Author Lindsey Pogue: lindsey pogue

****PLEASE NOTE: This is an old post. I no longer post on this blog. For more information, to visit my new blog, or to contact me, visit HERE****

Greetings, fellow indie authors!

I post resources every so often for first-time indie authors that I hope are helpful to them in their writing process. I love to share what little knowledge I have because I learned most of what I know either from trial and error or someone passing said information on to me. So, spread the wealth, right?

This time around, since I'm in the throes of publishing book two in my new adult series, Nothing But Trouble, I figured I'd give those of you considering novel publication a brief outline of what goes into publishing--how long it generally takes to get ideas - to paper - to print and the steps I take along the way. Please see my Author Resources post for links to tools that might come in handy. I haven't updated it in a while, so my apologies, but the bones are there.

How long does it take to write a book?
Well, how much time do you have to write and how series are you about finishing it? For some authors, it only takes 2 months. For me, well, I work a day job and write simultaneously, so it takes me closer to 6 months, and that's writing an average of two days a week. Everyone's process is different. This is mine:

Step One: Outlining, Brainstorming, and creating a Production Timeline.
The length of time it takes you to do this will vary based on how your mind works and the amount of time you're willing to put into these initial steps. It depends if you're a plotter or pantser. For me, I'm a little bit of both. It takes a couple weeks to really get my ideas out of my head and organized and I use a variety of techniques to organize my thoughts, including sticky notes for major scenes or themes that need to show up in my story, and then I move them to more cohesive thoughts in Scrivener. I look up character photos, create storyboards for visual references, do some research on topics I'm unfamiliar with but need to write about and so on. It generally looks something like this:

For a timeline, I generally pick a "release date" and plan backward.

Here's an example:

Step Two: Start writing your first draft! Even if it's just the dedication page or one particular scene you just can't get out of your head. START. You have to get into a groove and the only way to do that is by actually starting. It sounds easy, but trust me, it's not always, especially if you're not already in a writing routine. I generally use National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) to get the skeleton of my story down, chapter by chapter. I can go in and flesh each chapter out later, but the main scenes are pivotal in getting to know your characters more. First Draft time Lapse: Depending on length, 1-2 months.

Step Three: When you're finished with your first draft, take a break! This should be at least a couple weeks. I use this time to do some of the following:

work on marketing
read for fun
relax and take a complete step away from book stuff
start brainstorming new projects

Notebook for a different project

Step Four: Go back through, edit and revise, then send your manuscript to beta readers. Provide them questions you want answers to, then give them sufficient time to read, take notes, and really delve into the story so that you get the best feedback possible. While it's out, you'll have 3-4 weeks to work on the following in preparation for publication:

book cover
book description
you can start thinking about promotions

Step Five: After getting the manuscript back from Beta readers, make the edits you want and read through it again. If you want to, you can even send it to a second group of betas that focus on proofreading and grammar more than content. Time Lapse: Anywhere from a couple weeks to another month depending on if you send it out again or not.

Step Six: Format. Send it to the editor. While your manuscript is out of your hands yet again, you can start:

brainstorming or outlining another project
work on promotional materials

Time Lapse: 1 month

Step Seven: Revise based on editor's feedback and do a final read-through. This is more of a proofread and essentially your last chance to clean it up and/or make any changes. I would ask someone else to proofread it for you before you publish, to catch the extra spaces, the missing words, etc. that your mind won't notice given its familiarity with the work. Time Lapse:2-3 weeks

Step Eight: Publish! These steps depend on where you want to sell your book. Here are some of the platforms to check out:

CreateSpace (paperback)
Amazon (KDP)
Draft2Digital: Kobo, Barnes & Noble, iTunes
Wattpad
Lulu

That's the gist of it! I'm sure there are things I forgot to mention, but this is a great way to get yourself on track to publishing that book you've always wanted to, no matter the drive behind it.

GOOD LUCK!

Linds
xox

p.s. remember, this blog isn't going to be in use after this month, so make sure you check out my new blog on my website.

