Avery Kilpatrick's Blog

Well, hello again, y’all! It’s been a long time since my last blog post and even longer since my last email. I have a lot to tell y’all as life has been pretty overwhelming recently.

As y’all should know, I suffer from anxiety and depression. With the COVID-19 pandemic going on, I’ve been really anxious about leaving the house at all and stressed about my family members possibly being infected. Though we all wear masks, wash our hands, etc., I still obsessively worry about it. Even after receiving the full vaccine, I still worry about my own safety as well as others. That being said, I haven’t had the energy nor the drive to really write or work on A Rumble of Earth.

Before you raise your pitchforks and demand my head, let me explain.

While I haven’t been able to work on the third and final installment of Luce’s journey, I have been working on other minor projects like Luce’s past, which I hope I’ll be able to publish either on this website or as a novella on Amazon. I have also been brainstorming ideas for writing a short story about the Revealing, but that’s still up in the air and I’m not sure whether I’ll do that or not. My hope is to publish this prequel about Luce’s past in the summer sometime, but that’s relative to change. As for A Rumble of Earth, I want to try and work on it throughout this year—maybe even publish it in December before the end of 2021. I know that’s not what y’all wanna hear, but it was a hard decision and one that I needed to make because I’ve been overly stressed about not delivering the best content y’all deserve. I hope y’all understand and I apologize that it’ll take so long to release the third book.

I have been working on some other projects as well such as a new series that I hope to release also sometime in the summer or fall. With that being said, I’m trying to do my best and work hard to create great content for all of you. I’ve been suffering a lot from depression and a lack of energy/concentration/drive to work, which, believe me, is frustrating. Whenever I sit at my desk and try to work on a writing project, the ideas just stop flowing in my head and I’m left staring at the screen wondering, “What the hell do I do?” All of my characters that normally don’t shut up, are suddenly silent and it’s really affected my ability to create.

Believe me when I say this: I really don’t want to disappoint y’all or stop writing stories for y’all to read. All I can do is keep working and pushing through the lack of energy, the depression and anxiety, and the stress. As for my social media life, I want to apologize and tell y’all that I’m normally not the best at remembering to post things, but I’m trying to do better about it. I’m planning on setting a reminder in my phone to post at least once or twice a week, which includes Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and here on my website. Please expect an email from me sometime next month—I hope to have content that y’all will enjoy/look forward to in the future.

Thank y’all for your understanding and I hope y’all are staying safe and healthy out there!

OMG, it’s here! The cover reveal for my second novel, A Roar of Flames, is here, y’all. And I’m so excited for it!

If you haven’t yet, go check out the first book of the Crymsen Crescent trilogy, A Stream of Darkness, here. You can read the excerpt for A Stream of Darkness under the Books tab along with an advance excerpt of A Roar of Flames! You can read the blurb for my second book on the Home page where another picture of the beautiful cover by OA Design will be up!

Have a wonderful rest of the day! Leave comment down below and let me know what you think of the cover!

OMG, it’s here! The cover reveal for my second novel, A Roar of Flames, is here, y’all. And I’m so excited for it!

If you haven’t yet, go check out the first book of the Crymsen Crescent trilogy, A Stream of Darkness, here. You can read the excerpt for A Stream of Darkness under the Books tab along with an advance excerpt of A Roar of Flames! You can read the blurb for my second book on the Home page where another picture of the beautiful cover by OA Design will be up!

Have a wonderful rest of the day! Leave comment down below and let me know what you think of the cover!

Hello, y’all! This might be a little short, but I just wanted to make a few announcements.

It’s been a while since the last time I posted, but what else is new? In any case, I have some awesome news! Book two for the Crymsen Crescent trilogy—and it will be a trilogy after further thought on my part—A Roar of Flames will be coming on November 20, 2020! I’m super excited for y’all to read the continuation of Luce’s story and to learn more about her past that everyone seems really interested in. I’m sure y’all have noticed the blurb and advance excerpt on the website already, but just in case you haven’t, here’s the link to the advance excerpt (https://averykilpatrick.com/a-roar-of-flames). Go check it out and leave a comment on what you think below!

The second book, for a lot reasons, is different than the first: It’s shorter than the first, it’s darker than the first, and it’s more talkative. Working on this novel took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears—literally—and I have worried over this one a lot more than the first for many reasons. But, I pushed through the doubts with the help of my mom and editing team that the novel itself was well-written, the story flowed, and there weren’t any plot holes that I wasn’t seeing.

