Great Way to Start the Day

This morning my cover designer, the wonderful and talented Donna Casey, sent me the finalized image for the cover of the second book in the PRINCESS KANDAKE series, Weight of the Crown.
I could not have asked for better. Nor could I keep it to myself. So here it it.




Beautiful, isn't it! The book will be released February, 2013.

As a writer I love the stories that I writer. When a designer delivers a cover that incorporates the emotion of the story it almost brings me to tears. I believe the cover sets the tone for the reader, this cover does just that...and then some.

International Day of the Girl

That’s today! The international Day of the Girl! It’s all about teaching our girls. Encourage them! Inspire them! Educate them! Read to them.

Imagine, what would happen if you encouraged every girl you encountered to day. What if yours is the voice that told her, “you can do it!” and she did. What if that girl became the next, scientist, astronaut, physicist, architect, or….

All it takes from us is a little encouragement, a little inspiration. There is nothing that a girl can’t do, she jut has to believe that she can.

I am a firm believer in Girl Power! That’s what inspired me to write the PRINCESS KANDAKE series. It’s why I sign every book with a message that she Can. She can do anything that she sets her mind to.

So get out there! Tell your daughters, nieces, granddaughters, goddaughters, friends, and even those you don’t know that They Can!

Yes Girls CAN!

Oh My Goodness!

Oh dear! I feel like the Mad Hatter in Alice in wonderland. I’m running around looking at my watch mumbling to myself that I’m late for this and late for that.

For that last couple of weeks I’ve been preparing for a huge photo shoot and a Mocha Moms conference that were less than one week apart. On top of that, I’m trying to get book #2 of the PRINCESS KANDAKE series ready to go to print. And let us not forget my usual writing schedule that I desperately need to maintain.

I spent today cleaning and organizing my office, double checking to make sure that I sent the right pictures to the cover designer, washing and twisting my hair, and separating laundry. Yes folks, writers have to do their own laundry.

I was in the middle of checking my hair to see if it is dry enough to sleep on when it occurred to me that I have totally blown my blogging schedule! Sheesh! So here I sit apologizing to the world for having let my schedule get completely messed up.

So here’s how I’ll make it up to you. I’m adding one of the pictures that I sent to the cover designer for the next PRINCESS KANDAKE book.

The Costumes

I told that I've been busy working on the costumes for the next, and future, Princess Kandake book covers. I will be in California this weekend getting shots of every possible costume combination.

So here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what the princess will be wearing.
This is her crown. the reason for the twin cobra heads is that Nubia believed that it would rule Egypt again one day. Every crown after 750 BC sported the twin cobras. So the costume has a cool bit of history added. Here are three different hand painted lengths of fabric that can be tied into many different styles. There is also a necklace with the sample emblem that is on the crown.

Next week I hope to post some of the photos of the beautiful princess in costume.

Beyond Beyond Books

Hello Everyone! I’ve been away for a while. I’ve been busy trying to put my new business together. Today is the official launching. I am now Beyond Beyond Books! I even had a logo designed.

See…

What do you think?

I have a brand: Stephanie Jefferson, action ‘Tween writer. I have a platform: I write clean, safe books for the ‘Tween audience. I have a business plan and a marketing plan.

Just so you know, my goal for 2013 is to publish book #2 of the Princess Kandake series. I also plan to launch a ‘boy’ book series, Street Guardians. The first book will debut Thanksgiving weekend 2013.

I can’t tell you how excited I am, but I know this will keep me busier than a                                        . You fill in the blank.

Well, I’ve got to go. There’s so much for me to do!

If a Tree Falls in the Forrest…

A few days ago Publisher’s Weekly announced that Penguin Group had purchased ASI, an independent author’s service company. It would appear that the Biggies in the traditional publishing world are waking up to the fact that they can neither control nor stop the independent movement. But my question is, how does Penguin plan to use this acquisition?


Will it function as an imprint? Will they treat ASI the same way Amazon treats Create Space, as a subsidiary? Or will they use it as a hedge against possible losses given the growth of the Indie publishing?
Hmmm. However they choose to use it you can be sure we Indies are not going away.


This acquisition causes me to wonder two things: 1) Is Penguin trying to maintain their slice of the publishing pie by grabbing whatever they can of the Independent dollars? or 2) Is this their way of getting a foothold in the Indie realm?


In either case, we are watching you, Penguin. You chopped down your first tree. We heard it fall!

Fridays R 4 Fun!

 There are meals, home cooked or otherwise, that make me drool and still others that bring me comfort. But these bits of cuisine make me smile or outright giggle. These are a few!

