The Jinn Trilogy

The release of the first book in the Jinn Trilogy, Ember, is just around the corner, so I thought I would tell you why I decided to expand the Guardian Trilogy.

It actually happened while I was writing the Guardian Trilogy. The closer I got to the end the more I didn’t want to write. I had been with Olivia, Holden, Femi, and Baker for so long it was hard to end it. Thus the idea for the Jinn Trilogy started taking root.

The Guardian Trilogy was Olivia’s story. She figured out who she was and where she fit into the world. We saw snippets of Holden’s world but not much beyond that. Mostly, the story dealt with the guardian and Heaven side of things, the light.

The Jinn Trilogy picks up after the Guardian Trilogy. About a year has passed and Baker is attacked. Did you really think Hell would let Holden just walk away after investing decades into him. *raises eyebrow* This series will be about the darkness. The players are more powerful and infinitely more dangerous, the stakes are higher, and the losses are more devastating. It is told from Olivia, Holden, and Baker’s point of view.

Any time I write a book there are certain songs that make me think of the characters and the emotions they are going through in the story. I can’t always listen to music while I write (I find it distracting), but I will listen to songs on repeat before I write a scene to set the emotional mood in my mind. The songs are always chosen for their emotional impact and how they make me feel in relation to what is happening in the story.

With the Guardian Trilogy my songs were:

Secrets: Samson- Regina Spektor



Choices: Jar of Hearts- Christina Perri



Consquences: Goodbye My Lover- James Blunt



For Ember the song I listened to the most because it spoke to me on many different levels about different relationships in the story is I Know You Care by Ellie Goulding.



That’s all I have for today. Check back next week to hear about Baker’s Christmas short story Good Tidings and how it relates to what’s happening in the Jinn Trilogy.

Liz

How Much Can Indie Authors Realistically Make?

BadRedheadMedia.com
Guest post by Liz Schulte

Have you ever wondered if writing is the “get-rich-quick” scheme that you thought it was? Simple answer – nope.

I shared my insights on authorship, self-publishing, marketing, writing and income in my guest blog post at

badredheadmedia.com.

Briefly, there is no cookie cutter formula to writing success and book promotion. You have to carve out your own voice and promotion strategies. It’s not easy but it’s possible. You cannot count on being a one-book wonder either. It takes effort and investment to get your book out into the market.

For more insights and my three years of numbers check it out here.

Happy Thanksgiving

I am going to try to be serious for just a moment, though like many of my characters I am a tad allergic to being sentimental (just know part of me really wants to talk about the little things that are overlooked like hair ties and yoga pants and the pure joy of driving a dog crazy by blowing in its face). However, I am truly grateful and thankful for all of you for allowing me to do what I love. Thank you for coming through journey after journey into my sometimes twisted and strange imagination and for trusting me to get you to the end relatively unharmed. I am grateful you allow me into your lives every single day, but due to sometimes overwhelming sense of snarkiness, I only express it one day a year. Gobble, gobble,nap. -Liz

Age is a state of mind.

This blog post has nothing to do with writing. Sorry. It is more of an epiphany. I woke up one morning and I was old. I am not saying old as in age, because I am not that old, but old as in my habits are becoming that of a senior citizen. I am not sure how it happened, but it has. Let me present the evidence to you, my peers.      

• I used to watch independent movies and Arrested Development, now I watch HGTV and the Voice. Sure,  Property Brothers and Income Property are awesome and so addictive, but cool points, probably not high. Too make matter worse…I don’t even care. I like home improvement even if I am a ruiner and the judges on the Voice make me laugh. 
• I have a twitchy back from an injury that happened while I was sleeping. *shakes head*
•  I used to go out, probably too much (see just acknowledging I went out too much is old. Balls!). Now I prefer to stay in so I don’t have to fight the crowds.
• I have two day hangovers. Seriously, that  makes you question every drink you take. Is this vodka tonic worth a two day headache when you have a deadline looming? Probably not.
• I used to contemplate selling internal organs so I could quit my job and move to Italy and drink. (May not have been the best plan since it hinged on missing vital organs and drinking excessively, but every plan has its flaw--true story). Now I contemplate marketing strategies and weekend trips to wineries.  But on a side note, now I love my job.
• I don’t know what YOLO means and I don’t fucking care. 
•  I think Miley Cyrus should put some pants on and stop licking things, not because she is setting back feminism or anything. Mostly just because she is becoming like the word moist…disgusting.
•  I stopped taking naps because I know I won’t be able to sleep at night.
•  I have started censoring my weirdness because I am tired of explaining myself. (Wrinkled balls!)
•  Getting my new Martha Stewart Living magazine and picking out recipes to make is more exciting to me than free concert tickets (see note above about crowds). *flail*

That’s all I have for right now. I am pretty certain things will only get worse from here. Who knows what’s next? Ensure? Elastic pants? Questionable makeup? Driving under the speed limit? Hmm whatever the future may hold I accept it, because truth be told, it has been one hell of a ride.

Curmudgeoningly (old people are allowed to make up words) Yours,

Liz

Just because I am scared of fish, doesn’t mean I can’t snorkel

We all have something in life we are scared of doing—some of us have many things. I am personally afraid of a lot. I am scared of stupid stuff like spiders, Jack Nicholson, and fish touching me, but then I am also scared of intangible things: loss and failure. I have learned something, though.

Fear is a poison.  It will hold you back in everything you want to do. Fear will prevent you from living.

This weekend I flew to the DC area because I have an interview on a small local cable show to talk about my newest mystery, the Ninth Floor. Doing this interview scares the crap out of me. When I think about it my stomach hurts, my temperature rises, and I want to pass out. I tell myself, and anyone who asks, things  like “I am not a public speaker”, “I am going to make an ass out of myself and end up at Youtube sensation”,  and “I should call, better yet email, and tell them I can’t make it.”

