"I think that writers are made, not born or created out of dreams of childhood trauma—that becoming a writer (or a painter, actor, director, dancer, and so on) is a direct result of conscious will." – Stephen King.

I believe almost everyone had once tried writing. Well, if you did, the paper is just for you. If you didn’t, the paper is for you as well. Today, I’m going to share the most typical writing issues that prevent novice writers from becoming reputed pen wizards.

If you don’t agree or have something to add, feel free to share it in comments.

PART I: MISLEADING MINDSET

#1 Uncertain Position
How could you make the reader trust you if you don’t believe in what you say? The first common mistake of beginners is, oddly enough, their uncertainty. What’s the reason?

Currently, there are an incredible number of books on different subjects and for all tastes, so it’s quite challenging to cover something new that has never existed. Naturally, a novice writer hesitates whether it makes sense to try to bring to mankind if everything has long been written.

Well, that’s not true as every person is unique and has something to say to the world. Leave alone the f brilliant ideas of the past, think about the future! If you feel the need to share – do it, don’t hold yourself! Be sure, in case you worthy present your thoughts, you’ll be approved by the crowd.

#2 An Aspiring Writer is Confused and Does not Know What to Write About
​The second mistake comes from the first one. The problem of this kind often occurs because of the lack of experience in the field. Such a person may decide to wait for "better times," until he would gain the needed experience and be able to write.

Again, even a child has something to tell to the world. There’s no any boundaries – trust to your subconscious. Often, we do not represent what a storehouse keeps our brain and what incredible surprise can we do. Believe in yourself and be sure to try.

#3 Lack of Time
Actually, the lack of time is just an excuse that prevents the beginning of the development of any young writer. Of course, you can work all day and think about writing a book when you’ll take a vacation. Alas, but this doesn’t work.

To begin with, you have a very small chance to write something consistent at once. Please don’t think that all the popular writers were rich when they started writing. They just allocated some time for the lovely hobby that later turned into the main source of income. Moreover, writing requires training and practice. Believe me or not, that’s a kind of sport.

The solution is simple: write on a daily basis! Spend at list a half an hour writing. If you have nothing to write about, write down current thoughts and impressions. This will help to develop your writing skills and expand your imagination, perhaps.
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#4 Absence of Working Algorithm
The fourth mistake is that most young writers don’t have any plan. No matter how well self-organized you are, you do need a plan! Schedule your work and cover as much material as you have planned.
​
#5 Greed
Never, never start writing just for money! Fame and money will come, but they shouldn’t be your original goals! A true writer gets pleasure from the creative process, and that’s the only way to create a true masterpiece.

I have a really exciting announcement for you. Coming November 1st a new Young Adult action adventure mystery thriller will be available on Amazon. This book has to be one of the most exciting I've ever written. It is a page-turner like you wouldn't believe and I am very proud of it. Mark your calendars. Here's the blurb to peak your interest. 

MONSTER ISLAND PART ONE: TAKEN

My name is Lucca DiVitas. I woke up in a burlap sack in a dark shed, and outside someone is screaming.

In my pocket is a note: Pay for your sins.
.  
Escaping my bonds, I realize I’ve been kidnapped. Tall trees and snow-capped landscapes tell me I’m far from suburbia. And then there’s the ocean crashing angrily against the rocks. I’m on an island with no way of escape.

Rushing toward the screams, I find Kat Voss, a scared teen, who claims she’s running away from a “snake with arms.” I decide she’s in shock until we find cages large enough to fit the world’s most dangerous animals. The cages are open, and they’re empty.

We uncover more mysteries—an observation room with cameras, a bloody operating table, and a fully stocked torture chamber.

Then we realize we aren’t alone.

A voice over the loudspeakers begins directing us, like a guide on the world’s most sadistic tour. The voice tells us to smile for the cameras. Blood is good for business.

If we can’t figure out who is doing this and why, it’ll only be a matter of time before one of us, or ALL of us, ends up dead.

