A.R. Fagundes's Blog

Congratulations to the lucky winners, Elizabeth from Idaho and Syndi from Toronto, and everyone for their interest in a project that has captivated my thoughts for the past year, resulting in a true-labor of love. Both ladies will be receiving a signed copy of Goddess Save the King in the mail any day now.

Now that my very first Goodreads Book Giveaway has come to a close and I’ve shipped the books to the lucky winners, I can honestly say that choosing to have a giveaway was a wonderful decision with a joyful result. Being an unknown self-published author, I didn’t expect so many people to have an interest in the giveaway, let alone enter for a chance to win. When I saw the final entry number stop at 1,027 entries, my mind was blown!

To say thank you to everyone out there who took the time to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a signed copy of Goddess Save the King but didn’t win, I extend to you an opportunity: I have slashed the price of the Kindle ebook from $2.99 to .99 for a limited time! The book is also available in paperback for anyone who is interested.

This ebook deal lasts until August 2, 2017, at 9am PST.

Thank you, again, to everyone who entered. I am excited to finish the sequel to this book and am aiming to release it in time for Christmas. A book giveaway will absolutely take place for the second installment of The Diviner Chronicles, and I will announce it here to keep you all informed.

The post Goodreads Giveaway Ends, Deals Continue appeared first on A.R. Fagundes.

I’ve done it. I’ve pulled the trigger. I’ve dropped the hammer. I’ve launched a book giveaway!

It’s on the wonderful website called Goodreads. For those who don’t know, Goodreads is an exceptional social media platform for, you guessed it, avid book readers. You can join and rate books you have read, list those you would like to read, as well as those you are currently reading. You can even join groups of similar genre interests and dive into their never-ending discussion threads that can keep you engaged until the wee hours of the morning (guilty!).

If you would like to enter the giveaway for a chance to win one of two (2) SIGNED copies of Goddess Save the King, head on over via this link. If you have a Goodreads account, all that’s left for you to do is click the ENTER GIVEAWAY button and you’re done! If you don’t have a Goodreads account, all it takes to enter is your first name and your email address so you can be notified if/when you win.

Easy, right?

The giveaway runs through July 25, 2017, so you have time to enter as well as to share with your friends who dig reading scifi-fantasy. If you are a Goodreads veteran, feel free to find me. I’m all for making new friends. Lastly, please keep an eye out for my post that will release shortly thereafter, as I will have an announcement after the winners are selected by Goodreads for all entrants. You can find my update on this blog as well as on my author page on Goodreads (it’s set to sync).

Thank you and good luck!

The post Goodreads Book Giveaway! appeared first on A.R. Fagundes.

For years I’ve been a person who would have substantial storyline ideas that I’d quick-write, save into DropBox, and forget about its existence because I spent my days working for someone else. It had yet to cross my mind to take these partially completed writing projects and finish them. At the time, I had no idea what they would become. A short story? A novella? Accepting myself as an author was nowhere near the forefront of my mind. Finally, earlier last year, my mother decided to ‘sit me down’ and tell me that she always knew a gift of mine was my writing. It went something like this:

“I’m just telling you-I’m just telling you, you could always write and you did it well, and everyone liked it.” -Mom

“Everyone? Who the heck is everyone?” –Me

She proceeded to name a slew of friends and family members who had been reading the online column I built-up long beforehand, and how they would all call her and tell her how much they liked my writing.

“How was I supposed to know if they told you and not me?” –Me

I might’ve stuck to building that column had I known…

So I decided to begin to develop my own independent blog site, and implement a schedule that would put one of those long forgotten DropBox quick-writes into action as my first pending novel. Little did I know that my dreams would take over, and my DropBox quick writes would have to wait, yet again, after I left working in the corporate world. Also, once I decided that ‘I’m going to be an author!’ I began to notice significant, immediate changes.

