Independence and Fear

The Sirius is tuned in to Frank.

It's Sinatra Sunday here.

Windows are open. The music is accompanied by birds singing and the sound of the fountain in our backyard pond.

As Oates would say, nature an' shit.

Skies are overcast after a beautiful sunrise this morning, and I'm taking a break from completing Book Three of The Amped Series to write this, because the scenes I've just written and revised are intense.

The theme of the weekend is Independence and Fear (yes, capitalized!), and for various reasons.

My characters are asserting themselves in this last book - and surprising me, too. This is exactly what I hope for when I sit down to write, because it's worked for me so far. I'm so proud of my independent heroine, and the hero that loves her even though it scares the shit out of him.

Yesterday, I received my first check for book sales. It was a long wait, but what a feeling. The idea that sending my words out into the world might earn me even a single dollar blows my mind.

My oldest daughter is heading off to summer camp for a week without her parents. She's taking lots of excitement, sunblock and bug spray - and maybe just a little fear in her heart. Mom's got a canoe-full of fear, too. My girl is old enough to make herself a bowl of cereal, but not old enough to drive. At the thought of her being without me for this long, I'm still an over-protective mama bear.

What if she doesn't brush her teeth...like, at all? 

But she'll get to have the experience of writing a letter home and mailing it, and I'll be the lucky recipient. She won't plant her face in front of a screen for five whole days, and I won't have to hear the sibling bickering for that many days, either.

So all in all, worth the separation.

At the end of August, Barnes and Noble has invited me for a book signing for both "Balance" and "Sway".

Of course, I said yes. *blushing*

Oh, hello again Fear.

Thanks for bringing Independence with you.

The keys call. You can follow progress here or here, or sometimes here.

M.J.

The Amped Series: Book Two - THE RELEASE

It's been pretty crazy over here at MJ Woods Books lately.

While I'm knee deep in finishing Book Three, Book TWO is releasing this week!
I'm so excited, I've decided to give away more digital copies of Balance (Book One). Limited copies available. Just click this link: FREE COPY OF Balance *CLOSES JULY 21ST*

In the meantime, here is a peek at the front (and back!) cover of Sway (The Amped Series: Book Two)
Warning: It's pretty damn sexy.

I hope you enjoy the continuing ride with these characters. From writing to revising (and revising some more), these characters still make me so happy.

Website is under construction to be updated this week, so check back for a whole new look!

Also on the horizon are a double signing at Barnes and Noble for Balance and Sway and, by the end of summer, Book Three will be complete! Then it's on to the next book. There are some characters from this series begging for their own stories. I'm not sure who will win the battle to be written first, but when I know, you'll know.

To keep up with happenings, sign up for the newsletter here! Emails do NOT go out very often because, if you're like me, you hate sifting through your inbox deleting junk mail. But, when there is big news, you'll know first!

I am accepting ARC readers for Book Two for a limited time.
If you are interested, email: mj@mjwoodsbooks.com

Meanwhile it's Sunday, and I've just returned from my cousin's wedding in Virginia surrounded by love and laughter and my crazy-amazing family. It's possible I went to bed at 4am on one night of that road trip, leaving me feeling like Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon. "I'm too old for this shit."

Now time to get back to work. The dog is happy I'm home. The cat, not so much.

Thank you for your ongoing love and support.

Ciao,
MJ

The End Is Near

I am passing off Book Two to the publisher in a matter of days.

So what, right? All two of you reading this are wondering what the big deal is.

The big deal is this: my second book baby is going out into the world, and all I can do is hope he isn't rejected by his peers, shoved around in the hallways until his 'kick me' sign flaps in the wind while he charters a bus home to Mama.

But good, bad or ugly, it's time to be at peace with Book Two and let it go out on it's own, because Book Three is suddenly begging to be completed. When this happens, scenes pour out without my consent, begging to be noticed like cleavage on Dancing With The Stars.

They're in your face so often, you just can't ignore them.

So I'm in the writing zone once again, and it's so good to be back. I missed me. In case you were wondering, I got back here simply by diving back into Book Two for a thorough edit.

I'd put the second book away for months before I went back to it, and I think it was the best thing I could have done.

I have put as much effort into this as I did "Balance", but in less time and with a far more critical eye. There are things in that published manuscript I can't read now without cringing. But I'm hoping I can read the published version of Book Two in all it's hardcover glory without needing a shot or two of brown liquor to get through it.

I can't wait for you to see the cover and learn what the title of Book Two is.
...and see the new playlist.
...and fall in love with these characters all over again.

Once I went back to them, I sure as hell did.

Spoiler Alert: Book Two will end leaving you wanting to know what happens next, the same way "Balance" did. But Book Three is on it's way, I promise - and that might be it for this band of characters.

With the end of this series, I know I will experience my first true heartache as a writer that's actually written something. I hope ending the love affair I have with these made-up people isn't as bad as a real break-up, because boy, those have been known to fuck me up. I may need therapy once this series is complete.

Second Spoiler Alert: Book Two is a lot more heated than the first one.

You know what I mean, right?

*whispers
          *There's a lot more s-e-x.

Hold on to your fuck-me shoes. It's gonna be one hell of a ride.

Ciao,
MJ

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: How A New Author Deals With Reviews

As a new author, navigating the world of publishing is a daunting task. I thought I'd accomplished the hard part by writing the book.

I was wrong. (I'm wrong a lot.) 

