Geeky Girls Review

I just woke up, and am a tad groggy but in a splendid mood after checking my inbox and discovering a great review done by Chantale over at Geeky Girl Reviews. 

I wasn't quite sure if I would like this one since I do not usually read young adult books. I admit this one was pretty good. Great characters and you can really imagine the characters. This one kept me reading until the very end and it got me excited to read book 2. 

Check here to read the full review :)

Slight Retouching

After some unexpected - yet much appreciated - advice from a fellow author, my editor and I went through Twin Souls and edited a few things here and there that I somehow passed up the first hundred or so times I read through it. So it has been retouched a little bit and hopefully it has been improved :)

Now to resume editing and formatting Hybrid!

Happy Birthday~

Today is my husband's twenty-fifth birthday! Sadly, not only does he have to work but he is also sick with a stomach virus :( I had intended to make him a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, but I am afraid that will have to wait until he feels better. 

Four years ago on his twenty-first birthday I bought him a really nice desktop computer to replace the old Dell he had for who knows how many years. It ran horribly and he could hardly do anything on it. So, this year I replaced his four year old computer with a brand new, even better, even faster fancier one! 

Now he is all set to run Diablo III at the highest possible settings upon its release :P 

New Cover

After a lot of input from fellow readers and writers, it was decided that my book cover needed a change. I contacted several book c over designers and discovered that their prices were way out of my budget, so I decided to try to open up my trial of Adobe Photoshop and see if I had any time left. Upon opening it, I discovered that I did in fact have time - I had one day life! So, I spent my time searching for free stock photos, editing numerous ones, getting input on Kindle Boards and struggling to find a font style that looked just right. 

Then finally, I was done! All that needed to be done was to upload it onto Amazon, and that took almost an entire day. Now it is finally complete and any book bought from now on will have the new and improved cover. 

I also updated the synopsis as suggested by some friends and fellow writers, so hopefully it is more appealing as well. 

The Good and the Bad

For those of you that have not read the book and want to avoid any spoilers - DO NOT READ the below reviews and comments as they will potentially ruin some surprises for you. But if you don't mind a few plot lines being spoiled, continue on.

Firstly, I got a lovely review from Angieleigh over on Once Upon a Book [link will direct you straight to said review] and I was quite pleased with it. 

Then, I stumbled upon a not-so-pleasant review from Elizabeth at Wading Through Electronic Ink. I am still thankful they read and reviewed my book, and I don't mind having a bad review, I know that not everyone is going to enjoy my book[s], however giving the wrong impression of what happens throughout the story is a little upsetting. My main disappointment here was that a lot of  what she said was inaccurate, and makes me wonder if she rushed through the book too quickly, missed some parts completely, or skimmed a bit.

After telling the plot she says: 'This is what happens in the first five page of this novel. I rebel against the system that says a novel must grip you in the first five pages, and I would never review a book without reading the entire thing.' This especially bothered me, as that is incredibly incorrect. Alexis doesn't even meet Salem until the third chapter which is in fact fifteen pages into the book. At this point she knows nothing about him other than he is the new boy at school.

'It's actually a common problem I run into among YA paranormal romance where I just don't believe that two people are really in love. I think anyone trying to write one should implement a three day rule. - also inaccurate. 

The romance between them begins well after three days - and there is more to it than just falling in love, they do have things in common [music, books, etc.], and the sole reason behind Salem living in this specific town in Colorado is because his Sire [the vampire who turned him] saw him in a vision in this town with this particular girl as a couple. She says that they move in together in mere days, but in fact they do not move in together until chapter 12 - nearly halfway through the book. This is at first due more to situation than to love, they do not fall in love until even later than this.

'Other than the fact that she decided she could skip school as much as she wanted once she had a rich boyfriend and became a vampire hunter. I thought we all learned from season 6 of Buffy that slaying the undead does not pay the bills, even if you already own a house. And relying on a man for your income is totally passe. I feel like Alex definitely needed an 80's public service announcement to tell her to "Be cool. Stay in school."

