Monthly Update - March

March Update

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend. It ended up being a beautiful Easter day here for me and my family.

Today is another story though. The temps have dropped and it's raining outside as I type.

This month has been a great one. I accomplished a lot of the things I've been wanting to do for the last few months.

(Drum roll, please) I finally got Home finished. I even worked hard to get it available for pre-order. Today I'm working on getting it into paperback form. As of right now I have everything ready to go except for the paperback cover.

As much as I had been wanting to finish this series it was also hard to see it come to an end. Now that it's finished though I can finally take a breather.

My plans for April are going to be simple once again. I have another book in a series that I want to get finished. I'm going to put my mind strictly on that book and nothing else. I'll be working on the third book, Betrayed, in The Onyx Wolves Series.

Also, since my last giveaway for Barely Alive went so well I am planning on doing another Goodreads giveaway for another on of my books around mid April. I've already prepared to do a giveaway each month for the next few months actually. It's been a great and fun way  to get my books out there in front of readers.

So, for the month of April I'll be doing a giveaway and working on the third book in The Onyx Wolves Series. It should be simple enough to handle.

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Have a great and productive month.
Happy writing :)

Raven K. Asher

Release Date for Home!!

I’ve finally picked a release date for Home. (Drum-roll, please) I have decided to release Home, the third and final book in the Among the Dead Trilogy on April 1st, 2016. That’s right, no joking here, so mark your calendars and get ready for Home.

Pre-ordering is now available. I’ve posted the link at the bottom of this post!

Escaping Rosenberg hadn’t exactly been the easiest task but the tragedy that comes after nearly destroys River.
She once again finds herself all alone. With her heart shattered into pieces and her hope dwindling by the second she musters up just enough strength to continue on.
She couldn’t quit now. Giving up wasn’t in her no matter how much she wanted to end it all.
After roaming aimlessly through the forest she had found escape in she manages to find a safe place to rest, a small town with a secret past of its own. God only knows what had happened once upon a time in the upstairs of the house she chooses to hide in.
With the threat of Rosenberg behind her it will have to do. She just has to hope that the house’s previous occupants don’t return.
Just when she loses all hope of finding her family and Zach again she sees him, standing in the window of the house across the street. Within seconds everything is threatened to be taken away from her once more. Davy has her in his grasp, but not for long.
As he takes his last breath he reveals an agenda that they all hoped wouldn’t be true. Rosenberg will do anything to kill them all. That threat only leaves River, Zach, and the others one option to take. They must take down Rosenberg and its leaders in order to secure their future.
But how, how can they take it down without an army? It’s nearly impossible until fate brings that army directly to their doorstep.
The question now is will it be enough. Will they win their war with the town or will they lose? Will death come for them all or will River finally find peace in a new home?
With a little luck they might just make it.

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Amazon Pre-order: Home (Among the Dead Book 3)

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Happy Reading

Raven K. Asher

Goodreads Giveaway!!!

Goodreads Giveaway!!!

For:

Barely Alive
(The Story of Alexis Rose) Book 1

Giveaway begins March 14th, 2016 and ends March 22nd, 2016.

One (1), Signed Paperback book is going to be given away on Goodreads. Go check it out to enter for a chance to win.

Link Below.

 

After six long months, Alexis Rose has just decided to begin a new chapter in her story after a car crash that tragically took her father away from her and her family. A crash that she can’t seem to get past, considering it was entirely her fault. A fact her mother hasn't allowed her to forget for even a moment. Her fraternal twin brother, Duncan, talks her into getting back to the life she had all but forgotten and back to her friends that she had left behind while in her bubble of depression. Her only worries are whether or not her forgotten friends will forgive her for pushing them away, and if her once boyfriend, Lucca, would forgive her and want to pick back up where they had left off. Everything seems to be fitting right back into place as Alexis rebuilds her life, but as soon as it looks its best it all comes crashing down around her. A deadly virus takes the world by storm. The dead rise. Her friends and family go missing. And she’s left alone. Alexis must quickly choose her path in this new apocalyptic world, and thankfully she finds someone who will keep her from falling back into despair. Friends and loved ones die, and at moments all seems lost. What will she end up doing in order to survive this cruel world that she has been suddenly thrown into? Will she give up or will she fight? When it comes down to life, death, or love, she must live to love or die trying.

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Goodreads Giveaway Link:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Barely Alive

by Raven K. Asher

Giveaway ends March 22, 2016.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

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Good Luck!!

