Writer’s Block Need Not Be A ‘Vice’: A Brief Story About the Struggle to Create

Vice Front Cover 5.5x8.5Vice is finally published! Part two of my YA Sci-Fi series has made its way into the world, three years after the release of the first book, Tick. I did not plan a pre-release. I have not sought many ARC reviews. The birth of Vice was a challenge to say the least, and I wanted to share what I have learned about the process of writing this book, what I hope to gain from the experience, and some advice and wisdom to other struggling authors.

Let’s go back to the beginning. I wrote the first draft of Tick in three and a half weeks, a serious feat for any writer. The story poured out of me from beginning to end. I knew little about where the story was going beyond a handful of major plot points, and I didn’t have an ending. I got up every morning and hammered out 5-8 thousand words a day, seeing maybe only the next one or two chapters in my head. It was during the process of writing Tick that I discovered the ending, that I realized the purpose behind the story, that I was revealing a part of myself that needed to be healed in not only the process of writing Tick, but sharing it. I spent an additional seven months rewriting and editing Tick, but it was an almost magical writing experience. Continue reading

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Join Me on Indie Author Day!

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Join me for Indie Author Day on October 8th at the Alhambra Civic Library!

Over 300 libraries from all across North America will host their own local author events with the support of the Indie Author Day team. I, along with my a dozen other indie authors — including my dad, Dennis Sanchez — will be at the Alhambra library from 1-4 pm.

At 2:30 pm I will be part of the “Writing for Young People”, so be sure to be around for that. Authors will have books to sell and sign. Please come say hi!

Two new reviews for Tick

Reviews are still coming in for “Tick”, which is fantastic motivation as I slog through edits of part two in the series, “Vice”. It is so easy to get deterred during the editing process, and then positive reviews remind me that there was a reason why I started writing Jo Bristol’s story in the first place, so hurry the hell up and finish, dumbass!

Ah. Had to get that out. I feel better now, thanks.

Anyway, here are some snippets of those reviews, in case you haven’t read “Tick” yet and are looking for a reason to:

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Indie Reader Review

Rose is a good writer of dialogue, and is deft at slowly doling out information to locate the reader within Jo’s world. The story is exciting, fast-paced, and full of surprises… TICK is a terrific book, which more than stands its ground in a crowded field of dystopian fiction featuring awesome, if “wrett” female heroes.

Side note: Props to the reviewer for using my slang!

Readers’ Favorite

…Author Allison Rose kept the essence of thrill and action all the way till the end. This is one of those novels that will keep your heart beating and make you live the life of the character. I was completely invested in the story from the first chapter. Jo is the type of character that you root for right to the very end. She was awesome and very reflective.

Thanks for those reviews!

On the subject of book two of The Tick Series, I can’t say for certain when it will be released. It’s a complicated story with a lot of elements involved, which makes editing tricky. I don’t, however, want to rush the process for the sake of a release date, but I assure you, it is coming. Patience, grasshoppers.

I Made My eBook Free for 5 Days… And Here’s What Happened

Last March, I published my first novel, Tick, the first in a YA Science Fiction series. To be more specific, I self-published. I knew full well the challenges of being a self-pubber (I’d done my research), and while I was certain I could get an agent to bite, I was determined to have full control over my work and that it was good enough to sell on its own, dammit.

IMG_1284A year later, I had serious doubts about my decision to not take the traditional route. Sure, I had some awesome reviews on Goodreads, and the people who read it continuously ask when #2 is coming out (it’s coming, but slowly… more on that in another post). But, I wasn’t selling many books. In fact, it has been a struggle to get any return on my investments. Several bloggers reviewed Tick, and some even asked me to do guest posts, but it didn’t sell any books. I participated in a couple Facebook Author Bashes, but I didn’t sell any books. People in my personal life shared the info with their friends; still didn’t sell any books.

A few people encouraged me to keep writing, saying that many new authors don’t hit their stride until their series is complete; although I am still a ways from that. Keep on truckin’, they said. Truth is, the problem began with me. As hard as I initially to tried to have a strong social media game, I still couldn’t get myself to keep up with it as much as I should have. When it was going great, I had things to talk about. When confidence waned, I didn’t want to even mention it. It’s hard to respond enthusiastically to fan inquiries when that damn elephant just won’t leave the room. After awhile, I stopped talking about my book so much. I stopped asking people to write reviews, or even read it. Was I giving up? Not completely, but the train had lost some serious steam.

