Celebrating one month with the sequel and what lays ahead

 
One month ago on July 26th the sequel to Cursed With Power, Shadows and Embers, released. From the very start the sequel was going to be different from the first book. It was a new story with new characters, but when the book was finished and it came down to focusing on publication that too also changed. Deciding to self-publish the sequel was a huge and unexpected decision, but it is one that I am happy with. There is so much more freedom with my second book. Every day I can log into Createspace and see how it's selling and where to -and I can see the royalties I'm making. With a traditional publisher you don't see any of that until the pay periods, and that can be a long and tedious wait (believe me, it is).
It's ironic, though, because even though now I am an author of two published books I still feel brand new to i all at times. I'm still a little fish in a huge ocean. The publishing world can be overwhelming when you start thinking about everybody who's out there, and then if you add in authors who have their audio books and their books being turned into movies... Whew, it's a lot!
I learned a lot from my first book being published, but I am also learning just as much from this second one. I'm always searching for new promotion tools and different ways to get potential readers hyped up about the story. Sometimes I feel like I'm falling on my face, but somehow at the end of the day I always managed to pick myself back up.

Recently a dear writing friend of mine emailed me and told me a story about how she was sitting in Starbucks and noticed a girl reading Cursed With Power. Then she went on to say that she introduced herself to the girl and they started talking about how much they loved the book. This story really touched my heart. The fact that two strangers could sit down together and talk about a book they enjoyed is amazing, and even more amazing is that it was one of my own books. It's stories like these that remind me why I started writing in the first place and why I never want to give it up.
Giving up can be tempting when times get hard, and so I have to thank my boyfriend for always reminding me to keep trying. Sometimes in the middle of the night he'll look over at me, tell me how proud he is, and even though it usually leaves me speechless, it means the world and it makes all of the difference. He is such a great comfort, and I am happy to have him by my side.

Now before I go I will admit that lately I have been neglecting my writing. I can't think of the last time I sat down and worked on the third book in the Magicians series. Fortunately with the sequel out, I can take some time and relax. College has started back up, and there's a very likely chance that soon I'll be starting a full time job. The third book, as I've mentioned before, may have to wait until winter break. Regardless, I think once I start working on it in more greater detail I will reveal the title and the narrator. (It always bittersweet to become so familiar with one narrator and then have to change to a new one).
August is reached it's end, and we have a lot to look forward to in September with the Baltimore Book Festival and the one year mark of Cursed With Power's release. Keep checking in; I'm always updating as often as I can! Enjoy what little of the summer remains.
Lindsey R. Sablowski