With the announcement of A Roar of Flames officially out of the way, I want to let y’all in on some awesome news: The cover reveal for my second novel is literally next week on October 27th! This cover was designed by OA Design and they did an amazing job with this cover. It’s absolutely beautiful and I’m obsessed. While the third book hasn’t been written yet and the cover hasn’t been designed, I think A Roar of Flames is my favorite cover so far.

So, if you’ve signed up for my newsletter, this isn’t much news but a reminder of important dates. What I’m about to talk about is a side note—I have finally received my service dog Remi and returned from Arizona almost three-four weeks ago. Things have been going great even though Remi has been tethered to me this entire time to build our bond. It’s been different and a little difficult at times, but I’m enjoying the time and the continued training. Learning to balance training, Remi’s needs, and my writing/photography has been a little difficult, but I’m managing okay.

On another side-side note, I’m currently working on the third book, A Rumble of Earth, that I’m hoping will be published next spring in 2021. I also plan to write a short story/novella about Luce’s past as the Wolf of Eden sometime as well. I’ve been working a few side WIPs and I hope to have those published soon as well! I’m super excited about these work-in-progresses and I hope y’all like them when they make their debut!

Anyway, that’s all for now. Please look forward to the cover reveal for A Roar of Flames and a special surprise coming soon!

I’m really bad at keeping up with blog and Facebook posts—I try to keep to a schedule for both of these things, but something either comes up or I still forget. How embarrassing…

Well, an update is in order here and hold onto your seats, y’all, because it’s a doozy.

A Stream of Darkness, my debut novel, has officially hit the market on Amazon and I’m still in awe that I have two books out there for people to buy and read. It’s still mind-boggling to me and I have to pinch myself every time when I see my name on the search engine on Amazon. Of course, having my own website is also a shock to me since I can see my name on the search engine for Google or whatever search engine you use.

Anyway, I’m super proud of where I am at the moment and the successes I’ve managed so far. Which reminds me, I have taken up photography and have added a Facebook page for my photography business, Avery Kilpatrick Photography. You can check out the landscapes I’ve taken, the macro shots of flowers and other plant life, and a portfolio of my work from few free sessions with friends. I’m super proud of them as they have allowed me to express a whole new side of my artistic mind. I never thought of myself as an artist since the best kind of art I’ve done are stick figures, but my photography has given me a chance to express my artistic nature other than writing. It’s amazing really, how quickly I can fall down another rabbit hole and find it hard to climb out so I can work on my other craft. I’m still learning how to edit photos in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, but I’m pumped about the ones I’ve done so far.

I still can’t believe it’s September for many reasons, but mainly because I will be traveling to Phoenix, Arizona, to train with my service dog Remington, AKA Remi. A year sure does go by quickly when you’re focused on other things! I’m super excited to finally meet Remi and work alongside him to help give me a better, more independent life. My mom and I will be traveling throughout Arizona, heading south to Tucson where we’ll visit some ghost towns and stay at an awesome vintage hotel in Bisbee. Then we’ll head back to Phoenix where we’ll spend the next five days training with Remi and exploring the Phoenix area. I plan to hike on as many trails as possible and take as many pictures of the landscapes, the architecture, and the cool sights. Then we’ll be spending the last half of the trip in northern Arizona near Sedona and the Grand Canyon, and we’ll have Remi with us so I’m pumped.

By the time I get back, I might use an entire 32GB card and then some! And I plan to post those pictures on my website and on my Facebook page—be sure to follow my page here—so be on the lookout for those!

Oh! I almost forgot!

A Roar of Flames, the sequel to A Stream of Darkness, has been shipped to my editing team and I can’t wait for y’all to read it! This second book took a lot of hard work and some tears to complete, but I’m proud of the novel and how it turned out. I know a lot of you have probably been dying to read the second book to continue Luce’s story, and let me tell you, her story is definitely heating up. (Pun intended.)

Whew! (Wipes away sweat) That was a lot of information, but I needed to talk about a lot! A quick announcement, I will be sending out a newsletter soon—hopefully, within the next few days before I leave for my trip to Arizona.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Follow me on social media!

Twitter: @avekilpatrick

Instagram: @averykilpatrick21

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Hello, y’all! It’s been a while since my last blog post! I just wanted to bring y’all up to speed on what’s been going on in my life since Hurricane Vignette’s publication.