The ideas woke me up at all hours.I started waking up around 2:30am every other day with a chunk to add to my novel project and would type 1,000+ words in my notes app to transfer it over into Word the next day. I’d fall back to sleep, and sometimes I would wake back up around 4:30am-5am and repeat the process. That’s when I found it possible to develop sore thumb muscles.
World-building became my jam.I became submerged in building a new world, and easily began generating 2,000-7,000+ words per day to create said world while writing at least five days per week. And I found that creating names for characters, especially those living in a fantasy world, was a tricky task, but once the names clicked in to place my visual of the character became clearer.
I became an emotional wreck.I developed characters I grew to love. In developing those characters the reality would hit me on what I would have to put that character through in order for them to grow, and I would cry for them. (Read: I’m not a crier.) One particular realization of understanding what I would have to put a character through made me so upset that I couldn’t write for three days. I’d see my laptop sitting on the counter from the corner of my eye, and I’d walk in the opposite direction.
The rest of the world fell away.I was already a person with a low drama tolerance (when it comes to my personal and professional life), but as I dove into my first novel writing project with the intent to finish it, versus corporate life getting in the way to stall it, my tolerance for any blip of drama evaporated and my focus on my project magnified. My connection to my creativity has been so intense during the process that I can sit in any loud environment and easily keep my focus on my laptop screen with my typing never slowing down until it’s time to re-read for the sake of editing.
I’m excited for what I am creating.I used to be terrified at the idea, the vulnerability, of sharing my creative work with the world. Now, I want to share it. I want people to find it, and I hope it helps someone in a positive way. I’m ready.

Originally, I thought the idea behind this first novel to be a one-and-done book, but as I explore the world I’ve created, I see the enormous possibilities for it. As a result, I’ve gathered stacks of notes for book two and book three, making this project a solid trilogy. And who knows? I may get halfway through writing book two and find more of the story to tell. This first novel project has taught me so much about writing and my own emotional capacity that I now feel that anything is truly possible. I am an author, and I am excited to share my creative ideas with the world.

The post 5 Things That Happened When I Became an Author appeared first on A.R. Fagundes.

This past week I had to come to terms with executing my plan of, well, killing a character. I wasn’t ready for it, but it had to be done. My main character needed to endure a hardship during an already complex existence, especially at a critical time when the stakes were already high. She has demonstrated many times that she possesses the fortitude to see her purpose through, and protect any friend or loved one from the consequences. So when the idea of her losing someone who was like a father figure to her arose, it seemed to be the best and most impacting way to go.

However, I did not expect my own reaction:

I cried as I wrote it. It wasn’t even a scene where there was gore, so I wasn’t wincing at the actions taken against him. There was really no extreme brutality done to the character, which was why his passing was a shock. Technically, given who the character was and all he had endured in his long life, he should have survived with no problem. Yet, this loss served two purposes: 1. It accelerated the moving of a group of characters to where I needed them to go, and 2. It caused my main character to turn to her love interest for support, therefore further growing that relationship.
I mourned for him. I used the characters who knew him best in order to do it. They all processed the loss differently. Some found common ground to process it with another character. My own mourning process was experienced through each character’s processes. I didn’t expect that.
Building this new world became a more sobering experience. I knew moving this group of characters to a new world was going to cost my main character, but I didn’t yet know how it would until the realization of the death of an important character became the answer. This reality registered a few days before I wrote it, and I needed that time to come to terms with it before I made it happen.

As the story line in the book continues to climb with plenty of additional hardships to stack on my main character’s shoulders, a part of me hopes no one else who is viewed as good by my main character dies. However, considering I’m building this story over at least three books, I know that to be an unattainable goal. I have faith in my main character, though, because she’s truly resilient and strong. It shows that a person can be those things, and also allow herself to be vulnerable to accurately express the loss of someone she loved unconditionally. It makes her more human when she’s actually changing from human to something far greater. Overall, this group of characters still has a lot to go through and endure together, but their alliances will grow and change. It’s inevitable.

