Tag: Alex Cavanaugh

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Author Celebration! #IWSG

Jennifer Lane

While all of us get mired in insecurities now and then, I think there’s a lot to celebrate about being an author, like NEW RELEASES.

Our own Ninja Captain and creator of IWSG Alex J. Cavanaugh launched book three in his Cassa series: Cassa Storm!


We’re proud of him for finishing his first series–what an accomplishment. Buy it HERE.

I love how my pub sister Nicki Elson challenges herself with new writing projects, like this zombie fairytale Hans & Greta, coming soon! Great job, Nicki.


Another talented pub sister Carol Oates designed that creepy cover. Well done, Carol!

Finally, I read a wonderful author blog post last month that I wanted to link to for the Insecure Writers Support Group, but alas, I can’t find it now. The gist of the message was that your book might not be a best-seller…it might not receive critical acclaim…but it is YOUR story, and therefore it is important.

We write books the way only we know how — each novel is a unique creation to celebrate. Sometimes we get wrapped up in comparing ourselves to others, instead of appreciating our special author voice and the opportunity to share that story with the world.

Speaking of unique, Nicki, Carol, and I have our leading men engaged in a Book Boyfriend SMACKDOWN (don’t ask). If you have extra time *laughs* and want to vote for our guys, please hop over to Love Between the Sheets HERE.

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CassaStorm by Alex Cavanaugh–New Release!

Jennifer Lane
Congratulations to Alex J Cavanaugh on the release of the series finale: CassaStorm!

CassaStorm
By Alex J Cavanaugh

From the Amazon Best Selling Series!
A storm gathers across the galaxy…
Commanding the Cassan base on Tgren, Byron thought he’d put the days of battle behind him. As a galaxy-wide war encroaches upon the desert planet, Byron’s ideal life is threatened and he’s caught between the Tgrens and the Cassans.
After enemy ships attack the desert planet, Byron discovers another battle within his own family. The declaration of war between all ten races triggers nightmares in his son, threatening to destroy the boy’s mind.
Meanwhile the ancient alien ship is transmitting a code that might signal the end of all life in the galaxy. And the mysterious probe that almost destroyed Tgren twenty years ago could return. As his world begins to crumble, Byron suspects a connection. The storm is about to break, and Byron is caught in the middle…
“CassaStorm is a touching and mesmerizing space opera full of action and emotion with strong characters and a cosmic mystery.” – Edi’s Book Lighhouse 

“…mesmerizing story of survival, personal sacrifice, tolerance, and compassion. It’s a rare jewel that successfully utilizes both character and plot to tell a story of such immense scope and intimate passion…” – Nancy S. Thompson, author of The Mistaken

“An exciting, nail-biting read which sweeps the reader off on adventures in another galaxy.” 
– Nicua Shamira, Terraverum

$16.95 USA, 6×9 Trade paperback, 268 pages, Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.
Science fiction/adventure and science fiction/space opera
Print ISBN 9781939844002 eBook ISBN 9781939844019
$4.99 EBook available in all formats
Find CassaStorm:
Barnes and Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1116848619?ean=9781939844002
Amazon –
http://www.amazon.com/CassaStorm-Alex-J-Cavanaugh/dp/1939844002/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1378484337&sr=1-1&keywords=cassastorm
Amazon Kindle – http://www.amazon.com/CassaStorm-ebook/dp/B00F2O9QMC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1378811366&sr=1-1&keywords=cassastorm
Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17670532-cassastorm
Book trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Umm2l0XdHc&feature=youtu.be

Alex J. Cavanaugh has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and works in web design and graphics. He is experienced in technical editing and worked with an adult literacy program for several years. A fan of all things science fiction, his interests range from books and movies to music and games. Online he is the Ninja Captain and founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The author of the Amazon bestsellers, CassaStar and CassaFire, he lives in the Carolinas with his wife.

And here’s the special question I asked Alex: How does the feeling of accomplishment from finishing a series compare to other achievements in your life?