First off, I have to say that being a published author is an amazing feeling and I can’t believe how many people bought my poetry collection! Like it’s unbelievable that my name is on a book cover that was designed by my friend, whose name is also inside the front cover of the book. I wake up every morning having to pinch myself that I actually published my first book.

Next, after a minor hiccup between my editor team and me, my manuscript for A Stream of Darkness is in the final editing stages! I can’t believe how close we are to having a finished project! I’m supposed to get my manuscript back on the 16th then after a final look through and revision, it’s off to the formatter! I’m so excited for y’all to see the final project and be able to read my first book. With the awesome cover reveal that was last week, I can see a lot of you loved the cover and I’m so proud of it that I’ll post it again!

A huge announcement: Starting on July 20, A Stream of Darkness will be featured on different book blogs for a virtual book tour! There will be interviews, guest blogs, and a giveaway on these blog sites and I’ll be posting/sharing each link to the blog itself on my social media!

July 20 Kay Phoenix

July 21 Paranormalists (Interview)

July 22 Roxanne’s Realm

July 23 I Smell Sheep (Guest Blog)

July 24 Fang-tastic Books

July 27 The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom

July 28 Other Worlds of Romance (Guest Blog)
Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Paranormal Romances

July 29 A Bewitching Guide to Halloween

July 30 Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read

July 31 The Book Junkie Reads (Interview)

August 3 Lisa’s World of Books

August 4 Jazzy Book Reviews

August 5 Sapphyria's Books

August 6 JB's Bookworms with Brandy Mulder (Interview)

August 7 SImply Kelina

August 10 Serena Synn

August 11 T's Stuff (Interview)

August 12 Ogitchida Kwe's Book Blog

August 13 Supernatural Central (Interview)

August 14 Bewitching Book Tours

August 17 Angel's Guilty Pleasures (Guest Blog)

Y’all.

I can’t believe it. I’m actually a published author as of today! June 18th, 2020, it the birth of a new published author and poet! I cannot stress to you how excited I am and absolutely thrilled to see my poetry collection, Hurricane Vignette, out there on Amazon ready to be bought and downloaded! It’s so amazing!

To learn more about the background story of Hurricane Vignette, check out this Facebook post from a year ago that explains my struggles with depression and anxiety my last semester in college: https://www.facebook.com/avery.wall/posts/10213711545364188.

Below is the book tour on my own blog! Check it out!

Hurricane Vignette

Avery Kilpatrick

Genre: Poetry, Inspirational, Women Poets

Publisher: Avery Kilpatrick

Date of Publication: June 18, 2020

ASIN: B088KTYWPS

Number of pages: 64 pages

Word Count: 4,354

Cover Artist: Anna Claire Garrard

Book Description:

From debut poet and author Avery Kilpatrick, Hurricane Vignette tells the story of a difficult time in her life—a time of struggle, depression, suicide, recovery, and triumph. This poetry collection is a personal diary of Kilpatrick’s most inner thoughts and her journey of healing. These poems are filled with raw emotion and contain sensitive subjects such as suicide, depression, and anxiety. However, like most stories, there is a happy ending—a moment of clarity that evokes peace and victory over the chaos of life.

Amazon

An Artist’s Cage

 Sculptors

     and painters—bringers

       of life and molds.

    Fingers feather over

   their lines and angles,

providing guiding hands

for Da Vinci or Shakespeare,

Aetion or Nikosthenes—

the Muses helped bring their

inspirations to life. A cage of color

and stone inescapable—unbreakable—

placed in a gallery for all to see.

A pillar that others should strive to achieve the

        perfection of the woman:

traditional chocolate hair with

        a lean, willowed figure,

cherry lips, painted face, shining eyes, and smiles.

The pinnacle of a natural standard of beauty—

        pretty, nice, braindead, submissive,

who relies on the Father,

       their Creator—or the Husband.

All independence erased by

       white paint or another block of clay. 

And the Muses, beautiful

       women who guided men,

 developed the cage, building a masterful

piece of iron, entrapping their fellow sisters.

About the Author:

Avery Kilpatrick was born in Flowood, Mississippi, in April 1996. Raised in a small town in the Mississippi Delta, she has a fondness for nature and the cotton fields that create Southern snow pastures in the fall. After writing her first novel when she was thirteen, Avery decided to pursue her dream as an author at a young age.

