Why I Love Being Indie...and The Release of The One Enlightened

I am happy to announce that I have just submitted my second novel, The One Enlightened, to Amazon for review.  It should be available for purchase either tomorrow or Tuesday.  I cannot begin to express to you the joy that I have in sharing the second book of the Chronicles of the Diasodz with you all.  I am truly living my dream and am so honored that you are joining me on my journey.

I remember when I was first trying to publish The One Discovered.  I had such a difficult time getting a publishing company even to read my query letter.  Those who did wrote back that it wasn't what they were looking for or that they were only working with published authors.  After learning that several authors whose books I enjoy reading started off as independent (indie) authors, I decided that if it was good enough for them, then it was good enough for me.

I don't regret that decision for a second!  I love being the only one to control the story line and my character's words and actions.  I love having full control of how the cover is going to look.  And I LOVE becoming part of great communities of indie authors who enjoy promoting one another and helping each other out.  Two of those groups are the #RaveReviewsBookClub and the #IndieAuthorsBeSeen group.  I have met some really talented authors as well as gracious, fellow writers who have been willing to either read and review my novel or help promote me.  I, in turn, have done the same for them because there is a beauty in honoring others for their hard work and passion.

Although I am an independent author, I have not done this alone.  My family has supported my dream of becoming an author long before I had even dreamt of the Diaosdz.  My closest friends have listened to my ideas and have read my rough drafts over and over again to help me find errors.  And then there are my beta readers from Goodreads.com!  I love those people!  They are complete strangers to me and have no reason to fluff my ego, so I know that their words of advice are genuine.  I pay them with nothing more than reading my novel for free (and a signed copy after the printed version is released), and they scrutinize the life out of it just to help me make the story the best it can be.  I owe them more gratitude than I can express in words for their critiques and editing suggestions.

So, on the eve of my second novel's release, I ask you all to share with your friends that this AMAZING book is about to be available! Encourage them to read The One Discovered and fall in love with my dreamy Diasodz.  And then ask them to search the groups above and find other authors that they've never read before and take a chance on them.  There are brilliant stories out there waiting to be read, if only a reader will take a chance on an unknown.  :-)


https://clrozelle.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/10-things-that-suck-and-rock-about-being-an-indie-author-part-1/

The November Giveaway winners are...

Thank you to all of you who have liked my Facebook page, followed my Twitter account, and wrote a review.  Thank you for sharing my work and spreading the word.  Your positive energy embraces me, and I send some of it back to you through this giveaway.  So, as promised, here are the fourth set of winners for my giveaway!

A free e-book of The One Discovered goes to Twitter follower, Alexis Marie Chute (@_Alexis_Marie)!

A free signed copy of The One Discovered goes to Facebook follower, Liam Kilby!

A free advanced reader's e-book copy of The One Enlightened will be sent to the following two reviewers before its release date:

1.  Rebecca Long (left a review of The One Discovered on Amazon)

2. Maria Sokolova (left a review of The One Discovered on Smashwords)

If you know any of these people, congratulate them on winning and thank them for supporting me! If you want to win one of the above items, simply like my Facebook and/or Twitter account, read my novel, and write a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. :-)

If you are one of these people, please message me via any of those sites so that I may receive your information and send you the book. :-)

If you did not win this month, I will have another drawing at the end of December.  By that time, The One Enlightened will be released, but I will still give away two copies of it.

As an extra incentive, I will also send an extra e-book to a person who encourages his/her friends to follow my Facebook page.  Simply have your friends follow me and send me a message that you invited them to join my page. :-) I've had many new followers, but none of them posted the name of the person who recommended them to my page.  Please encourage your friends to give you a shout out so that I may reward you for your kindness! ;-)

The One Enlightened - Cover Reveal!

As promised, here is the final cover reveal for The One Enlightened, book 2 of the Chronicles of the Diasodz! I am absolutely in love with it! :-D Those of you who have read The One Discovered should be able to figure out which character(s) is(are) being represented on the cover. The rest of you will just need to read the books to find out. ;-)

Happy Halloween! ~and~ Congrats to October's Winners!