His answer: Most of my accomplishments were goals I set out to achieve. Completing a series of three books has me in total awe, because I never thought I’d go past one book. Never thought I’d play guitar in a band either, so what do I know?
Website – http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/
Twitter – http://twitter.com/AlexJCavanaugh  
Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4287922.Alex_J_Cavanaugh
Comment on Alex’s blog this week for a chance to win a Cassa mug, mousepad, magnet, and swag!
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#IWSG: Critique Partners

Jennifer Lane

Congratulations, Alex Cavanaugh! Your brainchild Insecure Writers Support Group celebrates its two year anniversary today, and I’m happy to be part of the group.


Today I want to discuss critique partners, and I have many questions for you. Do you have a critique partner? Several? How does it work for you? (What’s the structure? Has it helped you? What do you wish you’d known when you started?)

A good friend and I agreed to be critique partners, and I want to learn from the collective wisdom of this group about how to make this relationship work best.

When I started writing, I posted stories online, and the feedback made me eager to get the next chapter out there. Now that I’m writing novels, my motivation has waned. I’m hoping that having an encouraging friend waiting for the next chapter will help inspire me to write more frequently.

~*~


In other news, my next novel On Best Behavior (The Conduct Series #3) launches 9-24-13. In celebration, my publisher slashed the price of the first novel in the romantic suspense series to only $.99. 

If you have a moment, would you be willing to help spread the word by tweeting one of these?

Win a print copy of ON BEST BEHAVIOR by @JenLaneBooks — romantic suspense with a psychological twist. http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/63573-on-best-behavior

They found love in a hopeless place. WITH GOOD BEHAVIOR by @JenLaneBooks only $.99! #romance http://www.amazon.com/With-Good-Behavior-ebook/dp/B003VU00QU/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1

Thanks for your support and here’s to a wonderful September.

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Visualizing Your Book #IWSG

Jennifer Lane

Time for our monthly support group! *pulls up a chair and nods to group leader Alex*

What’s on tap for today’s group? I want to discuss book VISUALS.

Have you made a book trailer for your novel? Looked for images of models representing your characters?

I’ve spent hours on both tasks this week. My aunt Nancy, who works as a video producer, is helping my publisher and me with a book trailer for On Best Behavior (The Conduct Series #3), before its release in September. My task is to write a script and find images.

Nancy and I agreed on the opening line for the trailer:

Planning a wedding is never easy…

Especially when mobsters want you dead.

But the rest takes diligent work to make it shiny and fresh!

Then, I needed to find images to represent my hawt romantic heroes for my publisher’s “Men of Omnific Smackdown” at the end of September. It was HARD WORK perusing thousands of images of scrumptious gents to find just the right ones, I tell you. Whew.

I think I found the right guys though. It helps when my pub sister Carol Oates manipulates the images to make them just right!

I’m taking advantage of 7 day trials at a stock photo and video site.

Have YOU made visual representations of your characters and stories? Any tips you’d like to share?

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Authors Promoting Authors

Jennifer Lane
A big thank you to Alex Cavanaugh for starting the…
Insecure Writers Support Group.

Today I’ll share an idea to make yucky marketing more fun:

Create a MARKETING TEAM with fellow authors!

Do you feel uncomfortable tooting your own horn? Do you lack the time to keep your books in the public eye? My pub sisters at Omnific Publishing decided to overcome those problems by designating one author a week for some major book pimpage.

How does it work? The designated author creates some marketing materials and shares them with our closed Facebook group. Then other authors in the group promote that author throughout the week.  Here are the various marketing strategies:

1) Tweets. The author creates tweets like:

Friendship is the best kind of ship. #NA #Navy #swimming #romance STREAMLINE by @JenLaneBooks http://amzn.to/1928OMJ #HotMenInUniform
…and her fellow authors tweet like crazy.
2) Goodreads. We “like” the 4 star and 5 star reviews for the designated author’s books, thereby bumping those reviews to the top.
3) Facebook and Pinterest.
My amazingly talented pub sister Carol Oates volunteered to create images with quotes from our books on them. I can’t wait for my week to unveil images like these:


What creative marketing strategies have YOU tried?
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Insecurity and Judgments: Writing Hiatus

Jennifer Lane

I almost missed ANOTHER month of the IWSG! But I’m posting during a break in psychotherapy clients.

