Altar of Reality Cover Reveal!

Today is the cover reveal for Altar of Reality, the first book from Shifted Realities--a brand new series by Mara Valderran. This YA dystopian is set to be released January 31st, 2015 by Curiosity Quills Press. Mark your calendars, and be sure to add the book to your Goodreads list! Want to stay up to date on all things Altar of Reality? Sign up for Mara's newsletter so you don't miss a thing!

And now...the moment Mara's we've all been waiting for...

When sixteen-year-old Madeline suffers her first grand mal seizure, she finds herself in an unfamiliar reality, surrounded by strangers wearing familiar faces. Her best friend, Brandon, tells her that the world has fallen to chaos, the aftermath of World War III ten years ago. Madeline doesn’t remember anything from this life— especially not the explosion four years ago that killed her parents and landed her in a coma, or the Lord Commander; a zealot leader of the Southern Territories now searching for her.

Madeline barely has time to process everything before waking up to the life she’s always known. As soon as she dismisses it all as a strange and vivid dream, she finds herself back there once more. Unsure if she’s truly caught in the middle of a brewing rebellion, or teetering on the brink of insanity, she finds herself flipping between the two lives. Her heart becomes torn between two versions of the same boy and the lines between her realities begin to blur as she struggles to save her lives in both worlds.

I'm so excited for this brand new series! I can't wait to start sharing teasers with you, so stay tuned! January will be here before you know it. And don't forget to check out the Heirs of War, Crown of Flames blog tour going on right now! There are excerpts, interviews, a giveaway, and more. You can find the tour calendar here.

Announcing the Heirs of War, Crown of Flames Blog Tour (And Giveaway!)

In just under two weeks (9 days as of this post), Heirs of War, Crown of Flames will be released at last. There have been a few setbacks with this book, but I'm happy for them all. Why? Because I am so freaking proud of the end result. My editor Kriscinda Everitt is, as always, awesome. She continues to push me to be better, and that means you get a better book. Win all around!

Since Crown of Flames will be released, that also means a Facebook party and a blog tour. Yay! You can come help celebrate the release of Crown of Flames and Ryan Hill's Dead New World at our joint Facebook party October 13th from 11am to 1am EST (8am to 10pm PST). We have quite a few guest hosts planned, and lots of ways to win awesome prizes! The blog tour for CoF kicks off October 13th with a release day blitz and runs until October 28th. I have some really fun posts planned for this tour. Lots of interviews, reviews, excerpts, a few guest posts on cool topics like writing romance in fantasy, writing strong female characters, and my writerly bucket list. I'm also hosting a giveaway for the entirety of the tour.

The week of October 13th is a really exciting week! Not only is Crown of Flames released and the blog tour kicking off, but I'll also be signing books at the Vegas Valley Book Festival on October 18th from 10-4pm with fellow Curiosity Quills authors Sharon Bayliss, Katie Hamstead, and Lisa Collicutt. And I'll also be revealing the cover for Altar of Reality at the festival and around the web on the 18th. Check back here on the 18th for the cover reveal if you can't come see it in person! 

I'm really excited to share all of this with you. October 13th can't get here quick enough for me! Don't forget to stop by during the tour and say hi! You can find the calendar below:

Heirs of War, Crown of Flames Blog Tour Calendar:

Monday 10/13
Krystal Wade	Margo Bond Collins	Here is What I Read Book Blog
Vicki Trask	Jessa Russo	Lorraine Harvey
Priya Kanaparti	Nerd Girl Official	Terry's Book Addiction
Ali Dean	Shooting Star Book Reviews
Tuesday 10/14	Wednesday 10/15	Thursday 10/16
Ali Dean (Review)	Jan Farnworth (Review)	James Wymore (Guest Post)
Terry's Book Addiction (Review)	Jamie Ayres (Promo)
Friday 10/17	Saturday 10/19	Monday 10/20
Emma Adams (Interview)	Laveda Kasch (Excerpt #1)	Eliza Tilton (Excerpt #2)
Elsie Elmore (Interview)		Jessa Russo (Excerpt #3)
Cait Spivey (Guest Post)		Shooting Star Book Reviews (Excerpt #4)
		Here is What I Read (Interview)
Tuesday 10/21	Wednesday 10/22	Thursday 10/23
Michael Panush (Review)	Book Lover Blog (Review)	Ayden Morgen (Guest Post)
Friday 10/24	Monday 10/27	Tuesday 10/28
K. L. Schwengel (Guest Post)	Katie Teller (Interview)	Priya Kanaparti (Guest Post)
Charity Bradford (Excerpt #5)	Sharon Bayliss (Review)
Vicki Trask (Review)
Sarah Anderson (Interview)

Massive Update: Moving, Writing, and a Contract!

