Raven Dark's Blog

Happy Launch Day to me. Happy launch day to me. Haaappy launch day to mee-ee….

Okay, I’ll stop. But you’ll have to live with me being really, jump-up-and-down excited today. My first full-length novel, Unlawful Desire, is officially live.

For those of you who have been following me for a while, you know this is the book I’ve been trying to bring to publication for over two years. It’s the first in my Men of Clayton-Moss, series, and there are at least two more after it.

The series is erotic...

Fixing site issues. Brear with me.

This is coming a little later than intended, but…

BAD BEHAVIOR, the third book in my erotic Teach Me serial, is live and available to order on Amazon!

Like the other two, it’s 99c. Also like the second, a short story, and a little longer than Doing Wright, but every bit as hot.

Forgive me for the shortness of this post. I have a friend visiting, waiting in my livingroom as I write this, so I don’t have time to party the way I’d like. LOL Also, I know I haven’t been posting much. *Hang’s head...

Ok so first, before we get into the good stuff. I have to apologize for my woefully infrequent posts of late. Among other things, I had some issues with the site that made posting a nightmare. Those are fixed now, I hope.

But you want to see the goods, I know, so I won’t keep you from them.

Drum roll, please…

Here’s the cover and blurb for the third installment of the Teach Me series, BAD BEHAVIOR.

Isn’t it delicious?! I love the way it fits so well with the other two, and it’s exactly the...

There’s an alarming mentality I’ve seen around the interwebs of late. On Facebook, Twitter, even Youtube, people claim that online friendships aren’t “real” friends.

What does that even mean?

In this age of workaholics and online living, where nearly everything can be obtained through a computer, more and more people are developing relationships that exist purely online. Many of these friendships are long lasting bonds that exist for years and remain as powerful as any face to face relationship.

All right, so I’m aware of the issue that comes with lack of physical contact with the outside world. It bothers me that perfectly able-bodied people can go days at a time, fully functional within their homes without encountering another human. Food, software, water, clothes, all of it can be obtained online. Our increased liking for isolation is a problem. Humans need real contact with other humans, but that’s another discussion for another blog post.

One of my friends, Kristen Lamb, posted something on her facebook page about this mentality that online friends somehow can’t be classified as genuine friends. I’ve seen the proof this just isn’t so.

Some of the things Kristen has had to endure in the last couple of years have been heartbreaking. She’s posted more than once how her many close friends, whom she’s known and worked with for years, have been her saving grace. They’ve rallied for her when bullies tried to destroy her credibility on social media. They kept her awake all night and given her strength when a family member had a terrifying eye surgery. They’ve helped to build WANAtribe (an online community for creatives) into a social media phenomenon. WANAs support each other as intensely and passionately as any best friend will ever do. I know. I’m one of them.

Original image courtesy Holly Chaffin, Public Domain Pictures.net

I’ve been practically bouncing with excitement to show you guys this since I got it two days ago.

At the start of this month (Sept), I published my erotic short Doing Wright. It’s a BBW Student/Professor story, with BDSM elements, and my first release. But it’s also the first part of a four or five part serial, Teach Me. Now, here’s the gorgeous cover for Teach Me 2: Jacy’s Lesson!

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Isn’t it drool-worthy?! I really love how she captured the slightly broody, and very erotic mood of the story, making it different from Doing Wright’s cover enough to stand out, while making it similar enough that it feels like part of the same series. She also gave it that hint of naughty erotic, while still keeping it clean. I have no issue with dirtier covers, but even though I write highly erotic, overly sexualized covers don’t fit for my style.

Here’s the blurb:

Class is in session and Jacy is about to learn a hard lesson. After a wild night of passion together, her hot college professor Tyson Wright completely ignores her. Instead of wallowing in her sudden rejection, Jacy plots her revenge. What will she do when she discovers Tyson has a lesson for her, one that she won’t soon forget?

What do you guys think? Pretty neat, huh?

Jacy’s Lesson will be coming out on Sept. 15, 2015. I’ll add it to the Book page shortly, along with Doing Wright. Where DW had a hint of BDSM, the kink in this installment is a lot stronger, while the relationship between Jacy and Tyson grows more intense.

For some additional fun, I have four–count them four!–release parties coming up this month to celebrate the release of Jacy’s Lesson. I’ll add an events page and post them so you can keep track and join them, so if it’s not up when you see this post, check back in a bit. Each party will have a lineup of other great authors, fun games, and a chance to win free books, so don’t be shy.

