Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Uniquely Unwelcome - Review and Guest Post


When I was reading through the introduction of the characters which included a lycan, a witch, and a hybrid, my first thought was a bad joke involving them all entering a bar.  Thankfully, the story itself was no where near this level of corniness!  It depicts the conflicts and alliances within the shadow world (that exists alongside the human world, sort of like The Mortal Instruments) that goes beyond the stereotypical vampire/lycan drama.

I can't give it a 5-star rating only because of the editing mistakes (a character is "internally grateful" to another), but I do give it 4 stars overall.  The story itself is interesting, and even down right addictive.  I found myself trying to steal moments to read, even if only a few paragraphs, to see what happened next!

It ends with a huge cliff hanger, but to my relief the second book is already available!  So pick up Uniquely Unwelcome now and add Blood Burdens to your to-be-read list... it is worth it.  

Blog Tour Giveaway!!


Here is a list of what's up for grabs!
A $15 Amazon Gift Card
A $10 Amazon Gift Card
2 Copies of Silenced by Raebeth McGee-Buda
And 60 Day Challenge-Kindle Fire HD
Free Kindle Fire HD with a custom case made by Sunny-J's Design


About Brandy Nacole:

Brandy Nacole resides in Arkansas where her imagination runs wild.  Reading is her passion and writing is her obsession.  Whenever she's not reading or writing, Brandy is spending time with her family and friends, throwing around crazy ideas, and laughing through the crazy moments.  She's the author of the Shadow World Series and the Spiritual Discord Series.



What Brandy Nacole writes about:
 I’m a 26 year old mother of three and married to my best friend, who supports all my crazy ideas.  When I tell people I’m a writer the first question they ask of course is, what do you write about?  When I tell them I write Paranormal Fiction most respond with, “Ah, another stay at home author want-to-be.”  My response, “Uh, no.”

The truth is I have been a writer ever since I could write.  Sure, my first story was about an alligator and a boy named Sam.  They were the best of friends and the alligator followed Sam around just like a puppy would.  But as I grew up, my interest started growing in the paranormal genre.  If you ask me why, I would ask you, what’s not to like?  There’s magic, strength, forever love, special powers, immortality, shifting into a new being, and so much more.  I know that a lot of people don’t like the paranormal, just like some may not like westerns or mysteries, but paranormal fiction has had me in its grasp from a young age. 

So yes, I stay at home with my children, write paranormal fiction, and dream of being a great author, but this is not a recent development.  This has been my dream since I was a little girl.  I am not a stay at home mother, who decided to start writing.  I am a mother, who decided to stay home to write.  And that is the truth behind every indie author.  We write because it’s our passion, our dream.  We want to share our stories, and passion with the world.  And that’s exactly what I thought when I started writing Uniquely Unwelcome, I want to share this.

I wanted to share the story of a unique girl, who was an outcast in both the Shadow World and the Human World.  I wanted to share her uniqueness and the struggles she faces as she tries to help those that don’t trust her.  I had to share the lonely life that girl faced and still faces, and how she handles someone actually noticing her for something other than a freak.  And that’s exactly what I got to share in Uniquely Unwelcome.  Then I got to continue that story in Blood Burdens. 

So to answer the question, what do you write about?  I write about stories I want to share.

Where you can find out more about Brandy Nacole and her books:




Being unique isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

After searching all over the world for someone as unique as she is, Racquel finds herself back in her home town where she’s treated like a monster ready to kill. Racquel is one of the most unique beings ever created. Four of the most powerful beings in the Shadow World are intertwined within her, making up her unique DNA. But no matter how unique her bloodline is, she’s considered an outcast by the entire Shadow World.

Once arriving home, Racquel finds that greater evils exist and that the person she cares for most in this world, her half-sister Addie, has been kidnapped along with other Shadow World beings. Racquel finds herself facing horrible odds with those who would rather see her dead than alive.

As her journey continues, Racquel learns more about herself, what she is capable of, and that not every being looks at her as an abomination. Coy, a human captive that Racquel saves from the Vampires, starts showing kindness toward her. Racquel tries putting distance between her and the human boy but as they spend more time together it becomes harder and harder for Racquel to fight the affection she wants and needs.

But will Coy’s friendship and her new found discoveries be enough to help Racquel unravel the strangest mystery that has ever plagued the Shadow World?