​Monster Island is a Young Adult high-intensity action thriller where the pages turn themselves. Readers who like LOST, Maze Runner, and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will pick up this story and not be able to put it down.

COMING NOVEMBER 1ST!

It's official! Mark your calendars because The Barriers, Breeders Book Five will be ready July 5th. Here's the blurb to wet your whistle. And make sure you are a member of my newsletter for special early bird pricing. 


Book Five in the best-selling young adult dystopian series, The Breeders​

Riley hasn't seen her boyfriend Clay or her nine-year-old brother Ethan for two months. Between violent road gangs and ongoing clashes between the Breeders and the Free Colonies, are they even still alive? But Riley will never stop looking. Her search takes her to Kirtland Air Force Base, where she finds the remains of a battle and one glimmer of hope: rumors of the boys heading toward the Free Colonies and a man who can help her get there. The only catch? He nearly murders Riley the first time they meet.

Meanwhile, Clay, Ethan, and Betsy struggle to steer clear of bandits, thieves, and slavers. Their water is gone, along with Clay’s memory and Ethan's patience for Betsy, who only makes things worse by trying to convince Clay they're in love. With Clay's mind muddy, it’s up to Ethan to keep them alive long enough for Riley to find them.

The route back together is paved with trials—and how many more have to pay for their freedom with their lives?

Some of you may not know that, though I'm a young adult writer, I also write children's books and have a children's chapter book series called Portia Parrott. The first book won an B.R.A.G. medallion award from this amazing site, and this week I'm participating in their blog hop with lots of great books! If you don't know Portia, she's a smart and sassy first grader, and a whole lot of fun. Check out her interview. HER EBOOK IS CURRENTLY FREE. GET IT HERE.

​Interview with Portia Parrott

Portia, tell us something interesting about you. 

Well, I am not a bird. My LAST NAME is Parrott, but I don't have a beak or clawed feet. But once I fit a whole sleeve of crackers in my mouth. Then I threw up.

What's the best thing about your life? 
​
I am seven years old. Daddy says this means I can feed chicken guts to the alligators. But only if he's with me. 

You've recently moved in with your mother in Florida. What's it like? 

Florida air is hot like dog's breath. When I moved there to live with my mommy, I thought my face would melt. 

Tell us about some of your favorite things. 

I love snakes! And turtles! And lizards! My dad is a herp-e-tologist, so he touches them with his bare hands! I want to be like him when I grow up. 

We know you love Australia and all the animals there. Do you hope to visit there someday?

YES! My daddy is in Australia, filming his first TV show and I would love to go and see all the animals. In Australia, the flying foxes are as big as my neighbor's dog. And they say "shrimp on the barbie" and "didgeridoo."

Thanks for coming today, Portia. You, too, can learn more about Portia Parrott in her first book, Portia Parrott and the Great Kitten Rescue. 

Moving is the pits. Moving without your dad is even worse. When seven-year-old Portia Parrott is sent to live with her mom, she worries the only thing she'll like about Florida is the alligators. It isn't fair. Dad gets to film a TV show in Australia, and she gets sticky air and Mom's drooly rat-dog, Barf. Being back with her mom is nice, but her new classmates think she's crazy! No one cares how many snakes she can name. Worse, they want her to do homework! But when she rescues a strange kitten and sneaks it into school, the adventure really begins.

Also, enter to win free a $10 Gift Card from Amazon. Runners up will win ebook copies of books 1 and 2. Enter below. 

Book Five is coming soon! Here's a sneak peak to wet your whistle. 

PROLOGUE
 
Beetle drove up the cracked pavement road as fast as the depleted solar car would go, and Subject Seven followed.

He’d seen flashes of Seven in the rearview, racing along the roadside behind him, ducking in and out of debris, cactus, and brush. He’d stunned it, that much he knew for sure. Zapped it good from six feet away with his taser, a killer shot by anyone’s standards, but it had recovered so quickly. It was then Beetle realized he never should have come alone, or this late in the day. Now, with no sun to charge the solar car and no juice in the batteries, he was a few minutes away from having to run. And that would be a problem.

