crowdfunding

Work In Progress

Posted on February 23, 2017February 23, 2017 by sidraowens

So, for those of you who do follow me, I have not been posting much. Just here and there. And there are multiples reasons for that. First of all, life just happens, and you get caught up in work and home and attending to the needs of those you hold most dear, as well as yourself. But all that aside, I am currently in the middle the self-publishing process for my very first novel.

I had to go back through it and re-edit, of course, but now I have been working out the details of the book layout and I am super, super excited. Granted, a lot of this process has been sitting and thinking.

I had to come up with a back cover, which wasn’t too incredibly difficult, and then I had to do a headline for the back cover, which was difficult, especially since I had no idea what that was. Then there was designing the front cover, finding the right image, and the right color, but the hardest part was the author bio. Author biographies are always difficult, at least for me, because you have to consider what you want to say about yourself. Your first thought is… There’s nothing to say. Admittedly, this is my first book. I haven’t won any awards, no writing contests, nothing to pad my literary resume and make someone say, “Hmm, she seems promising.” I just have stories to tell; characters that are just bursting at the seams to express themselves. So after days of pondering what I should put in the author bio, discussing it with my made, and swimming through the drowning pool of self-doubt, I decided to use my author bio to brief touch on the source of my inspiration, rather than a bullet point list of accolades (which don’t exist anyway).

I checked so many websites trying to explain what an author bio should be, or what a back cover should be, and honestly, they are all appealing to the wants of a traditional publishing house. Since I am not going the traditional avenue, I thought, “Screw it. I’m gonna do what bests fits me and this manuscript.”

As I indicated above, I am super excited. I think my excitement grows as each step in the process goes by. I will be making updates until the finished product is available.

I will be doing this repeatedly for a long time, but I want to extend my profound thanks to all of those who have supported me, both in words and in deeds, by donating to my gofundme. I never would have been able to do any of this without you.

-If you have enjoyed my commentary or my short stories, then please check out my youtube channel, The Wicked Orchard; where you can listen to me read my short stories

-And don’t forget to check out Comparative Reasoning here on wordpress for written commentary on a whole hosts of topics.

-If you’d rather listen than read, definitely check out Comparative Reasoning on youtube, where you’ll hear of earful of social, economic and political commentary.

Next Leg of the Journey

Posted on January 16, 2017January 16, 2017 by sidraowens

It’s Monday morning and we are just over half way through the first month of the new year. Time flies, as we all know and learn the older we get. I haven’t been posting as much, because I finally finished my fifth book, and I have been spending a good deal of my writing and posting time, editing it. With the editing complete, and the title chosen and firmly in place, it is time to place my focus back on my very first completed manuscript.

Back in mid-2016, I started a Gofundme so that I could self-publish my first book. During that time, I have received a lot of generous support, donations and well wishes from co-workers, old friends and loved ones; and now, after reaching my Gofundme goal, I am ready to begin the self-publishing process. I want to give my profound thanks to all those who have and are supporting me throughout this process and cheering on, as this journey proceeds.

I was advised by my significant other to give, my first manuscript another read through for continuity and editing purpose, and although I am eager to continue research, and begin work on my next story, I am going to heed his advice and give the first manuscript another read. With this being said, my posting may not be as frequent as it once was, but sometimes when you begin a new leg of a journey, it requires all of your focus until you hit your stride.

In the meantime, I thank all those who check up on my blog to see what I am up to, and I will still be posting and commenting on those that I follow, as well as others that may sudden strike my fancy. And of course, you never know, if the mood hits just right, I might be busting at the seams with something to say. One never can tell.

Bringing Stories To The World

Posted on October 14, 2016October 15, 2016 by sidraowens

“I want to live!”

Overly dramatic?? Maybe. But as each day passes that exclamation rings louder and louder in my head. See, I’m a writer. I have never been published unfortunately; but my goal of becoming published, whether traditionally or untraditionally has not faltered.

Everyday this exclamation cycles through my mind. No, it is not the early signs of mental break. They are my characters. I have four fully completed manuscripts; all full of characters who are ready to replay their story over and over again for whoever is willing to crack the binding, or load a web page and read it.

I long for the day when everyone will have the opportunity to love my characters, as much as I do; or to hate them for that matter. So until that day arrives I will continue to strive to publish what I have completed and to continue to improve my craft so that I can create more universes for us all to lose ourselves in.

I have an active Gofundme Campaign so that I can self-publish my first novel. Any donations or assistance would be welcome and appreciated. For those of you who are wondering, “I’m not sure if I want give my money to this. What if her writing is awful?” That would be a fair query, and no one should dive into to anything without doing the research. I have all of my short stories posted on my website under Completed Short Fiction. Please take a look and see if you enjoy what I have to offer. Now, if you are one of the millions of us, who doesn’t have a lot time to read, I am also reading my own short stories and posting the audio up on youtube on The Wicked Orchard . This way you can load the entire playlist for Quittin’ Time, my first short story, and listen while you’re driving to work, doing the dishes or on your way to sleep. If my style of writing doesn’t appeal to you, I completely understand, but if you do enjoy it, consider donating, or at least share with anyone you think might be interested. More than raising money, I want people to enjoy my stories. I want to invoke all of the emotions that have laced in every word. I want to make people feel and hopefully make them think, too.