On the plane I thought about my life and how I got to this position where I have published nine books, am supporting myself with my writing alone, done numerous radio interviews, and now my first TV appearance. The answer was simple. I got here because I did things that scare me. I may whine, I may complain, I may drag my feet, but damn it I do it.

It is scary to tell people you are writing a book. It is scary to meet other writers. It is scary to let someone read your writing—and not just the first time, it is scary every time. It is scary to send your manuscript to a critique partner. Sending your book to the editor will feel about as pleasant as waiting for news back from a doctor after they had to run tests. When it comes the time to publish your book it isn’t scary, it is terrifying…and it is every single time you do it.

However, if you don’t do it, you will never know what you could accomplish. If you never sit down and write those first words—bad or good— you will never know how far you can go. Fear will tell you that you aren’t good enough. You will never be as good as whatever author you are comparing yourself to.  But fear isn’t always so straight forward either. It will also be sneaky. Fear will supply excuses for not finishing your work. It will make you quit once you have started. It will tell you that you are a perfectionist and allow you to keep going over and over the same material, but it will never let you move forward. Fear will keep you from finishing a project by distracting you with another one. It will allow you to not write, make you want to do anything else but write—even clean. Fear is that soothing voice that calls you to corner and wraps you in a warm blank, promising to protect you from the big bad world who wants nothing more than to laugh at you when you fail.

What fear will never do is make you successful. Success comes with risks. Success comes with putting yourself out for the world despite the fact that you are afraid. So what if you embarrass yourself? So what if someone hates your book? How does any of that hurt you? Embarrassment will fade and for every person that hates your book there will be ten others who love it. For every excuse you give yourself why you can’t do something, there are countless other reason why you can do it. For every mistake you make, you will learn how to do it better the next time because for successful people there is always a next time. You aren’t alone in feeling like this. We all feel this way, but the people who do the best are the ones who realize, these things don’t matter.

I believe this applies to all areas in life. Not just to writers. The things that scare you the most, that move you outside of your comfort zone and challenge you are the ones that are most worth doing. Living is comprised of the moments you defy fear and try. Don’t be afraid to live. You will stumble, you will fall down, but every time you stand back up the fear gets quieter and you move a little closer to realizing your dreams. 

20 Things About Liz Schulte #meetREB #rebelwriters

What is REB? Why thank you for asking. It is Romantic Edge Books. It is a conglomerate of nine authors who have built friendships on their mutual love of writing and reading in the romance genre.

Who are the authors? You came to the right place. Learn all about us in each of our 20 things post.  Check out mine below, then follow the link below for the posts by Melissa Lummis ~ Olivia Hardin ~ C.G. Powell ~ Stephanie Nelson ~ Lola James ~ Mandie Stevens ~ Amanda Latzel~ Tawdra Kandle.

 20 Things About Me!

Liz has double jointed thumbs (not as useful as it sounds, but I would make a hell of a hitchhiker).

Liz can quote nearly every line of Christmas Vacation and Tango and Cash (impressive, I know).

Liz has terrible, terrible handwriting.

Liz is a hopeless LOTR fan (and believes everyone should know what that stands for).

Liz thinks Mr. Rochester could kick Mr. Darcy’s ass, but she also thinks Heathcliff would take them both out like a ninja. 

Liz and Lola James

Liz’s first books crush was Damon Salvatore from Vampire Diaries (stupid Stefan).
Liz was also an avid fan of (and this is slightly embarrassing) The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley Twins.
Liz didn’t know she wanted to be a writer until after she wrote her first book. She thought she wanted to be a lawyer, silly Liz.
If Liz were stranded on a desert island she would take Michael Fassbender and mojitos. She may not survive, but she is okay with that.

Mojitos!


Liz is crafty…more like Martha Stewart than the Beastie Boys.
Liz used to be funny…it went away.
Liz watches the Godfather far too often and talks about it like they are real people.
Liz has one solitary paranormal experience and it is kind of weird.
Liz likes wine and vodka, but not together (sicko).
Liz thinks Hannibal Lecter is the best villain ever written.
Liz went to see New Kids On the Block, Boys to Men, and 98 Degrees…this year *hides face* with Amanda Latzel.

Liz and Amanda

Liz hates public speaking. She talks too fast and laughs a lot when she is nervous.
Liz thinks the meaning of life is cheese.
Liz thinks DiGiorno tastes nothing like delivery.
When Liz grows up she is going to marry Batman.

Thanks for stopping by. Now meet the others! Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter for new releases and great romance books deals. 

Pickup Styx

It's here!


Book three of my Easy Bake Coven series has been released!

*insert celebratory cheering and happy dances here....it's okay we'll wait for you*

Selene and Cheney are almost to happily ever after. Just one small promise stands in their way. The spirits make a request Selene can’t refuse without forfeiting her soul, but to fulfill their desire, she will have to sacrifice her life. Traveling to a world beyond the reach of the living, Selene has to dig deep within herself to find a way back home. 
The kingdom trembles on the edge of political upheaval and fae of all shapes and sizes are being murdered. The further Cheney digs into these mysterious deaths, the more skeletons he unearths from his family’s past. Sometimes, the truth can kill you. 
In a race against the clock, Selene and Cheney stumble through an emotional and physical journey to make it back to one another. Will they find a way back to one another or are not all love stories meant to have a happily ever after?

Where can you get it? Well so far on Amazon or Smashwords. Barnes and Noble and iBooks are on their way. 

Now Holden calls to me. Back to working on Ember: Book 1 of the Jinn Trilogy.