A Writer's Dreams vs Reality #IWSG

So, I started a new Instagram account. The old one no longer exists. You can find my new one here: @Elle.Cardy

I'd really appreciate it if you could like and follow my new account.

--

IWSG Question of the month: Do you remember writing your first book? What were your thoughts about a career path on writing? Where are you now and how is it working out for you? If you're at the start of the journey, what are your goals? 

When I was bright eyed and bushy tailed, full of unrealised dreams, I decided I wanted to be a writer. I had no idea how to make that a reality. All I wanted was for my stories to be in every bookshop across the world and to have movies made from my books. Not too much to ask, right? 

I shake my head at my younger self. At that stage, I hadn’t even written a book. So that’s where I started. I threw everything into it. If I only could’ve won on enthusiasm alone. 

First mistake: Other than reading a lot of my favourite genre, I did no research. I had no idea what made a good book, structurally or otherwise. Consequently, my first book was not up to scratch. It was insanely long. Some chapters were 10k plus words. For a single chapter! And that’s just one of its many flaws. 

I had no idea how to approach agents and publishers. Which agents? Which publishers? What was a query letter? What was a synopsis? I hadn’t even wondered how to get my story across in any form of interesting manner that might pique ANYone’s interest. Erm, it’s a fantasy. Lots of adventure and stuff. You’ll love it. 

I soon realised this dream of mine wasn’t going to fall into my lap. I finally did the research. How to write, how to structure, how to edit. I also researched my genre of choice, preferable book lengths, chapter lengths, story beats. And I wrote a whole new book. Then I edited it and edited it some more. Then delved into the business part: finding an agent. 

Second mistake: I gave up too easily. I convinced myself my new book wasn’t good enough. So I stopped looking for an agent and started writing another book. (As if I couldn’t do the two things at the same time). I went through the process again. And did the same thing again. 

Then life got in the way. 

When I finally got back to writing and publishing, life had taught me a tough lesson: It’s short. After some mighty rough times, I wanted control back. So, I took the self-publishing route and haven’t looked back since. 

I’m proud of my books. I love the stories I’ve written. I’m living the dream where I can continue to write what I want, when I want, all within the parameters based on my research of what readers want to read. Life is continuing to throw those nasty curveballs, but I’m not stressed about my writing. As long as people are still reading my stories and enjoying them, then I’m in a good place. And that makes me smile. 

What makes you smile? 

 

Wielder's Prize, Wielder's Curse, Wielder's Fire, 

Wielder's Storm Trilogy Box Set, 

Well of Ash a fantasy novella.

 

This post was written for the IWSG. Every first Wednesday of the month, members post on their blogs about their writing insecurities or offer some encouragement to others. If you are new to the IWSG or want to learn more, then please go HERE.

 

 

 

Note: I'm not actually here. I'm 6.5 hours away visiting family again for a week. When I'm back, I'll tour around the blogsphere to say hi.

Wielder's Storm Box Set Release

It's here at last! Wielder's Storm Trilogy is now available as a complete set on Amazon. It's available as an ebook for cheaper than if you'd buy the series separately.

Wielder's Storm Trilogy is an action-packed epic fantasy that will sweep you across the high seas on a thrilling adventure full of exciting twists.

This complete box set contains Wielder’s Prize, Wielder’s Curse and Wielder’s Fire.

Wielder’s Prize
Snatched for what she isn’t. Hunted for what she is.
Despite having an abusive cook as a father, Jasmine wouldn’t change her life on the high seas for anything—until that life is shattered. When she’s snatched from the only home she’s ever known and forced to crew a different ship, she learns a terrible truth. She is an untrained magic wielder who is a threat to everyone if she can’t control her power. But she’s not the only out-of-control wielder on the high seas, and the secret of that wielder could change everything she thought she knew—if she can survive.

Wielder’s Curse
A dark vision. A dangerous curse. A fierce girl caught in between.
Jasmine thought her adventures were over, but terrifying visions continue to haunt her. When a loved one’s life is threatened, she risks everything to hunt down the would-be assassin. What she finds is not what she expected. Too late, she realizes she’s endangered the ship and crew. On the run, she is pursued across the high seas to an unknown land. If she can’t master her power, she won’t be able to protect anyone. If she can’t accept help, then she could turn into something worse than the thing that hunts her.

Wielder’s Fire
Jasmine’s secrets have been laid bare, her magic stripped. All she has left is a fire in her soul to defeat the oncoming storm.
Shipwrecked on a forsaken island, Jasmine has nothing but her anger and determination to keep her warm at night. Without her magic, she must find a way to defeat a powerful enemy that can raze townships and summon sea monsters. When she discovers an ancient magic, she embraces it. But it may not be all it seems, and she could be exchanging one sword to the throat for another.