Happy Halloween, everyone! Today is a day of embracing the paranormal and fantasy worlds of our lives! So, it's fitting that my third giveaway for my YA paranormal/fantasy books take place today! :-D

Thank you to all of you who have liked my Facebook page, followed my Twitter account, and wrote a review.  Thank you for sharing my work and spreading the word.  Your positive energy embraces me, and I send some of it back to you through this giveaway.  So, as promised, here are the third set of winners for my giveaway!

A free e-book of The One Discovered goes to Twitter follower, M.tada (@aveirjapan)!

A free signed copy of The One Discovered goes to Facebook follower, Lily Faye Copes.

A free advanced reader's e-book copy of The One Enlightened will be sent to the following two reviewers before its release date:

1.  Pamela Foley (left a review of The One Discovered on Amazon)

2. Luz de la Paz (left a review of The One Discovered on Goodreads)

If you know any of these people, congratulate them on winning and thank them for supporting me! If you want to win one of the above items, simply like my Facebook and/or Twitter account, read my novel, and write a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. :-)

If you are one of these people, please message me via any of those sites so that I may receive your information and send you the book. :-)

If you did not win this week, I will have another drawing at the end of November.  As an extra incentive, I will also send an extra e-book to a person who encourages his/her friends to follow my Facebook page.  Simply have your friends follow me and send me a message that you invited them to join my page. :-) I've had many new followers, but none of them posted the name of the person who recommended them to my page.  Please encourage your friends to give you a shout out so that I may reward you for your kindness! ;-)

I am diligently working on the revising of The One Enlightened.  My plans are on track to release it in December. I hope you like the cover (I'll be revealing the last part in a just a few moments).

Enjoy Halloween and all of the little munchkins who knock on your door as they explore their imaginations and the worlds beyond their everyday lives.  Celebrate their creativity and their excitement of being different for a day.  And, as always, blessed be! :-)

The September giveaway winners are...

Thank you to all of you who have liked my Facebook page, followed my Twitter account, and wrote a review.  Thank you for sharing my work and spreading the word.  Your positive energy embraces me, and I send some of it back to you through this giveaway.  So, as promised, here are the second set of winners for my giveaway!

A free e-book of The One Discovered goes to Twitter follower, A Sunlit Rose (@ASunlitMuse)!

A free signed copy of The One Discovered goes to Facebook follower, Natalia Carson.

A free advanced reader's e-book copy of The One Enlightened will be sent to the following two reviewers before its release date:

1.  Sneha Tripathi (left a review of The One Discovered on Goodreads)

2. Bill Ward (left a review of The One Discovered on Amazon.com and on Goodreads)

If you know any of these people, congratulate them on winning and thank them for supporting me!

If you are one of these people, please message me via any of those sites so that I may receive your information and send you the book. :-)

If you did not win this week, I will have another drawing at the end of October.  As an extra incentive, I will also send an extra ebook to a person who encourages his/her friends to follow my Facebook page.  Simply have your friends follow me and send me a message that you invited them to join my page. :-)

And stay tuned!  I will be revealing the cover for The One Enlightened in October! I am absolutely in love with it! My beta readers and devotedly scrutinizing every book of book two. So far, I have received nothing but praise! I cannot wait to release it to you all.  :-)

The August giveaway winners are....

First, I want to thank all of you who have liked my Facebook page, followed my Twitter account, and wrote a review.  I feel the love from you all, and I pour it all back into my writing.  So, as promised, here are the first winners of my giveaway!

A free e-book of The One Discovered goes to Twitter follower, Mirjana Novak Cesar (@mirjanacesar)!

A free signed copy of The One Discovered goes to Facebook follower, Debra L. Hartmann.

A free advanced reader's e-book copy of The One Enlightened will be sent to the following two reviewers before its release date:

1.  Keri Houston (left a review of The One Discovered on Goodreads)

2. Cynthia (left a review of The One Discovered on Amazon.com)

If you know any of these people, congratulate them on winning and thank them for supporting me!

