A Deafening Whisper

My second book is published!

On April 22, 2013 my eBook, A Deafening Whisper, went live on Amazon.com! Print on demand paperbacks are live too! This feels like a rerun of last month when Music of the Soul went live, I'm so excited!

Once again, I'll tell you a bit about the book before I move on to the story. Since once again, the main characters who fall in love happen to be women, this book is also in the "Lesbian Romance" category on Amazon.com. I still believe that lesbian/gay love stories should be in the general romance category, why label and segregate them?

This book is set in the same world as Music of the Soul, so there are minor crossovers between places, events and people. But it is a stand alone novel. You don't have to have read Music of the Soul as this book as it is a story of its own. This book is a little more emotional and both characters suffer from misunderstood afflictions, but I do promise, that no matter how bad things may seem, there is a happy ending.

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In A Deafening Whisper, the book is narrated by the main character, Mia Jacobs. She suffers from Tourette Syndrome and some other complications that are associated with that affliction.

Her life is pure hell at school as she endures harassment and ridicule at the hands of her classmates because of her episodes. When Mia finally gets to college, she is relieved. After all, people in college are more mature and that harassment couldn't possibly follow here there, right?

She quickly found that she was wrong. Just when it seemed that everything was about to start all over again, she is saved from a bad situation by the mysterious and rebellious Vee Taylor.

They quickly find that there is a strong attraction between them that they just can't fight. As their romance blooms, Vee's dark secret about her own health rears its ugly head.

Can their love endure all of the hardships that lie ahead?

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I was thinking about this type of story one night, while watching some Joss Whedon shows, how he can evoke emotions with shocking events yet keep most of the story light. So I thought I'd give it a go and sat down one weekend and pounded out the book, complete with the types of strong female characters that I find compelling.

A friend of mine suffered through the editing of my still terrible punctuation and grammar... I'm not sure how she survived with her sanity intact. Once again, it may not be as polished or professional as most, but that's how I write. I believe it was a story worth sharing.

Just like the previous book, I really believed that when this eBook went live on Amazon.com that I'd sell just a few copies to friends and family. But once again I'm on track to sell hundreds of copies in the first month! At one point I was ranked #13 in "Hot New Releases" on Amazon's "Lesbian Romance" category. I ran around super fast in tiny circles over that!

Just like before, I'd like to let my readers know that I love them and appreciate any feedback, positive or negative.

The second book has only been out for a week and already people are asking for the third. As always, I'm listening! I'm just a day or two away from submitting the third book in the Music of the Soul universe for editing. Dating Game, should be published within three or four weeks. I've solidified ideas for the fourth manuscript and should be able to release it early this summer.

I'd love to hear feedback and discussion from YOU about the characters in A Deafening Whisper. I'd love to discuss the story with you!

Music of the Soul

My first book is published!

On March 17, 2013 my eBook, Music of the Soul, went live on Amazon.com!  Print on demand paperbacks are live too!  Now it may look like I'm excited about that, but it is actually a series of exciting events culminating in this post.

First let me tell you a little bit about the book before I tell you about the story.  The two main characters in Music of the Soul happen to be gay women.  This automatically slammed my book into the "Lesbian Romance" category on Amazon.com.  But that was never the intent.  Some people (not all) automatically assume that means it is an erotic story.  That's just another flawed stereotype.  No, there is NO smut in my book.

The book is primarily a romance story, the fact that the two people in love happen to be lesbians is beside the point.  It shouldn't matter which two people like each other.  This book is about love, romance and empowering women.  In fact every major characters in this story is a woman, the men just serve supporting roles.

In most of the stories rattling around in my head, some of the main characters face adversities like handicaps, bigotry, bullying, illnesses and other afflictions that make them outcasts in society.  But they come out stronger in the end, after weathering the storm.

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In Music of the Soul , the book is narrated by the main character, Mandy Harris.  She is the rock world's bad girl who has really lost her way in life.  She leaves the music industry behind to try to find the pieces of herself she lost while skyrocketing to fame.   She returns to Vancouver, Washington... to where it all began.

There she meets the most amazing person, Anabella West.  A deaf girl who "hears" more in Mandy's music than anyone else.  This coupled with her amazing zest for life causes Mandy to become quickly enamored with her.

Through the good and the bad, they both learn to heal, forgive themselves and let love be their salvation throughout the emotional roller-coaster of the story.

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I thought it was a story worth telling.  So I sat down one weekend and churned out the entire book.  With my wife editing my terrible punctuation and grammar, I feel I put out a passable semblance of a manuscript.  Though it is not polished or professional as most, I still think the story carries trough.

When the eBook went live on Amazon.com, I believed that I'd sell maybe five copies to friends and family.  Imagine my surprise when hundreds of copies sold in the first month alone!  At one point I was ranked #10 in the entire "Lesbian Romance" category.  I was totally psyched about that!



I love all my readers and appreciate any feedback, positive or negative.

For the influx of people that have been requesting that I do another book.  I'm listening!  I finished another manuscript two weeks ago and it is in the final editing stages right now.  A Deafening Whisper, should be published within a week or two.  A third manuscript should be complete this weekend to hand over for editing.

I'd love to hear feedback and discussion from YOU about the characters in Music of the Soul.  I'd love to discuss the story with you!

Holy Crap! I'm an author!

It's official! I'm now an author. What does that mean? I don't know, I was hoping you could tell me. It has been an eye opening experience writing a manuscript, going through the editing process, then actually self publishing a book.

How the heck did this happen? It's not like I just sat down one day with an idea and typed it out over the weekend then had a book. Well that's a lie, that's how it happened. I'm just as shocked as you are. I'm not qualified, but was able to battle my way through. So as the old adage goes "If I can do it, ANYONE can do it!"

I just wanted to share my characters and tell a a compelling story, complete with my bad grammar and rudimentary knowledge of the English language. My primary language is sarcasm after all.

Now that I have figured out the process and requirements, any subsequent books SHOULD be much simpler to publish. I'll try to post information on my books here for discussion including progress on new titles.

I would suggest to anyone who ever thought, "what if" about writing, to just sit down and do it.  Self publishing throws away all the boundaries and restrictions that are normally hurdles to anyone wanting to share their stories.

I'd be happy to share my experiences with anyone who is interested.  Maybe I can help make your first experience in self publishing go a little smoother than my first attempt.