get the sole dedication for any book I write?

So, what's your take on author dedications? I'm really curious as to what other people, especially authors, actually think of them. I'll admit, I laugh at the funny ones. If it's funny, I might just think it's worthwhile, after all. 

  

Cover Reveal: Men of Foxwick by Cherie Reich

Hey, everyone! I've got a special book cover reveal today. Cherie Reich's Men of Foxwick is now available for purchase as an ebook in any one of your favorite ebook retailers. Thus, the cover can now be unveiled to the world!
 

Yay, awesome cover! I can tell you, I was one of Cherie's beta readers for this short story collection and I could BARELY say anything about it because there were no flaws. Just perfect little stories that made the editing easy, but confusing because I felt so silly for not being able to suggest any changes. But, hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it....


Onto the business at hand.... This fantasy short story collection features five men from the Kingdom of Foxwick.

A blind teen seeks a place in the kingdom. A dragon seer journeys to Wintermill to spy on the queen. A sword master’s worst fear comes true when he fails to protect the royal family. A king falls in love with an herb witch, but will she feel the same way? A hunter will rise to the challenge to hunt down a man-eating monster.


To purchase: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Smashwords | Kobo | iTunes | Nook

For more information about Men of Foxwick, please visit Cherie Reich’s blog. Also, Cherie has a special announcement for her email newsletter subscribers. Click here to sign up for her updates and receive a coupon for a free copy of Women of Foxwick.


Congrats to Cherie! 

The Faerie Prince Blog Tour: Author Interview with Rachel Morgan

BLOG TOUR

Hey, everybody! The totally fabulous Rachel Morgan, author of the Creepy Hollow series, is joining me on my humble little blog today. She is celebrating the recent release of the second book in her Creepy Hollow Young Adult novel series, The Faerie Prince. If you haven't picked up a copy of the first book, The Faerie Guardian, you are missing out! Make it so, people (you know who you are)....

Shall we begin?

Me: First of all, you’ve likely been asked this question for interviews before, but what inspired you to write the Creepy Hollow series?

Rachel: It was the name, Creepy Hollow. It just popped into my head one day, and I kind of came up with the story to match the name. In my head, the name Creepy Hollow conjured up a magical forest inhabited by all kinds of beings and creatures. That morphed into a more specific idea about kick-butt magical characters who protected humans from dangerous magical creatures. Finally, these guardian characters became faeries.

Me: That's awesome! Do you have a special interest in faeries and fae?

Rachel: When I was little I believed that faeries were real. I made special little gardens for them outside, and I wrote letters to them (and I believe my mother/grandmother wrote back on behalf of the faeries!). They’re probably the first magical creature I knew anything about, and I’ve always loved them.

Me: Wow, that's amazing. I'm sure I didn't even believe Santa Claus was real when I was little.... But, back to your novels. What I really like about your books is that they are very distinctively YA. Why do you, as an author, like writing YA?

Rachel: I like the YA years because that’s when characters

are growing up and figuring out who they are. They experience so many ‘firsts’, and everything is more exciting, more of a big deal. There are also more rules to break when you’re not yet an adult, and breaking rules is fun to write about ;-)

Me: Yes, yes it is. I like the main character Violet’s love/hate relationship with her childhood friend Ryn. It really seems like something that could progress into might-actually-like-him territory. Does their relationship have a real life source of inspiration, or is it just a fabulous imagination on your part?

Rachel: No real life inspiration, just my fabulous imagination. Haha! And probably a whole lot of stories I’ve read and movies I’ve watched all mixed into one. I love those kind of relationships where people have known each other for so long that they know almost everything about one another.

Me: I know I love the relationships with lots of friction! Okay, explain to us a little bit about what your faeries are like and why they are tasked with becoming Guardians. 

Rachel: My faeries are not tiny things that fly around with wings and wands. They’re human-sized, they have modern magical techniques and devices, and they can kick serious butt. Just like in the human world, faeries can be a lot of things when they grow up. Those that choose to be guardians are the ones that want to protect humans (and other fae) from all the dangerous magical creatures that inhabit the fae realm.

Me: Noble faeries. Who would have thought? Only a clever person like you.... So, how many books do you intend to write for the Creepy Hollow series?

Rachel: With Vi as the main character, there will be three novels. But I’m not opposed to future novels set in the same world with possibly some of the same characters (I may already have vague plans for said future novels ;-) ).

Me: I sure hope so and would love to see many more books.... So, you’re a self-published author, as I hope to be one day, too. Why did you decide to go down this publishing route rather than hunting down an agent?

Rachel: It all started off with my curiosity about digital publishing and wanting to try it out for myself. Along the way, I’ve accumulated other reasons for wanting to remain an independent author: I get to have control of most aspects of the publishing journey; I can get my books to readers far quicker than a publisher could; the royalty percentage is much higher; and I’m sure there are other reasons! 

Me: Oh, you bet there are! These are all the same reasons I'm drawn to self-publishing, too. I like retaining ownership over things I've worked hard to obtain, or create, for that matter. 

Thanks so much for your time, Rachel, and good luck with the launch of The Faerie Prince! 

Purchase The Faerie Prince

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Apple iBookstore

CreateSpace (print) 

Author Bio

Rachel Morgan was born in South Africa and spent a large portion of her childhood living in a fantasy land of her own making. After completing a degree in genetics, she decided science wasn’t for her—after all, they didn’t approve of made-up facts. These days she spends much of her time immersed in fantasy land once more, writing fiction for young adults.
 

The Creepy Hollow Series

Amazon | Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Book Trailer

Rachel's Links

Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Google+

Insecure Writer's Support Group (#7)

Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is a really awesome meme that you should be doing along with the rest of us writers. Unless you truly are happy with your writing and don't feel the need to vent about your insecurities because they don't exist for you. But, really.... Don't they?  
IWSG is hosted by Captain Ninja Alex at his blog, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

I really need another IWSG....

Lately, I've come to realize that I simply don't enjoy writing anymore. I used to love it, which is why I do it. I used to love crafting a riveting story and making my characters say and do incredible things! But, nowadays, I just want to do anything other than put my butt in a chair at my computer and actually write.

I still love the aspects that I used to love about story-telling. Creating characters and worlds for them to live within is just as exciting for me still as it is for you fellow writers. But, it's the pressure of trying to make this a career and be serious about it that's sapping all the fun out of writing for me these days.

I'm not sure when this happened, but I only realized it recently. It could be that I've been unhappy like this for a couple of years, but wasn't perceptive enough to sense it. It is so much harder to write for serious than it is for fun. I'm not necessarily about to throw in the towel, but I just have to be honest about how un-fun this whole fiction writing thing actually is for me. 

I also figure I could be unduly unhappy because my confidence in my writing took a steep nosedive when I received a very, very insensitive critique from a former critique partner. After reading those comments, I actually DID give up my writing for a little while. Thankfully, my writing partner encouraged me to get back in the saddle again and I eventually did. 

But, I don't think I've ever recovered from that nightmarish critique. I still can't to this day write anything without being terrified I'm going to mess up and write terrible things, or make all those same mistakes I made according to that former crit partner. I write slow and spotty and can't seem to make myself sit in my chair and just let the words flow out of my fingertips. I'm lucky if I can write even a few days each week. I've written only 25,000 words since this year began.

So, I don't know what to do to regain my confidence. Nothing I do seems to work, although I can't say I've tried everything. I don't even know what to do other than to keep on keeping on as best I can. Mostly, I want to LOVE writing again, like how I did when I used to write for fun and not seriously. Is that even possible again? 


Do you still love writing, even though you have to be a serious author these days? Have you ever lost your confidence and regained it somehow?