{"id":131,"date":"2015-11-02T21:04:16","date_gmt":"2015-11-03T04:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/?p=131"},"modified":"2015-11-03T17:32:01","modified_gmt":"2015-11-04T00:32:01","slug":"october-2015-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/2015\/11\/october-2015-update\/","title":{"rendered":"October 2015 Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s almost here! The publishing date is almost here! I\u2019m tying up a couple of loose ends such as photography and defining samples and previews of book one. Worst of all, though, I\u2019ve flip-flopped on the title for book one, and I\u2019ve come to the conclusion that sometimes too much feedback is not a good thing.<\/p>\n

\"writing_Colbert\"<\/a>

I love this gif thing<\/p><\/div>\n

What\u2019s in a Name?<\/h1>\n

Waaaaay back when I first put together the idea for the series, I bounced book titles off some friends and settled on Risers and Dreamers<\/em>, describing the two classification of students who attend my fictitious Rose Cross Academy. We threw around other titles, which may have been more striking to readers, but in the end, the book title came down to recognition. By this, I mean when you hear a book title such as Prince Lestat <\/em>and Throne of Glass, <\/em>you immediately know the author\u2019s name. I wanted that sort of recognition to follow my titles.<\/p>\n

\"Lestat_Intro\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After seeking more feedback around the time I started to prepare to publish, I was inundated by suggestions. Opinion was split between following one-word titles, like Below<\/em>, and the two-word titles I had originally put on the books. I flip flopped even up to as soon as last week! Until I finally buckled down and decided to go with my instinct.<\/p>\n

What mainly made up my mind was down to the title recognition, even if the title seems amateurish. For instance, if you throw out a title like Below<\/em>, I didn\u2019t feel like you could have the same immediate connection to my series as you would with a title like Risers and Dreamers<\/em>. Having a unique title at first may not be a bad thing; it\u2019s recognizable. Potential readers will see the title and read the description and go \u201cOh, okay. I get it.\u201d That connection will be made, even if the title is not a gripping as some of the other options.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s in a Cover?<\/h1>\n

The other thing that has flip-flopped on me is cover art. I\u2019ve gone through four iterations so far and it\u2019s down to two possible covers; one of a school hallway which ties into an invasion which happens in Chapter 8 of the novel, and one of a pair of blue eyes which hints at one of the antagonists of the series. Both have their positives.<\/p>\n

With the school hallway cover, I already have in my mind scenes I want on the covers for the next four to five books in the series. These covers are more time consuming and difficult to produce, but would make visually appealing covers.<\/p>\n

\"Almost<\/a>

Almost there!<\/p><\/div>\n

The blue eyes cover works well, as for each book I can increase the sets of eyes to correspond to the chronology of the book. It will be perfect if the series stays to 6 books as there will eventually be six blue-eyed baddies. But if I can\u2019t wrap things up in 6 books, then I\u2019m in trouble. And this is a big unknown as I only have clear beginnings and endings figured out up until book 4. There\u2019s a battle to write as well, but whether or not I can fit that all into Book 6 is a big question mark now. So with that, the blue eyes covers are out.<\/p>\n

NaNoWriMo 2015?<\/h1>\n

I\u2019m gonna try for it this year with Becca<\/em>; a schoolgirl with Downs Syndrome survives a new high school by summoning nightmares to antagonize her tormentors. I\u2019ve thought up a few chapters and scenes, but I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019m going to have time to put it all together, or to reach that magic 50,000 word mark. Either way, it just doesn\u2019t seem right (or write?) to not<\/em> participate in NaNo this year as I\u2019ve participated for the past 3 years. And my mom has joined this year, so I have a double incentive. I\u2019m gonna be a published author during NaNo 2015 \u2013 I\u2019m gonna be busy!<\/p>\n

\"writing_crazy\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On to the Updates!<\/h1>\n

Hey, have ya heard? I\u2019m publishing! I\u2019ve only mentioned it a billion times! And I\u2019m also finding that I have no creative talent whatsoever in the visual realm. I\u2019m seeking help with the website, I\u2019m having photos done professionally, I\u2019m having the book cover done. It\u2019s a bit of a setback, but since this is my first book, I\u2019m not under the gun to get things out on a schedule. I\u2019m trying to organize everything that needs to be done while at the same time not letting the list of to-do\u2019s overwhelm me. And the extra distractions this time of the year like NaNo and the holiday rush are definitely chewing into my time.<\/p>\n

But through all of this, I\u2019ve finished the rough draft of Book 2! It\u2019s a whopping 100,000 words, and that\u2019s after I\u2019ve cut out two chapters. Yikes! This book had been my NaNo2014 project and it\u2019s since grown a little too big for its britches. I\u2019m going through the rough draft and trimming down more . . . well, at least I\u2019m trying to trim. I\u2019m finding that once I\u2019ve finished a chapter, the word count actually goes up again. Whoops.<\/p>\n

