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10-23-2021 Friday Night Writes

Friday Night Writes

(Click to watch the Vlog)

After working all week at the day job that still pays the bills in my world, I treasure Friday Nights. In my youth, I wanted to go out, clubs, bars, dancing. As a part-time writer, I seek something different on Friday Nights. I want to write. I want to publish. I want to edit. 


Okay, so maybe that doesn't sound like such a glamorous start to my weekend, but I love it. I feel as if I finally get to breathe and refocus on an old friend who waits patiently for me to get back into the dream and eagerly continue a conversation that was interrupted. 

It is the struggle to write that makes authors crazy. Unless you're lucky enough to be able to write full-time, finding time to write can be difficult. Something I have found that helps me is the fact that I'm pure indie. I have total control over all aspects of my publishing business. Many times when I can't immerse myself deep enough in the dream to be able to see the scene and write it, I can still step into the dream and work on already finished stories and polish them.

The day job does suck the energy to write and focus on my books. I do so wish that I had the luxury of being able to dispense with it, but at least I do something I'm good at that I can take pride in even if it's no longer what I would choose to do. Sigh...

So... If it matters to anyone, I've added nearly 10,000 words to the last title in the series. No, the other 'last' stories aren't finished, but that's okay because I write the scenes as they come to me, not necessarily in the right order. I do see the end, so I guess I'm working with the results in mind to be able to obtain the goal.

I'm taking a break from publishing new titles so I can upload some of the backlists wide. The entire catalog is now available on Gumroad, Payhip, and Amazon along with OpheliaKee. Wish me luck on getting the stories on other sites soon!


Teaser Excerpt from the current WIP


Saoghail Elias stepped into Enrith as the new Ri tuaithe. He was too young and dumb to be able to do the job. He knew it. His father hadn’t given him an option. 


He'd pissed the man off. No real surprise there. How was it his fault that King Elias’s mistress preferred his cock to his father’s? Whatever. Only he was in nowhere and seriously missed the court.

The old king of Enrith had died. His son was a bastard and only six years old. The snot-nosed brat wandered around the castle irritating the men at arms crying over his dead father. He would have to do something about the kid. He should’ve killed the boy and deleted the threat, but Vadi was just a kid.


None of Elias’s men at arms were happy to have been shipped off to the backwater castle on the edge of Connacht. The kid wasn’t faring well at the hands of surly men. Saoghail sure as hell was in no mood to babysit the boy. Murdering the little guy felt far too gruesome, though.


Saoghail sighed. Forget the kid, what was he doing there? He was a second son. He knew next to nothing about running a castle...


The Not So Secret Truth


Welcome to the dream... In this episode of behind-the-scenes, I want to tell you some of the embarrassing truths about my author's walk if for no other reason than it might save some other aspiring author from some of the pitfalls I've managed to fall into and readers can laugh at what I didn't know.

 

1. I have realized that I must write and move on. I have many titles published. I always want readers to have the very best experience possible in my stories, but if I wish to write more, I need to improve what I'm doing and leave the mistakes in the past as they are. Having said that, I'll say that I'm revising and publishing all of the currently published stories with better formatting (6x9 paperbacks and hardcover) with minor editing. I've learned a lot from my mistakes in the past, and won't be repeating them. I shall endeavor to make different ones instead. Correcting them all constantly is a bit difficult though. So Help me out. if you come across a blatant error, shoot me a message and I will correct it. I have all the rights and can always do that.

2. I'm not rich and I won't ever likely become rich. I never think that my books will be an overnight success story, and advertising is a game for people who have the money to spend on it. I don't have it and so am discontinuing paid advertising on my books until I have more money to explore it. I was never one to waste my money, and I get almost the same results from my personal free promotion as I do for any paid promotion. (Mostly due to my total lack of skill in marketing.) So, unless you have money to sink into advertising, and an aggressive desire to learn about advertising, I suggest you don't pay for ads. Learn it first and only spend money you can afford to lose.

3. I write urban fantasy/paranormal romance. Most of it is contemporary, but I have no issue with writing the back story and walking into the past or the future when necessary. I am not ashamed of my stories and I want them to be in the very best genre placement possible. I don't ever want to unintentionally mislead someone into believing that I write something else. There's nothing worse than thinking I got hoodwinked with something I purchased. I'm systematically updating the listing of all my books to reflect that. I'm not the best author out there, but I am an honest and dedicated one. I'm the only author in the dream, and I passionately want to share that world with anyone else who enjoys adult urban fantasy stories.

4. I write using adult themes in violence, sex, and social issues. I'm not denying that ever. I have no hidden political agenda or social message. The stories simply are what they are, and as a biased author, I am aware that they reflect in some respects my thoughts, but not always do my characters espouse my beliefs. All my stories end in HEA or HFN as far as any romance aspect, but most of the fantasy aspect is a cliffhanger ending for each miniseries in the saga. (No, the story isn't finished yet, but within the next two years it should all be published!)

5. I write long. It's a truth I live with. (I was going to write one book. There are over twenty novel-length stories along with several short reads now.) If you choose to write, know your strengths. I edit short. I often publish in shorts. (One chapter at a time or 10,000-word parts. That will help some readers who note that there is ofttimes a bit of repetition. But if you are reading a long saga one chapter at a time, repetition does help the memory.)

It's too damn hard doing it all by myself with my shoestring budget to try to edit long. I want to publish more and continue the saga, not bog down with the edits, proofreading, and revisions. I want to write. I like the rest of the publishing industry, but what I love is the story. I hope that is how my readers see my books as well.

I have to run. Life calls me out of the dream. Look for new things coming to the dream soon. I miss writing all the time, but the day job is still necessary to pay the bills.

To all who support me, Thank you. To all who are new to the dream, Welcome. I hope you enjoy the escape. If you read, be kind and leave your reviews. If you have a question, comment, suggestion, or remark, leave me a message either here or on any of Ophelia Kee's social media sites. I'd love to hear from you.

Be Careful!

Happy reading,

Ophelia Kee