An alumnus of Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, Avery graduated with a Bachelor’s in English. She also worked on the student-run newspaper, The Delta Statement, during her four-year career at Delta State as copy-editor and Editor-in-Chief.

Avery currently lives in a ranch-style home in her hometown in Greenwood, Mississippi. The mother of three fur babies, Cinnamon the spoiled cat, Ginger the rambunctious old lady, and Remington a.k.a. Remi the service dog, Avery has enough fur from shedding animals to make a fourth pet. When Avery isn’t busy writing her next novel, she goes on walks with her mother and dogs, watches Outlander or Criminal Minds on Netflix, or can be found curled up on the couch with Cinnamon reading a good book.

Newsletter Sign-up: https://averykilpatrick.com/newsletter-signup

Website: https://averykilpatrick.com/

Blog: https://averykilpatrick.com/blog

Twitter: https://twitter.com/avekilpatrick

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/averykilpatrickauthor/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/averykilpatrickauthor

Books2Read: https://books2read.com/ap/x2QoXZ/Avery-Kilpatrick

Tour Giveaway

2 Signed Paperback copies (USA only)

2 $10 Amazon gift cards

Okay, so it’s been a while since I last posted a blog, but it’s Friday and I’m feeling determined today!

The weekend is here! Woo! Super excited for this weekend because it means another week is gone and I’m one step closer to being a published author! Hurricane Vignette is live for pre-order on Amazon (check out the link here) and I got the proofs for the paperback Wednesday! Y’all, I cannot even begin to describe the amount of anticipation I had waiting for my book to get here Wednesday. It was agonizing waiting for the mailman to come and deliver the proofs, and then I had to wait until he walked away some so I didn’t look like a crazy maniac about to jump him. I made it, though, and didn’t tackle the postman in my excitement and now I have my proofs! They have that new book smell and it’s just fantastic!

Ahem. I could spend most of this post talking about the proofs and my over-exuberance, but that’s not what this blog post is about. Today’s post is all about the birth of an author: My story on how I found my dream and goal in life.

My story towards being an author began in sixth grade when I was around thirteen-years-old. Now, like most kids around my age, I didn’t like English or reading because I thought it was boring and unimportant. It wasn’t until my aunt, my mom’s sister, introduced me to my first supernatural romance book: Twilight. Yes, the Twilight Saga was my introduction into the wonderful world of reading. Now, to some of you, Stephenie Meyer’s books were phenomenal and deserved every bit of the high praise it got during its peak back in the ‘00s. However, there are some people who didn’t like the books either due to the story itself, the unrealistic characters, or just because couldn’t get past New Moon like me. I struggled with that second book because I hated that Edward left Bella and I was all #TeamEdward before Jacob became this sexy wolf shifter.

But that’s a different topic all in of itself.

The point is, my aunt introduced me to a world I never thought was possible with books. I thought they were all boring like the ones we had to read in English and Reading classes. Boy, was I wrong. I found more and more books that fed my imagination with wild adventures and romance, characters that I adored and hated, and stories that filled my head with crazy idea: What if I wrote my own story?

BAM! That thought right there became the birth of a budding author.

Now, my first novel was over 100k and cringe-worthy because I had no idea what I was doing, just that I wanted to write the story I had in my head down. My mother still boasts proudly about that first book being written and completed when I was thirteen, but I think of it rather differently. Yes, I’m embarrassed by the stuff I wrote at thirteen and I’ve grown so much since then as a writer. I see that first novel as a stepping stone—a beginning toward a much larger journey.

Will I ever rewrite that book and have it published? No, probably not.

Will I still cherish it and keep it saved on my hard drive? Definitely.

When was your first ‘Aha!’ moment? The very first time you knew that this was what you wanted to do for the rest of your life? Leave a comment below and let me know!

Hey, y’all! I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend (as much as anyone can with a pandemic going on). Also, I would like to take a moment to thank the veterans who served our country and those who are serving us now. Thank you for protecting us and our freedom.

It’s been a while since I last posted—and I’m doing my best to keep up a schedule so I don’t go dormant—but I wanted to take a break from social media and the works Monday and just write in peace for once. As I was writing, I became stuck in what’s better known as writer’s block.

What is writer’s block exactly? Well, the simple explanation is when your creative juices have dried up and you don’t know where to go next with the story. To add further context, it’s pretty much when your Muse has decided to stop talking to you and is giving you the silent treatment.