Where you can find Uniquely Unwelcome and more of Brandy Nacole’s Books




 5 reasons I write Fantasy

       So, what are five reasons I like to write Fantasy?  How about I narrow this down to five words instead: Seriously, what’s not to love?  I have been a fan of fantasy/paranormal books, movies, shows, and local myths since I was a little girl.  My first memory of the fantasy genre was with Interview with A Vampire.  I was four years old and my aunt, who’s just as big a fan as me if not more, was watching the movie on Halloween.  I don’t remember every detail of course, but I remember watching it with her and being totally enthralled.  From there it was R.L. Stine books, Anne Rice, and so on. 
         I started writing when I was around 7 and while my writing wasn’t too farfetched with fantasy it was about a young boy and his pet alligator Sam.  They had all sort of adventures together.  Then as I aged, my writing became more involved with pure fantasy. 
         With Fantasy writing you can create the most unique of worlds and fill them with unique characters.  There doesn’t seem to be any line of ‘not possible’ when creating a Fantasy book.  Worlds can be made inside of worlds, powers can be limitless, battles and villains can be twisted, and romances can be epic. 
         With my Shadow World series, I wanted to reach these fantastic limitless possibilities.  My main character, Racquel, is a hybrid that is made up of four different Shadow lines.  She’s part lycan, witch, vampire, and shifter.  Sounds complex doesn’t it.  Well she is a complex character.  She’s also an outcast.  Her powers seem to be limitless and the Shadows not only consider her an abomination but they also fear her.  I also incorporated the Greek Gods with their creations.  Each line of Shadows has a Greek God that created them.  If it wasn’t for my love of Fantasy and the limitless ideas that come from creating such books, then I wouldn’t have had the chance to share the story of a unique girl like Racquel. 
         Fantasy gives readers an escape outside the everyday life, much like most stories.  The thing with Fantasy books, it’s something we just don’t experience on some level on a daily basis.  Now if vampires and shape-shifters start skulking the world, then Fantasy writers are going to have to step it up and reach out for a new level of fiction.  Until that day happens, readers and writers get to live out a world that isn’t our everyday hum bum routines and escape into a world filled with magic, love, rivals, and heart racing wonder.      

How to meet deadlines and remain SANE.
        
         Just like with any job, stress can overwhelm anyone.  With my experience of self-publishing a book, stress was heavy in my life.  I knew it wasn’t going to be simple when I decided to take my writing to the next level and publish.  But I also thought I could handle it.  Well, I didn’t do so well at first. 
         The first time I published Uniquely Unwelcome in June 2012 I didn’t have an editor.  I decided that after checking the book to the best of my abilities I would go ahead and publish.  Well, Uniquely Unwelcome wasn’t even on the market for a month and I got two reviews recommending that I get an editor because the story was great and had potential but it seemed like a rough draft.  Thankfully my editor, J. Cameron McClain, reached out to me.  So the editing process began.
         Once all the editing was done, it was time to put it on the market.  Here comes the highly stressful point, getting your book noticed.  My life became consumed with research on how to market my book, ideas for giveaways, searching, searching, and more searching.  My writing started to suffer and I got to a point where I wasn’t even writing at all.  Finally, I stopped.  I couldn’t take the depressed feeling I felt of holding back my writing anymore. 
         Creating a schedule is what helped me.  I wanted to still market but also write, while also getting to have a life with my family and friends.  So I broke my “writing days” up with 80% going to writing and 20% going to marketing.  I would wake up on my “writing days” post a blog if need be, check my social networks, websites, and any updates that needed to be dealt with.  I would give myself two hours to complete all this, then I would shut my internet off so there was no attempts to check this or that, and got to work writing. 
         It took some time not to delve in my old ways and check websites or go looking for something new while I was writing, but I overcame it.  Publishing a book can be overwhelming but once you find your groove and remember why you published to begin with, uh because you love to write, then you’ll find a way to make it work on a level that keeps you sane and focused.  Once I found my groove, I finished writing the second book in The Shadow World Series, Blood Burdens, and the first book to my next book series, Spiritual Discord. 
         Stress can make a person go insane, so to stay sane you must first find a groove.      

Why book covers are so important.

         There’s this saying, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover,’ but let’s face it, it happens.  When searching for a book the first thing someone is going to notice is the cover.  The cover can then draw that person into reading the synopsis.  If the synopsis and the cover draw the reader in, they could possibly buy it or put it on their to-be-read list. 
         My own personal experience with a cover design came with Uniquely Unwelcome.  The first edition cover was a hand drawing of a girl looking up at an eagle.  While it was a nice drawing, it just wasn’t up to par with other Fantasy covers.  It became very apparent to me, especially after a few readers recommended that I change the cover, that a change was indeed needed. 
         Why did I decide to use a hand drawing?  Well it was kind of a dream of mine.  My husband is a great artist.  He’s also my support system.  Whenever I’m frustrated, stuck on an idea, or just at a complete loss, he’s there.  I wanted to pay some tribute to his support and so I thought I would have him do my first cover.  From there, I would go with the “traditional covers” but for my first publication I wanted to incorporate him in some way. 
         My lesson from that, sometimes we have to let go of the smaller dreams/goals to reach the bigger ones.  I felt guilty I guess you could say when I told him I thought it was best if we changed the cover.  Being a great supporter like he is, he agreed.  He was honored that I had tried and that I had even used his art to begin with.  So together we picked out the cover for Uniquely Unwelcome and then again with Blood Burdens. 
         So yes, books are judged by their covers.  I’m not saying that every person does this, but most probably do.  I’m happy with the new cover for Uniquely Unwelcome and have a paperback edition of both the first edition with my husband’s cover design and the newer edition so I at least have a small token of my little dream. 




1 comment:

  1. Thanks for having me along. I really enjoyed reading your review of Uniquely Unwelcome :)

    ReplyDelete