I just hope I have a box of tissue next to my laptop next time one of them has to die.

The post 3 Side Effects of Killing-Off a Character I Love appeared first on A.R. Fagundes.

After a particularly interesting date that I went on this past year, along with remarks from friends, it has finally sunk into my mind how dating someone who always has thoughts of other, more adventurous, exciting worlds always floating in their mind can influence their outlook on life, and how others view them. Aside from enduring hard life hurdles (aka writing inspiration) like health issues, love, loss, etc., I tend to find my mind in some faraway place more often than not. So when I go on a date, a lot of avenues open up for me.

I ask tons of (fun) questions and spend most of the time listening. If the man sitting across from me, like the one on the date I mentioned previously, seems like a closed can of Campbell’s Soup when it comes to sharing, I make a point of becoming the can-opener to his Tomato Bisque until the conversation is free flowing and easy. They, in turn, end up asking me a lot of questions now that they have allowed themselves to be comfortable. They soon find out that I’m writing a book, although I don’t technically call myself an author just yet, and are fascinated that I have the focus to sit down and type enough words on enough pages in Microsoft Word that would constitute sufficient ‘novel length’, and swear up and down they have a fleeting attention span while commending me on my efforts.
As I’m listening to what they are saying, my story-creating-brain is concocting their back-story with the information shared and noting the holes in said story that filling in on a first date may constitute as probably too personal to reveal too soon. I make a note of delving into that subject before the end of the next date in order to confirm that I am not dating the next Craigslist Killer who just so happens to also have a Match.com account.
I pay attention to whether or not I had to do most of the entertaining in order for the interaction to be successful (read: successful = both parties laughing and having at least a decent time). If I had to do most of the leg-work then I’m not interested in another date. I don’t need the man across from me to be as animated and silly as me, but finding a partner who can make me laugh, is a high priority, especially if earlier that day I finished writing a chapter where a character I loved died. That loss feels close to a real loss, so if he can’t make me smile after heartbreak then I’m a no-fly zone.
The funny stories that happen on the date stay with me for years and can end up in future projects. I remember going on a date with a guy who worked in the film industry and there was a drunken British guy who followed us around the bar all night. At the end of the night, he asked my date if it was okay to hold me. The look on his face when he was told no was similar to that of taking away a puppy’s favorite toy.

Outside of those four points, I’ve caught myself noting clever lines a date might say, which can inspire a connection, if only for a moment. Sometimes, dates repeat lines I’ve heard many before, which makes dating a sobering experience altogether. It tends to re-emphasize that finding someone with original content is very important, so it’s important to pay attention to every moment with someone new in order to not end up with plagiarized material.

The post What It’s Like Dating an Author appeared first on A.R. Fagundes.

After spending the last six and a half months on this writing project, I’ve discovered that nothing has prepared me for the feeling that consumed me when I went to purchase the ISBN number and barcode I would need for the hard-copies of my novel. A sense of shock, vulnerability, and excitement swept over me as if what I was about to do (in making this purchase) was final like I finally came to terms with stepping off the proverbial cliff into the unknown of risk-taking. I spoke to a friend who is a self-published author and he told me, “Wait until you find how you feel when you hold your finished novel in your hands!”

I can’t fathom my reaction, yet, because this writing process has been full of changes within me, not just in the text from one draft to the next. At the beginning of all of this, I was laying on ice packs every other hour to cope with the damages from a car accident I was in before the idea behind the novel surfaced. I’d pack ice behind me when I propped myself up to type on my laptop and I had to stand and pace with ideas so I wouldn’t remain sitting for hours with an injured back.

As I look back, I can’t believe that I have arrived at this place, the place where I’m going to become a published author. The past half a year has flown by even though it seemed to drag on at the time, due to recovery. I have shared the details of this process with friends and I was surprised at the amount of them who shared that they have always wanted to write a novel, but they admitted they didn’t have the time. If you are one of those people who claim to have the inspiration, I urge you to find the time to write. The process will change your life.