Image courtesy of Lisa Hall-Wilson, Flickr, WANACommons

First, before we get to today’s post, I just want to say a quick apology for being away so long. With the sequel to Doing Wright coming out on the 15’th of September, and rewriting an older book with the hopes of eventually getting it out for all you lovelies to read, I’ve been swamped with editing and deadlines.

As to the post, I’ve been wanting to share this video since it came out, before I even had a blog to share it on. I love Neil Gaiman, but that isn’t the only reason why. And no, it’s NOT just cause I could listen to his damn sexy voice all day. LOL. I wanted to share it because I knew what he says is something so many people need to hear. Yes, he’s talking about writing and art, but his advice applies to anyone looking to make a career. And he puts it brilliantly.

So watch it. And be happy you did.

R.D.

Image from the TV series “Awkward”

What’s in a name? Apparently everything.

Most of you have noticed by now I changed my writing name, but I’ve been so caught up in the nightmare of changing it that I haven’t had time to explain why. Or why it’s been such a nightmare.

For anyone new to me, the name I use on social media for writing was Raven CLARK. There is another Raven Clark on Amazon who writes in the same genre, erotic romance. As some of you know, I have a book coming out, an erotic short story, Doing Wright. It’s due out later today (Sept 1, 2015, YAY!!!). It’s my first release. Had I kept my name as Raven Clark, there would have been the risk of confusion for readers once the book came out. Plus I don’t want to step on the other Raven Clark’s brand, or for her to step on mine. The other writer is very prolific and writes different enough from me that once you read the books you can tell us apart, but the possibility of cross contamination is still huge. Especially down the road when I have more books out and the names start to compete with each other.

For anyone in publishing—or for that matter in any business—I don’t have to tell you how awkward this sort of change came make things, or of the potential disaster it can bring so close to launch. And it doesn’t matter if you’re self publishing or going traditional, it’s still a shit load of work.

I should state here, in case anyone is worried about buying the book now, the name change won’t effect the story. I’ll work on getting the files updated as soon as I finish this post, and Amazon takes time to put the update through, but it’s just the cover and the links to my pages at the back of the book that will be inaccurate, as they still say Raven Clark. If you buy before the update, you’ll get an email asking you if you want an update once it goes through. The update will be free.

Now, I can imagine what you’re saying. Why didn’t I look up the name before I took it?

First, I did. Repeatedly, between the time I took the writing name, and now. The other Raven wasn’t there. She appears to have only started publishing within the last six months. There was no Raven Clark, at least not one I had to worry about people confusing me with. Second, when I came up with the name, now almost a decade ago, self publishing didn’t exist as it does now, and there weren’t billions of authors cropping up risking competition with the same names.

So, I changed my name to Raven DARK. But that meant changing everything connected with the old name over to the new. Which is why I’ve disappeared from social media almost entirely for the last few days. The less I posted anywhere, the less chance for drawing attention to the change before the migration was complete, and thus causing confusion.

Since I only discovered the issue three days ago, I’ve been scrambling to get everything changed over in time for release day. It meant buying a new domain and paying for a new website. It took two days, most of it online with an amazing friend of mine who knows way more about website stuff than me, to get everything fixed. If you look around, the site is actually better than it was. It’s all pretty now, thanks to her epic skills. Then we had to change all my social media pages and contact the support centers for all of them so we could have the url’s changed. I’m still waiting on Amazon to update my author page, because apparently there are parts I can’t do myself, and they can’t change everything until I update the book itself with the new cover. Which, I can’t do until after it’s released. Until after the damn thing is on SALE.

So for at least a little while after Doing Wright comes out, until the appropriate people catch up and change things over, my first book is probably going to have the wrong author name, and my Amazon page still says Raven Clark in the browser. Which means it looks like you’re looking at the wrong person.

Trust me, you aren’t. It’s me, and you have the right book. Hopefully the update will go through in a few days, so everyone can get a copy with the right cover and links.

Most of the hard work is done, but ugh. This would have to happen now, days before release. It never hits you how important your name is, or how it binds you to everything until something like this happens.

As I’ve been weeding out all the Clarks from my pages, it’s hit me exactly how bonded I was to the name. It’s a pen name, yes, but I think of myself more as Raven Clark than my real name. I spend so much time online being Raven, when I’m out with friends and they call me by my real name, it feels weird. I literally cringe. It’s a second before I realize I’m supposed to respond. I AM Raven. The idea of changing the first name would have gutted me, like losing a part of me. Plus I wanted to make the transition as easy for readers as possible, and people have called me Raven for a very, very long time.