Wow, where to begin? I suppose I will start with the biggest change, which is that my husband and I are relocating to Las Vegas! He received a promotion and a new job all in the same month, and they are moving us across the country the first of April, which means...

That not a whole heck of a lot will really be changing since I am mostly a home body anyway. My friends will have to fly out to see me instead of drive a half an hour, but hey--there will be shiny lights and casinos to help ease that pain. ;) It's all very exciting, because I've never lived outside of South Carolina before. But that also makes it equally terrifying too. I have a gut feeling that it is going to be awesome, and I really couldn't be prouder of my hubby for landing this job. Yayy hubby!

And, on a writerly front, big changes are ahead! First and foremost, I have to say that I love my editor Kriscinda Everitt. Why? Because she keeps me from doing nonsensical things that only make sense in my head. That being the case, the release date for Heirs of War, Crown of Flames has been pushed back to this summer because A) it needs some adjustments, and B) um, moving to Vegas, so not a lot of time to make those adjustments until I get there. But it will be worth it in the end. I already feel better about the bits of work I've been able to do on it. Kriscinda is magic, guys. Magic.

Aaaannnd the other writerly change? I have officially signed on with Curiosity Quills to publish Altar of Reality! I am beyond excited! I've hosted tours and become friends with AND a fan of so many of their authors, so to me this sort of feels like coming home. I feel like I am coming full circle on my journey as a writer (or at least, the first leg of that journey since it is unending) by finally signing on with them. There are so many people to thank for getting me to this point, but I have to give major props to Kriscinda, Krystal Wade, and James Wymore for all they have taught me as a writer. These three wonderful people have believed in me, guided me, and continue to teach me today. I am one lucky gal. =D

I will keep you guys updated on Heirs of War and Altar of Reality, hopefully with some release dates soon for one (or both!). Thanks for taking this wild ride with me!

Knowing When to Throw in the Writerly Towel

No, I'm not talking about giving up on a story you are writing. I don't give up easily on story ideas. But I am talking about goals today, and knowing when they might be too much.

I set a goal for myself to finish Altar of Reality by the end of the month and to win CampNaNoWriMo in the process. Today is the last day of the month, and though my bar looks really close, it is too far away for me to manage.

I've been plugging away for the past week with an average of 5k a day. And if I had continued my 5k a day average, I would have finished on time. But a lot of things got in the way, as they usually do with life. The same thing happened to me during the last CampNaNo as well.

So how do we know when to throw in the towel? Easy. When you are sacrificing your own health in order to meet your goals. Which is exactly what I was doing.

As some of you may know, I recently landed myself in the mother of all braces--the thumb spica splint. I have carpal tunnel and tendonitis in my left wrist, which is pretty painful. It wouldn't be so painful if not for the fact that it keeps popping, so I essentially keep injuring myself. Part of that has to do with work as well. Needless to say, it has slowed me down quite a bit. I risked writing without the splint on after I spent about an hour convincing myself the splint was causing me more pain than good, but was quickly proved wrong on that.

And pretty soon, I had to admit to myself that pushing myself to write 5k a day was not helping matters at all. I had to leave work early last night because it was hurting so bad. On the way home, I started thinking about how I would have extra time to write from leaving early. But by the time I got home and sat in front of my laptop, I realized it wasn't worth it.

Sure, I love winning NaNo. I've only done it twice in the times I've attempted it, and I really wanted to claim a third victory with my new WIP. But I have to start taking care of myself. My hands are such an asset for both career paths I plan on attempting (writing and physical therapy), which means they are invaluable and I need them to work right.

I'm supposed to get my brace off next week, but my hopes aren't high for that happening since I'm still in pain and things keep popping. But I do know that I will be making sure I actually rest my arm this time. No more 5k days. And I might take some time off work, at least for a week or so. Working at a grocery store requires both hands more than you would think, and my tendency to be stubbornly independent and not ask for help carrying things or stop bagging isn't helping the healing process.

So, in conclusion, I might not be the one-armed wonder after all. But if that means I get to keep writing with both hands for years and years, I am good with that. My well-being has to come before my words. 