If you are one of these people, please message me via any of those sites so that I may receive your information and send you the book. :-)

If you did not win this week, I will have another drawing at the end of September.  As an extra incentive, I will also send an extra ebook to a person who encourages his/her friends to follow my Facebook page.  Simply have your friends follow me and send me a message that you invited them to join my page. :-)

And stay tuned!  I will be revealing the cover for The One Enlightened very soon! If you liked the cover for The One Discovered, the cover for book two will blow you away! :-)

The One Enlightened is written! Giveaways are coming...

Last night, I wrote the final chapter of The One Enlightened, book two of the Chronicles of the Diasodz series.  My heart was racing and my hands were shaking!  I am so in love with this story and cannot wait until it is in the hands of readers.  Before that can happen, I will be sending it to beta readers/editors, and I will be rereading it with the scrutiny that it deserves.  I am a perfectionist, and I want you to absolutely fall completely in love with the story.

As you wait for this process to take place, I thought I would ask for your assistance.  An indie author depends upon his or her readers to spread the word about his/her books.  This can be done by word-of-mouth or through social media.  I truly believe that this series is going to continue to become more popular as the sequels are released, and I want to share this journey with as many people as possible.  I mean, how often can you say that you were part of some momentous event from the beginning? ;-)

So, how can you help?  

If you've already read The One Discovered, write a review on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, or all of the above.  Share your honest opinion of the story, its characters, and the plot with others so that they, too, might take a chance on the series.  It doesn't have to be paragraphs long.  If you aren't sure how to write a review, read a few reviews on other books you've read (or any book on the site).  A sentence or two will do, but the important thing is to share your honest thoughts with others. Tell your friends on Facebook and Twitter that you've read it, and recommend it to them.  You have no idea how powerful your opinion can be!

If you haven't read my novel yet, welcome to my site and thanks for stopping by!  My novel is in the genre of young adult/fantasy/paranormal.  It is a part of a series that will have at least four books, but it may end up having more if my characters keep wanting attention (they are quite needy). ;-)  I would love for you to take a chance on my story.  If you love this genre, I believe you will truly enjoy my story.  It's full of plot twists and characters that you can't help caring about.  The online version is just $1.99 (that's less than a Starbucks coffee).  A print version is also available on Amazon.  I, myself, am an avid reader, and to lose myself in a story is one of life's greatest enjoyments for me.  Take a chance on my Diasodz, and then share with me if you enjoyed their story.

You just might be rewarded...

For those who have yet to read The One Discovered, I will be giving away one e-book version and one paperback copy each month until The One Enlightened is released.  To qualify, you must like my Facebook account and/or Twitter account.  If you don't have a Facebook or Twitter account, you can subscribe to this blog.  At the end of each month, I will choose two people: one will receive the e-book and one will receive the paperback.  The winners will be announced on all three venues.  The first giveaway will be at the end of this month (August).

For those of you who have already read The One Discovered, I will be giving away free e-book copies of The One Enlightened before its release date.  To qualify, you must write an honest review of The One Discovered on the web sites of Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, and/or Smashwords (or all of them). ;-) My son will randomly choose a name from the reviews to win the free e-book.  Although a name will be chosen each month until its release, the e-book will not be emailed to you until it's ready for publishing.  You will receive it before I release it to the world.

Thank you for honoring me with your time.  I look forward to sending my novels to you.  Happy reading! ;-)

Finding Balance

                I must start by saying that I am not an expert on balance in any way.  I stumble quite often since my life and its many adventures are not linear but a convoluted entanglement of commitments, experiences and desires.  Even with this blog entry, it has taken me weeks to be able to sit and type this.

                I am a full time, high school, intensive reading teacher.  I also sponsor two clubs, Key Club International and SHAPE.  Both clubs focus on giving back to the community through service, and one of them requires several hours a week of my time.  I teach an extra class, giving up my planning period, so that I may earn more money.  On top of all of that, I am also the chairperson of the reading department (who just happens to also do the job of the reading coach).  From the time I get to work at 6:45 am to the time that I leave work, usually around 4:30pm or 5:50pm, I am nonstop.

