Thursday, July 31, 2014

Wicked Magic Free?

Hey, everybody!

I wanted to know if anyone is interested in reading a free copy of my book in exchange for a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes and Noble.  You can basically copy and paste the same review to all three sites, but the requirement is that the review has to be on all three.  If you can paste it on Smashwords, that would be appreciated.

Book three of my Weeping Willow Series, Wicked Love, is due to be released in October, and I wanted to drum up more reviews for Book Two entitled Wicked Magic.  Book One is a compilation of two short stories which are available online for free all year long.  Those stories will have to be read before the book.

This YA series is about warrior Elves and does have battle scenes, but ultimately, it is a love story between warring races.

I will provide the codes for a free download Smashwords, but if you don't have an account, tell me when you contact me and we will figure something out.  If anyone is interested, please get back to me at smadera23@yahoo.com by August 5th, 2014.

Please enter your email in the white box on the right side of the screen, because a similar opportunity (concerning Wicked Love or the Restraint Trilogy) may be available in the future to only those receiving my newsletter.

Thank you,
Sandra Madera


BOOKS INVOLVED:

Weeping Willow Stories (which have to be read before Wicked Magic)
Weeping Willow (Part One)
Weeping Willow (Part Two)

Wicked Magic: A Weeping Willow Novel

Friday, July 25, 2014

Join Mailing List

Hey, everyone.

Just wanted to remind all my readers of my monthly newsletter.  If you would like to join my mailing list to keep up-to-date on upcoming works or receive exclusive perks, enter your email in the white box (on the right panel), in the appropriate box on my website, or send your email address with a short letter, stating that you want to be included, to smadera23@yahoo.com.  Besides receiving a FREE PDF copy of Scattered, those added to the list will be given exclusive freebies!

Thanks!

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Editor's Comments

Hey, everyone!

I just got some comments from my editor.

She is of course surprised by Willow's darker turn. I think most of the audience will be. She has become a different character somewhat. At the end of the last book, she was in Hades and in the clutches of the Dark King. This book takes place right where that one leaves off. So Willow's circumstances only get worse from there.

Nalin will take more of a starring role in this novel. I know that there were only a few chapters dedicated to him in the last book, but in this book we will see Nalin at the forefront.  Other realms will also be brought up which will add to possible avenues in the future.

It is dark and many will be surprised by Willow's decent. My editor is quite attached to Willow's characters, but in the Realm of Disorder anything can happen. Anyone can be killed off and anarchy can rule for a time before peace returns. I am not killing off Willow or Nalin, but the danger of losing other characters is possible. I hope this book will be more exciting that the first.

Thank you for following. Keep you posted!

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Making Believable Characters: Heroes and Villains

Hello, everyone!

I was looking for inspirational quotes, and I came across this quote from Stephen King. The quote was a snippet about the writing process, concerning the building of characters, which is something that challenges authors today. The challenge lies in how to build a character to the point that the lines between reality and fiction blur, making them so real that they are almost palpable.

“I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose” – Stephen King.

So it made me think about heroes and villains in general. When I used to watch Disney movies, villains didn't have much of a back story. They were bad.  The main characters were the heroes who were inherently and annoyingly good. It didn't matter why. Good always battled evil and came out winning. There is something in our nature that harps back to this ancient battle of good versus evil.