IWSG: Insecurities, Book Releases, Making Videos--oh my!

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IWSG: a place where writers and friends share woes or hugs.

Welcome to mine!

Thank you, J Lenni Dorner, Janet Alcorn, PJ Colando, Jenni Enzor, and Diane Burton! for cohosting for July!

This month's question is: July 6 question - If you could live in any book world, which one would you choose?


I'm not sure how to answer this question other than if I could avoid any nasty turns and live in peace at all times then I'm good!

Speaking of turns...guess what? My book, Awaken: A Love Story, is FiNaLlY live over at Kindle Vella (first 3 episodes are FREE)! I've only been waiting for this moment for a long time and Alex Cavanaugh is spotlighting me over at his Ninja Dojo--thank you, Alex!

Here is my short-and-condensed Vella version of a blurb:

WHAT GOOD IS perfect WITHOUT LOVE? There is no crime in the Balance. No aging. No death. Living on the outskirts of society, Daemos escapes his prison with dark secrets that threaten the Balance. Because of this evidence, his life is forfeit. N'reena is drawn to him and the impossible happens--she falls for him. Lives are at stake, especially their own! Can she keep him a secret, or will the Balance destroy them?

It needs to be under 500 characters and allows NO spaces. This was a big challenge for me!

I've done some learning curves with this book: First, having to study up on the rules and etiquette for writing for Kindle Vella, I've cut my novel into 1,000-word episodes and then divided the story into seasons), I've created short video clips with music and an author reading with creepy music playing in the background (it's through the villain's viewpoint) with a door slowly opening, and joined Instagram to gain more exposure--anyone out there on Instagram? 

To create my videos, I used PowerPoint to record the book cover's slow appearance at the end of each video, grabbed the music and video images from Pixabay and Pexels, and used Microsoft's Video Editor with Audacity for audio editing.

As for the author reading--I used my phone with my son's pop filter to hide any annoying mouth sounds.

I've already recorded Episode 2 but still need to edit the audio and match it up with a video image with its music. I'm not sure exactly how that will turn out but I'll share it here when I do!

As for the other videos, you're welcome to watch them and judge how they came out for yourself!

Here is my author reading:

"Through Eyes Darkly: A Villain's View"

Here are the book trailer clips:

What new things have you learned? What book world would you want to live in? What are your writing goals for July?

PS--my latest insecurity is pretending I know what I'm doing and hoping no one notices my insecurities!