NEW RELEASE! Time to go CHASING MONSTERS!

Front AND back cover by: Terra Weston

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.” Friedrich Nietzsche

It's official. CHASING MONSTERS has been released!! To be honest, I'm more relieved than excited. It doesn't even feel real. Such a long and exhausting brain birth. I couldn't give up though. WOULDN'T give up. Not only do I love this novel, but I made a promise to publish it, and dedicate it to Gary Larsen. 

If you follow this blog, you'll recognize the name. He was the paranormal investigator who asked if he could be in my book, but passed away before I finished it. I miss him. Everyone who knew him does, especially his friends at Edmonton Paranormal. I hope his spirit is proud, and he likes the character of 'Joey'. 

I'm pleased to tell you CHASING MONSTERS is available in both Kindle and paperback from Amazon, and is also part of the Kindle Unlimited program. Currently, the paperback is unavailable in Canada, but give it time. Createspace tells me it can take up to 30 days to go up, but that it can be purchased here: To order a paperback copy of CHASING MONSTERS.  In the meantime, Kindle versions are available exclusively at Amazon. The above link is the US link, here's the Canadian link: Donna Milward at amazon.ca

And here is the back blurb:

Noelle is keeping too many secrets. But what happens when this paranormal investigator befriends a demon? Meeting Nequam  complicates everything  Now people are dying.

When she reaches out to Sam Castellano, she’s met with skepticism. He thinks she’s delusional, or lying, but he’s determined to find out which.

Danger is closer than either of them know. There’s more than one predator watching.

In the next couple of weeks, I will be running a contest. The prizes will be copies of CHASING MONSTERS and bookmarks, so watch this space for more info.

Thanks to all of you for being more patient than me. I hope you love it! 

Cover by: Terra Weston

Merry Christmas and All That!

Spartacus Jones "Helping" me wrap gifts

Or Happy Holidays, whatever your preference. Yes, I'm still here. Yes, Chasing Monsters is still going to be published. We are still shooting for February.

Where are we at? Edits and formatting are done. ISBN is entered. We just need to finish the cover, And deal with whatever glitches show up. Because you KNOW there will be glitches. I wish I could show you what Terra has done for the cover so far. It's wicked.

I just finished this blog with a long explanation of what I'm doing next year. Then I published it, and realized I just wrote the same blog as last time. So how about a Resolution instead?

Next year, I want to take charge of my own marketing. I hate marketing. I've read countless blogs offering advice, and have asked other bloggers and writers about their strategies, but I can't seem to find anything that works well. What I AM realizing is that social media alone isn't going to do it. (Yeah, I know. DUH.) That was wishful, broke-ass thinking. Anyway, I'm open to suggestions....As long as it isn't blog tours or newsletters. I have zero faith in those, and I could list reasons why, but they would bore you.

If I'm going to make any New Year's resolutions, it's to get my ass in gear and SELL books. I've been complacent too long. People can't buy my books if they don't know they're out there.

Oh Hell...This is going to be fun...Wish me luck!!

And have a great Christmas and may your New Year be everything you hope it will be.

The Dreaded Post

FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Yes, the Dreaded Post. Because the publication of Chasing Monsters is YET AGAIN postponed.
I wanted to have it out before Christmas, and not just because I wanted the sales.  I wanted to have a contest with swag and everything. I have waited long enough to bring this novel to light, to fulfill a promise I made. Sigh...

As usual, life has happened. Heather Savage has been hard at work on edits, and Createspace has accepted our weirdness and italics. Now we just need to add acknowledgments and the all important, ESSENTIAL dedication....which is actually only a few sentences long.

I haven't seen my cover yet, because my artist is EXTREMELY busy, and not feeling so great. I'm lucky she agreed to do a cover at all.

I'm shooting for February. Sorry.

In the meantime, here's what's new. I've finished the rough draft for 'Elaina's Fate', and I'm closing in on the end of 'Her True Name:Volume Two' which takes place in the Funnel Beaker period of Scandinavia. Lots of edits in my new year.

In the meantime, I wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, however you celebrate <3.

Dedicated

Photo by Julia Hollman

If you read my last blog, you'll know that 'Chasing Monsters' will be coming out soon. Hopefully before the year is out. You'll also notice I dedicated it to the memory of a man named Gary Larsen. I've lost track of how many times I've written and re-written that dedication. There actually is something harder to write than a synopsis.

When Gary asked to be in the novel, no one could have guessed he'd be gone two months later. It was a horrible shock. I remember Ehren calling me out of the blue, and I was a little surprised to hear from him. He didn't usually call that early in the day. I asked how it was going, and he said, "Been better."

When he told me, I couldn't believe it. I remember screaming "Oh my God!" several times before I gave in to the tears. I was writing at the time, and tried to continue after the phone call, but I couldn't concentrate. I dropped everything and drove to Ehren and Julia's house, where a bunch of us sat around hugging, shaking our heads in disbelief, crying and trading stories about Gary.