 This one is cute and still looks tasty! This does too, but I’m not sure what animal it is. Care to guess? It’s pretty clear that these are watermelon.   But I don’t know if I’d eat them.  Take a look at this next one. I’m sure I wouldn’t eat it.  It’s just too weird!
These are funny. No problem eating them.
Yep, I’d laugh with every bite. And these are just plain cute.  
And this last one is for my friend Maria Toth. She’d slap this on her table in a heartbeat!

Revelation!

It’s time to get serious! If anyone had asked me if I take my writing seriously, my answer would have been, “Of course I do!” I guess you’d have to define the word, seriously.


I've been doing some studying about marketing. That led me to promotion, which led me to platform, and finally to brand. What I've learned so far is that I’ve been playing at this writing thing.

That caused me to have a real ‘sit-down conversation’ with myself. My first revelation was that what I thought was a goal, wasn’t. At the very least it’s not a long-term goal. So I had to set a list of real goals for myself. Then I had to determine what my brand is and following that would be my platform. I’m still in the process of pulling it all together, but I’ve come to the conclusion that what I have is a business!

I never set out the become a business owner. All I wanted to do (or so I thought) was write some books. Well, things are never as simple as we think they are.

So now I have a business name, brand, and platform that I must launch. There are still a lot of things to get in order before that can happen.

What about you? What are your writing revelations?

Leimert Park Book Fair

My very first book fair! I had a blast. There were lots of people. It seemed like everyone was glad to to be there.
Here we are in our Princess Kandake finery setting up . The little blue things lined up on the table are offerings of bubble gum.
We got the displays ready and had our stock waiting for the customers to beat a path to our table.  THEY CAME! Young , old and every age in between. And they were buying I was signing books, passing out cards, and talking about the history of Nubia.
I had such a good time. I can’t wait to do it all again.

Website Blues

I need a mad scientist! Someone who can clean up my website AND write boomerang code. Boomerang code would be something that detects destructive code and turns it back on the people who wrote it and those who tried to use it.

Within the last week or so some evil villain inserted a string of code onto my website that corrupted my data base. I hired a company to go in and clean it up, but it looks like the villain may have changed some of the passwords and locked us out!

Now I may have to take the whole thing down and rebuild it. AUUUGH!

I really don’t understand what they get out of doing something like this. Sheesh! I guess it’s like a friend told me, “Some people are the flowers of the world and others are the fertilizer.”

Fridays R 4 Fun!

Hi Everyone. Today I'm not having too much fun. I still sorting out the problems with my website. But there's no reason you shouldn't enjoy yourselves. This short video cracked my up! Take a look.

This gave me the laugh that I desperately needed!

Where the Stories Come From

Someone once asked me where I got the ideas for my stories. My response was, everywhere.

I’m an observer of life. I watch everything. I could be in the mall, out in the park, or on a hike and ideas flood into my mind. They come from the people I see, the way clouds float in the sky, or even the way a trash can could be overflowing.

I have recently started a kayaking class. Fortunately for me it takes place in a swimming pool so should I need to make a ‘wet exit’ (escaping from an overturned kayak) I only have to swim as far as the side of the pool.

Well, last week I was sitting in the kayak and my eye caught the way the paddle cut into the water and a story began to form in my mind. What would happen if we could stroke space like that and change the way the stars and planets were aligned?

Then…suppose an entire galaxy was being rearranged and swept away because of a careless being rowing across the universe without caution. How would the others stop him/her/it? Would there be a war? What would be the outcome? Would they be able to put things back where they belong? How?

I’m not quite sure how this story ends, but when I figure it out, it will appear on my website.

Fridays R 4 Fun!

It’s summertime and that means going to the fair! I love the fair. Every year they introduce all kinds of things. One of my favorites is “fair food”. I get to try new exciting recipes and some things that are just plain strange.

Here’s a list of just a few of the things I have tried at the County Fair.
Chicken Fried Bacon – Of course this one was  yummy. Everything is good with bacon!
Fried Avocado Bite – This wasn’t bad. I would have liked it if they had seasoned the avocado, you know, added some spices to it.
Spaghetti and Meatball on a stick – I haven’t tried this one, but it sounds like something I’d might like.
Fried Frog’s Legs – I’m not sure I’m this adventurous, yet. I will say that people were eating a lot of these.
Hot Beef Sundae – This screams comfort food. It has nothing to do with ice cream, it just looks like it does. this wonderful dish is made with mashed potatoes, slow roasted beef and gravy, and topped with a cherry tomato. Yum!
Pizza Cones – Oh yeah! This one’s for me. A cone of pizza dough filled with sauce, cheese and pepperoni!
Krispy Kreme Chicken Sandwich – I think I’ll pass on this one, too. I love Krispy Kreme doughnuts, but adding chicken and Swiss cheese just are not for me.
Deep Fried Twinkies – This is my husband’s personal favorite! He loves Twinkies. He loves fried foods. Now they’ve been combined…he’s in heaven!
Fried Coca-Cola – I haven’t tried it but I think I would. Coke flavored batter that’s been deep fried, drizzled with coke syrup, add whipped cream, and dusted with cinnamon-sugar. It actually sounds good to me.
Key Lime Pie on a Stick – At the fair anything on a stick has to be good! Just think, a frozen slice of key lime pie, dip it in dark chocolate, and put it on a stick. Oh yeah, chow down!
I can’t wait for the fair to begin! What’s your favorite “fair food”?