Twitter: @LindseyRPogue

Facebook: Author Lindsey Pogue

Website: LindseyPogue.com

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Thursday, May 12, 2016

How sensory stimulation helps me write: Sense of Smell

As a writer, you're expected to transport your readers to times and places they've never been to before--to feel the sun shining on their faces, to smell the earth they walk upon, to hear the sounds of nature rustling around them, and to give characters thoughts and emotions readers can empathize with. That's what keeps readers engaged, right?

For me, getting into the minds of my characters isn't always easy. In fact, sometimes I have such a difficult time that I find a hundred other things to do with myself when I should be writing.

To help myself stay in tip-top writing shape, I've come to learn that engaging as many of my senses as possible--connecting me to my mission--helps me focus more than anything.

My newest approach: engaging my olfactory bulb. Sound strange? Well, it's quite astonishing, actually. Apparently, the olfactory bulb starts inside the nose and runs along the bottom of the brain. It has direct connections to two brain areas of the brain that are strongly engaged with emotion and memory: the amygdala and hippocampus. Interestingly, visual, auditory, and tactile information synapsis do not pass through these brain areas. They say that this may be why smell, more than any other sense, is so successful at triggering such vivid emotions and memories that evoke that feeling of “being brought back in time." Even more than images. Cool, right?

As an experiment this go-around, I'm using Mac's Lilac scent to help me keep the creative juices flowing...

Why Lilac?
Mac wears Lilac lotion, Sam even comments on it in her story, Whatever It Takes. Little does Mac realize, Lilac reminds her of her mother, hence her connection to it.

How do I use it? To keep my olfactory system engaged while I'm working on Mac's story, I light a lilac candle. Because it's not a scent I surround myself with often, it's interesting to have it permeate the room--it's great, actually. It's different and there's just something about the sound of a flickering candle that soothes me.

Fun Facts
Lilac is both edible and medicinal. Apparently it's historically used as a tea or for infusion as well as an anti-periodic. Anti-periodic basically means that it stops the recurrence of disease such as malaria. And it's also been associated with helping to break fevers.

What can you make with Lilacs?
For you Susie Homemakers and Homesteaders out there, here are some recipes in case you're interested!
Lilac Jelly

Lilac Wine
Lilac Liqueur/Cordial
Lilac Infused Blueberry Syrup
Lilac Ice Cream
Honey

Next time I'll share with you what other ways I indulge my sense while writing to keep myself in "the zone."

Lindsey
xox

Twitter: @LindseyRPogue

Facebook: Author Lindsey Pogue

Website: LindseyPogue.com

Pinterest: Lindsey Pogue, Author

Instagram: authorlindseypogue

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Team Lindsey FAQ: On Writing The Ending Series

As most of you Ending Series readers are aware, The Ending Series proper has come to a close. Yes, there will be small writing projects here and there, specifically World Before and World After that will be getting some more buzz later this year. But what we'll call The Ending Series origin novels are complete. Finito. Closed. Finished. Done forever.

Now, some of you Endingers have been with us from the beginning, reading our stories and growing with our characters alongside us. Other readers are new to the Ending Series--to Harper's waggling eyebrows, Jason's smoldering stone-faced expressions (yes, somehow he manages to do both at once), and Dani and Zoe's silly banter and unwavering friendship--and those of you newest to the world of The Ending might have a few (or many) questions about, well, all of it: the series, how it started, questions about questions about us...

That being said, we wanted to share a little bit about all of that with you through a series of short blog posts.

To start, here are FAQ's that you may or may not be wondering yourselves. Get out the libations and popcorn, it's sort of a long one. Happy Reading!

****

1. What inspired The Ending series?

LP (Lindsey Pogue): We were both working at a bookstore a few years ago, and we were on our way home from a tradeshow in Oakland. I think we were high from the smell of new books or something because we were giddy and started chatting about writing and stories and it bloomed from there. We started brainstorming characters and story arcs, and before we knew it, we had Zoe and Dani outlined and a title for our project.

