Little Advice/Help

Asking for Advice:

I would like to ask for advice/help from any independent authors who come across this blog post.
While the books I would like to publish through Amazon at some point are not done, I am trying to make sure I understand the process before I finish one of the books so I am ready when they are.

Question 1: I was reading through Amazons page on KDP, and such, it mentioned that I have to have exclusive rights to my book to publish them. Do I have to do anything special, pay some company in order to claim I own my book- as in copy right or something- or is it by default mine unless I sold it to a publishing company?

Question 2: What about commissioning the cover of the book? I have commissioned it from a friend and she knows I want it for a book cover. Am I golden to use it as the cover with amazon, because I have permission from the artist?

Question 3: Is there a link you can give me to a good source for independent publishing, in case I have any other questions about the process?

Question 4: What do you suggest about editing? I know there will be errors that I won't catch and I would like to fix that, what do you suggest for getting a story edited before publishing?

Thank you so much, for anyone who helps me to answer these questions!
I have read various tips and such in blogs, but it never hurts to have a nice large rang of advice on a topic.

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About WOVaN Project & Modern Magic:

The search is finished! I did find the story. I also found a whole bunch of old crappy stories I wrote 11 years ago as well. I did find a few old Floppy's which could have more stories. I am glad my parents haven't gotten rid of their old tower yet, we have a new one, but the old one is still nearby and it has a floppy drive, at some point I will boot that old puppy up and about a half hour later I can pop in the floppy and see what is on it, assuming they still work.

WOVaN is coming together nicely. If you haven't guessed yet, WOVaN is going to be a collection of short stories. It will be a series- I have MANY short stories. The first won't have too many, a small collection. There is a completely new story-ish, the first paragraph is from an old story I found, but after that is all new that I have been working on. I think it's at 3,000 words, it might end up as a Novelette and be the focus story of the collection and then a couple shorter stories. We will see how it goes. One story you may recognize from here, but I changed and edited it. Then some older stories I wrote years ago- fixed up and edited.

One of many Shrimp we caught. Big suckers.

I am still working on Modern Magic too, right now its sort of just typing up notes from when I didn't have a laptop (which is a LOT) and then trying to organize them in the proper storyline order. Kind of a daunting task at the moment.

How I am doing:

Started my new job last Tuesday! I work 4-10. Yeah, that is right, three day weekends baby. I think I am going to love this job! NDA doesn't let me talk details, but I work for Microsoft thru Volt, game testing. Don't look to me for leaks, I want to keep my job. XP Lol, but I am enjoying it. Bugging and Crashing a Natal (Kinect) game. Fun, fun. The people I work with are so much fun. I have finally found the perfect work environment. I don't want to leave this job anytime soon!

Me and a Shrimp. See! Big suckers.

Also speaking of fun, that last weekend with that super warm and sunny-ness- while me and the sun don't get along, I had a fun and packed weekend.

Friday- I went shrimping with my dad, grandpa and uncle Scotty. Spent time on my grandpa's boat from 6am to about 5pm. Good times. I am happiest on a boat. I want to have my own boat one day and just spend hours out on the water, perhaps a few nights. I love laying down on a boat and rocking in the waves. So calming. I can't describe how relaxing being on a boat is for me. Being on a boat rids me of nausea, that's how relaxing it is.

Cute little Dwarf Cuttlefish.

Saturday- I went to Pike Place Market for the first time- I know, whats wrong with me? I have lived near Seattle my whole life and I had never been to Pike Place. But I enjoyed it, and now that I have a job I want to go back and buy things. Several things. I will go back sometime later this summer. Me and my mom also went to the Seattle Aquarium. I love that place. I love getting to see all sorts of sea life, so beautiful. Also cute. I think my favorite part of the Aquarium is the Octopus and the Harbor Seals. Then- is it horrible that I went to the aquarium, loved and enjoyed seeing all the sea life and then I went to have dinner at Ivar's? <.< I love sea life both to observing and also eating. yum. ^_^


Oh, lets go to Book corner for a moment:

 I still have so many books I want to read, I have over 120 samples waiting to be read and about 34 books I bought or found for free waiting to be read. I recently finished reading Gunship by John Davis. (The links are for Amazon) I believe the third book is due to be released soon, but I am not sure when. I haven't read the second book yet, Glimmeria, but it is on my list- in fact I should grab the sample to remind me. I did rather enjoy the book. It had a nice Firefly feel to it. I can match parallels to some of the characters. While the format of the books was hard to get used to, it was a great story. You grow to like the characters and so you want to continue to see how they are, if they are okay. If you enjoyed the show firefly, you will surely enjoy Gunship.

