Rae of Hope
The Chronicles of Kerrigan
Book One
W.J. May
Genre: Young Adult – Fantasy (Paranormal, Romance, Suspense)
ASIN B00B1NNFR0
Number
of pages: 248pgs
Word
Count: 81,000
Book Description:
How hard
do you have to shake the family tree to find the truth about the past?
Fifteen
year-old Rae Kerrigan never really knew her family's history. Her mother and
father died when she was young and it is only when she accepts a scholarship to
the prestigious Guilder Boarding School in England
Will the
sins of the father be the sins of the daughter?
As Rae
struggles with new friends, a new school and a star-struck forbidden love, she
must also face the ultimate challenge: receive a tattoo on her sixteenth
birthday with specific powers that may bind her to an unspeakable darkness.
It's up to Rae to undo the dark evil in her family's past and have a ray of
hope for her future.
Book
Trailer: http://youtu.be/gILAwXxx8MU
The Chronicles of Kerrigan
Book Two
W.J. May
Genre: Young Adult – Fantasy (Paranormal, Romance, Suspense)
Word
count: 85,000
Page
count: 265 pages
Book Description:
Nothing
is as it seems anymore.
Leery
from the horrifying incident at the end of her first year at Guilder Boarding School Devon ,
the boy she’s not supposed to date. All hopes of happiness turn into shattered
dreams the moment she steps back on campus.
Lies and
secrets are everywhere, and a betrayal cuts Rae deeply. Among her conflicts and
enemies, it appears as if her father is reaching out from beyond the grave to
ruin her life. With no one to trust, Rae doesn’t know where or who to turn to
for help.
Has her
destiny been written? Or will she become the one thing she hates the most—her
father’s prodigy.
Book Trailer - http://youtu.be/Ca24STi_bFM
Guest Post by W.J. May
"Biggest Challenge faced as a writer"
When I first read the topic suggestion, I thought it would be a hard topic to write about. The entire process of writing, editing, publishing, marketing, etc... is an entire learning process that is kinda fun. I'm not sure everyone would agree.
I think I got lucky, or more like my timing got lucky. I started marketing Rae of Hope (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) just when there was a gab in genres for YA. I had several offers by agents and went with the amazing Dawn Dowdle. She was interested in more of my writing, not just this series.
Editing and revising and more rewriting came next. I loved it! I never heard of track changes and could believe how AMAZING it was to do edits with :) (yeah, Im a tad silly). We began shopping the series around to publishers and on New Years Day 2011 I signed with a smaller publishing company. Happy to be getting my feet wet and learn the publishing process.
There were challenges. I knew there were deadlines and I grew frustrated when I didn't get my manuscript back for 2-3 mths, only to learn I had to have it finished in a week or ten days. But I learned and the process and even appreciated how editors worked. They had a lot more on their table than I did.
Rae of Hope finally had its publishing day and it was great. It came out in December and I received my first royalty payment in January. Pretty cool to say I was part of the process.
Here is where the big challenge comes in. I received my first royalty payment and that was it. I let the next one slide when the publisher said they would catch up at the next one as there had been changes within the company for the better. I even let the next one go - we were told that when other authors with my agent signed with the publisher received their royalties, there had been a mix up with mine and the computer program "glitched" mine. We were promised full payment before the end of the year - when the second book in the series came out.
Dark Nebula came out Dec 15th and three days later my agent and I sent a letter requesting the rights back due to breech of contract. I was torn - I still had faith the publishing company would pay, how could they not?
Within fifteen minutes the letter came back with our rights fully granted.
Disappointed? Very much so. But on the up scale - I decided to self publish the series since it had already been published. With the help of some fantastic friends, I had ebooks formatted and amazing covers made and learned how to set up print copies as well). I get to watch my sales (which can be addictive) and control the price.
I'm still a fan of publishing the agent-to-publisher-to print route. I'll be incredibly hesitant with the next book or series I sign; lots of background checking, asking other authors, etc... Lesson learned :)
Fingers crossed its a contract with the Big Six (sorry Five now) or something well represented with an advance?! - hey, a girl can dream can't she?! LOL
About the Author:
Wanita May grew up in the fruit belt of Ontario
The youngest of six -- four older brothers, and a sister -- taught her at a young age to be competitive in all aspects of life.
At sixteen, she began competing in athletics (track and field) and before she turned seventeen, she was representing Canada Canada She attented University of Toronto , and Kansas State University
But you're not interested in her athletic career - unless of course you're curious to know she stands 1.70m (5'7") and has jumped 20cm over her head on more than one occassion. She's represented Canada
Wanita and her husband now run an online business, dealing in antiques and collectables - particularly jewelry and porcelain.
After her father passed away in 2009, from a six-year battle with cancer (which she still believes he won the fight against), she began to write again. A passion she'd loved for years, but realized life was too short to keep putting it off.
She is currently represented by Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency. Wanita is a writer of Young Adult, Fantasy Fiction and where ever else her little muses take her.
Twitter: @wanitajump
Great post and it doesn't cost anything to dream. :+)
ReplyDeleteEditing can be so much fun. I'm in the middle of it now. :)
ReplyDelete