Raven K. Asher

What I want from Writing.

A few of my long term goals.

What do I want from writing? It's a simple question but at the same time it can be hard to answer. At first I thought that being on a bestsellers list would be awesome. I thought selling hundreds of stories would be the greatest accomplishment.

Those are great things but after two years at this I've come to find that I want something completely different from my writing career. My goals are simple enough but just like making a bestseller list and selling tons of books it takes a lot of hard work.

The biggest thing I want to gain from my writing is fans. I would give anything to be able to have an entire conversation about one of my stories with a fan. That is the ultimate goal for me. I think it would be epic to have someone want to pick my brain about the scenes and characters that I've created.

Right now I have my husband to run ideas by but he doesn't quite get involved in my stories as much as I would like. I get it though, reading isn't exactly his thing. Other than him I really don't have much in the way of support. For the first year I had my mother-in-law who had time to read my stories over but she's become swamped with work and doesn't have the time now.

So my biggest goal would be to have a group of fans that absolutely love to discuss my stories with me or among themselves. I would even take one really curious fan.

Another goal of mine is to refine my writing to the point where it's nearly perfect. As much I would love to reach this goal it's never going to happen. No one is perfect and writing isn't either. I might be able to perfect my style but there are always going to be mistakes. Near perfect is a reasonable goal to set at least. It gives plenty of room for errors.

One of my other goals was to have my books in paperback and with the help of CreateSpace that goal has already been met. It's an amazing feeling to hold my books in my own hands. There's nothing better than looking on my shelf and seeing my own work on display.

Just having my stories out there for anyone to read is fantastic. It's a dream come true so everything else is just icing on the top.

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Happy Writing!!

Raven K. Asher

Hands on or hands off?

To reply or not to. This is a huge debate between authors. Some like the hands on approach with readers and reviewers while others step back and allow things to happen with due time.

I'm a hands off author. I don't push for reviews and I never reply back to reviewers. The only exception I would ever make is if asked a direct question that I could easily answer and even then I'd be reluctant to reply.

There are plenty of ways to contact me if a reader desires to do so. I believe there are appropriate places to reply or to engage with readers and reviewers. For example, a website, through Facebook, twitter, and even Goodreads.

Trust me when I say I would love to reply back to reviews. I would love to be able to thank the ones who have left great reviews and trust me I'd love to reply to those that aren't so great, but that isn't very business-like in my opinion.

I'm grateful for each and every review I receive. They are a blessing in this business, good or bad. In my case they help me refine my writing. They help me become a better writer and they sometimes help me grow a thicker skin.

To learn from them is honestly all I believe you should take from reviews.

All too many times replies have gotten authors into worlds of trouble. Sometimes it's a sure way to ruin your name. But on the other hand I've seen it boost an author's reputation. For some it might work but not for all. It's like anything you do, it has it's fair share of risks.

Those risks aren't something I personally would like to take which again is why I steer clear of replying.

As for pushing for reviews I'm not so keen on that either. I know there are lots of bloggers out there that love to leave reviews but again it's a risk. No one likes someone who pushes too much. And lets be honest no one wants to receive bad reviews.

I allow my reviews to come as they come. I'm also terrified of pushing my work out there like that. I don't want to be like 'here read my book!', 'read it now!'. I want readers to stumble across my work. I want my readers to be so moved that they just have to leave a review. That's my goal.

For right now it doesn't bother me one bit that reviews trickle in. Each one makes my day when they show up. I understand that it can be nerve wracking for some though especially when it's pushed down our throats that the more reviews we have the more you'll sell. In my experience it's not true. I have books that have no reviews at all and they sell more than the ones that have plenty. I even have one that sells better than the rest and the star rating is low. It blows all of that talk about reviews equaling sells right out of the water.

I could argue these facts until my face was blue but I'm not going to. Like I stated before one path might work for some but not for all. Each path we take is going to be different.

No matter what comes your way it's always good to stay calm.

Another thing to remember is that in this business bad publicity is just that, it's bad. You don't want to end up on one of those author behaving badly lists.

Over the last two years I have learned a lot. I'm constantly learning still and as I continue on I will learn more. The best advice I can give to anyone starting out is to be cautious and be smart about what steps you take.

In the end make the choice that you believe is right for you and the path you want to go. And remember some things might work for some while some things only work for others.

Give it your all and hopefully you will succeed.

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Good Luck and Happy Writing :)

Raven K. Asher