I am so pleased to bring you the Official Book Trailer for Tick!
I got to use my old (aka rusty) video editing skills on this. I hope you enjoy it!
5 Things I Learned From My First Book Signing
just sitting here selling myself … err, my books
Yesterday, I had the privilege of partaking in a Local Author Signing Day in South Pasadena. My fellow authors included Koji Steven Sakai and Dennis Sanchez (who is my dad, and also my writing inspiration). For my very first event, it went swimmingly. I sold a fair amount of books, got to hang out with some great people, and also received some valuable publishing advice.
But of course, there is always more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye. Every moment is a learning experience, is it not? Here are five things I learned from my first book signing, and I hope you can take something out of it too.
5. Selling yourself is as hard as it sounds
I had this plan to ride my bike to the South Pasadena Farmer’s Market and pass out fliers for the signing. I thought it would be easy, considering the city is populated by educated and eclectic residents, so of course they would want to support local authors. I thought it even might be fun because I would get to talk to people about my book. But when I pulled those fliers out of my bag … I froze. I am a social person for the most part, but not amongst hundreds of people I don’t know. My initial spiel included my introduction, who I was representing, and a run-down of the event. Most people sat politely while I interrupted their afternoon for that whopping 30 second lecture, but after the fifth group, I nearly gave up right there. Not only did I feel like an ass for jumping in the middle of their conversations, but I felt that I was wasting my time. After anxiously texting my husband that I was failing miserably, he suggested I shorten my spiel to “Support local authors!” and basically shove the fliers in unsuspecting hands. That was even less do-able. I am not one to take immediate rejection easily, and less people are willing to take anything from a peddler shoving things in their faces. Needless to say, I went home early.
As it turns out, I’m not as good at this self-promotion thing as I thought. I still have people telling me “I didn’t know you wrote a book!” because I’m just not that good at talking about myself. I am a writer and an artist, but I’m now also a salesman. It is a frightful combination. I’m still trying to figure that part out. Continue reading
It’s All In My Head
fuel for the mind, circa 2002
People often ask me, “Have you always been an artist?”
“Of course I’ve always been an artist,” I say with an undertone of resentment for the fact they didn’t already know this. “Just because this is the first time you’ve ever seen me paint something, doesn’t mean I’m making it up right here on the spot. I didn’t become an artist overnight.”
That last bit is never said out loud, of course, because I’m not an asshole, and it’s not really their fault they don’t know what I do when I’m not pretending to be a respectable citizen.
Even while I internally fume about how still — even in my adult age — so many people have a terrible misconception of who I am, I understand why. Outwardly, I don’t give off the “artist vibe”. I’m not covered in tattoos, I dress fairly conservatively, I don’t spend my days yammering about artsy things. Quite frankly, I don’t find most meetings to be appropriate for such conversations, but given the right time and place, and I’ll talk your ear off about music or books or movies or politics. I didn’t gain an interest in those topics overnight, either; I simply choose to not talk about them all the time.
Perhaps the reason why I don’t expose myself as an artist in my daily life is because I’ve learned to compartmentalize those versions of myself. Growing up, most people in my life didn’t understand that I had such an incredible need to express myself. I channeled my emotions through any medium I could — music, art, graphic design, poetry, storytelling, anything — because the real world did not offer me the platform to truly speak my mind. Both my parents have artistic backgrounds (my dad is a writer, my mom has done fine art for decades), yet both their lives followed a path that halted their progression as artists. You know … the real world. So when it came time for me to graduate high school and decide what the hell I was going to do with my life, the voices of family members and friends alike resonated through my head: “You won’t make money as an artist. Pick something else.” Continue reading
Words In the Air, Words on the Page
Hello everyone! This last weekend was great in the Tick world.
gettin nerdy up in here!
First, Sam at The Reading Nook NZ was awesome to offer me a chance to write a guest post on her blog! We talk about writing, my inspiration for Tick, and some tidbits about the next installment of the Tick series, Vice. Thanks to the Reading Nook readers for submitting questions! You can find my post right here.
Then … Bryan and I got nerdy together (in a totally platonic way), in the nerd lounge over at Good Nerd Bad Nerd. We talked about my book Tick and all the science-y and artistic bits, and we chatted about some nerd news as well. It was a lot of fun, so hop on over and have a listen!
