This is it, number fifty-two. It has been a year since I began Authors Answer, and what better way to celebrate it than to say thank you. I have some special guests in addition to our regular contributors. I hope you enjoy reading what they have to say. I would like to thank the guest authors who agreed to participate. I love authors who take the time to respond to fans and interact with them. I would also like to thank the authors who responded to me, but could not participate due to busy schedules. And of course, thank you to all of our regular contributors for sticking with this for all these months. You’ve been wonderful!
Question 52 – What would you like to say to your fans and readers?
In gratitude and with great admiration, I bow to readers for ignoring the misguided notion that imagination and a sweet step outside of the limitations of day to day reality fall under the stigma of what some revile as a lazy escape. If no one, ever, embraced anything other than what they knew or were taught, if nobody stepped outside of their claustrophobic personal envelope, we would all face stagnation, in fact. Reading is not an avoidance, but all about embracing the dreams and the nightmares of where we might yet come to tread.
But more than this, my particular thanks goes to you who ventured a step farther into the unknown: those who embarked on a starting series, ahead of the plodding noise of the crowd. You who laid your money on a new venture, not knowing where, or when, or even if, that story might wend its way through the publishing world to reach a last page in conclusion. You, who stayed open minded enough to not revisit the sins of every other dangling project — left hanging for whatever reason, including an author’s untimely death — to your outstanding credit, such enthusiastic daring and support make a significant contribution, not small, toward bringing such long-term creations to term for the rest to enjoy. Pause here and realize you are the real time adventurers who sustained the journey along the way.
Thanks, above and beyond, to those readers who explore the books on the fringes, and greet eccentricities with an open mind. Your personal choice, made alone, against peer pressure, opens the path to unbounded diversity. Special thanks to the readers who will return to a book that perhaps, on first try, disappointed them. Sometimes the timing, the topic, or the concept were not in synch with that moment’s personal needs or a particular stage of life where a story line mattered. Re-examining differences and embracing change against prejudice are the rarest of skills in a complex world that cries for understanding.
As readers we have the gift and the ability to step outside of our skins. That gift of experience, borrowed from others, holds the power to re-stage the forseeable future.
When I started writing The Emperor’s Blades, I had no idea how hard it was to write a big fantasy trilogy. In fact, fool that I was, I imagined writing a seven-volume series. It seemed straightforward to write a book, then another book, then another book until it was all done. By the time I got to the start of The Providence of Fire, however, I was feeling the heat. I had a cast of dozens of characters scattered across two continents, and the plot was only growing more complex. There were a lot of things that got me through the second and third books of the trilogy, but right up there near the top of the list were my readers. Almost every day I hear from someone, often many folks. Some people just want to say hi. Some have a question about a character or the world. Some write to point out a mistake I’ve made, about anatomy, or veterinary medicine, or whatever. These interactions kept me going through all the darkest times. Whenever I wanted to trash the whole damn file and move to Fiji, I’d remember that there are readers out there, thousands of them, tens of thousands, who are excited to see how this all ends, who are rooting for the characters, and so, by proxy, for me. And every time I remembered that, I’d get another cup of coffee, sit my ass back in the chair, and keep working. This is as good a time as any to say thanks, so there it is: thank you. Without all of you, I’d probably still be dithering with the first chapter of the second book.
Earlier this year, I released my first novel, Forging Divinity. I’ve received tremendous support since my novel’s launch, and I’m very grateful to everyone who has been willing to take a shot at a first time novelist’s work. As a result of the success of my first novel, I’ve been able to work on a second, and my sequel – Stealing Sorcery – will be coming out early in January of next year.
For other would-be authors out there, my best advice is to keep writing about what you’re passionate about. I wrote five other novels before I finally published Forging Divinity – it can take a lot of work and dedication to finally make it to the publication stage, but the effort has been very worthwhile, at least for me.
Hi! This is Baye McNeil aka Loco in Yokohama, and I just wanna thank all the readers who’ve supported me over the years, through my blogging, publishing and now journalism efforts. You guys mean everything for what’s a writer without readers? In the very near future I’ll be coming out with a couple of books. One will be almost exclusively for my Japanese fan base that I’m hesitant to speak of just yet. Just know it’s gonna be awesome (god willing). And another for my English speaking readers, a coming of age book based out of NYC. Hope you guys dig it! Thank again. よろしくおねがいします
A very big thank you to all my readers for the support and lovely reviews, and for the constructive criticism. When I first started writing I really didn’t think too much of what I produced, but it’s been a great boost to get positive feedback. My Theft and Sorcery trilogy is finished, but I hope some of you are excited to hear that I’m working on a collection of erotic short stories centring around the protagonists of my second book, The Conspiracy. Please come and say hello on my blog.
