Sabrina's Blog

As many of you know, my first published work, Lost Haven-A Shine Novella was published in March. Having prepared for this day, I had my self-promotion tools lined up and it did very well. What many of you may not know is that I own a trophy company with my hub. The month of May is what I like to refer to as our 'hell month' as it is end of school awards time. Unfortunately, with long sixteen hour plus days, I barely had time to eat much less keep up with my promotions. With constant deadlines, I barely thought of my debut novella. My numbers plummeted. I knew self-promotion was important, but after this experience, I now realize it more than ever. So, I'm going to share 3 promotion tips that I've found to be the most important. 1. Consistency- This one has been made painfully clear for me. You have to keep up a consistent effort to promote your work. It won't promote itself. You can't expect to promote for a short amount of time, then just stop and ...

I'm a light gamer. I say 'light' because I don't play all the time, I don't care about building a community of gamer friends, and I'm not obsessive about gaming. Most gamers probably wouldn't even consider me to be one of them. I use gaming as a place to go when I need an escape when I'm between good book series. I play Guild Wars 2 on the computer occasionally, I like Minecraft, and I love pulling out the old Playstation 2 to play Dark Cloud 2. I like playing PvZ: Garden Warfare on Xbox with my kiddo and Candy Crush and Doombad on my iPhone. Like I said, 'light' gamer is definitely a good description for me. My 7 year old, however, is well on his way to being a serious gamer. He already knows more than I do. Lately, his favorite thing is to watch videos on YouTube by his favorite little teenage gamers. He thinks these teenagers and their melodramatic antics as one of their characters is destroyed and must be respawned, is hilarious. It...

A to Z is over! *Cue the streamers and confetti* I'm so happy to announce that I made it through the whole month, picked up several really interesting new blogs to follow, and made some great new friends. I hope everyone enjoyed getting to know some of my favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy characters. My goal was to introduce you to at least one new story you'd never heard of and judging from your comments, I was successful. This week, I experienced another happy dance worthy moment: I received my very first box of books in the mail. Not going to lie...I smelled, kissed, and waved them around like a lunatic. In case you aren't certain: Dreams do come true, folks. *shakes out shameless plug* If you haven't checked out Lost Haven yet? It's now available in print or e-book on Amazon. The audio version will be available later this month.   This last weekend I attended the annual OWFI Conference, a local writer's conference that I enjoy volunteering for each y...

My Theme for the 2014 A to Z Challenge is: SciFi/Fantasy Characters in Novels I'll introduce you to a new scifi/fantasy character from the plethora of novels I've read over my lifetime. My goal is to entice those who maybe haven't read much in the genre I write and share why I find these characters so interesting. I hope you'll enjoy taking the ride with me. ~Z~ is for Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander from Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth Series In the aftermath of the brutal murder of his father, a mysterious woman, Kahlan Amnell, appears in Richard Cypher's forest sanctuary seeking help . . . and more. His world, his very beliefs, are shattered when ancient debts come due with thundering violence. In a dark age it takes courage to live, and more than mere courage to challenge those who hold dominion, Richard and Kahlan must take up that challenge or become the next victims. Beyond awaits a bewitching land where even the best of their hearts could betray them....

My Theme for the 2014 A to Z Challenge is: SciFi/Fantasy Characters in Novels I'll introduce you to a new scifi/fantasy character from the plethora of novels I've read over my lifetime. My goal is to entice those who maybe haven't read much in the genre I write and share why I find these characters so interesting. I hope you'll enjoy taking the ride with me. ~X~  is for Xena Warrior Princess In a time of ancient gods, warlords, and kings, a land in turmoil cried out for a hero. She was Xena, a mighty princess, forged in the heat of battle...Her courage will change the world. So I know this isn't a character from a book, BUT she is one of my favorite female characters. She's strong, sexy, brave, and an all around bad ass!! I love her. She's the heroine from my childhood. I used to watch this on TV and dream of adventures and saving the world just like her. *sigh* Have you checked out my debut novel?!! It's a girl superhero novella approp...

My Theme for the 2014 A to Z Challenge is: SciFi/Fantasy Characters in Novels I'll introduce you to a new scifi/fantasy character from the plethora of novels I've read over my lifetime. My goal is to entice those who maybe haven't read much in the genre I write and share why I find these characters so interesting. I hope you'll enjoy taking the ride with me. ~W~ is for Wyl Thursk, the main character in the Quickening Series by Fiona McIntosh. In Book 1, Myrren's Gift , Wyl's life takes a major turn when the witch, Myrren, bestows a gift on him as Wyl witness' her death. Wyl is a young man destined to be his King's General, but finds himself out of favor when a new King is crowned. The new King is jealous of Wyl's popularity with the previous king and with the people. When Wyl witness' the death of a young girl accused of being a witch, the witch gives him a gift. This gift changes Wyl's life and is the impedus that propels the story...

My Theme for the 2014 A to Z Challenge is: SciFi/Fantasy Characters in Novels I'll introduce you to a new scifi/fantasy character from the plethora of novels I've read over my lifetime. My goal is to entice those who maybe haven't read much in the genre I write and share why I find these characters so interesting. I hope you'll enjoy taking the ride with me. ~V~ is for Vin from Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy A thousand years ago evil came to the land. A dark lord rules through the aristocratic families and ordinary folk labor as slaves in volcanic ash fields. A troublemaker arrives. A rumored revolt depends on an untrustworthy criminal and a young girl who must master Allomancy, metal magic. Mistborn is an epic fantasy series by Brandon Sanderson. I've chosen one of the main characters, Vin, as my letter 'V'. She is a strong female character who is beaten constantly as a child and learns that no one can be trusted, yet she still finds lov...