                I am also a full-time, happily divorced mom.  My son is with his father every other weekend, but I have him the majority of the time.  I am blessed with the most amazing little man.  He is kind, thoughtful, smart, silly, and an all-around amazing human being.  He’s also seven years old and requires a lot of my time.  He's an A/B student who is always striving to get straight As, so we spend time together on his homework each night. He’s extremely athletic; he plays soccer in the winter, baseball in the fall and spring, and swimming in the summer.  Usually, those take up 3-4 nights each week during the season.  So, even at home, I am nonstop.

                Exercising is also extremely important to me.  Several years ago, I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  I was extremely lethargic, sometimes to the point that raising my arm felt like it took too much energy.  I had to make several lifestyle changes and take energy supplements, and I did.  I lost forty pounds and started to feel normal again.  It’s a struggle, though, because there are peaks and valleys, and when the valleys come, it’s quite difficult to find the energy to do anything productive. Fitting time to exercise into my already crazy schedule is not easy, either.  I wish I could say I was successful at it, but the truth is that I just don’t make it sometimes.

                I LOVE to read!  I’m a huge fan of paranormal stories.  I enjoy reading both young adult and adult.  I love series sets because I get to lose myself in their worlds longer than a stand-alone story.  Finding time to read is always a struggle.  I read while I’m using the stationary bike or the elliptical at the gym.  I read while I’m waiting for an appointment.  I’ll try to read when my son is reading for half an hour each day at home, but sometimes I just need to get dinner ready.  I read in the summer mostly, when I’m not working crazy hours every day.

                So, when do I find time to write?  (insert chuckle here)  My phone has become my friend.  When inspiration hits, I use the notepad on my phone to write out my thoughts.  Usually, that happens at the gym or at a red light or in the shower (thanks goodness for waterproof cases).  I carry a journal with me at work and jot down dialogue in the rare, spare moments that I’m given.  I type after my son has fallen asleep or on the weekends in which I don’t have him, after all of the usual errands are done.  Sometimes, my brain is just too fried to type, and I just accept that my muse needs a break. (Don’t worry, fans, I’m about 70% finished with writing The One Enlightened, book two of The Chronicles of the Diasodz).

                Still, with all of that being said, I consider myself among the very blessed in this world.  I have a family that loves me , supports me, and encourages me to pursue my dream.  I have a son who is the absolute joy of my life.  I have special friends who embrace me with their positive energy and allow me to bask in their beauty and their love.  I have a job that I am passionate about, where I can inspire reluctant readers to take a chance on losing themselves in a story.  I have been given an imagination that creates characters so vividly in my mind that I am able to share their lives with the rest of the world.

                So, how do I find balance?  I breathe.  ;-)  I schedule my life meticulously.  I remember what is important in life – my son, my family, my health, my livelihood, and my friends.  I embrace my passions and find moments to enjoy them.  I surround myself with a happy bubble and continuously work to strengthen its barriers.  I remember that every day is temporary, and I am given a new opportunity the next morning to start all over again.  I am not that person up on a high wire who tries to juggle seven oddly shaped objects without falling to her death.  I am the girl, sitting on a cushion, in front of a 1000-piece puzzle, finding a way to make all of the pieces fit, one by one.  And I’m happy.

Autographed Copies Are Coming!

 

An author creates the story, but those who help edit and revise are the ones who make the story perfect! My first (ever!) signed copies will be in the hands of these special people:

Pura (my amazing mother)

Kristy (my gifted sister/writer)

Liz (my best friend)

Rob (my #1 fan even before it was published)

Patty (my extremely gifted teen writer/editor)

Armando (my friend and colleague)

Claire Robinson (Goodreads Beta Reader)

Jeni Hamilton (Goodreads Beta Reader)

Lin White (Goodreads Beta Reader)

Lisa Weir (Goodreads Beta Reader)

Tatiana Villa (Cover Designer)

Once these wonderful people receive their signed copies, I will then have a few giveaways for my beautiful and incredible fans! So, check back here or on my Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/YvetteMCalleiro). 

Print Version is Now Available!