Alex doesn't rely on Salem for income, or housing - he isn't rich, either. In fact, he has no money. At this point of her new found situation she still has money leftover from what her 'mom' left her, and as far as the necessities such as food goes - I thoroughly explain that as well. As far as dropping out of school right before graduation, it happens a lot. Sure it may have been smarter for her to finish, especially so close to the end, but with what all is happening in her life it is too much and she just does not care anymore. Salem helps her lie to miss about two weeks of school, citing a lingering flu. After this Alexis decides to drop completely.

Regardless of all of this, I do truly appreciate the time and understand that not everyone is going to enjoy my novel[s]. I am okay with getting a two and a half star review, heck I am fine with getting a one star review [and I know I will get plenty]. However I just wanted to highlight a couple of the points I found odd, considering the book contains opposites to it. There are a few more that are opposite of the portrayal in the book, but these were the most prevalent few.

Thank you again to both Angieleigh and Elizabeth, you were my first two reviews and I will remember you both fondly forever.

You have to take the good with the bad I always say.

Tiki

Dog and jewelry lovers alike - 

My friend's dog Tiki is not doing well, so she is having a sale at her Etsy shop [Honey & Ollie]. Everything is %15 off with the code TIKI15. Take advantage of the sale on some really exquisite hand-crafted jewelry while helping out pay for poor Tiki's vet bill! :) 

Here are some examples of what you can find at Honey & Ollie - 

100%

I have dedicated as much time as possible to writing in the last two days and have successfully pushed my book progress from 85% to 100%! I can hardly fathom the fact that I am finally done writing it.

Twin Souls took almost exactly a month to write, while the sequel [the title of which I shall reveal at the end of the post ;)] took roughly a month and a half. Now comes the editing and formatting, which may take up to a month to ensure it is as perfect as possible.

I am also looking into having a professional cover done for Twin Souls. While some people [including myself, but perhaps I am being biased because I made it] like the current cover that is in use, others have said it does not fit the category and is not very eye-catching. So don't be surprised if Twin Souls suddenly has a new cover in a few months! :) 

There should also be some further good news later this afternoon, so long as it plays out as I hope...but more on that later.

And without further ado, I present to you the title to the sequel to Twin Souls!

In the upcoming month or two, expect to see Hybrid - Book Two in the Nevermore Series available for purchasing! :) 

Blogging

The last time I had an actual blog was probably when I was thirteen, which was ten years ago. Most of the topics on there were in relation to ordinary things you would see from a thirteen-year-old - nothing anyone would really be interested in reading beyond the select few personal friends I had on there. So, I am a very inexperienced blogger! Most of my "blogging" nowadays involves pointless surveys that I thoroughly enjoy answering for whatever bizarre reason. 

I think I shall begin by introducing myself, and explaining a little of who I am and what I do.

My pen name is K.A. Poe, which is just my first and middle initials and my last name. My two siblings and I used to have the exact same initials until I was married. We were all K.A.G. Kayla Arynn, Kyle Alexander and Kaitlyn Ambre-Marie. I made myself a promise to never do that to my children if ever I have more than one XD I have been writing short stories and poetry since as far as I can remember. It has always been a passion of mine to write and to someday have my books on the shelves - for now they may be virtual, but perhaps someday there will be physical copies for people to enjoy. For roughly four years, I dedicated all of my time to writing poetry and sharing it on a website called AllPoetry, I made a lot of friends there as well as fans. It's been a while since I last wrote a poem, but I won a lot of virtual trophies from entering contests on the website and had quite the fan base. 