For fans of Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo, who love exciting tales with dark secrets and unexpected twists. Lose yourself today in Elle Cardy’s epic fantasy adventure.


And if you've already read the series, please consider leaving a review.

Amazon, Goodreads, Bookbub
 
Please head on over to S. A. Larsen  for a spotlight on Wielder's Storm.

Wielder's Fire Launch Day

I've been working super hard to make this happen and at last, the Wielder's Storm series is complete. The final book in the trilogy, Wielder's Fire, releases today. Grab your copy quickly while it's still at a special launch discount of only $2.99

Today I'm over at Diane Burton's blog. (I'll be there shortly. My timezone difference meant I needed to post earlier). Please pop on over and say hi. 

What is Wielder's Fire about?
Wielder’s Fire is the thrilling conclusion to the sweeping Wielder’s Storm trilogy. Lose yourself in this epic fantasy adventure set on the high seas.

Jasmine's secrets have been laid bare. The one who was supposed to love her, stripped her of her magic. Now she’s shipwrecked on a forsaken island with nothing but her anger and determination to keep her warm at night. Alone and defenseless against a powerful enemy, she must find a way to survive.

She will get her magic back.

She will escape the island.

She will face the enemy and defeat it once and for all.

But how can she when her heart is blistered to a crisp?

One fierce step at a time.

For fans of Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo, who love exciting tales with dark secrets and unexpected twists.

Please share the love on social media:
I'd love it if you could spread the happy news on all your favorite social media platforms. Below are some samples to make it easier, or use your own. Feel free to use any of my Wielder's Fire images you see around my blog.

Samples:
Wielder's Fire, the thrilling conclusion to the #YAFantasy Wielder's Storm trilogy, is out today! #Free w/ #KindleUnlimited @ellecardy https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0892SBQGT/

Wielder's Fire, the thrilling conclusion to the #YAFantasy Wielder's Storm trilogy, is out today! The exciting series is #Free w/ #KindleUnlimited @ellecardy https://www.ellecardy.com/

Her secrets have been laid bare, her magic stripped from her. She has nothing left except a fire in her soul to defeat the oncoming storm. Wielder's Fire OUT NOW @ellecardy #Free w/ #KindleUnlimited #EpicFantasy #fantasyreads https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0892SBQGT/

Marooned on an island, stripped of her magic, she must find a way to mend her heart and defeat the oncoming storm. The thrilling conclusion is OUT NOW. Get the trilogy #fantasybooks #YAFantasy #epicreads #fantasyreads #FREE w/ #KindleUnlimited http://ellecardy.com

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

And don't forget to say hi to Diane and check out my guest post.

What have you been up to lately?

How Long Does it Take to Write a Book?

With my recent publications, I’ve received a few comments on how fast I seem to be writing. I want to correct the misunderstanding. I am not a fast writer. I wrote Wielder’s Prize ten years ago. An incomplete first draft took me four months to write. It was my first fiction writing project after a long break, and I reveled in the adventure. Around three quarters of the way through, I needed to outline the rest of the story to make sure I got all the threads coming together at the end. That took weeks of sitting in front of a whiteboard.

Then September came along and, for some stupid reason, I’d decided Wielder’s Prize wasn’t going to be good enough. I wanted to try my hand at NaNoWriMo, so I shelved the mostly-completed first draft and set my mind to outlining a new fantasy novel. While I wrote 50k in a month for NaNo, it still took me four months to finish the first draft. Over the next four years, off and on, I listened to too much advice and over edited it. This was the first book I queried. Then I temporarily shelved it and wrote the outline for book 2 and left that. Then the following year’s NaNo came along and I had an idea for a scifi novel, which I messed with for another two years. Even though I got a few agent requests, I’d convinced myself none of it was good enough. The year after that I wrote an urban fantasy with time travel, but only a messy first draft. I then stuck to novellas and short stories and got some of them published.

You can see where this is going. I burned myself out. If I’d believed in myself a little more, I would’ve kept going and given my books more of a chance when I was querying. But no, I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t going to see any of my novels in print. So I quit. Storytelling was still in my soul, so I turned to narrative game design.

Then my brother got sick. Really sick. Terminal. He wanted to collaborate on a scifi before he died. As if I could say no. And I’m deeply grateful to him for the opportunity. Because of the stress and agony surrounding his illness, I couldn’t finish the novel in time. But it brought me back to writing. Dave taught me that life is short. I had to stop being my greatest obstacle. I have all these books waiting for the world. It was time to get them out there.

So I started with Wielder’s Prize. That was three years ago. It feels like yesterday. And I was shocked how good that incomplete first draft was.

There’s more to this story, but I’ll say again, I’m not a fast writer. These last three years were spent writing and polishing the Wielder’s Storm trilogy, learning formatting, and the other ins and outs of self-publishing. I can say with confidence now that Wielder’s Prize is great. Wielder’s Curse is great. The final book in the series will also be great. My overnight “success” is not so overnight.