I'm not just frustrated because of the dedication I'm writing.

I'm upset with myself, because I know that 'Joey Bekker', Gary's character, evolved beyond his personality, and any of his friends who reads it will recognize him, but will notice...it's not really Gary. I wonder what he would think of the transformation I gave him.

The Gary we knew was a sweet, soft spoken man Danish man who emigrated to Canada with his parents when he was a boy. He had a parakeet he adored, and all animals loved him. He was rarely seen without an energy drink, and he liked to hang outside with the smokers, even though he didn't smoke. He just liked to listen and be part of the conversation. His favorite band was Deep Purple. He had a fart app on his phone. He was a devoted paranormal investigator and enthusiast.

I met him in Meatcutting class at NAIT, January 2000, where we teased him about how such a small guy could eat so much. He was maybe 5'2, but wolfed food like starved quarterback. The day before our class toured the Lilydale chicken plant I dreamed that I entrusted my lunch to Gary, and he ate it. Tried to tell me around a mouthful of Subway sandwich that he didn't know what happened to my Turkey Bacon Sub. When I shared that dream, everyone around us nodded and said, "Yep. That's Gary. Why would anyone trust Gary to guard food?'

And after the tour was over, Lilydale gave us a variety of chicken wings to sample. Apparently Gary was the first NAIT Meatcutter student, in the history of the trade school, to ask if he could bring the leftovers home. He was probably still hungry.

I wanted Gary's character to be special. I wanted Joey Bekker to live longer and louder than Gary could. I wanted Gary's character to be BIG-- Fearless. I wanted Joey Bekker to live where Gary had not.  I guess that's why 'Joey Bekker' doesn't seem much like Gary anymore, but I'm still glad I did it.

We gave Gary a memorial. It was all he got. Gary's parents predeceased him, and he had no siblings, so he was cremated with permission from relatives from Denmark. We'd offered to pay for a real funeral, but God only knows what that funeral home did with his ashes. I'm still really pissed over that.

That's why this dedication and this novel are so important. Gary led a subdued life, and got the bum's rush into the afterlife. He was a good man who deserved more. Now I can finally give him something for the world to remember he was here.

People come into your life for a reason. Sometimes I wonder if Gary came into my life specifically because I needed to understand the full impact of losing a friend to death. Maybe he was here to make sure Chasing Monsters got written and published. Because I promised him.

I'm sorry if I rambled. I'm sorry if I bored you, but I understand now why I needed to write this blog. I needed to write it because no matter what those little sentences say in the beginning of 'Chasing Monsters', they'll never tell you enough about how I feel right now--How the tears still burn behind my eyes years later.

Oh, My Stars!

Cover by Terra Weston Koster

Sorry guys, I'm still running around like a maniac. My part of the blog tour is winding down and reviews are in. Including a few on Amazon!

http://www.amazon.ca/Aphrodites-War-ebook/dp/B00F8LJJSA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1379425838&sr=8-2&keywords=Aphrodite%27s+War

 Five stars! Oh yeah! I'm off to a good start, but I'm also nervous. Thoeba and Aphrodite's War are not the same novel. People who loved one may not like the other. It makes me feel a little tense.

But honestly? I can't help writing the way I do. I just follow my heart and my muse and hope for the best. I never actually consider what might be marketable or what people might think until the days following publication.

So now I'm a basketcase. I worried about how my fictional take on angels and demons would be received for Thoeba, and in many ways I dodged criticisms. People relaxed a bit when I told them I was just writing fiction and that I had no intention of starting my own religion.

Now I'm worried that my readers won't like this novel because it's not the same thing. Or they might not like it because of the intense sexual content. Or maybe how I mixed mythology with just a pinch of the Energy.

I'm scared, but my favorite quote is this: "Decide you want it more than you are afraid of it." --Bill Cosby

What's next? I don't really know. I can tell you there will be two interviews on this blog soon  (That reminds me, I need to write up questions for both of them.) and that I'm working hard on my yardwork. I can tell you I just finished Chapter Nineteen for 'Chasing Monsters' for the second time, and haven't decided whose POV I'm going to start Chapter Twenty with. My nerves are jangling, but I'm doing alright.

If you are interested in buying an e-book of either Thoeba or Aphrodite's War, you can use the link above. You can also use amazon.com, Smashwords, and Barnes&Noble. Actual paperbacks will be available soon. As soon as my publisher lets me know, I'll post it on my author page. https://www.facebook.com/DonnaMilwardAuthor

In the meantime, thanks everybody for all the awesome support. I'd be even more neurotic than I already am without you people. Thank you <3

It's HERE!

