Indie Author Journey, Part 47 E.N. Chanting Author

Definitely still struggling with my one hand that barely works. My left hand is not in great shape and it's the only one I've got at the moment as I continue to recover from surgery. It's exceedingly difficult to suddenly try to use only one hand and things you never thought of twice are now impossible. But I'm also learning new things that I didn't think I was capable of before so as they say, every grey cloud has a silver lining.

I'm trying a new thing today as I continue to try my best at navigating my life with use of just one hand. Usually, I use my talk to text this time I'm using dictation. We'll see if it works any better and actually writes down what I say versus me having to go back and change half the words. I don't have a lot of things to discuss this week, my mom has been visiting. I've been working on editing, but I haven't been doing too much else book related.

I’m making fairly steady progress, I’m on around page 500 out of about 750 for Violent. So, with another day or two of editing I will be finished. I'll be able to send it off to my formatting person and as soon as I know the word count and page count etc. I'll be able to send it off to my cover designer for the finishing touches. It’ll be super exciting to finally have it done.

In the small amount of time, I've spent online this week I have seen a lot of talk about issues with ARC readers again. This week the discussion about ARC readers has been that they are complaining about the deadlines. The average amount of time an author gives an ARC reader to complete their book and post a review is 2 weeks. I was reading a post from a new author who did a little bit of research by asking some fellow authors and found that two weeks was the average amount of time. She then requested that her readers post their reviews in two weeks. The ARC readers who signed up for her ARC agreed to her terms in which they would have two weeks to post their review. One of her ARC readers trashed her book, trashed her, and complained profusely about the two-week deadline. This author was upset by this because the person said that they DNF'd the book and didn't even get halfway through it, yet they gave her a one-star review and trashed her writing. Additionally, it seemed as though their biggest complaint was the two-week deadline which doesn't seem like something that should be rated in a review of a book. Unfortunately, this gave me flashbacks to my own first ARC campaign. I too had a brand-new ARC reader who was trying to make a name for herself and completely trashed me and my book. I offered my colleague some commiseration and support and explained that I've survived my first one-star review, and she will too. As a matter of fact, I used the comments from my one-star review as an advertisement for my book. Turnabout is fair play right?

The other thing happening this week: Saturday night is the Readers Break the Internet Fantasy Edition. I received a box of swag today for the event and it was pretty amazing. It made me really look forward to the horror event that I will be participating in this October. Since I'm releasing Origin of Violet and Violent October 13th the event on October 19th will be perfect for me.

I'm going to be sending out a “check in” message to my ARC readers on Force Majeure. I've only received a handful of reviews, granted they still have a few weeks left, but I feel like I should just check in and see if anyone has any questions or concerns. I wrote out a message to them and I did it as if Violet wrote it. I think I'm going to send it out from Violet's e-mail and see what they think about it. She talked about her own upcoming ARC and book release. I'm hoping it goes over well and doesn't come off as cheesy.

This week's blog is going to be short not a lot going on. Like I said I've been spending time with my mom who's here from out of town. She took me to a doctor's visit, and we went to the Verizon store. We were hoping to meet up with my cousin tomorrow, but my mom's eye is bothering her, and I don't think we're going to be able to make it. But since she's been here I haven't been online very much, and I haven't been doing very much with my writing. She’s not very supportive of my writing and I avoid the topic.

I will keep you posted on how the event goes this Saturday I'm sure it will be fabulous. I'll also give you an update next week on how things go with my Violet e-mail. We'll see if there's any response or any new reviews as a result. Ohh, I guess one other thing I could mention is that I've gotten a few reviews for Force of Corruption lately and interestingly enough I think it's a little bit of a renewed interest in the story because I now have it on Kindle Unlimited. It could also be because of Force Majeure and the upcoming release I guess we'll find out eventually.

Since this blog is short, and a little bit lame, here’s a short, short story for you:

“What’re we going to do about the serum samples?” Kara asks.

“Already done. I administered them to the patients who needed the most help,” Dr. Saunders replies.

“Oh my God! You can’t give them to patients before we finish the testing!”

“What testing? This isn’t a hurricane, the power isn’t going to be restored in a week, this is a worldwide event. Society has broken down. We may never have power again. If those patients don’t get treatment, they'll die. If Vegas-232 doesn’t work, they’re going to die. What difference does it make under these circumstances?”

“We aren’t going to get any help, are we? This just keeps getting scarier. Maybe we should stockpile some supplies,” Kara’s voice trembles and her eyes shift rapidly searching the room.

“I already did, I have everything in my office. I’m scared too, but we’re going to be okay. You’re a nurse, I’m a doctor, we can get through this.”

“I’ve got to keep busy, what can I do to help?” Kara asks eagerly.

The lights shudder twice then flicker until they fade. Both women quickly assess their surroundings and let their eyes adjust to the darkness. The battery powered emergency lights come on in the hallway, but a strange blue glow illuminates the lab. Kara glances around seeking the source of cerulean light. Her mouth falls open in shock when she pinpoints the origin of the pale glimmer.

“Doctor? Your eyes…they’re g-glowing.”

Dr. Saunders raises a hand in front of her face to see the blue light reflected back from her palm.

“Fascinating. It must be a side effect from the DNA of the luminous deep-sea creatures we used to grow the repair cells in the formula for the Vegas serum. We better go check the patients right away. The generators must be done, here's a flashlight, come on.”

“I’ll chronicle their condition and any side effects. I'll need to add you to the test group, Doc,” Kara huffs as they run.

Doctor Saunders evaluates while Kara documents, every patient is improved, but with some unusual side effects. There’re twenty-two patients in the test group including the doctor, eighteen have glowing eyes. Four have luminous eyes, bluish skin, and their cuspid teeth have elongated.

“All the patients say they feel fantastic despite the weird side-effects. Their temperatures are elevated, the rest of their vitals are normal, except they’re complaining of extreme hunger.”

“The fangs are freaking me out. How're you feeling, Doc?”

“Hungry…” Dr. Saunders growls before she tilts her head and opens her jaw unnaturally wide, falling onto Kara and biting into her neck. Razor-sharp teeth cut swiftly through the stunned nurse's arteries rapidly spilling her life's blood into the doctor’s fanged maw. When she’s finished, Kara's body collapses to the floor in a crumpled heap.

The creature who used to be Doctor Saunders stretches its blue claws and releases a long baleful howl to the ceiling, it echoes through the dark corridors, a hollow and terrifying call which is returned tenfold.

THE END

As always thanks for reading have a great weekend!