Right now I am currently catching up on Asimov magazine and then I will be back to reading Blood Skies by Steven Montano (@Daezarkian) Which I HIGHLY recommend. I haven't finished it yet, I am only on chapter 3, but I have to say: The world Steven Montano has eloquently painted with words is breathtaking & marvelous.

Me at Snoqualmie Falls on Mothers day

I don't know if this really fits into book corner, its a blog. I stumbled across @Suzisquared on twitter last night and by proxy I found her blog - Vampire Sexual Secrets. I have read a good deal of it by now and I will read more later tonight. But I have fallen in love with her blog and her Vampires. Ideal. That is the best word I can use. I have been seeking out Vampire since I was 4- so ever since I can remember I have gotten my hands on anything Vampire I could and while I will enjoy them on some level, some not, some I do love, but more often then not I would feel something is missing. Her Vampires, are probably the only ones that have made me feel- 'I finally found it.' Like I can take a breath and relax because I have found what I have been looking for all my life. I can't wait to get to the actual story, I am so excited. I have been reading through the other parts of her blog, which talk about her Vampires, the characters, and explaining things. Then I will read the actual story, which I am antici------------pating. Sorry, Rocky Horror Picture Show, can't help it.

Oh, and have you seen the English trailer for Kingdom Hearts? I am so excited to play! Can't wait! Already pre-ordered at Gamestop, and there will be a collectors edition through Gamestop, so when that is pre-orderable I will upgrade to that. Release date is nearly here! 7/31/12!

Alright, I think I have talked enough. Sorry for the lack of Short Story or a WOTDS. Had a busy first week of work, still getting used to it and I am feeling a little off. So what writing I can do I am putting towards WOVaN right now. This blog post- I have been slowly working on since last week. So my apologies, next post I will see what I can put together for you to read. For now, if you haven't read some of my other stories here is the WOTDS Guide and Short Stories Guide. I will leave you with that and back to editing WOVaN for me.

~Nekodra
Nekodra-blog@hotmail.com
@Nekodra

Psyched 2 Count Down

Its February! February means Psych! *Bounces* I cam almost taste the pineapplicious delight of Psych's return.

(From Psych USA's webpage, the Psych calendar count down.)

3 days till my dad gets back from Africa, 12 days till V-day, 14 days till my boyfriends B-day. 15 days till The Secret World of Arrietty. And only 27 more days till Psych!! Also 2 Months till Sakura-con! and 7ish months till Red Dwarf X >.< But anyways enough random-ish counting down. It is also the month where you are walking in a store and see out of the corner of your eye an aisle of pink. Nothing but pink o.o everything -pink- Its frightening. lol.


I actually haven't done too much writing the last few days. Sorta. Till today, o.o I did a lot of writing today, so yay for that. The problem I am having is- I want to write things that's too far into the book and they involve things I can't make a decisions on. >.<# Well having a difficult time deciding. Like this Detective, I can't even really finish chapter 2 till I make a decision about him and what he knows, or rather if he knows yet or finds out later. Gah. I would skip it and move on to other parts of chapter 2, but the problem is that it vastly changes where the conversation goes; its at a fork and the turn depends on what he knows. x.x;; Why can't I decide?!


I have done more on later parts, bit by bit. I keep feeling like Cole is too nice and its slightly driving me up the wall, so I worked a bit on a gruesome scene with a insane vampire to get that need out a bit and when I am done typing this post I plan to go work on that a bit more. I like how its coming along. *bounces* I had a small break through on that chapter. With him I kind of want to show Cole is actually a little of an odd ball so to say. You first meet Cole and he is nice, he is a gentleman, and-- I really shouldn't say too much. This book is going to be humorous, but I also want it to have its horror moments and it will. Lets leave it at that, Prepare for some gruesome scenes. I keep wanting to share and I can't. >.<#


Spoilers, can't have spoilers.