Even though it took umpteen pots of coffee, neglecting my children for hours (okay, weeks) at a time, and every ounce of soul and courage I could muster to type those words into that order to create that book - writing was easier than publication. 

In hindsight, writing "Balance" was not so bad. Sometimes it was downright awesome, in the word's truest sense.

Then to publish, you either wait and wait and wait...or take the reigns and do it yourself.

I chose the latter.

I'm still learning the do's and don'ts, the jargon of the industry, the costs that come with being a self-published author. There are amazing writers I admire that have paved the way, even best-selling authors that have given me advice, the best of it being: "Don't worry. Write the books. The rest will come. We're all in this together!"

I still feel like I'm showing up late to the party and without any idea what kind of party it is. It's also possible I haven't been invited and I've left my pants elsewhere.

The stuff nightmares are made of, if you will.

But I laid my best efforts between a gorgeous cover and put out my "product" to the best of my newbie ability. There are things I'd go back and change, but anyone who releases their first book will likely tell you the same thing. 

Now the book is out there. It's alive, living and breathing on gadgets and hiding between dust-jackets and slick paperback covers on people's nightstands (or on the floor in the backseat of their SUV). 

Whatever. Same thing, right?

My point is, people are actually reading it. Many are loving it, but someone said it's a yawn-fest. 

How can this be? How can two people read the same book and have such varying opinions?

Because that's life. That's every book. I'll never write something that pleases everyone. I knew this going in.  

Still, I thought reading reviews was going to be the next hardest part of this process. Open myself up to criticism? Yikes! But this was not the hardest part, either. (I'll tell you what the hardest part is at the end, so keep reading.)

I read a poor review and instead of wanting to crawl into a hole and hide for eternity, I found myself wanting to email the person immediately to thank them.

For the longest time no one told me they were hating the book. No one said "Meh, these characters suck. I wouldn't hang out with them if you paid me!" 

Instead, people I'd never met told me "This is a quality piece of fiction!" "I can't wait to read the next book!" "Can you quit your job and just do this?" I thought all of my early, excellent feedback was lip-service, but it wasn't. These readers were completely genuine.

That meant surely someone, at some point in time, would genuinely dislike it. I was petrified of that day.

But then it happened.

The first poor review came from someone that was nice about it. She found something to compliment me on anyway, and her feedback was helpful. With this first poor review I got lucky, because it eased me into the one-star review that eventually came along. That reviewer said some things I consider just plain mean, but this is reality. Not everyone makes nice.

The moral of the story is, does it matter?

I did not put "Balance" out there to please every single person that will ever read it. I did it because there was a story within me that busted its way out over the course of years. Through the process of sharing it, I became convinced that hey, some people might like this.

Another common theme in my reviews is that Book One ends on a cliffhanger. Some people were kind of ticked about that.

For this, I do apologize.

I wish I could have laid out the entire story in one book. It would have saved me a ton of gray hair and time. But that isn't the way this particular story unfolds. I'm not lengthening the story as a ploy to sell more books. (Yes, one person said that.) 

For me, the writing process doesn't work that way. I write to write, and let the story go where it may. If Book Two also ends on a cliffhanger (it does), it's because it seemed a good place to stop that would make sense but still create some drama while moving into Book Three. Does it make you want to read more, to know where the story goes? I damn well hope so. But it is not a preconceived attempt to sell more books and inadvertently piss people off.

I never thought I'd sell a single book in my life, beyond maybe my parents and immediate family. Do I want people to buy it now? Of course! Because that means I can contribute to my household doing something I love - writing books.

But marketing myself is not something I enjoy. Many writers feel this way, especially those of us with an introvert's tendencies. Yet to sell, you have to market yourself as much - if not more - than you market your blood, sweat and pencil lead. You have to show up, pants or not, and with the knowledge that you aren't going to be invited in. You have to snatch an invite, or create the party that everyone else wants to go to.

I get it, though. We're living in a 'give-it-to-me-now' society. I'd want to know how it all ends, too - and all at once. But Daniel was forced to be patient in The Karate Kid, and look what it did for him! Wax on, wax off, people. I am going somewhere with this series.

Everything about the writing of "Balance" - from the plot to the characters - has happened in a kind of crazy, fated manner that no one would believe.

When I finished Book Two, it ended with the same number of chapters as Book One. In draft form it was the EXACT same number of pages. Insignificant details? Sure. But this demonstrates how the process works for me. I could not plan it this way if I tried.

Months after I finished writing Balance, I stumbled on a random article in a magazine I don't even subscribe to. The article was about a relationship that mirrors the one between Alexis and her husband Ben. This confirmed for me that my characters were about as real as they could get.

These are the kinds of coincidences and signals the Universe sends to let you know you're doing something right, and I've had them raining down on me through the process, from writing word one to publication. This part you can't make up.

It just happens.

This does not mean I'm fooling myself here. I know this is not The Great American Novel, some tome that will be of a great importance on a literary scale. I aim for my stories to balance an ease of reading and entertainment, and I know my audience.

I love my audience. They're my people.

However, let's be real. My people are damn busy. There are children to cart around, there's laundry, there's other books to read by their all-time favorite author...and oh look! A giraffe is about to give birth! (Just kidding. Right now, she's still pregnant.)

As I promised to let you in on, the hardest part is getting people to stop what they're doing to read something I wrote and then tell people what they think about it.

But it is happening.

That is amazing. 

And I could not be more grateful to the people that have read "Balance" and spoken up about it - good, bad or ugly.