Writing for My Readers!

People have often asked me why I write. The answer is an easy one. I write for the people who will read it.

There is nothing that gives me greater pleasure than finding the perfect word. I love crafting a line that fills the readers’ mind with a panoramic view of what is happening in the story. But I will confess, my favorite thing is creating a character for the reader to hate!

Why? I’m not really sure, but it ties in with making the main character more believable and loveable. It has something to do with getting the reader to cheer for the protagonist’s accomplishments. But, I think most of all it has to do with creating strong emotion within the reader

Now for my next confession, I’ll tell you what a cannot write. I cannot write a character who is weak, at least not yet. I’m sure it’s a personal issue, but I’m positive I can and will overcome it.

Honestly, it doesn’t matter what I write as long as I’m able to take my reader on a journey! That’s my most favorite thing to do, carry the reader to a world that I have created and making them believe it.

Important Lessons

As you all already know, we lost one of the greats, Ray Bradbury. Blogs, Facebook status updates, and YouTube videos were flooded with words and video shorts about the man or his writing.

I received an email from a writer friend, Maria Cisneros Toth, containing a link to one of his lectures. Man, I wish I had been on the campus of that university to participate.

Mr. Bradbury spoke of his beginnings, of how he ‘stumbled’ into getting published, and how his inspirations came to him. The humility of this man was beyond compare.

He encouraged every writer in that room and all of those writers who have and will view this video. He spoke about the necessity of reading. He said that every writer must read, but he gave us specifics on what to read. He said that every day a writer must read a poem, a short story, and an essay. Then he gave the instruction to write and for that writing to be any good, it had to be something that we love.

He inspired me beyond anything I can tell you. I plan to watch that video several more times because I know there is more information and encouragement to gain with each viewing.

Thank you Mr. Bradbury and thank you Maria for sending me the link.

The Perfect Perspective!

Last fall I was preparing to release the first book In my PRINCESS KANDAKE  series as an Indie Author. I shopped around for people and blogs to review the book and came across a blog that I thought would be the perfect fit. We will leave it nameless.

I had received several very good responses from blogs, writers, and beta readers. I really wanted this particular blog to review it because I just knew it would position the release well for marketing and promotion.

Well, I was able to get them to read it and the blogger hated it! She didn’t dislike it, she hated it. She said that the protagonist was whiny. She said that she couldn’t believe anyone would act like that. And the worst thing she said was that the book was one hundred pages too long!

Her words pretty much destroyed every shred of hope and pride I had taken in the work. So much so that I had decided that the book was no where near ready to release. I was prepared to throw the whole thing away!

Fortunately, I have really good writing friends. They encouraged me to set the manuscript aside and think about things. They also asked some very good questions. Who was this blogger? What was her area of expertise? Why did her opinion carry so much weight?

Three months later I decided that one blogger’s opinion was not strong enough to wipe away the opinion of other writers and professional reviews like Publishers Weekly. I went forward with my publishing plans and released the book, PRINCESS KANDAKE: Warrior by Choice…Appointed to Rule. It is doing really well.

Today I came across an awesome blog post: How to Respond to Negative Reviews by Beth Revis. It is required reading for every writer. I wish I’d had it available to me last Fall. Click on the link and read it now before you write another word!

The United States: My Country

This is a day of remembering all who have fought for this country that I love. This is a day of remembering everything that this country is worth. Today I am reminded that there are those who love this country so much that they would die for it. I cannot thank them enough.

Men and women have given us the ultimate gift. They have given their lives protecting this land so that we can go about our daily business. We owe them and their families.

It is our duty to repay what we can. Part of that repayment is to vote at every opportunity. Part of that repayment is to not allow partisanship to divide us such that we destroy this great nation.

The United States of America is a great country! Yes, it has flaws, but there are so many things right with it! I will stand by it! Today I invite you to stand by it. I invite you to be willing to agree to disagree instead of destroying what so many have died to preserve.

We will always have differing opinions and that is what makes this country great! Thank you for remembering that with me.

I’m Studying: Marketing, Promoting, and all that jazz.