I want people to read it and feel the shock they should, be surprised and if I say too much it won't be a shock. I have to keep quiet about details...*Places hand over mouth*


Also part of the reason I haven't written as much as I probably should have is because I recently got my hands on Disgaea 2 and its eating me. I played Disgaea one, a bit before it was stolen and I enjoyed the game. The perks of having a boyfriend who works at Gamestop is when he isn't checking out a game, I can have him check one out for me. I saw they had Disgaea 2 and though I never finished one, I picked it up anyways. <.< I don't want to give it back. lol. So his next paycheck he said he would buy it for me. ^_^ Yay! My Mage is a boss <.< I use her so much she is about 10 levels above everyone else lol. So much fun, but I am forcing myself to take a break and work on Modern Day Magic. I know myself and if I go too long without working on it, then it will slip into forgotten land. I refuse to let that happen. I want to finish this. I am really excited about it. So here I am taking a break from Disgaea <.< and I end up working on a post...heh.. But I did write before I started this and I keep pausing this to poke back at Modern Day Magic. So I am still working. ^_^;;


I have also gone through the various 'scenes' I have partly written out and have some of them actually organized now. Now that some of them are next to other parts that go with them, I am starting to fill in some gaps.


So many ideas. >.< While nice, is slightly troublesome, like I said I keep wanting to work on things that I can't work on yet because I need to flush out characters or make a decision on something. In some cases its just too early to decide. Some ideas are coming too early and they belong too far into the book that I can't even really write them yet because too much of it hinders on things that haven't happened. x.x I have hit a bit of a bump in the writing road, I will make it over it. Eventually...

Here is the current word count:
1/28/12- 17,263
1/29/12- shame
1/30/12- 17,766
1/31/12- 18,284
2/01/12- 18,639
2/02/12- 19,599 -so far today



Though really, I shouldn't be too hard on myself. Its the day two of month two of a new year and I am halfway to what qualifies as a novel. I started Modern Day Magic as a random little short on Christmas eve, not expecting it to go this far. I made a new years resolution a few weeks before new years, saying by next year I want to have a story ready for publishing, finished enough to figure out what to do about an editor. Beginning of month 2 of 2012 and I have a story that I have so many ideas for it most likely will end up a series. A story that's at the half-way mark of qualifying as a novel. I should be damn proud of myself so far. So I had a few days where I didn't really write, I also had days were I wrote over 1,000 words. I can't expect to do amazing everyday, just so long as I do something. Low writing days will happen, so long as I balance that will good days. So long as I am working on it period; all is well. I have over 19,500 words to a story, that's awesome!


o.o I should be damn proud and fine with what I have done, it 13 days, barely two weeks, I have written over 10,000 words. That's not bad at all. And really its not completely about how many words I add to the story, but that I get ideas for the story and such. That it develops as a story. I may not have written much in the ways of adding words that last few days, but I organized some scenes into there proper places. And by doing that, I did ended up writing quite a bit today. I also took from some of older writings and converted them to fit into the story which helped to add new ideas for the story.

Reply to Comments:

JadedDN: Yeah, no way will it be forks. >.< Either I will make up a town, or I will place it 50 or so years in the future and pick a town and shape it how I want, because its 50 years in the future, they can't argue with me on how the town looks. <.<;; Idk what I will actually do, but I know it won't be Forks. lol.

-

Anyways, here are the side notes and I am going to get at least a little more written for Modern Day Magic, I want to breech the 20,000 word mark and then back to Disgaea 2:

-- Please Comment, I would love to talk!

Also any tips, suggestions would be loved. 

You can also email me at Nekodra-blog@hotmail.com
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--Follow me on Twitter. I will tweet every time I post on my blog. Nekodra's Twitter 
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--If you have never seen Psych and you love comedies or crime shows, I highly recommend it! Currently on a mid-season break and will return on Leap year, Feb. 29th 2012! 27 more days!
So excited here is a Link to a trailer for the second half of season 6. Here is the new promo. I am so excited, can't wait for 2.29.12!

-- Please remember, Modern Day Magic belongs to me, thank you.