Local Author Signing Day
This is our official poster for the Charlie’s Coffee House Local Author Signing Day!
*whew*
If you are in the Pasadena area, come on by on April 22 at 4pm for a chance to chat with me and my fellow authors, Koji and Dennis (who is also my father). We’ll be happy to sign our books for you. Also, it’s at a coffee house, so yay coffee!
Extra! Extra! Read all about it!
We all dream of being on a bookstore shelf
Good news, everyone! You can now purchase Tick at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, at either their Pasadena location near Old Town or at their Hasting’s Ranch location. If you don’t see it on the shelf, ask one of their lovely booksellers to stock more. It’s only available for a limited time, so get your copy today!
This is very exciting news for me, as I have dreamed of seeing my name stocked on a bookstore shelf. Vroman’s is a very well-known place in the Los Angeles area, and hundreds of people go through those doors every day … I am fortunate they offer this opportunity to local authors.
In other Tick-related news, I have several events coming up:
First, I have been asked to write a guest blog post where I will be answering questions about myself and my book, to be posted on March 30th. Stop by and leave a question in the comments section!
Second, on March 29th, I’ll be a guest on the Good Nerd Bad Nerd podcast, for which I will do my best to not embarrass all you nerdy people (I may not be that nerdy, but I’ll try to pretend). The podcast will most likely be posted the next Monday (March 30), but I’ll keep you posted on that.
Lastly, Charlie’s Coffee House in South Pasadena has offered to host a local author signing day on April 22 at 4pm. I will be joined by a few other local authors, so stay tuned for more details on that.
That’s all for now, lovelies!
Give It Away, Give It Away, Give It Away Now
a fan’s interpretation of the characters … Felix is hot!
The Reading Nook NZ is hosting an international Giveaway on their blog. Entry requirements are to sign up and leave a blog comment including a question for me. On March 30th I will be writing a guest post on the blog, and answering all the questions!
The giveaway is active through March 30th, after which three winners will be picked. One prize of a signed paperback, and two ebooks. Enter now and leave a question about me or my book, Tick. Read their review of the book itself.
While you’re at it, you can enter my Goodreads Giveaway, which ends on March 31st.
Who Thought Writing Would Be The Easy Part?
They do exist!
My debut novel has been a year in the making, which I suppose isn’t too bad considering some writers have spent a decade writing one novel. If someone had warned me of the hours I’d spend preparing my book for self-publication that did not include writing, I’d have …
Who am I kidding, I’d do exactly what I’ve done, a hundred times over. I’ll be honest, I’ve always been a fan of tactile things (vinyl, Polaroid photos, and, of course, books), and there is something especially satisfying about holding a real, solid representation of the book you’ve spent so much time and effort writing. And on top of that, there’s even more to admire if that very book was designed and organized by you. That font, that position of design element, that color scheme … It all becomes more amazing when you are part of the process from start to finish. Continue reading
Reaching the Light at the End of the Tunnel
My book is finally here. Like, d
one. After so much time, and effort, and blood, and sweat, and tears, and long days and sleepless nights … it’s finally here. A journey to say the least. I’ll post my post-event thoughts when I’ve had the chance to actually think about my thoughts.
Until then, for those who have been waiting for it, here it is.
It’s Not Writer’s Block, It’s Fear
F*** is a four-letter word.
Writing a sequel is harder than it sounds. Or maybe it sounds as hard as it is. Yes, I know, “Silly newb, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. It was always this hard, you just drank the Kool-Aid too early.” But still. I know where the second book in my series is going. (Well, technically, there have been about three versions of where I thought the second book was going.) I’ve written two books now. The settings are already created. The characters already living entities. The conflicts are present and waiting. This book shouldn’t be this hard. And yet, it is.
Many people don’t believe in writer’s block. They know it for what it is: Fear. Fear of producing a lesser product. Fear of missing the magic of the first piece of work. Fear of going in the exact opposite direction from where everyone else was hoping you’d go. And then, *poof*. Curtain pulled back, magician exposed, the writer is seen for what she is: a one-hit wonder. This isn’t a mythical creation, this is some bimbo fumbling around in the dark trying to put one word after another to form a story that some people somewhere might actually want to read.