He’d tracked the damn thing all afternoon. The crumbled city was a veritable labyrinth of places for it to hide. Every collapsed building hid dark basements and closets. Every alleyway had piles of brick and trash, perfect hiding spots for a being as disgusting and ruthless as the one he was tracking. Then he’d found the lair. Both terrified and excited, Beetle had waded through nests of saliva-drenched newspaper wads and balls of stringy brown hair. Mounds of ripped and shredded fabrics, dirty sweaters, blue jeans, kids’ blankets all culled from the abandoned storefronts and dragged into the basement of one of the collapsed buildings on Main Street. But Subject Seven wasn’t in the nest. Satellite technology was not what it used to be, and that could explain the error in Dr. Washington’s calculations, but he had a feeling, all while climbing through chunks of the abandoned town the thing called home, that it was setting him up.

The damn thing knew he was coming and set up a false trail. One he followed until it nearly took his head off.

It was smarter than they thought. And more brutal.

They’d jumped him in an alley, Subject Seven and Eight working in tandem. He hadn’t even considered that Eight could be a threat. He’d nearly had his skull separated from his body before he’d gotten the taser in his hands and zapped them both, laid them flat on their backs (he’d given Seven a swift kick, too, not that he would tell anyone). He’d grabbed Eight and ran.

Now he glanced in the back seat at the mound beneath the blanket. Eight was still there—unconscious and safe. If he brought Subject Eight back, he’d receive a hero’s welcome. Dr. Washington could continue her experiments and “set the world straight again,” as she put it. If he failed? He didn’t know who he was more afraid of, Dr. Washington or Subject Seven.

His foot pressed the acceleration pedal to the floor, but the car continued to creep slower and slower, lurching like a drunk toward home. He had minutes before the juice ran out. Minutes until he was stranded with Seven coming after him.

“Come on, you bastard,” he said through gritted teeth. He pressed his foot down until it hurt, but the car continued to slow.

“Oh God,” he breathed, his fingers trembling as he glanced into the rearview. Where was Seven?
The solar car was safety, a solid steel-alloy frame with giant all terrain tires. What would he do when it finally died? Roads were a joke, concrete broken into more pieces than a shattered plate. How in the hell did he think he’d get away on foot carrying the nearly seventy pound cargo behind him? He couldn’t leave Eight behind. Dr. Washington would banish him into the desert.

The taser should’ve laid Subject Seven out longer. He thought a zap that powerful might’ve killed the thing. That one error might mean the end of his life.   

The car struck something and jarred to a stop. Beetle’s chest rammed into the steering wheel, shooting pain up his sternum. He heard a thump and felt something slam into his seat from behind. He hoped Eight was okay. Pressing the accelerator once more, wheels spun sluggishly, but the car stayed put. He was stuck.

“Sonovabitch!” he screamed, pounding the steering wheel until it hurt. Why wasn’t he paying attention to the road? Goddammit, he was not going to die. He was not!

Glancing out the car windows and seeing nothing but buttes and scraggly cactus, Beetle swung open the car door and ran to the stuck tire. The concrete had fallen away, tumbling into a broken pile on the bottom of a three foot crevice that cut jaggedly across the left side of the road. It had probably been created by those earthquakes they felt a few months ago. If he had seen it he probably could’ve dodged it, but he was too preoccupied with looking in the rearview. He leaned down beside the crack and examined his predicament. The tire dangled into the open space and the car was resting on its frame. If the batteries had any juice, he could gun it in reverse and probably get free, but the car had given up the ghost.

“Shit! Shit, shit, shit!” he yelled and then regretted it, swinging around to look for Seven. So far nothing. Dear Christman Jesus, he had to hurry.