~Nekodra K.D. LaCroix

Snowpocalypse

Forward

Its been beautiful and continues, the snow just won't stop. For those who don't remember, I live in Washington. Beautiful rainy Washington about 40miles from Seattle. I live up a hill from town, so I have gotten over a foot of snow at my location. Others maybe going stir crazy, but I am rather content. Watching the snow fall and working on stories, or just playing World End With You on my Ds or reading on my kindle each time the power goes out, which has been often. Mostly I have been working on Modern Day Magic, which has surpassed 7,500 words. Whee! I have a few different sections of the story written and slowly filling in the gaps. I have said that I have the ending written, but its slowly wearing me down to not end it as such but have that be near the end, but not the end. I don't want to say anything to spoil it for those who want to later read it when its done. 

Anyways, I am making good head way on it, there is now another character, Ember's brother, Edward Aiden Snow. Slowly this short random musing is actually turning into what I hope is a decent story. The actual over all plot is on the tip of my tongue, I just can't quite word it yet, but its there. I can see it. It involves an Evil Queen, and it sounds fun, and now has a hint of a fairy tale theme mixed in. <.<; Yes, I can be easily inspired by things I recently watch. Like Wizards, its now a story with vampires and witches, because of how much Wizards of Waverly place I have been watching. I love magic, what can I say. And I can't help but want to give it a bit of a fairy tale feel, because of Once upon a Time. ^_^; Like I said, I have a fun idea involving an Evil Queen, I just can't quite word it yet.

The tree outside my bedroom window. So pretty.

If you want to compare the new edited beginning to what the beginning started as back on Christmas eve here is the: Link  

I like to think it looks a lot better now then the bare bones start it had, what about you?

I just have a question: Movies and shows make reference to other movies and shows all the time, so logically does that mean I can make references to movies and shows and not have to worry about getting in trouble for talking about them? Its just something I have always worried about. ^_^;; I am probably being silly, right?


Here is a sample from the re-working I have been doing to Modern Day Magic, here is what part of the first page looks like now:

Modern Day Magic

By Nekodra K.D. LaCroix

Once upon a Time......

'No fucking way, your a goddamn Vampire!' Ember covered her mouth in shock of her own outburst and swearing at a stranger. That wasn't like her. She swore yes, it was just rare and certainly not around people she just met. You never know how unstable someone is and what could set them off. 
 
Amber (Ember) Roslin Snow was simply walking home from today's classes. Thursday, first of the evening creative writing, a 45 minute break then 2 hours of graphic design, so the fun easy day of classes. Yay. When she happen to glance sideways slightly to the right. This small but important tilt to the side resulted in catching movement out of the corner of her eye and there he was; her childhood (adulthood) 'If you could be a superhero what power would you wish for?' Pfft superhero, open that to supernatural creatures so I can answer Vampire; standing before her.

Her excitement sort of bubbled and took over, which resulted in cursing at the guy. Way to make a great first impression, smeghead. Inwardly she winced at herself. And I really need to lay off so many re-watches of RD. Or British shows in general, I am not British, I probably shouldn't pick up the mannerisms. 
 
Mentally shaking her head. That isn't going to happen. I love 10^th Doctor too much to not go through those seasons now and again, not to mention while 11^th can't replace 10^th in my heart, I still love the show too much not to watch the new episodes. Which also leads to of course watching the spin off-- She tsk'd herself. What am I doing debating with myself? An actual blood-loving-creature-of-the- night vampire is standing in front of me and I am arguing with myself about my love of a certain incarnation of a Timelord and my odd crush on a Hologram with my bad habit of picking up mannerisms from a culture I don't belong to. Have I lost my mind? 

---

Afterword

I don't have to worry about that right? Its not like the story is about these shows, its just to sort of to try and make this story humorous and relatable or something- if that makes any sense? And well, I personally love these shows and its at least funny to me making all these references, perhaps I am the only one who finds it funny? >.>;;

I know it still needs work, but its getting there...right?
Does it grab your attention, do you want to read more?
Should I post a little more of the story?

Please tell me, I know the first page is important. I have put down books because the first few pages couldn't hold my attention, didn't get me curious enough. Which, actually if you know me, that's a feat in of its self; not being able to grab my curiosity, ouch. I have been know to finish horribly written fanfics just because the idea caught my attention enough to wade through the hard to understand butcher of the English language. Though sometimes no matter how curious I am, I do have my limits. 