Hey guess what? I’m in the process of figuring out how to be truly successful as an author. I thought honing my writing skills to a fine point was the most important part of success, but it’s only part of the package. The other part is marketing and promoting. It turns out these are just as important, so now I’m on a hunt to learn as much as I possibly can.
My first lesson is telling me that I need to change my media audience and the way I’ve been approaching that audience. So now I know that I have to do it all differently, but I still have yet to learn what that looks like.
Well, folks that means changes they are a-coming. But I can’t tell you when that will happen until I know what know what needs to happen. Very crazy making.
Sheesh! This writing thing is so much harder than I ever thought it would be.

Where I’ve Been

I haven’t disappeared. I’ve been on book tour! I released PRINCESS KANDAKE in February and everything exploded! I have made several trips to California to present and sell my book and I have another planned for next month. Then I get to present in Arizona for a bit.

I had no idea there was so much work involved in being published. Talking about the history of the book and the ancient kingdom of Nubia have been a blast. I’m worn out, but I can’t wait to do more!

Now all I have to do is figure out how to maintain my writing schedule, my travel schedule and budget, blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. I’m not complaining, not by a long shot. It’s just that I had no idea the amount of work that would be involved. I’m open to suggestions, hints, and advice on that score.

Success is great! In the first six weeks of the book’s release, I’ve sold over 300 copies and the numbers are climbing. Am I excited? I’m delirious!

I’m adding a Book Tour page to my website. Check it out. Soon there will even be a picture of me with the cover model!

Introducing Haley Whitehall, author!

Here’s a chance for you all to meet an author friend of mine. Haley is a history buff who writes great novels circa Civil War era. Why? Because she loves history and has found a way to make it an adventure for all of us.


But that’s not what she’s posting about. Today’s post has to do with the wonderful craft of writing. But I’ll let her tell you about that herself. So Haley, tell them what you told me.

Are You Nervous About Your Work? That’s Good.

By Haley Whitehall

Are you nervous about your work? Do you have niggling doubts as you write? Do these doubts continue as you edit? Are you worried that your characters are relatable? Are you worried what readers are going to think?

That’s good! That means you care. That means you are striving to do your best.

Jane Friedman wrote an article about Placing Too Much Importance on Passion. The problem about the word “passion” is that is hard to define. When someone says they have passion, what do they mean? Jane Friedman likes the word commitment. According to her, a writer needs to be committed to his work and the best kind of commitment (which is often hard to find) is coupled with passion.

Siddhartha Herdegen’s definition of passion: Passion is a deep connection to an idea, a strong bond which creates a feeling of desire. It contains elements of both commitment and excitement but is not limited to them.

While I agree with this, I would like to add another necessary word: nervousness.

If you are committed to your work, you will be nervous that you had done the best work possible. These concerns will push you to work harder. These concerns will drive you to justify your decisions.

If you are not nervous about your work, are you writing too safely? Are you writing with comfortable clichéd words and sentences? Is there no controversy that could be caused by your work? Are you not pushing the bounds of your abilities?

I am very nervous about my debut historical fiction novel Living Half Free (and very proud of it!) Why am I nervous? I have a unique writing style; will it be accepted by my readers? My story is “out of the box” and does not fit the mainstream historical genre; will people even buy the book? I’ve had agents tell me it was too different. Can a story be too different? Will I be called a racist? Stranger things have happened, and writing about the antebellum south can be a dangerous tightrope to walk.

While I am nervous about all these things, I believe in my story. I know I have done my best work possible. I will continue taking writing classes and pushing myself to improve, but Living Half Free is ready for the world. A writer puts himself/herself out there when they publish a book. Sometimes the criticism is hard to take, but I do not let it get me down. I know it is an often used saying, but I believe it to be the truth, a writer is their own worst critic. No one can take a harsher view of my writing than me. That strong nervousness drives me to make another editing pass when I am already sick of my characters.

Are you nervous about your work?

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Want to know more about Living Half Free? Here is the blurb:

When Zachariah, a naïve mulatto slave, is sold to a Kentucky slave trader, and separated from his ma and sister, he realizes the true meaning of not having rights. Singled out for abuse by his new master’s sadistic son, he dreams of only one thing: escape. He thinks he’s found it when he falls in love with a Cherokee woman from a powerful family, under whose direction he learns to pass as white. But it’s not long before he discovers that freedom that’s based on a lie will only get him so far. While struggling to find his place in the world, he also wrestles within his heart to realize his faith. This faith is tested when his slave past catches up with him, and threatens everyone he cares for. He must decide whether slavery is the price he’s willing to pay for his family’s freedom.  

Bio:

HALEY WHITEHALL has a B.A in history and has been studying the Civil War era since the 5th grade. Her writing style is Mark Twain with a little more faith. She likes to write out of the box stories that feature an underdog. LIVING HALF FREE is her debut novel. Released February 29, the ebook can be found at Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords. Find out more about Haley through her website or connect with her on Twitter @HaleyWhitehall or Facebook.