God, how far was he from base? In the distance, he could see the dip in the road that led home. Why had Dr. Washington sent him alone? Why wasn’t the team watching on the satellite and sending help? Maybe they were watching and didn’t care. Maybe this was all part of Washington’s plan. To see what Subject Seven would do when provoked. Sweat pouring down, Beetles face, he decided to hell with the Subject Eight. To hell with Dr. Washington. He didn’t want to be torn to pieces and left on the pavement for birds to pick at his guts.

When he heard heavy breathing behind him, all the hairs stood up on the back of his neck.
He turned slowly.

From the periphery of his vision he saw the huge shape just before it clobbered him.
He fell hard. His head jarred against the pavement with a smack that radiated through his body. Blackness gathered.

When he came to, everything was blurry, fuzzy shapes in brown and yellow and green. He couldn’t remember… Subject Seven. He turned, but pain shot up into his head sharp enough for consciousness to fade. He blinked his eyes into focus.

Subject Seven was climbing in the solar car, tearing it apart in a frenzy. Beetle heard the creak of complaining metal as the car’s door was bent back.

“Ssstop,” Beetle slurred, fumbling. Where was the taser? His trembling hands crept down his sides, searching for pockets that seemed miles away. The pulsing pain at the back of his skull threatened to end him, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Dr. Washington’s greatest achievement. And her worst.

“Don’t take it,” he managed.

Subject Seven turned and pounced.

All air chuffed away as Seven slammed both feet into his chest. He gulped for oxygen, but there was none to be found. He opened his eyes to see Seven’s face above his, evaluating, calculating. There was no mercy in that gaze.  

The last thing he felt was the blow to his skull.  


​STAY TUNED FOR MORE!
 

Hello lovely readers. I wanted to let you know about The Believers book sale and invite you to enter to win a package of swag, including a signed copy of the paperback of your choice. ​

AND if that wasn't enough, from now until Friday get book 2 for only 99 cents! Save over 70%. You won't be disappointed. Over 88% of readers who wrote reviews on Amazon gave the book 4 or 5 stars.

GET YOURS NOW!

 - 
It's the New Year and a new time to win free stuff. My Infinite Ink author friends and I worked together to offer you something special. Not only are our books drastically discounted we are also giving away a $100 Amazon Gift Card or PayPal Cash. Check out all the amazing books to load your kindle and enter to win. 

Welcome to the Infinite Ink $100 Book Blast Giveaway!

The Breeders by Katie French- GET YOURS FREE 
“When the Breeders come for ya, there ain’t no escape. They strap ya to a bed and all ya hear is the thud of your heart and the cries of your friends as they wheel ya down to hell. Then the doctors come. You squeeze your eyes shut and pray you can forget. But ya never do.”

Sixteen-year-old Riley Meemick is one of the world’s last free girls. When Riley was born, her mother escaped the Breeders, the group of doctors using cruel experiments to bolster the dwindling human race. Her parents do everything possible to keep her from their clutches– moving from one desolate farm after another to escape the Breeders’ long reach. The Breeders control everything- the local war lords, the remaining factories, the fuel. They have unchecked power in this lawless society. And they’re hunting Riley.

When the local Sheriff abducts the adult members of her family and hands her mother over to the Breeders, Riley and her eight-year-old brother, Ethan, hiding in a shelter, are left to starve. Then Clay arrives, the handsome gunslinger who seems determined to help to make up for past sins. The problem is Clay thinks Riley is a bender– a genderless mutation, neither male nor female. As Riley’s affection for Clay grows she wonders can she trust Clay with her secret and risk her freedom?

The three embark on a journey across the scarred remains of New Mexico– escaping the Riders who use human sacrifice to appease their Good Mother, various men scrambling for luck, and a deranged lone survivor of a plague. When Riley is forced into the Breeder’s hospital, she learns the horrible fate of her mother—a fate she’ll share unless she can find a way out.

BOOK TWO IS 50% OFF FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS -GET IT
BOOK THREE IS 50% OFF FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS - GET IT

Praise for The Breeders
Kindle Book Review, 2014 Kindle Book Awards Semifinalist

Over 45,000 downloads so far. More than 300 four and five star reviews. Top Ten in Free Kindle Teen & Young Adult Science Fiction Dystopian Romance.