Anyways, reading the old version and reading part of the first page of the updated version, is this a story you would want to read? Should I show you another sample of the story, because that was kinda of short, in order for you to know?


Please leave some feedback, I don't want too get too proud of this story if its not interesting anyone. 

^_^; I might be getting too eager about it, I am hoping to finish this one and perhaps have it be the first one I try and self publish. I hope at least, so far inspiration has been flowing pretty well. Cross my fingers it keeps up. 


Have a wonderful day, enjoy the snow if you have any! Here are the side notes and then back to working on Modern Day Magic:

--Follow me on Twitter, because I will tweet every time I post on my blog and I will post a link. Nekodra's Twitter and remember Sharing is Caring, re-tweet to your friends if they might enjoy this. 


--If you have never seen Psych and you love comedies or crime shows, I highly recommend it! Currently on a mid-season break and will return on Leap year, Feb. 29th 2012. So excited here is a Link to a trailer for the second half of season 6. Seasons 1-5 are on Netflix. Also, YAY officially confirmed for a 7th season!


--Also if you have never seen Red Dwarf it’s a great British Sci-fi comedy, and a new season after many years will air September 2012 for Red Dwarf X. So excited they are currently filming, can’t wait! Seasons 1-9 on Netflix.

--If you enjoy silly Disney shows <.< me, a 22 year old is currently loving Wizards of Waverly Place. Netflix has the entire show, but for the show ending episode. Yes, sadly the show has ended. Its silly and Disney, but I am loving it. <3 David Henrie.  Netflix also has the movie.


-- Please remember feedback, I can’t grow as a writer from silence.
Any tips, suggestions, would be loved. 
You can also email me at Nekodra-blog@hotmail.com


--Also remember unless stated otherwise, these stories and drawings belong to me, I wrote/drew them, please respect that.


~Nekodra K.D. LaCroix

 In Addition

Some pictures from my trek out into the Snowpocalypse with my dad to get groceries. Which I have to say, I am so glad I went. Its so beautifully destructive out there. Snow everywhere, in layers and truck loads. Trees frozen and pulling lines into the woods, or onto the road. I loved it. Gorgeous I would say. On the way home was even better because it was dark. It the kind of scene that sends shivers down your spine, reminds you of a horror movie. Loved it! <3 my pictures do not do it justice, fyi:

Saving the Princess Since '94

Forward,

I don't actually recall the exact year I started playing Mario, but I know I was around 5 years old at least. Though my first video game was duck hunt. lol. But I remember playing Mario with my mom on our Super Nintendo, which I still have. I recall getting stuck and asking my mom to help me, which thinking back on it seems odd, because I from 8 years old till 14, I stopped playing games, sort of. I have almost always had a Nintendo handheld, the pocket, the color, the advanced, the SP, then DS lit, now the 3DS, and I always had one, I may have skipped the original DS or the DSi, but I still had one, and always on my person. I also played odd end games off sites like bored.com or Neopets. But I didn't really realize that I was a gamer, I just of played and I loved playing. I didn't know RPG, Casual, FPS, etc. But I knew Mario and Pokemon, and I played the hell out of those games.  

 But I went through a strained relationship with my mom, and now that I look back, and seeing my mom as I have come to see her, then back to when I was 5, she doesn't seem the same person, and it doesn't seem possible that was her. I do remember playing Street fighter on the Super Nintendo with my dad. I have always had a mix of interest. I bounce from interest to interest. I love almost all types of music, I love most genre of movies, and I play all kinds of games, I love both Stars and Star Trek, but Stars Wars was my first, and some days I seem girlish and some days very tomboy. (Not to say I don't have what I enjoy most.) I am both innocence and evil. I have come to call myself a walking contradiction, because while I stand firm in what I enjoy and what I believe, I can appear very inconsistent and on top of that I tend to stand neutral, yet opinionated, but I don't talk much, and I appear weak because I am too shy to speak up. Apparently I look either pissed or 'cute', but I know an array of emotions, I just don't show it and often I look the opposite that I actually feel, but not always.