Then, with a last-minute decision, I decided to sign up for a Book of the Day promotion hosted by the lovely people at OnlineBookClub.org. It’s mostly a place for book nerds to chat literary, but it’s also a great resource for authors. Last June, I got a fantastic review from them, yet again, it didn’t sell any books. So I decided to try out The Book of the Day thing, but there was a catch. Since it was a special event, I either had to recede my price to $2.99 or make it free for the day. I had a decision to make; either I could try the price reduction and see if it would finally get people to bite, or make it entirely free. Continue reading

Guest Post Update: Why It’s Time to Redefine the “Strong Female Character”

everybody loves crazy (image courtesy of Netflix)

everybody loves crazy (image courtesy of Netflix)

Emily over at Awesome Indies has granted me the fabulous opportunity to write a guest post for her blog. Originally intended as an exploration of Strong Female Characters in literature, the post took on a life of it’s own after I spent most of my birthday weekend binge-watching Orange is the New Black. Clearly, it was a great use of my time. It did, at least, provide some much-needed inspiration for the blog post. I have posted an excerpt below, but please read the rest at Awesome Indies:

The issue is not that we lack strong female characters—there are quite a lot of them cropping up in spandex jumpers and heeled boots—but that we lackstrong characters that are female. We are made to assume that the term is synonymous with “strong women”, meaning that at the end of the day these females are decidedly the heroes of their stories who fight against all odds (i.e., the patriarchy) and emerge with battle scars and a sense that they have got it all figured out. Simply putting a gun in a girl’s hand (or an arrow, or a tattoo gun) does not make her a strong character; it makes her a character with a prop.

What about those other women, the ones who are not fighting wars or preserving their innocence for the sake of personal sacrifice during the climactic moment of the plotline? A woman’s strength is not defined by her physical dominance or thirst for revenge. She does not need to be superior to the other female characters; she does not need to be equal to her male counterparts. She does not need to be a superhero or a badass warrior or a feminist advocate. More than anything, the female character must be human, a complex individual whose agency moves the plot forward separate from any other character in her story (man or woman), equally capable of failing and succeeding, equally capable of dishing love and pain, a woman who can both fight for herself (literally and metaphorically), but will also forfeit in a sob storm when she doesn’t feel strong enough … and sometimes in the same scene. That is what makes her a strong character. READ MORE

The Science of Sci-Fi, Tick Style: Pt. 1

Simon says,

“They’re called botheads!”

I have been thinking for some time about writing a post about the scientific research that went into Tick, but found that the information (and the many connections to my book series) was an intimidating amount, too much to add into one block. So, I have decided to break them down into more readable chunks so that I can share with you the science behind the science fiction in my debut YA series, Tick.  This post commences Part One.

Let’s go back a bit. I honestly can’t say exactly where the inspiration came from for my YA sci-fi series, which is, in short, about Josephine Bristol, a teenage girl desperate to become an artist in a drone-surveyed Los Angeles where neuroscientists permanently “fix” people with brain disorders, a task perhaps not so daunting were she not plagued by a violent mental and emotional dysfunction. I have mentioned in quite a few interviews that my main character’s “tick” — as she calls it — bears resemblance to issues of my own adolescence, although not in the “art imitates life” sort of way that has caused readers to question my husband’s safety (people are worried!). Jo’s tick is rather a dramatized representation of my years suffering from a deep and dark depression and the journey I have taken to finally write a book about it. In my series, the use of these brain-adjusting doctors is a futuristic evolution of psychiatry, and I am in awe of how many readers have noted the possibility that sometime in the near future, neural brain adjustments can become something not only used for medical purposes, but for personal advance as well.

I didn’t just make this concept up. Scientists are in the process of targeting specific neurons in the brain to inhibit or assist the movement of signals between synapses, thus altering certain cognitive functions. The purpose for this research is hoped to be applied in treating brain disorders such as schizophrenia and depression, but it takes no stretch of the imagination to see how easily this technology could be used to “fix” people of minor inflictions, like their compulsion to drop $20 at a fancy coffee shop every day. The science is called optogenetics, and I’ll get to the specifics of it later in this post, but first I want to get into how I even learned about optogenetics in the first place. Continue reading

Facebook Summer Bash Author Party – June 9th

CGlmooGW8AEcjtvThis Tuesday, June 9th, I will be participating in a Facebook Summer Bash Author Party! I will be joining these amazing authors: A.S. WinchesterChristy SloatEmm ColeEmma RavelingE.J. MellowJ. KowallisL.K. HillSunshine Somerville.

The Author Bash will be live from 5pm PST to 10pm PST.
Allison Rose time slot is 6:30-7pm PST. Come early! Stay and support the other authors!

For the event, I will be giving away free copies of the Tick eBook and two canvas book totes in a raffle for those who participate during my time slot. Also, we have a Grand Prize for one lucky participant … a Kindle Fire HD6! You won’t want to miss out on this!

Also, if you haven’t already checked out the 5 Star review of Tick on Vicarious Caytastropy, you can still enter to win a paperback or one of two eBooks. Going until June 17th.

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5 Things I Learned From My First Book Signing

just sitting here selling myself... err, my books

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

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

tick at Vroman's Bookstore

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!