Tag: Indie Author

Bad Ass Chicks Blog 1

Bad Ass Chicks Blog 1

Bad Ass Chicks

July 1, 2015

So today is the day we kick off the series and I am so fortunate to shed the light on the talented, super cool author Kayti Nika Raet and her Bad Ass Chick: Niko. Niko is from Kayti’s book series The Outsider Chronicles, and if you haven’t gotten wind of that awesome series, well now is the time to change your life. Here is an excerpt from Niko’s recent exploits in the book Monster:

As they ran toward the flare Niko realized that though it was ingenious Roosevelt’s idea wasn’t completely foolproof. The flares only told the approximate location of the Slither not how many there were.

Once she rounded the corner she would have no idea if she was going to encounter one Slither or twenty-six, if she was going to encounter a regular Slither, or the eerily intelligent, talking ones.

She had no idea what to expect when she rounded the corner but it definitely wasn’t what she actually saw.

There was nothing.

The street was empty.

There were no Slithers.

Ari stumbled to a halt. “What?”

“There aren’t any Slithers here.” Alice said, swiveling her head left and right. “Are you sure you’re not lost, Arianne?”

“She’s not lost.” Niko cut in before Ari could say anything.

They were in the right spot, the flare had originated from a place only a few meters away; they could even smell the smoke and taste the bitterness on their tongue.

They were in the right spot, there just weren’t any Slithers. Niko moved until her back was against a house and she could get a better view of the street.

All was quiet. Everyone was safely tucked inside their homes which were balanced on several concrete blocks to keep them from touching the acid. A few of the homes had a thin light slipping out from underneath their doors, the light was either provided by solar powered lamps or glow sticks. She hoped to one day bring electricity into the slums but for now, they were concentrating on bringing water to every home.

Alice and Ari stood beside her, their eyes panning the street warily, Roosevelt was somewhere on the roof above them.

“It’s probably a false alarm,” Ari said. She was whispering as though she wasn’t completely sure of her theory. “Someone was scared and set one off by accident.”

“Or someone was an idiot,” Alice said, sounding less forgiving.

Ari grunted as though she agreed with her but couldn’t bear to say it aloud.

“Sh.” Niko said. Something wasn’t right.

The houses were balanced on blocks to keep them off the ground. It left about a foot and a half of space beneath the house. It wasn’t much but it was just enough to hide a Slither.

They were dealing with a smart one.

Niko lurched away from the wall. “It’s under the house. Move!”

Didn’t that give you chills? Anyone that manages to survive in a dystopian society gets two thumbs up from me, but to survive in a dystopian society where Slithers have taken over the damn place and to do it with a baseball bat deserves a red carpet, a bottle of wine and tons of praise. I love Niko’s character and I cannot wait for more.  Here are some more fun facts about Niko:

NIKO

One can live for several weeks without food but only a few days without water, a fact seventeen year old Niko is only too aware of as she struggles to provide for her two younger brothers in a post- apocalyptic landscape where the rain burns like acid, food grows increasingly scarce and any Slither that crosses her path is laid low before it can sink its teeth into her.

Then one night everything she’d ever worked for and loved is consumed by a raging fire, leaving her with one brother missing, the other dead and herself gravely injured.

She’s rescued by the Rose Circle, a rogue group of Slither hunters. They sneak her into Amaryllis City, a decadent metropolis where those able to pay the exorbitant entrance fee live a life of relative ease.

But for Niko, Amaryllis City is not the haven she grew up believing it would be and her unique abilities as a Slither hunter make her a particularly visible target to a city with hopes of experimentation, replication and other nasty bits.

All Niko ever wanted to do was find her baby brother, but that’s proving to be harder than expected.

I know you want more on Niko and Ms. Kayti so here are the links to contact them:

Website: kaytinikaraet.com Blog: writebitches.wordpress.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kaytinikaraetbooks Twitter: https://twitter.com/KNRwrites Pinterest: pinterest.com/kaytinikaraet/  Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/1fb2cR7  Smashwords: http://bit.ly/1IDVehs  Book Links:  Niko: http://amzn.to/1u5sFAe Harm: http://amzn.to/1s9Nbz0  Outsider:  http://amzn.to/1w3tP3H Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1uWYEpr

I want to take this opportunity to say thanks to Kayti for sharing Niko with us. A black chick with a bat is bad ass to me lol…stay tuned for more Bad Ass Chicks next week. And just a reminder, if you are an author looking to share your Bad Ass Chick of a character, you have until the 10th to email me with questions and your info at septembershope@gmail.com.

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Indie Life and my Journey

I thought I should take a moment to reflect on my progress thus far as an independent author, and let me tell you it is not easy. Each day is filled with an internal conflict to keep pressing forward. It is a daily struggle to remain motivated and focused and that each day is one step closer to my goals. But it is…hard. Some days are better than others. I have days where I am filled with so much self doubt and procrastination that I type less than two pages and give it up for the day. Or two… Some days I feel like there is just not enough time in the day to finish what I am working on. I have the vision; I see where I want to go, but some days this engine of mine runs out of gas.

Will I ever quit?

No. Writing has always been a passion of mine and anyone that knows me can testify to that. Creativity flows through me like a  river to an open ocean and I know there is no way that I will ever quit doing what I love to do. But this journey of mine does get tiring. For those that do not understand what you do a great deal of time is spent trying to convince them to share your vision; and then more time is wasted trying to make those same people understand that the life of an author is a slow grind. Success is not overnight. A lot of work goes into self publishing starting with finishing the manuscript, and then it is on to revisions and editing, and formatting…designing the covers for the book…and then the business/marketing side of the deal.

But the biggest struggle that I have encountered in this journey is trying to forge relationships with other people who do what you do; who understand your pain and struggle: other authors. All of my networking with other authors is done on Facebook and other social media platforms. I try to offer my support by promoting their work on my website and blogs, tagging and liking and posting their work on pages and what I have come to conclude is that each author is their own island. As an author myself I have found it difficult finding that balance between helping someone else fulfill their dream and accomplishing my own. As much as I would like to I cannot read everyone’s manuscript, post a review on Amazon and then share their links on all of my social media accounts…only for the favor to never be returned.

Am I relying on other authors to help me get to where I want to be? Hell no. I do everything on my own and I am working hard to build my own audience and I know most of that comes from word of mouth, but there is something to be learned from authors who are more experienced and have an idea of where they are going. I just barely figured out my direction and I know that with consistency and great deal of hard work I will have my own audience begging me to hurry up and release a work of mine. But until then, I guess the life of an indie author is a solitary one-meaning, no more networking (or attempts to network) but focusing on building my own brand.

My stories are original 100% and the day my work is no longer authentic is the day I will quit writing. Yes I have favorite authors whose work I admire and inspired me to pick up the pen but never do I read someone else’s work and then try to duplicate that same story by changing the names and faces of the characters. I see a lot of that going on…but hey to each his own….

To those who stumble across this blog, understand that I am not complaining, just voicing my opinion and expressing my struggles as an indie author. Most of us are blessed with reaping very little benefit other than the personal satisfaction of bringing what we have in our hearts and minds to life and receiving a few good reviews. I love what I do and I guess that is all of the fuel that I need to keep going.