   APHRODITE'S WAR is finally here!  It felt like the day would never come, but yes, my second novel is here! http://www.amazon.ca/Aphrodites-War-ebook/dp/B00F8LJJSA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1379425838&sr=8-2&keywords=Aphrodite%27s+War  The blog tour is is full gear for it, and if you're interested, here's the link! There's going to be a lot of giveaways.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/440785532611199/621291374560613/?notif_t=group_comment_reply

This is the first blog post, done by my friend Mimsey--http://themimsey.blogspot.ca/2013/09/a-mimsical-interview-with-donna-milward.html Mimsey's become a good friend and doing this interview was like talking a an old pal.

Thanks to my sweet husband, I had a lovely launch party that I spent two day recuperating from. I gave away a few keychains, a notebook, and magnetic calendars.

Currently, I finished Chapter 19 in 'Chasing Monsters', only to delete three of the last pages. I think I'm about to introduce a new character. Wish me luck!

Until next week!

September, What's Your Hurry?

My sweet Grandma 

What the hell is going on? There is no room to breathe and take stock of what's going on. It's already September 19th, and "Aphrodite's War" has only been out for two days, officially. I feel as though I spend half my days on the computer, marketing and writing, and the other half doing things like harvesting, socializing and possibly sleeping. Or at least a reasonable facsimile of those things.

Facebook is my marketing best friend and my time-wasting enemy. Today I closed the page I was writing on to look up police jurisdictions for areas in certain parts of North-Central Alberta.

I ended up answering a bunch of Facebook messages, Tweeting, and building a profile page plus pages for Thoeba and Aphrodite's War on StoryFinds.

It wasn't until I got to my Tuesday night meeting with my Shenanigans group of friends that I remembered that I didn't get that done. I got the dishes and laundry done, plus making that phone call to our previous insurance company, but I never got around to calling the Pet Behavioral Hotline about how Spartacus Jones keeps attacking Freya for either play or territory and we-have-no-idea-why there is so much hissing.

Oh yeah! And my Grandma is up for a visit! That's an especially big deal because:

a) She's the last grandparent I have.
b) She got my Uncle Jerry to fly with her up here all the way from Manitoba. (He's in his late sixties.)
c) She's 91 years old. (WHAT? When did that happen?)

I feel like a shit because I just talked to her a month or so ago, and heard two things:

a) I heard my poor Grandmother ask if was EVER going to come visit her in Manitoba...I hadn't been back there since my teens. I couldn't give her a decent answer. Honestly, WHEN is a good time to drop everything and fly down to Winnipeg?
b) She pointed out that in July she was 91 years old. My jaw hit the floor. I kept meaning to phone her. Honest. But the truth is, the last time before THAT phone call that I spoke to her, she was turning 89.

I am swamped, but I'm going to spend as much time as I can with her. I gave her an "Aphrodite's War" calendar magnet and a T-shirt for her "Brag Bag", but there's NO WAY she's getting a book this time.

She's got glaucoma to the point where she can't actually see, but that didn't stop her from lending "Thoeba" to her Jehovah's Witness friends and her Lutheran family.  "It's very well written, but CERTAINLY not my cup of tea."--was the common quote.

Please, please, PLEASE God don't let my relatives read "Aphrodite's War."

Blogs, Events, and Parties, Oh My!

September is kicking my butt. Seems like there's a ton of things to do in both my personal and writing life.  Not that I'm REALLY complaining. I'd rather be swamped than bored.

Of course there's the usual harvesting, canning and wall washing. No doubt followed by wallpaper peeling and painting if my best friend Darci gets her way.

But August ended with the wedding of the decade (see previous post) and things haven't slowed down since.

If I didn't include Tara's birthday parties or Scott's visit from British Columbia, Canada things would still be interesting.

APHRODITE'S WAR comes out on the 17th! SCREAM!! That means all kinds of interviews and blogs, including a blog tour done by the awesome women behind TTC&B2B Blog Tours, Jessica Johnson and Tammy Middleton. Trust me, these ladies ROCK! The event is called
 "STACCATO AUTUMN FAMILY LINE-UP."

Cover by: Terra Weston Koster

 
It starts on September 17th, and promotes several other Staccato authors as well. We'd all love it if you could join us. So would all these other people who volunteered to help out with our on-line party...


http://themimsey.blogspot.com 

http://drwrnmk.blogspot.com 

http://sinfulreview.wordpress.com

http://www.worldsofwonderment.blogspot.com

http://bookend2bookend.blogspot.com

http://www.ohmyshelves.com

http://randommusesomy.blogspot.com

http://beccaannesbookreviews.blogspot.com

http://jessica13bridgers.blogspot.com

http://tamssbookblog.blogspot.com

http://www.echibbs.blogspot.com

http://jacintamareeauthor.blogspot.com

http://revloush.blogspot.com

Hope I didn't miss anyone. Thanks all of you for your participation. I'll be checking these blogs out and I can't wait to see what comes up!