So, with release day looming (or here) and zero hour coming, I sit here blogging to you, hoping my first book baby doesn’t come into this world to the resounding sound of awkward crickets.

The only reassurance for me is that, as a few authors have pointed out, sales for first books tend to be very slow unless you have a huge fanbase, so not many will likely notice that book has the wrong author name on it. By the time the book picks up steam, if it does, everything will be updated. Which is exactly why I haven’t been doing the blitz of promoting one might expect with a first release. It sounds backwards, but, although lots of sales would be fantastic, part of me doesn’t want the book to end up with a lot of buyers on its first day. Fewer people to confuse and annoy. LOL

There is a bright side to this. At least it’s happening now, and not two years later when I have a huge number of books out and hopefully a big fanbase.

Oh, and one more thing. IF you happen to buy a copy of Doing Wright with a Clark on it, keep it. Get the update, but keep the file. You never know. It night be worth something one day.  *grin*

What about you? Have you had something happen on your first day of a job or your first book release that made things awkward for you? Was it a disaster? How did you handle it? Tell us your story.

R.C. …er, I mean D.

***Doing Wright, my erotic short story, is available for preorder at Amazon. It’s BBW with a hint of BDSM, romance, and a hot alpha professor.***

Since this hottie got such a huge response in a group I shared him with, I thought I’d continue the fun here. Caption this, and let’s see what kind of responses we get.

Image Courtesy of http://ein.photo

To Succeed, we must step into the unknown

As a writer, and now a recently self-published author, I’m on social media a lot. I have been for a long time, but since I just put my first book out there a few days ago, I’ve had to interact on it a lot more lately. Social media is a good way to build a platform—that is to gain an audience and connect with potential readers. But for me, there’s a catch.

For those who are shy, it’s a struggle to interact with others every day. For some, even with those they know, it’s difficult to know what to say or hold up a conversation. But due to my mobility issues, I’m a recluse, so since most people know me only online, I don’t think they know I am not just shy. I’m painfully, morbidly, crushingly shy.

The trouble with this kind of shyness is, attending any kind of social event, even online, it’s nothing short of frightening. And many of us have goals and dreams that require some form of interaction with people we don’t know. Shyness at this level can be devastating for us. So how do you deal with it when what you want requires doing something way, way outside your comfort zone?

When I used to be able to go out whenever I wanted, the idea of walking up to someone I didn’t know and striking up a conversation filled me with paralyzing fear. I was ok if I had to ask them an important question, like what time it was, or ask for directions. It was fine because it was specific, and BREIF.

In addition, when I worked in phone sales, because it was a job and I was following a script, I could interact with customers just fine. If my livelihood or survival, or the safety of others depends on my interacting with someone I’ve never met, I have no problem.  But if not, I freeze.

I know so many people who are as shy, and I so get them. I struggle to start conversations, and when I try, they dissolve into listening to each other swallow. I constantly think I’ll say something stupid, and I usually do. I try to be funny, and I get blank stares. I go to a party and the whole time I sit there in the back and hope no one notices me.

When I was younger, it was worse. Way worse. Back then, I couldn’t go into a restaurant and order something without shaking.

Social functions make me terribly nervous, but if I end up in one where I am in charge? Where I have to keep things going and get people talking? The very idea makes me want to crawl into a deep dark hole where no one can find me. I suffer from severe Generalized Anxiety Disorder, which means, among other things, I can’t function for hours or even days before an event because I get so anxious.

Which is why something I did this week shocked the hell out of me. I went to, not just a party, but an author takeover. Where I was the HOST.

Well, sort of.

For those who don’t know, an author takeover is an online event where an author “takes over” a blog, facebook page or other social platform, and hosts a party for a set amount of time. It’s usually in honor of a book release, or some other authorial milestone. During their particular time slot, which can be anywhere between a half hour to an all day affair, the featured author gets readers interacting and talking about things related to their book. Some run giveaways, where you win free books or swag. Others post teasers to entice people to buy their book, and some post interesting questions the participants get to answer, such as a favorite movie.

Teaser.