Now I stick to writing stories. I have a fantasy series relating to a prince, a potion-brewer, and a long quest to save the King which I began writing on and off back in 2005. I completed the novel in 2010 and it is going through the editing and formatting process, but I am putting the Nevermore series ahead of it in terms of importance right now. Whilst in the middle of writing the sequel to my fantasy novel, I got really tired of the genre and my husband [Adam] suggested that I open a new document and just write whatever came to mind. Fortunately, the night before I had a dream that I couldn't quite get out of my head so I began writing something in relation to what occurred in the dream, and that is where the beginning chapter of Twin Souls came from. So, I stopped writing the sequel to my other book and became obsessed with writing Twin Souls. The more I wrote, more dreams manifested over night and brought on new ideas that helped me further develop the story. While my fantasy book took me five years to complete [this is thanks to finishing high school, bonding with my at-the-time-boyfriend [now husband], and other life matters], Twin Souls took roughly three months to write, edit and format. I am now about 85% done writing the second book in the Nevermore series, and once I am done I shall begin editing and soon have a second book published. I expect to have at least three novels in the series, unless something persuades me to write further books.

Outside of writing, I enjoy playing computer games such as Sims 3, Skyrm and World of Warcraft. My husband and I were avid W.O.W. players for four years before we got a little burnt out [not to mention we had a newborn baby to tend to and that took away time from playing], but we are anticipating the release of the next expansion. The first few weeks after buying Skyrim, I was hooked and stayed up well into the night [beyond 2am] playing, but have since then taken a break to focus on my writing. I also enjoy reading, of course. My favorite series is Harry Potter, and I don't think anything will ever replace my love for the wizarding world of Hogwarts ♥ 

I temporarily pondered the thought of attending culinary school for baking and cake design, but decided that baking was something I would prefer doing as a hobby, not a job. So, instead of focusing on college I spend my time writing and making a 'career' out of that. After all, we only live once and I believe it should be spent doing whatever makes us happiest :) 

On another note - I have a few more book reviews lined up for the upcoming months, but there isn't a set time for when they will be released. I will, however, update as soon as I know! I believe they will be out just in time for the release of book two, so hopefully that will encourage readers to partake in reading Twin Souls in preparation for the sequel :D

Sneak Peek!

You can now 'look inside' my book prior to reading it. The sample provides almost the entire first five chapters - take a peek and maybe even buy the book! ;) 

One of my friends read the entire book within the last few days and gave me her reviews. I was beyond flattered by her words and am so glad that she enjoyed it :) 

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Gardening

I was just out watering my flowers and thought 'I have been wanting something to post about on my blog, aside from my book, so why not share some information and photos of my little garden?' I had been looking for some sort of little hobby outside [no pun intended :P] of writing, and my husband suggested I try gardening - my only issue with it was the possibility of bees, as I tend to have a slight fear of them... but so far hanging my laundry outside has attracted more bees than my flowers have. 

Day One - February 23rd

There are five pansies and one ranunculus. There is also the little gnome, which I had to have. I have been playing World of Warcraft [on hiatus currently] for about four years, and all of my characters [that can be] are Gnomes, and I have grown a love for the little creatures so I of course needed one in my garden! His name is Gnorbert :) 

Here they are now - April 3rd

Sadly, my ranunculus did not make it through the hail storm we experienced a few weeks ago :( But I am amazed at how fast my pansies have grown! I am hoping to get some more to add to it soon :) 

Furthermore...

My book is now listed on Goodreads! So much excitement in one day ;) 

Now to resume applying for potential book blog reviews and enjoy the surprisingly cool Tucson weather. 

Review by UFReviews!

I am very excited to announce that I have been accepted for a book review by Urban Fantasy Reviews, scheduled for July 12th! That feels like so far away, but it'll be here before I know it. 

On another note, I got my first review on Amazon.com, which just adds onto the excitement! 

Twin Souls is finally available!

After several long days of waiting for Amazon to finalize my book, it has officially been published. I had to contact support before they finally got around to fixing the issue. Sorry for the delay!

[click image to go to the page on Amazon]

I hope you read it & enjoy :] I am very excited to see what people think of it :]

Also, book two is in progress. I am already beyond page 200, so it won't be too long before it becomes available, too!