The post The Relief of Finishing My First Novel appeared first on A.R. Fagundes.

As I’m approaching the scary precipice all first-time self-publishers do when it’s time to commit to the dream and make the “jump” that’s required in making my first novel a reality, I’ve noticed permanent changes in my own thinking that have also further tailored my reading taste. I didn’t realize how deep these changes ran until I had breakfast with a fellow author who is a veteran when it comes to self-publishing. It started when he asked me about my lead female character.

I mentioned that my female lead character is basically as strong as it gets because she’s not merely human. As I delved into the details, he mentioned that I should be careful that I don’t write the extreme of the “damsel in distress” character and sculpt my character into a “fixer”. We have all met fixers. They’re the person that doesn’t accept you as you are and must help you be “better” so they can then open themselves up to the possibility of taking you seriously, whether as a friend, colleague, or dating prospect. I shared with my friend that she doesn’t fix. She treats when asked (because she’s a surgeon), and gives room for people’s free will. Then something odd happened: In that moment, I became proud of the character. Yeah, I wrote her, but in that moment it was as if I acknowledged her as a separate entity with her own life force. She has the intelligence to know when to step in to help and when to stand aside and allow others to simply be themselves.

This nostalgic moment brought forth a sense of hope for what is to unfold for her in this book series. Yes, I know what’s going to happen to her in the next book. They’re not easy situations and for her to have the intelligence of understanding when to intervene as well as understanding the pointlessness behind complaining, I think, sets her up for an intense story that gets to the point versus wallowing in petty drama. The drama she endures consists of true obstacles versus ‘problems that aren’t real problems’. She understands what’s important.

So before I let my mind run away with the storyline of the second book, I took a moment to honor this character. I wouldn’t have thought to do so without the original comments from my friend. I’m finding it was the way for one writer to show another that it was time to stop and smell the roses.

The post Walking the Line of Building a Strong Female Character appeared first on A.R. Fagundes.

Over the past six months or so, novel writing has consumed the majority of my time. I did what is considered stereotypical of authors. I became a hermit, surrounded by the silence of my home, as I pummeled the keyboard of my ten year old notebook. After confessing the latter detail to a friend who worked for an electronic store for a number of years, he was shocked the notebook still worked (barely), and joked that is was a fire hazard at this point. No matter. I still plugged away at my marketing plan for my first novel as I take up the rest of the RAM left on my Dell dinosaur.

On breaks from writing, I would end up on Pinterest, which easily sucks me into its wonderful world of pins and boards of multiple subjects I enjoy. As a result, I’ve come across a few articles I thought were helpful about the writing process, whether it self-publishing, marketing tips, info for indie authors, etc.

For your reading pleasure:

Pros and Cons of Traditional Publishing vs Self-Publishing

The article is a candid break-down of the good, the bad, and the ugly of traditional, self, and hybrid-model publishing. If you have your manuscript done and are still side-stepping publishing your work because you aren’t sure of the benefits of your options, this is a good read. I had already chosen self-publishing, and this article reaffirmed my original decision because I value obtaining creative control over my work and don’t mind doing the marketing work required.

71 Ways to Promote and Market Your Book

If marketing is not your strong suit, this article is a good place to start nurturing your ideas that will contribute to your marketing strategy for your writing. It provides everything from beginner to advance tactics often paired with links to articles for further information. I’m a fan of numbers 20-27 and 46-50.

7 Things Authors Can Do While Waiting for a Book to be Published

Okay, you did the hard part many people never accomplish: you finished your book! Congratulations!

Now what?

This article will put you to work on your strategy of preparing to bring your book to market. There is a lot of ground work that goes into it from content building that we all hope results in audience building. This article helps you plan key parts of the process so when it comes time to utilize your social media platforms, or submit your project to KDP Select, you will already have the content you need to move forward.