I hope that any aspiring writer who reads this is encouraged.

What are the things that hold you back? What is the true shape of your dreams?

Looking for Beta Readers
I'm currently looking for some beta readers for my books. I'm after someone with a deep understanding and love of fantasy and has a good eye for those little mistakes a writer can miss. Please let me know in the comments and/or shoot me an email.

This post was written for the IWSG. Every first Wednesday of the month the members post on their blogs about their writing insecurities or offer some encouragement to others. If you are new to the IWSG or want to learn more, then please go HERE.

Wielder's Curse Unleashed and Inspirations #IWSG

The second book in my high seas epic fantasy adventure series is finally complete and unleashed onto the world! There was a while there I didn't think it was going to happen. And now it has. I'm super excited. Wielder's Curse is now available in ebook and paperback. The discount for the ebook's release will be available for two more days only, so pick up your copy today.

If you haven't read book one, Wielder's Prize, then you can pick it up here: ebook and paperback

Both of my novels are also available for FREE via Kindle Unlimited. 

Her curse isn't the only darkness waiting to break the world.

Months after the victory at Sapphire Cove, Jasmine is haunted by terrifying visions of burning seas and blackened skies. It’s the dark future she thought she’d evaded, but now it’s back to bring her nightmares of the Beast, a mad creature trapped in the void between worlds. It fights to escape its prison, and it wants one thing: to devour the world.

To make matters worse, Finn’s life is threatened by an unknown assailant. At the risk of losing everything, Jasmine must hunt down the would-be assassin, find a way of defeating the Beast, and stop the oncoming storm. And she has to do this while struggling to control her untamed magic, guard her secrets, and avoid becoming a true Abomination and a danger to everyone.

If you have time, I'd deeply appreciate a review on Amazon,  Goodreads and Bookbub. Reviews are proving to be difficult to come by and yet so important.
--
Another Adventure on the High Seas

I literally JUST came back from my own high seas adventure. I took a break for a week on a cruise to Papua New Guinea. I put my feet up and relaxed and did a bunch of reading. Now I'm ready to start on the edits for book 3, the conclusion of the Wielder's Storm series.

IWSG Question of the month:
Has a single photo or work of art ever inspired a story? What was it and did you finish it?
Absolutely. Because I'm a visual person, I often hunt for images to inspire a story or evoke a feeling or help me describe a place. But once, I caught the quickest of flashes from the movie trailer of The Tempest. It was one second of footage of a character jumping from a drain or something. That glimpse inspired an entire character and an entire fantasy series. I even finished book one. But I haven't yet released it. I need to finish my Wielder's Storm series first. 

How about you? What has inspired your stories?

Review Copies Available, Cover Reveal, and My Writing Journey #IWSG

Happy New Year everyone!! May 2020 be a year full of joy, grace, success, and awesomeness. May there be no dramas except in the books you read.

Cover Reveal:

I will be releasing book 2 of my Wielder's Storm series on January 27th. Below is my grand cover reveal for Wielder's Curse.

A dark vision. A dangerous curse. A girl caught in between.

I'm currently giving out a limited number of Review Copies. If you are interested, let me know in the comments or send me an email.

If you haven't read book 1 yet, Wielder's Prize is available as an ebook or paperback on Amazon.

OR, you can read it FREE on Kindle Unlimited.

Check out my affiliate link above for Amazon's 99c limited deal for the first 3 months. Or try the 30 day free trial deal. Either way, you'll be able to read my book for free. Win, win.

If you don't own a Kindle, just download the FREE Kindle app for your phone, tablet and computer. Easy peazy.

The IWSG question: What started you on your writing journey?

When I was young, I got ridiculed for my slow, stuttered reading ability. So I avoided it. Then I came across my mum’s collection of Enid Blyton Famous Five books. Adventure stories about kids, for kids. I devoured them in the privacy of my own room. I had no easy access to books, so that’s where I stopped. It wasn’t until a teacher read The Hobbit to the class at the end of primary school (Middle Grade?) that I discovered the joys of fantasy. True escapism. At the age of twelve or thirteen, I read The Lord of the Rings. I couldn’t put it down. The boring books I had to study in school could’ve turned me off reading for life, but then I discovered my high school library. So many fantasy and science fiction books to read! I was hooked and from there, it was inevitable I would want to write my own adventure fantasies.

How did your love of books, reading, and writing develop? 
--

With the New Year comes a time of renewal and refreshment. My book, Cling to God, is a daily devotional that you can use to refresh your faith every day of this new year. 

Available in paperback and ebook:

Amazon, Kindle, Nook, B&N, Kobo, ITunes, Goodreads

And please consider leaving a review.