For those of you who absolutely need to feel the book's cover between your fingertips and smell the crispness of the pages, the print version of The One Discovered is now available on Amazon.com.  Feel free to tell your friends that the Diasodz's story is now theirs for the taking! After reading the book, please do me a huge favor and leave an honest review on the site so that other readers may discover Sofia's story.  As a new author, I depend on you, my fans, to share your love of the story with others.  Thank you so much for your support, and happy reading! ;-)

Once Upon a Time...

Every story has a beginning. Yet when I first encountered the Diasodz, it was in a dream. The scene that I saw would take place at the end of book one.  The characters and the story line did not come to me in chronological order, so I had to take some time to see the whole picture before I could begin writing.  As the characters began to speak to me, I found my beginning for book one.  It's the start of Sofia's story, but it isn't the beginning of the Diasodz's world. So, I thought I'd give those of you who are following me an introduction to how the Diasodz came to be. In book two (The One Enlightened), you will learn a lot about the hows and the whys of the Diasodz's predicament, so I won't give away everything just yet! ;-)

In the beginning, there was God....  Yes, I wanted to start from there. Whether you are spiritual or not, the creation of a species must start with a creator.  Call him Allah, God, Budda, Zeus, a chemical reaction...whatever you want, but creation happened.  So, my story starts with the fact that there was a God AND a Goddess.  There were angels and arch-angels.  In my world, the God and Goddess were equal, but the Goddess was most revered by all, including God.

When God created humans, he created them as equals, but Adam held Eve to be more valuable, as God did with the Goddess.  Lucifer was not content with the hierarchy that was set up and wanted change.  He schemed and connived until he had many angels who agreed with him.  Unfortunately for Lucifer, he fell in love with a female angel.  Because of his own superiority complex, he thought she would follow him anywhere.  When he finally confronted God about becoming the dominate gender, the love of his life stood on the God and Goddess' side.

In his anger, Lucifer couldn't think clearly.  He wanted to hurt her the way she had hurt him, and in doing so, he brought pain and suffering to humans.  Lucifer was cast out of the heavens along with the angels who stood by his side.  He vowed vengeance and promised that God's precious creation would never find peace. In the aftermath, an arch-angel asked the Goddess to protect the humans, and She created the Diasodz for that purpose.

By Her wishes, the Diasodz would live the first eighteen years of their lives as humans so that they could truly understand the struggles of those in which they were bound to protect.  Around their eighteenth birthday, they would experience a "death day." Their body's human life force and human characteristics would "die" and their spirit would transform into that of a Diasodz, a being with supernatural abilities to heal and protect humans from the evils created by Lucifer.

Yet, as with humans, the Diasodz were given free will.  Many Diasodz became influenced by Lucifer to join his entourage of evil over time.  As a race, the Diasodz made choices that caused the Goddess to turn away from her creation, and their powers have been fading ever since. And so we come to Sofia's story, where she must find who she really is and whether she can discover it in her heart and soul to save the Diasodz from fading forever...

Book Release - 01/30/14!

I am beyond excited to announce that my very first novel, The One Discovered (Chronicles of the Diasodz), is available for you to read. It is so fitting that today, the day of a second new moon, is its release date since the symbol of this novel is the new moon. It is also my grandfather's birthday, and I can think of no better way of honoring him than by making this dream a reality on his day. 

So, here are the links to download my novel if you'd like to read it:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I4L2Q40  (Amazon limits who can offer their book for free, so it's $0.99 on their site.)

OR

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/402145 (Here, the book is FREE!!! :-D  You can download mobi, epub, or even pdf if you want.)

Download it. Read it. Write a review (please). And share it with all of your friends and family.  

The print version is coming soon to Amazon so look for it if you love the feel of the book in your hands.

Happy reading! And thank you from the core of my soul for your support. :-)

Cover Reveal

As promised, here is my first novel's cover reveal! :-)  I am still on track to publish it at the end of the month! Feel free to spread the word to your friends and family. I'm excited about sharing this story with the world! A huge thanks goes to Tatiana Villa for her patience and brilliance in creating this design, to Rene Pimentel for using his photographic eye to catch things in the editing process that I couldn't, and to my friends (Patty P., Liz A., Pura D., Bina C., Rob M., and Kristy M.) for enduring my constant picking of their brains.  I am in love with this cover! <3

It Began with a Dream...