Then there are articles that keep me humble like this last one:

5 Common Writing Mistakes that Make Your Look Like an Amateur

I’ve discovered that writing in the fantasy genre can make your imagination run wild, and sometimes too far. Take #6 (the bonus mistake) in this article. It took me three days to get character names down because my mind would reach for the obscure. I needed the time and (brain) space to reason what names were best for my characters and fairly simple for a reader to say.

It’s important for writers who are considering becoming authors to easily access information that will help them make decisions as they walk their creative path without the anxiety of being taken advantage. As I continue to read and write during the first-time-author-process, I will share my discoveries. If you know of great articles that will help writers, please post the links below.

The post 4 Great Articles for Indie Authors appeared first on A.R. Fagundes.

I’ve finished writing my first novel, Goddess Save the King, and am now giving it one last leisurely read.

I still enjoy reading this story after so many months spent editing it. I also want to make sure the information I give the reader is consistent throughout because I have started writing book 2 of The Diviner Chronicles. Book 2 won’t hit online shelves until fall 2017, but I’m already thirteen chapters into writing it. Naturally, I want the information in book 1 to be cohesive as readers transition to the next installment of the series.

This story, this adventure, has taken root in my mind and taught me to have zero boundaries when it comes to the growth of the characters I’ve created. I was dead-set on one particular character’s direction over the next three books. However, as I finished writing book 1 and begin thumbing through all my notes to build book 2, what I originally intended for that character isn’t enough. He needs to see/learn/grow more in order for him to be successful. I have high hopes for him, but to have a shot at such greatness, he needs growth. And growth is usually uncomfortable, sometimes even painful. I cringe at the thought of what he has to go through, but it must be done.

Writing my first series has brought new meaning to the term “world-building.” I thought I understood while writing book 1. There are different cultures, languages, and settings. However as book 2 builds, it calls for more detail, like: national sports, new languages, local customs, knowledge of magic, etc. As I attempt to grasp the enormity of world-building as this writing process continues to unfold, I tip my hat to my predecessors who have successfully managed to do so before me.

Understanding the depth of each civilization I’m writing requires is humbling (and tiring). It makes me wonder what new additions will come to these characters’ lives in book 3.

The post What Writing a Novel Series Taught Me appeared first on A.R. Fagundes.

Years before I turned to writing as a career path, I remember when I first moved to Los Angeles and I immediately began attending FIDM as a Fashion Design major and I was mortified at the idea of sharing my creative work with my peers and my teachers. It was a vulnerability that felt paralyzing, causing me to hold back my authenticity in my work for the sake of protecting my heart and my ego from criticism on work product that was dear to me. I wasn’t the only student with this problem, and I’m definitely not the only artist that has had this experience. As time went on, the rigid parameters of needing to protect myself from criticism began to slowly crack and fall away.

Now, as a writer, the creative flow has been a different experience than design had been in the past. Writing feels like a channeling experience, which I’ve found to be spiritual as well, and with that comes a sense of urgency for the information to be shared. Each day of writing felt like chasing a story that was a few steps ahead. It was close enough to me for me to be excited about the story, but far enough ahead to make sure I kept up the pace in order to get all of the information down on paper. The end of each day felt like my brain would implode if I didn’t stop after 8-10 hours of writing in order to decompress by doing something else.

As I went through the writing process for this first novel, it was apparent that the desire to share the project was far greater than any fear tied to the intent to withhold it from scrutinizing eyes. I wanted to chase the story because it was interesting to me, and I hoped that there was the possibility that someone else might feel the same way. Even if no one did, there was unquestionable certainty driving my productivity, pushing the writing project to completion. I don’t know if this is a result of time/maturity, of clarity of purpose, or a combination of both, but it is resulting in finishing a significant project and sharing it with the world. Since that’s the case, I feel no need to question the process. I simply do my best to keep up with it.

The post How My Fears and Doubts about Writing Evaporated appeared first on A.R. Fagundes.