The party I took over for was run by my friend Maci Dillon, to host author Kathleen Kelly’s 3000K likes celebration. The half hour slot for me was because my erotic short, Doing Wright, is releasing soon (Sept 1, 2015). I was excited to participate. I had my first book coming out. I was a published author now, and I’d get to tell people about my beautiful, sexy, hot baby. But I also had a problem.

I HAD to tell people, a lot of people, whom I didn’t know, about my book, and ME. I had actually get people to interact. This big, ugly, bright scary spot light was going to be all on me, for a whole half an hour.

Fuck. Me. Maybe when I became a published author, I hadn’t thought this through.

Well, I didn’t bomb. It actually went well. I had 8 posts I managed to get up within the allotted time. People actually commented, and seemed genuinely interested. Which was good, because I was half afraid no one would show up.

The other ladies in the takeover insisted I did great. It didn’t feel great. I could barely breathe. I kept expecting to realize I’d posted the wrong thing, or was too slow, or my computer would crash. And I was shaking. The whole time.

I was talking to hubby about the party later, and I told him that after going through this party, I now had a whole new respect for performance artists.

People who sing or dance in front of a massive audience, sometimes many nights in a row under glaring hot lights, they do this for a living. This was a single, half hour event, and it was only online where no one would see me or hear my voice. And yet I felt like I was going to die a slow death. My heart was in my throat.

As an added bonus, there was a horrific moment where things could have gone really wrong. At the start, right as Maci cues me to go on, I go to the page so I can post. I scroll down passed a pinned post so I can put something up and…

The posting box isn’t there. The next post was right under the pinned one, with nowhere for me to put mine!

*Cue panic attack.*

In reality, I was probably there, I just didn’t see it. I was so panicked and scared, I might have had trouble taking things in. But in that moment, it didn’t matter. I’m on in 20 seconds. An author was scheduled to go on right after me, so I thought if I was late, it would send the whole thing crumbling. Rationally, I know it wouldn’t have, but that’s how Generalized Anxiety works. The 20 seconds are ticking away, Maci’s messaging me, asking if I’m ok, and I keep thinking, OMG, no! I am a million miles from OK! Where the hell is the box! HELP!!!

Whatever went wrong, after I scrolled up and down a few times, the box was there. I managed to post and the party rolled onward without incident. The half hour ended and I survived, my sanity in tact. It took six hours for my adrenaline levels to go back to normal, and for me to think or take anything in like a normal person again, but I was ok.

I’ve realized something about myself since the takeover. I’m not only shy, and a fraidy cat when it comes to social functions. I’m also an introvert. This is not the same as being shy. Introverts are drained by interaction with others, where extraverts get energized and thrive off contact. I always knew I was an introvert on some level, because I always feel better when I’m alone. But only after the party did I realize how DRAINED I was by the whole thing. My brain wouldn’t function for hours after, and I felt like I could sleep for days. I was WHIPPED.

For many of us, an event like the takeover I was at would be a challenge. But in any chosen field, when we stay comfortable, we are rarely successful. When we stay where we are safe, we stagnate. If we never try anything new, we stand still, never reaching for our next goal. It’s only when we push ourselves a little harder, when we step beyond what is easy and safe that we achieve what we most want. Outside the comfort zone is where the magic happens. Outside the familiar is where we learn and GROW.

I went to this takeover because I knew it would give me exposure, connect me with potential readers, and network me with other authors, all of which would get mine and my book’s name out there, and thus help sales. But, I also attended because I knew it would help me grow as an author.

I know not everyone is going to have to attend a release party for a book. But all of us who struggle with shyness or who work better when left in solitude find it difficult to push ourselves to do anything public. If we let those attributes rule our lives, we miss opportunities for success. We watch our dreams remain unfulfilled.

If you want to succeed, and that success means doing something difficult, as long as it’s not harmful, illegal, or otherwise idiotic, don’t let your fears and anxieties hold you back. Prepare and practice, get to know your craft. Then jump in. Follow your dreams. Push yourself beyond what is comfortable. Take the leap. You can do it.

When the time comes for the big event, and the spot light is on you, just breathe. You’ll get through it. It’ll be hard as hell, and you’ll feel like you’re jumping out of your skin. But you aren’t. And after it’s over—and it will end—the world will be as it was.

The dream is always beyond the easy place, the place where we are safe. Go for it. And know that you will be okay.

What about you? Are you shy, or introverted, or both? Do you struggle with showing yourself to others? Do you push past it? What are your dreams, and how do you achieve them in spite of setbacks?

R.D.