What better way to share with you this journey that I'm on than to begin at the beginning.  I am an avid reader and have been since as far back as I can remember. As a child, I used to love writing, but I stopped writing as I grew older and life became more cumbersome. About five years ago, I rediscovered my love for writing, and my life has been a whirlwind of enjoyment ever since!

I woke up one morning from a dream that was so intense and so vivid that I was emotionally distraught.  I can't really share the dream with you without giving away a major event in my first book, but I will tell you that it involved a girl whose life was forever altered by a tragic event, and she was being forced to make a choice in that very emotional moment.  I woke up before she made the choice (which was extremely irritating).  I felt her angst, her pain, and her utter turmoil.  I lay in bed processing it all and then ran to my office to write it all down (I now keep a journal by my bed for such moments). I just wrote the dream. Nothing more. It was just that powerful that it had to be given life.

At the time, I was co-teaching with a dear friend, Armando. I was also heavily absorbed in PC and Kristen Cast's world in their House of Night series as well as Cassandra Claire's Mortal Instrument series.  Armando loved to share with me tidbits of Wicca and history as I spoke to him about the novels that I read.  I fell in love with many aspects of Wicca, and somehow my dream kept coming to the forefront of my thoughts.  I finally accepted that this dream was an untold story that needed to be shared, and I would pull my favorite ideas from books new and old to create their story.  After all, all stories are ideas that were born from somewhere!

What came first was what they looked like. I could still picture them from the dream. I'm old-school and had to write it all out in a journal first.  Their physical characteristics, their personalities, their power(s)...all of that came easily.  Their names, on the other hand, took a while.  I even had the background story lined up before their names were known to me!  It was that background story which allowed the characters to whisper to me what their names would be: Sofia, Rafe, Angel, and Ar'ch (pronounced ar-rick). I shouldn't have favorites, but I can't help it. Ar'ch is definitely my favorite!  It's not a common name (actually, it's never been used as a name).  But it's perfect and it's his, and it fits the story line perfectly!

Once I finally allowed myself to listen to my characters' voices, the whole story wrote itself (well, the basics were at least born).  Still, there was a lot of research that I had to do. Anyone who knows me knows that my absolutely worst subject is History, but I wanted to loosely base the back story on a few historical events.  Granted, I've had to "slightly alter" those events to incorporate my Diasodz, but it was important to me that it would make sense if it were real. I also researched Wicca and nature's elements and their properties.  I'm sure that there will be naysayers who can point out that one thing or another isn't authentic, but - hey - it's MY world! :-P  I want it to be as realistic as possible, but I can't help it if the Diasodz have their own ideas on what is real and what isn't.

The journey of writing The One Discovered was so fulfilling, and I knew I had to share this world with others. I tried going the traditional route.  Apparently, they weren't too interested in my query letter.  My family and the few friends I shared it with kept encouraging me to publish it.  One friend in particular, Rob, has become my first true fan! He's more into sci-fi and super heroes than paranormal, but he became hooked with my characters and their story.  His eagerness to know more and his passion about my story kept me going at many times throughout this journey.  He has a way of saying something or asking me a question which then causes a whole new character or story line to be created. In fact, because of Rob, one of the characters from book one was saved. I had plans on killing her off, but he told me that he thought she was awesome. The very next night, that character told me off (hehe) and a whole story line for her was created! So, if you also fall in love with Mel, you can thank Rob for saving her! ;-)

I have finally decided to self-publish. I am in unknown territory here.  Self-publishing, blogging, creating a web site, having a Facebook author page, and connecting through Twitter.... It's overwhelming, nerve-wrecking, and exciting all at the same time!  There will be at least four books in the series (most likely, it will be five) whether I sell ten books or ten million.  I hope you'll stick around to fall in love with my Diasodz and the journey they must endure to save us mere humans from a life not worth living...