LF (Lindsey Fairleigh): Yeah, we had the entire premise set up by the time we parted ways that evening.

2. What motivated you to write a post-apocalyptic romance series? Have you always been science fiction fans?

LP: Romance fan, yes! Science fiction…not so much. My dad was a sci-fi reader when I was growing up, so I was surrounded by books with spaceships and laser guns on the cover. I assumed that was all the science fiction genre consisted of. Clearly, I was wrong. When LF and I first started The Ending project, I wanted to write and embrace my creativity. Our collaboration was going to be that outlet for me so I committed myself, not caring what the genre was. Since then, I’ve started to read more dystopian novels, and I am fascinated with the intricacy of some of the more epic science fiction storylines.

LF: I, on the other hand, have always been a fantasy and science fiction fan. My love of romantic themes didn’t develop until later, but now I find myself losing interest in a book if it doesn’t include at least a little romance or sexual tension. As for our motivation to write a new adult post-apocalyptic romance series—we both love YA books like Divergent, Shatter Me, and Hunger Games, and wanted to create something similar, just with more adult themes.

3. How much of the series is realistic?

LP: Although our book is fiction, we tried to make it as realistic as possible. We did as much research as we could before taking our own creative licenses and adding things into our post-apocalyptic world that might not have been there otherwise. Overall, we try to keep the reader engaged and constantly thinking “what if”.

LF: There were a few “real world” things that we tweaked for the sake of the storyline, possibly the most obvious being that the internet stays up for a few weeks after almost everyone is dead, but we stuck with it because of the way the project originated. In the beginning, the entire thing was epistolary--it was all written in the form of emails between Dani and Zoe. We changed that, thankfully, but felt the need to retain the email communications because they were the original heart of the story--everything else formed around them.

4. How would you describe Dani?

LF: Dani is definitely someone who proves that first impressions can be misleading. She’s a tiny redhead with a feisty personality to match her fiery hair, and if you don’t spend much time getting to know her, she seems silly and a little flighty. But, as we learn throughout After The Ending and Into The Fire, this is simply a disguise she’s been wearing since childhood. She fears that if people get to know the real her—the intelligent, thoughtful, independent, and deeply caring person she really is—they’ll reject her. Of course, she doesn’t wear this
emotional mask around her best bud, Zoe…and therefore not around Zoe’s older brother, Jason, either…making them some of the few people who know the real Dani.

5. How would you describe Zoe?

LP: Zoe is…complicated. She’s in her own head a lot, stands in her own way, and is loyal to a fault when it comes to Dani—the one consistent person she’s ever had in her life—so she clings to their friendship above all else. But on the flipside, she’s also extremely passionate and determined, which in the end, will help her rediscover herself in the new world of The Ending. We see her growing a bit stronger in book two, Into The Fire, but it’s book three where the readers will really get to know Zoe Cartwright and book four, well...I LOVED writing her chapters in Before The Dawn. She's come so far!!! :)

6. Do you have any advice for writers?

LP: Go with your gut and keep in mind that you will NEVER please everyone—the latter is something I’m finally coming to terms with.

LF: Put your manuscript aside for a month or two—like lock it away in a safe and don’t peek at it even once—and then when you look at it again, you’ll have all these new ideas for improving it. I know a ton of people have already said it, like Steven King, but there’s a reason--they’re right!

7. What is one piece of advice you would like to share with aspiring authors everywhere?

LP: Not everyone writes the same, has the same imagination, or shares the same work habits. Find what works for you and embrace it. Try not to compare yourself to other authors because it's exhausting and your quirks are what make you unique.

LF: Write for you...the only way you’ll know if other people like (or hate) your words is if you write them down. And yes, no matter what, some people will hate them.