An Amazing Day in the Writerly Life of Mara

Today is definitely one of those days. It's one of those days where everything just lines up perfectly in my writerly world. Heirs of War is with my editor. I overcame the roadblock I was banging my head against for Altar of Reality and wrote around 5k today (there's hope, CampNaNo!). That puts me at around 25k for the book (15k for CampNaNo).

And best of all? I started planning my blog tour today. Thanks to the wonderful folks at The Blog Tour Exchange, I had about two dozen different contacts to email for my tour. Couple that with the already amazing writerly friends I have, and now my blog tour is halfway booked on the first day.

Even better yet? I already have five reviewers lined up. I am totally over the moon.

Why? Because here's the secret truth about a lot of writers: We might love our characters and the stories we are telling, but we aren't confident that you will. I am terrible at blurb/query writing, and I am iffy about my first page. I'm still contemplating rewriting that cursed first page one last time in the hopes of setting up the story better.

So what was my worry? That the tour wouldn't garner a lot of interest because people would read my blurb and say "Meh.". But instead I have people offering to read it. Maybe that shouldn't be such a big deal, but I see people begging for reviews online all the time (FYI: Asking once or twice is not begging, but asking every day is. IMO), so I figured I'd have a hard time getting reviews for the tour.

This day has taught me that the writing community really is one of the best communities out there. Without their support, I think I would be absolutely crazy. Instead, I am floating on cloud nine and looking forward to what is bound to be one of the most stressful times in my writerly life: the debut of my first book.

(Be sure to check back next month for a complete tour schedule, and for the cover reveal on August 30th.)

What the Heck Am I Doing?

Have you ever had one of those "Well, duh!" type epiphanies? The ones that come out of nowhere (usually in the wee hours of the morning when you have to be at work at 7am, of course), blindsiding you with how obvious this revelation should have been to you even though it has been hiding for months?

I had one of those last night. Complete with interrupted sleep (Which might explain the rambliness of at least this post. The others? I'll get back to you with an excuse later). I've been working on my YA Dystopian WIP for a couple of months now, letting Heirs of War sit on the backburner until I get done. I hate interrupting one story to work on another. It messes up my flow.

So I decided when I started the WIP that I would write it to finish with the first draft. After all, it's a YA book so it's not like it will be the 200k that HoW 2 is trying to be. Shouldn't take much time for someone used to 5-10k days like me. Right?

Wrong. Apparently there's this little thing called life that gets in the way. So months later, I am only 10k in. Not a big deal. I'll just push through. I had said that I would give HoW another edit this summer, but I can push it off. No problem.

Wrong again. Here's the epiphany I had: HoW is much closer to being publication-ready than my WIP. I am most likely going to end up self-publishing HoW, so basically it is waiting on me. I just received some AMAZING notes from a critique partner (ahemRachelahem), so I now have some solutions to problems I've been puzzling over for almost a year. So why wait? Why hold back in the hopes of finishing one story's rough draft when I might be close to the final draft of another?

So I've decided to shelve the WIP and finish HoW, getting it ready once and for all for publication. I shouldn't be so proud of this revelation since it really is the most obvious choice, but I am. I feel good about it. And one thing I have learned in this business so far is to hold on to that feeling. 

Where In The World Has Mara Been?

Wishing I had an awesome hat like Carmen Sandiego, actually.

No, not really. I wish life was that simple. I ended up taking an unintentional writerly break. We all need those now and again, I suppose. Vacation, sick time, or sometimes we just get stuck in our own heads for a bit.

But the bags are unpacked, the virus has run its course, and the fog of my mind has (somewhat) cleared. What does that mean? Well, I'm back of course!

Now, what am I up to? I'm sure there will be the inevitable blog tours to extend my "to read" list, but I'll also be posting about my new project and updates with Heirs of War as they come along. Right now I am 7k into my YA dystopian and using CampNaNo to finish it up this month. I'm really excited about this book because it is a much simpler story than Heirs of War, and much more marketable (I hope).

I've also got some exciting new developments ahead for Heirs of War as I move at a tortoise-like pace toward the goal of self-publishing. So, in short, I promise to keep this blog more up to date with actual information on my writerly exploits. I might even post an excerpt or two from the dystopian MS as they come.

For now, the night is young, I am a couple of paragraphs in, and jamming out to an excellent soundtrack list I made. Time to get to work!

Allons-y!