Cut Like Glass

One of the things I really enjoy writing is novelettes.  I wish I had discovered them sooner.  They are SO MUCH FUN!

'Cut Like Glass' is my latest.  Here's the synopsis!

Bart has a two-week dating pattern.  He wins them over with dinner dates, evenings out, and lavish experiences, but dumps them at the end of the fourteen days.  He doesn't mind the mascara smears because they are not on him.  

What will happen when his driver picks up the wrong girl and brings her to his mansion in the mountains? 

Let's talk about the cover.  I bought a cover through GetCovers ages ago because I started this story ages ago.  The original cover looked just like the one to the right except that the couple was not there. It was simply a picture of some very magical-looking glass.  The more I thought about it, the more I felt that the cover simply would not do for the Inkitt release.  There were two reasons why the cover was bad the way it was.  One was that a book cover should convey the genre of the book if nothing else.  The magical glass wasn't doing that.  This is a contemporary romance.  Secondly, I have been noticing that covers with couples on them do better on Inkitt.  So... I opted to use the cover I bought before with the addition of the married couple on the front.  I used the cover just the way I bought it for the RoyalRoad release because they hate romance, but they come and read it anyway.  They just don't like it, favorite it, add reviews, or comment.  But they come and read it anyway.  

Now for the story.  It turned out beautifully.  It's 17K, but when you read it, it will feel like you've read 3K.  It's light as a feather and easier to gobble than cotton candy.  Your eyes will eat ten pages and you'll think you've eaten three.  I was surprised that the final word count was as high as 'Tiny Wishes' and 'Born in January'.  It's exactly the same length.  Oddly enough, 'Heart's Key' is the same length too.  17K is just lucky for me.  This book is eight chapters instead of eighteen.

I'm releasing it on Inkitt https://www.inkitt.com/StephanieVanOrman

And Quotev https://www.quotev.com/StephanieVanOrman

And RoyalRoad https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/81328/cut-like-glass

I will release the last chapter this upcoming Tuesday.  

  

New Year - New Projects

Hello Ink Drinkers,

Soooooooo... It's the new year.  I didn't join a gym.  I barely remembered to drink something bubbly on New Year's Eve.  

This last year, my personal goal didn't have anything to do with writing.  Ever since I gave up trying to make money with my writing, I just do what makes me happy as a writer and move on.  With that mentality, I released four science fiction novels this year and two novelettes (one fantasy, one contemporary).  So, I'm a beast... I get it.  I also experienced a HUMONGOUS leap in hits and downloads.  So, refusing to focus on writing worked out well for me.  

All last year, I focussed on fashion.  I wore a different thing to church every Sunday for the entire year.  IT WAS AMAZING!  Honestly, I have rarely had so much fun.  I had so many options of what to wear when all the holiday parties hit.  I didn't even fuss.  I just walked into my closet (which isn't as cool as it sounds) and chose something to wear (which was way cooler than it sounds).   It was such a riot that when I tried to figure out what to do with myself this coming year, I found myself wondering if I could just do another year of fashion.  Honestly, when I think of that, it sounds amazing, but... I don't think I can dress much better than the people around me without causing a completely unnecessary problem.  I mean, I'm an old hag, but I was hit on by five teenage boys in the mall this last year.  They didn't even notice the gray hair.

Anyway, another year of fashion is out.  So, I thought of making my own hair accessories.  I have a lot of hair and I could always use more, but hair accessories are a younger woman's game.  I craft quite a lot.  I had one year where I crocheted an afghan every two months, so I had six at the end of the year.  

*Sigh* This post is shaping up like whatever bloggers put before they share a recipe.

I decided to do audiobooks.  

First, I started making audiobooks on GooglePlay.  From the selections available in the dropdown menu, they only let you make AI audiobooks, so I started doing that.  Fighting with GooglePlay is not my strong suit.  It tends to win, so I've been fighting with it this week.  So far, I have live audiobooks on GooglePlay for:

Tiny Wishes

The Blood that Flows

Whenever You Want

Kiss of Tragedy

Behind His Mask: The First Spell Book

Hidden Library: The Second Spell Book

If I'm a good girl, I should have the rest finished by the end of the month.  However, that's not really what I want.  Frankly, after experimenting with AI, I have to say... it doesn't swear very well.  I don't put a lot of bad words in my books.  I leave them out because using swear words all the time turns me into the boy who cried wolf.  If my books are littered with strong language, what do I do when I want to imply the severity of the situation?  That's right.  When I use strong language, I want it to pop.  It doesn't pop when being read by an AI.  If anything, it makes the swear words sound ridiculous.

Anyway, I'm experimenting with making audio books myself.  I'll start small and see how it goes. 

I also have a big snarly stack of unfinished novelettes and other goodies.  I made a list of all my unfinished projects that I hope to finish and the list was long.  

We'll see what I can accomplish this year, but if I'm really productive, I'll have proper audiobooks that have not been read by AI.  Seriously, tell your Google to pronounce 'Damn it' for you and see what you think.