Seasons Greetings Fellow Book Lovers,

Firstly, sorry for the lateness of Decembers edition of Indie Author Insight. Between delays with the building work and illness, I missed the 1st of the month for publiction. I’m hoping with will be finished with plasterers and plumbers and electricians by the end of the month and have a working kitchen! Cooking for 6 with only a microwave, 2 airfryers and a slow cooker has been….interesting!

AVA update

After stepping away from CAAB Publishing, I have been working on editing AVA as there were a few errors that needed to be addressed. I was hoping to have it ready to re-release in the New Year but I’ve been sucked into writing my crime WIP— ‘The Runaways’.

The inspiration for the crime novel came from a love of true crime documentaries and it is written from three different points of view. I wanted to look into the killer and who they are as well as crime itself. The book follows a young woman and her two brothers as they escape an abusive father and find themselves in a small town trying to make a new life for themselves. When girls start to go missing, the police dismiss them as runaways, but new recruit Otto Faulkes believes something more sinster going on.

Teasers from The Runaways

“Julia’s throat tightens as her heart shatters. That’s five more than she was expecting. Five more lives that they missed, that no one came forward about. Women, daughters, sisters, wives, mothers, all gone—unlooked for and alone.”

“Prison seems to have sapped the colour from him—made him grey just like itself, yet he fills the room. Like smoke, he is everywhere. DS Faulkes wouldn’t have picked him out from a crowd. She would never have said he was a killer. But then, what does evil look like?”

Stay tuned for more….

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Current read

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

Ariadne, Princess of Crete and daughter of the fearsome King Minos, grows up hearing stories of gods and heroes. But beneath the golden palace something else stirs, the hoofbeats and bellows echoing from the Labyrinth below. Every year its captive, the Minotaur - Ariadne's brother - demands blood.

When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne sees in him her chance to escape. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that drawing the attention of the mercurial gods may cost her everything.

In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne's decision to risk everything for love ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover's ambition?

So far, its okay. I’m enjoying it but it would only be a 3 star read for me and I’m almost half way through.

Interview with Ruan Willow
Author of Wingless Hunter

Thank you, Ruan, for joining me at Indie Author Insight to chat about your book. Firstly, tell me a little bit about yourself.

Hello! I'm from Minnesota. I've been writing all of my life on and off, including starting as a child with writing stories in a notebook. I've written fiction, nonfiction, and poetry under different pseudonyms. I've always loved to read and create stories. I'm a natural born storyteller!

It’s great to meet you. I was that child too, writing stories in note books! Can you tell me about what you like to write, your books and maybe give us a blurb?

Open Door Erotic Romantasy. I wanted to write this book because I enjoy the genre and I've had a good response to a previous work in this subgenre, so I want to build on that.

Book Blurb: Gabriella can smell men. Which is a good thing since she desperately needs men. It’s not every fairy who also has siren in her, which allows her to use her irresistible singing voice to draw them nearer. Since she can’t leave her invisible cage, this is a very useful talent, especially when it comes to drawing men to her area of the forest. Most men will do, however, they only stay for little while. When she senses Leif hiking down the path, she experiences the usual growth in her size, which is imperative because if he can’t see her, none of the good stuff will happen. He's different than the other men were, he might just be the solution she seeks. But then there’s also the other paralyzing problem of trying to attain her freedom. All she desires is a happier, less lonely life once again, human sized.

Tropes:
Open Door, HEA Spicy Romantasy.
Lust over Love vs. Love with Lust.
Forced proximity.
Shrinking woman, growing woman, unstable size.
She needs a hero. He must step out of his comfort zone.
The miracle they seek, they don't know all the rules.

Wingless Hunger is a novella, book 1 in the series. Triggers: explicit sex scenes, public nudity, explicit mature language, raw sex scenes I wrote it very quickly within a couple of weeks, but I write fast and pump out content quickly for books, audiobooks, and my podcast.

That’s amazing that you can write a book so quickly! What are you working on at the moment?

I'm writing book three in my raunchy sexual exploration series Spring Break and Stranded with her Best Friends' Brothers, plus 6 Men series. This one is an 'on the court' basketball theme. It contains group sex, bdsm, impact play, PI, taboo themes, female empowerment and sexual liberation, love triangle with brothers, and extreme sexual play and exploration. She's in charge, but submissive.

Being an author certainly has highs and lows. Can you tell me about some of your best moments and how you’ve overcome some of the lows?

The best moments for me are when I finish a book and any time I read reviews of people loving my books. Lows are bad reviews, but I've gotten used to expecting that not everyone will like my books, and that's okay. I don't like all the books or authors I read either, but I don't go around hating on authors because I respect that everyone has the right to their own voice and opinions.

I agree, you can’t please everyone. There will always be people who don’t like your books and thats okay, because there will also be people who love them. Personally, I find marketing the hardest part about being an author. Do you have any marketing tips you could share for other indie authors out there?

Publish wide and used small online publishers as well. Post on social media all over. Create a web of yourself and your content on the web...by participating in author interviews like this, creating a website, publishing on social media, going on podcasts as a guest, participate in anthologies to try and reach new audiences, create graphics and videos, consider going to craft fairs/book cons/trade shows, swap social media posting with other authors, and just keep going! I always think to myself...'just keep swimming'.

The author community is awesome! If you could go back in time to the beginning of your writing career, what advice would you give your past self?

Don't be afraid to make mistakes and don't let a single review get you down. Even the huge famous authors have people who don't like their work. Don't let reviews restrict you, accept constructive criticisms with grace and learn from them, and don't ever stop trying. Keep going infinitely, while you are alive, keeping writing!

When I'm not writing, I love crocheting or gaming. Do you have any other hobbies?

Cooking, pets, reading.

Lastly, is there anything else you'd like to talk about? And where can readers buy your books and keep track of your writing updates?

If you want to try it, do it. We only live once and success is sometimes in the doing, and enjoying it, not from what you get from it.

I'm published wide on multiple online platforms, but here's the link to Wingless Hunger:

Thank you, Ruan, for joining me at Indie Author Sight and thank you for reading!

I hope you have a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year. I’ll see you in January and I hope to have more news about the re-release of AVA.

Who is never hungry at Christmas?
The turkey—he is always stuffed!

God bless!

Lydia x