Thank you to Ninja Alex for developing this supportive author meme.

I’ve been embroiled in some good stuff with my psychologist career lately, so writing/blogging has taken a back seat. My fourth novel has been under contract for a while with Omnific Publishing, and I can’t wait to start with the edits. I finally started writing my next novel — a New Adult romance with sports and politics — but I only have about 500 words so far.

I could get really insecure about this hiatus in writing, saying things like:

“I should have started another novel by now.”

“The NA genre is hopping and I should strike while the iron’s hot.”

“Maybe I’m being lazy.”

But I don’t think these judgments will help anything. Instead, I’ll use the NONJUDGMENTALLY mindfulness skill. According to Marsha Linehan, Ph.D., the nonjudgmentally skill is:

* See but DON’T EVALUATE. Take a nonjudgmental stance. Just the facts. Focus on the “what”, not the “good” or “bad”, the “terrible” or “wonderful”, the “should” or “should not”.

* UNGLUE YOUR OPINIONS from the facts, from the “who, what, when, and where”.

* ACCEPT each moment (this doesn’t mean you like it or agree with it).

 To practice this skill, I’ll examine the facts, like “I feel anxious that I’m not writing frequently right now” or “The psycho part of my psycho author career has needed more time recently”.

Have you experienced an ebb and flow in your own writing career? How do you deal with judgments and insecurity?

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The Ebb and Flow of Two Careers

Jennifer Lane

Time for the Insecure Writers Support Group. One insecurity is that I’m three days late on my post! Thank you to Alex Cavanaugh for hosting this awesome meme.

Since it’s rare to make a living as an author, I’m sure many of us have day jobs. I’m a psychologist, and I’ve been wrapped up in writing and delivering two big presentations the past week (hence the delay in my post). I traveled all the way to Big Sky, Montana for my first presentation.

Isn’t it gorgeous? A big sky indeed. I teamed up with four other psychologists to present on gender issues in my field. I mentioned how I didn’t get one job because I wasn’t “a guy’s guy”. Yep, I’m not!

I’m not much of a skier, but I did decide to try cross country skiing with two psych buddies. I felt like I was about to fall every second, even on flat ground, but at least it was a sunny day. It was great to see friends and mentors.

When I returned home I scrambled to prepare another presentation, and this one went well too. I’m glad to be done with presentations for a while!

Writing has been at a standstill since I FINISHED my fourth novel! Yahoo. On Best Behavior (The Conduct Series #3) is on submission with my publisher.

And finally, I’m excited about the approach of Valentine’s Day (aka Singles Awareness Day) because it’s my birthday AND Omnific Publishing will give away three loaded Kindles to celebrate their third anniversary. Stop back on the 14th to enter the giveaway.




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Insecure Writers’ Support Group: New Year, New Adult

Jennifer Lane

Happy New Year to all insecure writers out there! Thank you to Alex Cavanaugh for bringing us together to vent, cajole, disclose, and lift up.

I write this post at midnight after just reaching 100,000 words on my WIP On Best Behavior. YAY! Of course I’m not finished yet but I’m only a couple of chapters away — home stretch, baby. And I feel extra giddy because it’s the third book of a trilogy. My first series!
Here’s my one complaint for today: Why does it take so loooooonnnggg to write? WAAH.
When you’re wrapping up one novel, do you already start mentally writing your next one? I have an idea for a New Adult romance percolating, and I can’t wait to get started…after I finish and edit On Best Behavior, and after a little break.
What’s the New Adult genre, you ask? If you’re unfamiliar with NA, it’s about characters ages 18-25. Read more HERE.
I love this time of life, particularly the university years. College and the beginning of graduate school was such a time of growth for me, and this potential for character change inspires me.
I’ve read some fantastic NA books, including Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia,  Slammed by Colleen Hoover, Easy by Tammara Webber (review HERE), and Where She Went by Gayle Forman (review HERE).
What do you think about New Adult? Love it? Hate it?
I think New Adult may be the hot genre of 2013. Do you agree? If not, which genre do you predict to be hottest?
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Insecurity and Impatience

Jennifer Lane

I came across a great TED talk by social worker Brene Brown on the power of vulnerability. Courage is showing others who we are with our whole heart. The only way to connect with others is by showing them our vulnerabilities.