Everyone gets writer’s block—even artists and musicians, though theirs might be called something a little different. The main thing you need to know about it is this: Writer’s block is the worst thing for a writer/author. Especially since our jobs hinges on our ability to punch out those words and create amazing story lines, plot twists, and character growth.  

That being said, I have hit that block with my second novel in the Crymsen Crescent series and I’m struggling to climb over this stone wall. However, if there is one great piece of advice that I received long ago, it’s this: Keep writing. Even if it might be trash and you hate it, keep writing. You can always go back and change it later or add more detail here and there. I know this, but I still struggle with applying that piece of advice, so the best tip I can give to young writers is this:

Don’t give up on your novel or story just because you don’t have a clue what to do next.

It’s beyond critical that you “keep moving forward” as Walt Disney once said. Keep writing that story, even if you have to go back to the drawing board and rethink a scene or two. That’s okay. Do you know how many times I went back to the drawing board on my novel? I couldn’t even tell you because I lost count. Brainstorming is a part of writing and taking a moment to do that every day is perfectly fine.

Alessandra Torre encourages new authors to do the what-if game, where you look at scene from several different angles by asking yourself what if. For example, what if Cinderella didn’t meet her fairy godmother but still went to the ball? What if Prince Charming never danced with Cinderella at the ball but he did meet her somewhere else?

Playing the what-if game really helped me when I was writing my first novel—in fact, my original plan for the novel changed after doing a what-if. The overall plot may have been the same, but the way I finished it and the tiny details in-between changed.

So, if you’re novice writer or thinking about writing your own novel one day, don’t give up on your book or story just because you have writer’s block.

Brainstorm. What-if. Keep writing.

And remember, you got this.

What are some of your tricks to beat writer’s block? Leave a comment below and let me know!

Happy Friday, y’all!

With May (slowly) coming to an end and another weekend coming, I just wanted to give y’all an update on what’s going on.

Doesn’t Remi look cute in his little booties? They are there to protect his paws from the Arizona heat!

Fun fact: the special leash he’s wearing keeps him from pulling against his handler and is not a muzzle.

First off, an update on Remi, my service dog in training (SDIT). What with COVID-19 and restrictions on public places such as restaurants, stores, hospitals, etc., he hasn’t had that much time spent in those environments. However, he is still being trained to get used to those areas along with unfamiliar sounds, places, and things touching him such as clothes racks and walking alongside buggies. It’s important for him to get used to these things so he won’t react or become afraid and bark at them and think they are normal. He is also continuing his training with nudging in order to interrupt bad behavior such as scratching and interrupting nightmares. Due to my anxiety, I have a bad coping skill that makes me scratch my left hand, which has left me scarred around my wrist and knuckles. Remi will be trained to stop this behavior by nudging my hands or shoving his head into my lap if I’m sitting down. I also have terrible nightmares that I have hard time waking up from, and while I take medication for them, Remi will be there to act as my alarm clock when I toss and turn in my sleep or if I’m crying in my sleep. Having him there even if I wake up on my own will be reassuring and comforting.

Second, my debut poetry collection, Hurricane Vignette, publication has been moved up since the last I talked about it. So, mark your calendars for May 27th for the cover reveal and June 18th for the release day! I’m so excited about this as the collection is a personal diary of my struggles with depression and anxiety and a marks my journey to recovery. Writing the poetry book has also been a great piece of therapy for me and allows me to spread awareness about mental health. It’s important that we talk about mental health because this disease is just as serious as COVID-19 and shouldn’t be taken lightly. There, I said it. That’s my opinion and you can take it or leave it. Whichever you choose is fine, but I won’t change my mind about this—not after living through it.

To move toward a lighter subject, I have booked a PR Company for both Hurricane Vignette and A Stream of Darkness! I’m super excited about this and can’t wait to work with Bewitching Book Tours and Roxanne Rhoads! Expect a lot of promos and graphics coming your way starting next week with the cover release of Hurricane Vignette. Also, I have some exciting giveaways that I can’t wait to announce when it’s closer to time for them! So, pay close attention to the website, my Facebook page and profile, Twitter, and Instagram for news and updates. And if you haven’t yet, sign-up for my monthly newsletter. The first newsletter is set to go out in the beginning of June and it will include news and updates about my author life and important dates! Also, because I know a lot of you love animals, it’ll include a pet’s corner! You might even get exclusive content such as giveaways and cover reveals! You can sign-up here.

Leave a comment below about what you might want to hear from me next!