\"AustinPowers_finger\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I have the series ending figured out as well. Currently the series is sitting at 5 books and I know I can\u2019t fit everything I need to into Book 5, but I haven\u2019t had a moment to chop things apart into a Book 6 yet. So, that\u2019s till up in the air. I\u2019m a bit torn. It\u2019s a little sad that I have the ending figured out. I\u2019ve grown to attached to this series, and even though I still have four or five books between now and the end, I\u2019m a little sad that it will have an ending.<\/p>\n

Welcome November<\/h1>\n

With that out of the way, I need to get writing \u2026 and editing \u2026 and socializing. Oh good grief, there\u2019s so much to do, and I have to hold down a full time job at the same time!<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>

This is me right now, orange hair and all!<\/p><\/div>\n

Wish me luck!<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Rissa<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It\u2019s almost here! The publishing date is almost here! I\u2019m tying up a couple of loose ends such as photography and defining samples and previews of book one. Worst of all, though, I\u2019ve flip-flopped on the title for book one, and I\u2019ve come to the conclusion that sometimes too much feedback is not a good […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[8],"class_list":["post-131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-updates","tag-updates","post-preview"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Oct2015_Update2.jpg?fit=500%2C666&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6odz9-27","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5312,"url":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/2026\/03\/where-the-heck-have-i-been\/","url_meta":{"origin":131,"position":0},"title":"Where the heck have I been?","author":"Rissa Renae","date":"March 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"I'd like to think I can use the excuse of life getting in the way, but in reality, it really hasn't. I've been writing. A lot. And also reading a lot. I think it's the reading that's been taking me away from the social aspect of being a self-published author.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Updates"","block_context":{"text":"Updates","link":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/QnFairyFarts.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":40,"url":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/2015\/08\/july-2015-update\/","url_meta":{"origin":131,"position":1},"title":"July 2015 Update","author":"Rissa Renae","date":"August 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It's finished! Book One is finished! The absolute and final edit is complete and I have a full, publishable draft. But not so fast! The text may be done, but there are still several more tasks to be completed before this novel sees the light of day. The Blurbs First,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Updates"","block_context":{"text":"Updates","link":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"July 2015 Update","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2015-07-Update.jpg?fit=535%2C534&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2015-07-Update.jpg?fit=535%2C534&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/2015-07-Update.jpg?fit=535%2C534&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3540,"url":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/2024\/06\/new-book-release-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":131,"position":2},"title":"New Book release news","author":"Rissa Renae","date":"June 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\u2026 or why a write-a-book-in-a-month challenge isn\u2019t necessarily a good challenge. Welp, it\u2019s been a while, I know. I wish I could say I\u2019ve been furiously writing, but alas, I have not. In all honesty, the pandemic threw a wrench into my writing. I\u2019ve been trying to re-establish my writing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gamemasters"","block_context":{"text":"Gamemasters","link":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/category\/gamemasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/roses.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/roses.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/roses.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/roses.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":631,"url":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/when-life-gives-you-dead-leaves\/","url_meta":{"origin":131,"position":3},"title":"When Life Gives you Dead Leaves . . .","author":"Rissa Renae","date":"October 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Geesh. It's been ages since my last blog post! Since my last check-in, our brutally-hot summer has changed into an unusually cold and rainy autumn. Granted autumn is my favourite season, but I can\u2019t help but feel we\u2019ve been cheated out of summer. Well, maybe it was just me who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Updates"","block_context":{"text":"Updates","link":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/AutumnHighwood1-1-300x152.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":162,"url":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/2015\/11\/quest-for-stories-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":131,"position":4},"title":"Q4S Part 2: CreateSpace: The Final Draft Frontier","author":"Rissa Renae","date":"November 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In this post, we\u2019ll explore getting your novel into the beginning stages of mass distribution by leveraging CreateSpace as your starting platform. This allows us to use CreateSpace\u2019s pre-formatted templates to make compiling your final draft into a publishable format a breeze. Then in future posts, we'll use this final\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Self-publishing"","block_context":{"text":"Self-publishing","link":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/category\/self-publishing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/QuestForStories_Part2.jpg?fit=610%2C374&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/QuestForStories_Part2.jpg?fit=610%2C374&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/QuestForStories_Part2.jpg?fit=610%2C374&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":611,"url":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/grimms-garms-chapter-titles-explained\/","url_meta":{"origin":131,"position":5},"title":"Grimms & Garms – Chapter Titles Explained","author":"Rissa Renae","date":"March 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, another milestone down! Bane & Butterflies, Book #3 in the Rose Cross Academy series, hit the markets at the beginning of 2018 and the series has been going strong. So now, let's get down to discussing the second book in the series, Grimms & Garms. In much the same\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Rose Cross Academy"","block_context":{"text":"Rose Cross Academy","link":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/category\/rose-cross-academy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/ChapterTitlesExplained2.jpg?fit=500%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":140,"href":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131\/revisions\/140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rissarenae.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}