Since the above talk is 20 minutes and I know we’re all busy hopping blogs for the Insecure Writers Support Group, here is a 5 minute presentation by Dr. Brown about the joys of imperfection.

Power of vulnerability?

Joys of imperfection?

Wha?

I’m here today to share with you some of my vulnerabilities, including insecurity and impatience. That’s what happens in support groups, right? 😉

In an earlier IWSG post I mentioned that my book sales had improved once my publisher lowered my ebook prices to $2.99. Unfortunately sales have slowed since then. Like, real slooow. Has anyone else noticed sales dipping?

While it’s incredible to witness some books killing it (especially Wallbanger by Alice Clayton–released from my small publisher Omnific)–I feel insecure to compare that wild success to my little author hobby.

What are your insecurities?

I’m also mired in IMPATIENCE. Can you believe how long it takes to write a novel? I’ve been working on my WIP for a year and I’m still not done. I hoped to finish by now, when the ten weeks of The Next Best Thing ended. (Oh, that’s another imperfection–I’m terribly behind with this meme.)

The good news is that I’m at 89,000 words. I will finish On Best Behavior!

What makes you impatient?

GIVEAWAYS!!!

Omnific Publishing hosts a Holiday Without Rules Kindles Full of Books Giveaway. My publisher will give away THREE Kindles, people! Loaded with our books. Enter HERE. And join us for the Author Author Blog Bounce too.

Are you stressed out from stringing Christmas lights and knocking back too much Egg Nog? Visit Kate Evangelista’s blog where I provide tips for “Maintaining Sanity for the Holidays“. I’m also giving away my YA swimming romance Streamline.

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Did I Notice Your Book?

Jennifer Lane

Thanks to Ciara Knight and Ninja Alex Cavanaugh for this clever blogfest!

Here are the guidelines:

Post about a book you’ve noticed.

You can choose a book that you’ve read, something you saw on a blog or social media site, Goodreads, or a sales website. Anything that caught your eye because of a great cover, blurb or reviews, but DON’T tell the author that their book has been noticed. Instead, shout out on social media sites, and encourage others to do the same, until the author finds his/her book.

Leave a blog comment at Ninja Captain Alex or Ciara Knight when the author finds their book. 

I’ve actually noticed TWO books recently (hopefully that’s not cheating?)

First, I met author Kyra Lennon on the A to Z Blog Challenge in April, when she posted compelling excerpts about a soccer romance (I love sports romances.)

Then I blink and suddenly her debut novel Game On had already been released! How could I have missed it?

That cover bends it like Iniesta!

Naturally I had to get my hands on Kyra’s novel and I loved it. Here’s my 5 star REVIEW.

Just yesterday I noticed another book, this one by my pub sister Alison Oburia. Her romantic suspense (also a favorite genre) Between the Lies launches in one week (10-23-12) and I can’t wait to read it.

Doctoral student Cari Lopez’s academic life is in a rut, but when she comes home to discover a stranger asleep on her doorstep, her personal life becomes immediately more interesting. British accountant Tristan Saunders is a kindred spirit—with a fantastic accent—and there’s a connection kindling, but Cari soon learns he’s made an enemy of the Bulgarian mafia. His trip to the US is far from a vacation.

The enemy is hidden, yet ominously present and always watching. And though they’ve known each other merely a few days, Cari and Tristan are soon on the run for their lives.

Alison Oburia’s layered storytelling reveals a tale of international intrigue and complex relationships, which is distilled to its essence in two hearts. Not everything is as it appears, and people are not who they seem to be. Faced with deception at all angles, Cari must sort out what’s real. If she’s to stay alive—and possibly fall in love, she has to find the truth…between the lies.

Doesn’t that sound great? I’m totally into the Mafia, romance, and suspense.

I look forward to checking out what books YOU have noticed. Have fun today.