Wednesday 30 December 2015

Years In Review: 2015 Vs 2016

Well, 2015 is now behind us, and 2016 is taking it's place. I was extremely fortunate in my career last year. In addition to dozens of spotlights, blog hops, and interviews, I had short stories released and featured in various horror and steampunk anthologies:

Secret Suicide  in That Hoodoo, Voodoo, That You Do
Survivalism in The Dead Walk: Volume 2
Lost Sky in Avast, Ye Airships!
Dismantle in The Steam Chronicles
Hell To Pay in Legends of Sleepy Hollow: Original Tales of Terror From America's Spookiest Village

I was thrilled to be part of each one of these anthologies, and while I do have a couple more short stories that will be published by the hard workers at April Moon Books, it will now be very rare that I submit short stories to publishing companies. I discovered early on in the year that while I enjoy completing short works and the excitement on having them accepted, my true passion is writing full length novels on my own. That passion was apparent when I released my first full length novel, Path of the Horseman, back in March.

http://www.amazon.com/Path-Horseman-Amy-Braun-ebook/dp/B00V8YXK6I

The Four Horseman are trapped in the world they desolated. Their only purpose now is to exist amongst the ruins. All of that changes with a small group of survivors... 

The seal was broken, and Hell was unleashed. Pestilence, Famine, War, and Death rode over the earth, creating a super-virus that turned humans into bloodthirsty monsters, opening a path for demons, decimating nearly all natural life, causing chaos and death throughout the world. 

Now that their duties have been preformed, the Four Horsemen have disbanded, reduced to human bodies and trapped in the world they destroyed. No longer the Horseman Pestilence, Avery wanders through the waste he created, slaying any undead monsters and demons that cross his path. But when Avery comes across a group of survivors looking for a safe haven, his priorities begin to change. Not that the demons are going to let him stand in the way of their plans. 

Avery ended the world once, and he refuses to see the demons end it again. But to protect the last of the living, he must seek the help of his brothers, all of whom are content with sitting back and watching the world burn…


I remember how nervous I was, submitting the book to different reviewers and hoping that the feedback would be positive. I mean, I thought I had written a good book, but how was I to know for sure? Thankfully, Path of the Horseman was well received, and I heard some truly amazing things about it.

Of course, I had another release in June: Demon's Daughter, the first novel in my very first series, Cursed


http://www.amazon.com/Demons-Daughter-Cursed-Amy-Braun-ebook/dp/B00Z8BVBZO

Wanted by law enforcement. Chased by drug cartels. Hunted by demons... 

Constance Ramirez has more than her share of problems when it comes to protecting her adopted sister, Andromeda. Especially since Andromeda isn’t fully human, and her strange powers are dangerous and out of control. 

But Constance will do anything to keep her safe, which won’t be easy with bounty hunters hired by the drug cartel she betrayed looking to capture her, and savage monsters seeking to take Andromeda for their own dark purposes. 

Being a big sister has never been so hard... Or so deadly.


If I was nervous about Path of the Horseman, my anxiety was tenfold for Demon's Daughter. It was a story that had been with me for years, and I wasn't sure if it would be as loved as Path of the Horseman. But I quickly learned that I was getting anxious over nothing. Readers will love what they love, and dislike what they dislike. I gained a little more confidence when I accepted that, and wasn't so anxious in December when I released the second novel in the Cursed trilogy, Dark Divinity.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017HMAZ1M

Hell has risen. Heaven is descending. Sacrifices are made...

It’s been two months since Constance Ramirez’s adopted sister Andromeda was used as the Key to opening the Gates of Heaven and Hell. They escaped with their lives, but made countless enemies as a result.
Now that demons are beginning to weave into ordinary lives, their only hope is to find a way to close the Gates of Heaven and Hell before the angels and demons begin a war. Something that becomes only harder as one of Constance’s deadliest enemies resurfaces.
But as they struggle to stay alive and find the Gates, they learn that a huge sacrifice will be required if they succeed, and this time, Constance isn’t sure the cost will outweigh the reward...

I'm still kind of reeling with the fact that I released three full length books and five short stories in 2015. I mean... Wow. During the year, I learned a lot about myself as a writer, tendencies that I had and how to correct them, how to self-promote and establish good relationships with reviewers and designers, how to use social media and the benefits of giveaways, and how to plan out my year in terms of writing and releasing a novel.

I've planned almost all of 2016, and it will be a big year. Next month, I'll be releasing the first novel in my new steampunk horror series, Dark Sky.


http://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Sky-Dark-Novel-ebook/dp/B019TQ0CT4

They’re always watching. They’re always waiting. They’re always starving…

Ten years ago, the sky shattered and the Hellions emerged. No one was able to keep them from destroying the city of Westraven. Now that the bloodthirsty monsters rule the skies and have forced the few remaining humans underground, Claire Abernathy lives in a nightmare. She survives by using her skills as an engineer for a ruthless tyrant connected to her mother and father’s past failure.

Then Claire’s world is torn apart when her sister Abby is kidnapped by the Hellions, and Claire herself is taken by dangerous sky pirates known as marauders. But Claire will not be intimidated by them while her sister’s life hangs by a thread, and so she strikes a deal with them: If they help rescue Abby, she will fix their ship and give them the chance to take the revenge they desperately seek.

As Claire fights for her sister’s life, she begins to realize that the Hellions are not the only dangers she’ll face. Burdensome secrets and devastating betrayals threaten her at every turn, and if she loses herself to them, it won’t just be her life that is destroyed…


Crimson Sky is actually the idea I used for Lost Sky, and has been widely received so far. It's currently on pre-order on KindleKoboGoodreads, and Smashwords, and I'll be starting promotions and giveaways this month. 

But that's not the only project I have to be released this year. In May, I plan to release another standalone novel, Storm Born, which I wrote for 2015's NaNoWriMo. I'm excited to see what readers and reviewers will think of this bold novel, which has massive weather storms, supernatural warriors, and a wild mythology, so I hope the idea catches attention. 

Right on the heels of Storm Born, in June, will be Damnation's Door, the final Cursed novel. I'm currently in the editing phase, and I hope that long time readers will enjoy the last book as much as I enjoyed writing it. It'll be a little strange to have an entire book series over and complete, but by the time it happens, Dark Sky will have a lot more of my attention, as the second novel in the Dark Sky series, Midnight Sky, will be set for release in August, with two prequel novellas to follow in October and December. 

Releases aside, I'll be completing my Blood Moon series for the blog in a few months. I've had a lot of fun writing it, but I don't want to drag the series out when I have so much more going on. I'll be working on my Areios Brothers series, and likely preparing the first novel for a 2017 release. By the middle of this year, I'm hoping to return to another series that I love and has been changed over time, Agents of Limbo. I have no idea what I'll be doing for NaNoWriMo 2016, so I'll leave it open until then. 

So yes, I'll be busy this year. I'm hoping for more spotlights and a farther reach, which I think I can do since I've learned a lot about promoting, organizing, and marketing. It's a lot of work and I can't say that I love it, but writing is literally my life. I can't even begin to explain how much I love it and if I have to suffer through sending tons of emails and losing my mind over how to market properly, then I'll do it. 

And those are my plans for 2016. Yup, it'll be a busy one, and honestly, I can't wait to get started.

Amy

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