8. What made you first decide to become a writer?

LP: It has always been easier for me to write down how I feel as opposed to communicating it to someone aloud. I started writing in journals at a very young age and inevitably my ideas, dreams, and life experiences starting turning into more than that. Little bits and pieces of my observations and of my life turned into storylines, and soon fictional characters and plots began to develop until I had so many story ideas that I had to invest in cases of floppy disks (yes, real plastic floppy disks) to save all my stories onto. I’ve been writing so long that as I go back now and read through some of my stories from fifteen years ago, I can’t help but laugh because they are so horrible and surprising at the same time.

LF: I think it goes back to the fact that I tend to spend half of my life in some other, completely fictitious world. I loved the worlds and characters that other people created so much that they almost seemed real to me. And, without meaning to, I started to create my own imaginary worlds and my own imaginary people...but they only lived in my mind. To make them more “real” I needed to write their stories, to describe their worlds on paper. Once I started, it was like everything slipped into place. Writing just feels...right.

9. What is one thing you hope readers will take away from this series?

LP: I’d like the readers to consider this our interpretation of the humanistic side of things. I think we provide a pretty realistic picture of what life would be like after The Ending (maybe minus all the hot guys running around). Yes, Zoe and Dani are in their twenties, but that’s young and they’re alone, and the world as they know it is ripped out from under them. There is so much for them to process, and they are scared and grasping for any sense of normalcy they can find. For them, sometimes that means crying too much, distracting themselves with men, and making poor or rash decisions. Are they acting immature? Maybe, but unrealistic would actually be having them pick up a rifle and start blasting people without a second thought. Our heroines have a lot of maturing to do throughout the series, so partially I think we wanted to show Dani and Zoe as they were prior to The Ending, and as the series progresses, how they grow.

LF: Hmmm...maybe that the apocalypse doesn’t have to be entirely about death and sadness. That’s not to say that those things aren’t present throughout the books--I think Dani and Zoe have emotional and mental breakdowns nearly every other chapter--but we really wanted to highlight the undeniable power of hope, love, and friendship. For Dani and Zoe, a life without those things would have been only a half-life.

10. When will The Ending Series be made into a movie?

LP: I think I speak on behalf of both of us when I say that as much as we would LOVE to have The Ending Series turned into a movie or show, it's not something that's necessarily up to us. It's been our experience that producers approach authors, not the other way around. And we aren't out there pitching a screenplay to anyone at this point in time. Plus, there's always the fear that once the rights to your work are sold to someone, you have no control over what they will do with those rights. Many books get picked up by movie studios but nothing ever comes of it, so you've sold the rights to your book that you might never get back. BUT, even with all of that being said, we would love the see the world of The Ending on screen, to see it more developed and explored and our characters in action. The idea of having the series turned into an AMC or HBO series would be our dream come true. We wouldn't scoff at a movie, either, but there's just so much that can be done with the story, a TV show or mini-series would be able to dive in more and would be our ideal choice. We shall see what happens...

LF: What she said! All of it is dead on, which makes sense because this is something we talk about with each other A LOT. I mean, how could we not? What author wouldn't love to see their creation come to life? I'd be ecstatic to have the chance to see how someone else interprets our world and characters, but...I'd also be scared. Because, you know, what if it's all wrong?! That being said, I'd be way more ecstatic and excited than I would be scared, so, yeah. :)

11. What projects, if any, are you both going to work on together? Will they be in the world of The Ending?

LF: LP and I have three Ending projects planned down the pipeline - two that are much more immediate and one that's definitely a several-years-out project, as we'd like to develop our other, separate projects and grow individually as writers and creators. The two more immediate projects are titled The Ending Series: World Before and The Ending Series: World After, and both are story collections featuring our favorite Ending Series characters, but not focused solely on Dani and Zoe.

LP: The stories in World Before will take place prior to the Virus outbreak--five, ten, maybe even twenty years before in some cases. The stories in World After will be continuation stories that take place after The Ending Series book four. Depending on the characters we choose to write about, their stories could take place months or maybe even years after Before The Dawn. As for the third project, that will be a ways out, as LF mentioned, but we've left the world of The Ending open for many possibilities. :)

Coming 2017

Friday, April 29, 2016

And so it begins... Chapter One.