“This is an Excellent book that should be published the writing is that compelling and suspenseful.” — The Book Runner, Amazon Vine Voice Reviewer

“Wow, just wow! I started reading the sample for The Breeders and before I was even halfway through it, I stopped and bought the book. I was completely enthralled after the first few pages.” — Amazon Reviewer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Virulent by Shelbi Wescott - GET YOURS FREE
Lucy King is only an hour away from embarking on the most incredible vacation of her life: White sandy beaches in a tropical paradise, snorkeling and sunbathing in peaceful tranquility. But as Lucy looks forward to her trip, a sinister plot is unfolding that will demolish the world as she knows it.

An unknown bioterrorist group unleashes a virus that virtually wipes out the earth’s population—leaving Lucy, and a small faction of survivors, trapped inside her high school to wait out the apocalypse. War, looting, and death wreak havoc outside the school; inside, the students must contend with a tyrannical and paranoid principal and their own struggles of being orphaned, frightened, and unsure of what the future will bring.

What begins as a basic fight for survival turns into a search for answers that will challenge everything Lucy has ever known about her life and her family.

Virulent is the first book in the Virulent trilogy, an enthralling post-apocalyptic adventure that takes you from the end of the world to the formation of a new society.


Praise for Virulent: The Release
“My favorite part was how realistic and authentic Wescott is about to make her characters. It is clear from the specific detail and the way she shapes her setting that Wescott knows her way around a high school. She also knows a thing or two about teenage minds.”
— Underground Book Reviews
​
“Great characters, amazing descriptions, suspense and the beginnings of a great conspiracy mark this beginning to a series that I look forward to following. I can’t wait for book two.”
— Cherie of Cherie Reads

The Scourge by A.G. Henley - GET YOURS FREE
Seventeen-year-old Groundling, Fennel, is Sightless. She’s never been able to see her lush forest home, but she knows its secrets. She knows how the shadows shift when she passes under a canopy of trees. She knows how to hide in the cool, damp caves when the Scourge comes. She knows how devious and arrogant the Groundlings’ tree-dwelling neighbors, the Lofties, can be.

And she’s always known this day would come—the day she faces the Scourge alone.

Praise for The Scourge
“Looking for a trenchant, imaginative, beautifully written novel to read? Look no further: it’s The Scourge, by A.G. Henley.”
— Sarah Cloots, former editor at Greenwillow Books, imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books
“The prose flows smoothly and easily but there are much deeper issues lying beneath the surface of the story that are captivating and will hold the interest of readers of any age . . . I was quickly transported into the world of The Scourge and plummeted breathlessly toward the resolution. This is a very good book and a good look at just what science fiction can achieve when in the hands of a capable writer.”
— Josef Hernandez, Examiner
​
“Lovable and relatable heroine? Check. Swoon-worthy, kick-butt hero? Check. Compelling romance that makes your heart melt and toes curl? Check. Captivating story and fascinating world? Check. Eagerly anticipating the next book? Check, check, check.”
— Refracted Light Reviews, blog review

Contributor by Nicole Ciacchella - GET YOURS FREE
When the Great Famine threatened the existence of mankind, the Creators saved humanity. Humanity has been their loyal subject ever since.

This history has been ingrained in seventeen-year-old Dara Morrow since her first day of Creator-sponsored school. Grateful for the life-giving necessities her Creator provides, Dara is thrilled to be one of three students chosen for an elite, year-long apprenticeship program. Now is her chance to prove herself a devoted Contributor.

But Dara’s competition is ruthless and will stop at nothing to win the competition. Worse yet, her exacting master has little patience for her.

Then Dara’s mother is seriously injured, and Dara realizes the price of being a Contributor: once you’ve outlived your usefulness, you’re discarded. Can Dara learn to manipulate the system to save not only herself, but everyone she loves?