I had a strained relationship with my mom because I have a very boyish side, and that side I tend to show the most, and she couldn't understand that. She wanted me to be girly, because I am a girl, which because she pushed so hard to make me act more like a girl, because that's what I am 'a girl so act like it', I think that's why my boyish side became so strong, because I had to fight to enjoy things like climbing trees, playing with hot-wheels, horror movies, etc, that it ended up with a hatred for being girly. The irony is, if she hadn't pushed so hard, I would probably be more accepting of letting myself by girly. but she pushed and pushed, and I just wanted to be me. I have, relaxed a bit more in my hatred of girly things, but blue will always be my favorite color, and I will always cringe when I see pink.

Katamari, Angry Birds, Pokemon, Kingdom Hearts, Mario, and Puzzle Quest, currently some of my top favorite games.
--
I don't really know how I got on such a tangent, other then I wanted to talk about Mario, because with the new Mario land 3D and Mario kart 7 3D, I have been playing a lot of Mario and it amuses me that I have been saving the Princess since I was about 5 years old, and she is always in the other damn castle! XD

But anyways, here is todays WOTDS:


(My apps didn't update today, other then two of them, so that's why I only have two words today.)

January 4^th 2012

WOTDS

Headlong- With the head foremost. Without deliberation: recklessly. Without pause or delay.

Yue (Japanese)- Cause, circumstances.

She drummed her fingers on the desk, eyes half open, and a blank expression cast over her pale face. Staring at the empty, blank brick wall, there weren't even grooves in the surface, no pattern to create images, just cool, smooth, gray panels arranged like a brick wall.

“No noises.”

She rolled her eyes, fingers paused in mid-drum then flattened against the desk. She pursed her lips, trying to think of anything to take her mind off the mind-numbing boredom. Giving up, she let her head slowly fall the desk, arms sliding off and dangling to her sides. A feeling of fuzzy numbness washed over her.

Her eyes suddenly snapped open to meet complete darkness. Even with her excellent night vision, without any form of light, there was nothing to reflect off the surfaces to allow for vision. She tried to keep herself calm, not letting herself hyperventilate, not that she needed to worry about running out of oxygen, but it was still an unpleasant thought. Her body still preferred oxygen over carbon dioxide, it tickled weird.

She closed her eyes again, taking a steady breath, taking stock of her body. Start with the feet, I can move my toes, good. Feels like my socks and boots are still on. Not naked, good. I can feel the wrinkle of my pants, silk of my shirt. Can't fully move my legs. My knees can bend, I can put distance between my knees, so my ankles are bound. I can feel something solid below my feet, something solid just a few inches to my right, and to my left, near my feet. Though duh, if its so dark, with the oxygen slowly becoming overcome by carbon dioxide, clearly I am in a box. But how did I get here?

The night before crept back slowly and she went to face palm, I am such a reckless idiot. but found her wrist were also behind her back. Way to notice that. Great, I can't create anything, I can't save myself with my hand bound and I can't see what I am doing, now what? 

(end)

Page of other WOTDS
Page of other Short Stories

Afterward

I am too lazy and not in much of a writing mood to actually write what happened or more try and think of exactly what she did. Lazy mood, I just want to play some games and watch the House marathon on Cloo. But, I had to write something, cause I should write something everyday. So I am proud I didn't completely give into laziness, I still wrote something. Its not epic, or amazing, but its something.  

Have a wonderful evening! Here are those side notes:

--Follow me on Twitter, because I will tweet every time I post on my blog and I will post a link. Nekodra's Twitter and remember Sharing is Caring, re-tweet to your friends if they might enjoy this.

--If you have never seen Psych, and you love comedies or crime shows, I highly recommend it! Currently on a mid-season break and will return on Leap year, Feb. 29th 2012. So excited here is a Link to a trailer for the second half of season 6. Seasons 1-5 are on Netflix.

--Also if you have never seen Red Dwarf it’s a great British Sci-fi comedy, and a new season after many years will air September 2012 for Red Dwarf X. So excited they are currently filming, can’t wait! Seaons 1-9 on Netflixs.

-- Please remember feedback, I can’t grow as a writer from silence.

--Also remember unless stated otherwise, these stories and drawings belong to me, I wrote/drew them, please respect that.

~Nekodra K.D. LaCroix