As most of you know, my life has been a bit of a whirlwind--a wonderfully epic whirlwind, but a whirlwind nonetheless--these past six months. From releasing the final Ending Series book, Before The Dawn, in November, followed by the holidays and the release of book one, Whatever It Takes, in my new series, to getting married and travelling from February through April, it's been a crazy-ass ride. But now, it's time to get down and dirty and finally start writing book two, Nothing But Trouble.

The goal is to get this book out before Christmas, and I've picked an unofficial date in December, which I'll reveal once I've made more progress on the manuscript. For now, let the creativity flow, the voices speak, and the endless nights and nail-biting days begin.

Here I go....

Book Two, Nothing But Trouble

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Gearing up for Nothing But Trouble, Book #2

I've been lost in a world of wedding celebrations and travelling and family visits since, well, it seems like a year now. BUT starting at the end of this month, no more parties, no more planning, only writing and getting back into the author swing of things. I'M SO EXCITED!

When you're an author, not writing is VERY difficult. You live and breathe your characters, they mind-chat with you and they commandeer your thoughts at the most inconvenient times--when you're working, doing chores, when you should be sleeping, you name it. So not having an outlet to get your thoughts down on paper is SO DISTRACTING!

To be able to use my writing time to actually start writing again is something that will be both challenging and liberating. Challenging because when you stop writing, or at least when I stop writing, I get out the habit and find myself staring blankly at a screen, uncertain where to start. Liberating because there isn't that gnawing sense of "you should be" and "I really want to be" going on underneath everything else you're trying to accomplish.

So, again, I'm super stoked that after April 24th my life will be somewhat back to normal. And because I'm so excited, I've snuck in some outlining this week, ahead of schedule. Mac and Colton and their twitterpation are SOOOO close to being explored, it's making me giddy. Until then though....

Happy Reading!
(p.s. you know it's close to happening when I start my new story notebook. ;)

Linds
xoxo

Twitter: @LindseyRPogue

Facebook: Author Lindsey Pogue

Website: LindseyPogue.com

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Monday, March 28, 2016

Monday Funday Giveaways!

We always need a little extra umph in our Mondays, right?

Do you like free books? Specifically heart-wrenching, loveable characters? Enter to win an ebook or signed paperback! Giveaway runs from April 4-8 and there are many ways to enter below. Good luck and stop by some of the blogs hosting WIT this week!

"Ms. Pogue creates a breathing world

that will wrench your soul from your body."

- Dianne Bylo, Tomb Tender

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THAT'S NOT ALL!!!

We just released a digital box set of The Ending Series!

That's right, all four books (After The Ending, Into The Fire, Out Of The Ashes, and Before The Dawn) have been bundled together in The Ending Series: The Complete Series. So, if you know anyone planning a long trip via plane, train, or automobile, feel free to let them know about the adventures that await them in the world of The Ending--but only if they're not driving. :)

The box set is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and iTunes.

*SPECIAL REQUEST*

As many of you know, your honest reviews of our books are a big part of what makes it possible for us to keep writing books. We're immensely grateful to everyone who's posted a review to any of our books. Like, more than we'll ever be able to express. We <3 you so much!!!

If you have a chance, we would love it if you'd take the time to jot a quick, honest review of The Ending Series: The Complete Series on any of the retailer pages (Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and iTunes).

If you do post a review of the box set, be sure to send a copy of the link to the review to lindseys@theendingseries.com. You'll be entered into our April giveaway for one of two prizes: a signed, defaced first edition hardcover of After The Ending and a signed first edition paperback of After The Ending (the book that started it all). You have all of April to enter. We'll announce the winner on May 1st.

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Whatever It Takes Giveaway!

GIVEAWAY!!!!

What better way to kick off the start of my new New Adult series than to have a giveaway!? You have from Monday, January 25th - 29th and I'm giving away 2 signed paperback copies and 4 ebooks!

Good luck!

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