Praise for Contributor
From the world of dystopia comes something different – The Contributor. A society set wherein all must either contribute or be nothing at all. Very intense story line with a daunting theme. This is a great read and I can not wait to see what happens in book 2.
— LadyLox
​
Mindblowingly good. This book is brilliantly constructed.
— Kelly Walker

The Torturer’s Daughter by Zoe Cannon - GET YOURS FREE
When her best friend Heather calls in the middle of the night, Becca Dalcourt assumes it’s the usual drama. Wrong. Heather’s parents have been arrested as dissidents – and Becca’s mother, the dystopian regime’s most infamous torturer, has already executed them for their crimes against the state.

To stop Heather from getting herself killed trying to prove her parents’ innocence, Becca hunts for proof of their guilt. She doesn’t expect to find evidence that leaves her questioning everything she thought she knew about the dissidents… and about her mother.

When she risks her life to save a dissident, she learns her mother isn’t the only one with secrets – and the plot she uncovers will threaten the lives of the people she loves most. For Becca, it’s no longer just a choice between risking execution and ignoring the regime’s crimes; she has to decide whose life to save and whose to sacrifice.
​
It’s easy to be a hero when you can save the world, but what about when all you can do is choose how you live in it? The Torturer’s Daughter is a story about ordinary life amidst the realities of living under an oppressive regime… and the extraordinary courage it takes to do what’s right in a world gone wrong.

Praise for The Torturer’s Daughter
“…a great read that plays with your nerves and sets great challenges before its characters…”
— Willing to See Less
“The society created by the author is incredibly oppressive and realistic in all its horror.”
— Le Chat de Bibliotheque
“My day stopped in its tracks once I picked up this novel, racing frantically towards the conclusion and the answers I needed to have.”
— Bookluvrs Haven

The Heartbeat Thief by Ash Krafton- GET IT FOR 99 cents
Haunted by a crushing fear of death, a young Victorian woman discovers the secret of eternal youth—she must surrender her life to attain it, and steal heartbeats to keep it.

Poe meets Austen in this haunting tale of death and endless devotion…

Being the most beautiful debutante in 1860’s Surrey isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Senza Fyne knows all too well the expectations set upon a young Victorian woman—and she also knows that, in one fell swoop, death can just whisk it all away. When she meets the mysterious and mystical Mr. Knell, she is offered the chance to escape the chains of Life and Death and to enjoy the bliss of youth and beauty for all eternity.

But that takes magic…and a steep price. She’d have to surrender her life to gain an eternity and she’d have to steal the heartbeats of others in order to keep it.

She has everything to gain if she succumbs to his spell…but knows not what she might lose.

It’s a little bit Jane Austen, a little bit Edgar Allan Poe, and a whole lot of stealing heartbeats in order to stay young and beautiful forever. From the posh London season to the back alleys of Whitechapel, across the Channel, across the Pond, across the seas of Time…How far will Senza Fyne go to avoid Death?

Praise for The Heartbeat Thief 
“It’s a supernatural story, but it doesn’t rely on the conventions and themes that have gone before it. To be honest, when I picked it up I was expecting witches and/or vampires, but I found something else entirely. I loved the story and the concept.”

“True to its word, “The Heartbeat Thief” is part Jane Austen, part Edgar Allen Poe. The author revives the best of the style of writing found in the classics: the introspect of characters, lovely allusions comparing characters to nature and life, beautiful alliteration and prose. Mixed with this is a deep foreboding of death, a macabre sensation that follows Senza throughout the story.”

“Beautiful imagery and language shape this intriguing story that spoke to me about the meaning of maturity and purpose in life. Lovely!”

Ends 1/31/16
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the participating authors. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

The Breeders Box Set is here! On sale for a limited time only.

Books One, Two and Three plus novellas Nessa and Clay are all in one place for the first time.  Even if you've already got Book One, it's cheaper to buy the box set than Books Two and Three alone.

Save over 50% on purchasing individual books.

Get it now before the price goes up.