Most importantly, I’d like to congratulate Jay Dee for his success with the Authors Answers series. I appreciated being included in the “authors”–especially since I’m a higher ed professional who’s just beginning to stick a toe into the waters of fiction writing. It’s been great to read the thoughts of participants in the series and the readers’ comments. Personally, I’d like to thank those who’ve put up with my ramblings as I try to find my way on this new journey. I’ve been publishing some short fiction this past year, and I’m fervently working on a revision of my most recent novel (the third I’ve written) in hopes of seeing how it fares in the world in 2016. For those interested in seeing how it all works out, I love to chat with people on Twitter (@amorrisjones) and have some randomness at https://amymorrisjones.wordpress.com/.
The only thing I have to say right now is Thank You. For your interest, for your patience, and especially Thank You to my readers for your willingness to pick up a book by an unknown author and give it a serious go-through. Internet communities have been my life since I was a kid, and the thought of building one of my own — based around my own work — is daunting, but everyone I’ve met so far in the process has been fabulous. Every little bit of encouragement counts, so…thank you all for being here, even if you’re just passing by.
Write hard and clear about what hurts.
Thanks for reading my books, really.
I’m currently working on a fourth Awakening novel and also another novel that isn’t set in that universe but isn’t unrelated. I’m hoping to have a couple of new free short stories to give away for the holidays, so keep watch on my blogs, Facebook, and Smashwords.
Thanks to all of my readers and the readers of Authors Answer. Keep reading and spread the word about new writers that you like. Buy more books.
To my readers and fans (if you’re out there,) I want to say THANK YOU! While I’d probably keep writing without you, you’ve all given me a reason to put myself out there and share my stories with the world. It’s a scary thing we do, especially for reserved people like me. But you make it a little bit easier. Stay tuned, because there’s more to come.
I still haven’t figured out exactly why I started blogging, but I do know why I continue. I would like to say thank you. Thank you for coming back again and again. I enjoy writing, but you make it easier to keep writing. You help me justify the time I spend at the keyboard. You make it easy for me to share my stories, my ideas and opinions. So please keep reading, keep commenting and share, share, share!
Obviously a big “Thank You” to all those who bought my book, and especially those who wrote me and provided feedback or shared their own experiences in Vietnam. Given the reviews, it seems like buyers feel like they are getting their money’s worth, which also makes me happy.
As my first full-length novel nears its publication date, I hope to hear more from you all, and that it meets your expectations.
I would like to thank all of the Author’s Answer readers for joining us each week. I hope you’ve learned some interesting or at least entertaining things here. I would also like to thank my readers for their support during this past year, which was full of stress and not much writing. Next year is looking much more promising on the creative front. However, this year is winding down on a good note. I’m happy to announce the release of my novel A Broken Race, and the publication of two of my short stories in the Brewed Awakenings II anthology, both out this month.
Thank you for reading my blog, and despite some delays my first novel is basically on track, though I can’t say when it will be published.
A big THANK YOU to anyone and everyone who has taken a chance and tried out my work. It’s very gratifying to know that someone has enjoyed the characters, worlds and stories that popped out of my muddled brain. Sharing them is truly a profound joy for me.
What can I say to my fans? How about a good old fashioned, “Thank you”? Thanks for the support! Thanks for following me on my blog and various social media outlets. Thanks for watching my YouTube videos. Thanks for talking to me in the form of comments and “Likes”. And a million thanks to everyone who has read my zombie apocalypse novel, “Nowhere to Hide“.
For my next trick I’ll be releasing the first book in my young adult fantasy/adventure series, “The Other World“. There’s a bit of work to do yet, but I’m hoping to have it released early 2016, so keep your eyes open! Love you all! ^_^
I appreciate anyone who reads anything I write. I’m constantly astounded that I’m able to keep anyone’s attention past the first few sentences – so if you wouldn’t mind reading my 700 page novel… Haha! Actually, it’s not published. Yet. I plan to try going the traditional route before I self-publish but either way, please keep an eye out for anything with my name on it but particularly a novel called The Great Dagmaru. It’s a paranormal romance with lots of twists and turns. Also, a very short humorous romantic novelette which will probably be released before that, titled All Good Things.
I must thank all of you great followers of my blog. You’ve been wonderful this past year, and Authors Answer has become a great success. And with that said, I’m happy to announce that it will continue for a second year!
I’d also like to thank of you future readers of mine who will read my books. It’s a difficult time for me at the moment to concentrate on writing, but after my family moves to Canada next March, I’ll have a far better chance to focus on my writing. So, you can expect to see a lot of Journey to Ariadne available on my official blog next year. I may be able to finish it, too. I will also begin working on my first novel, which has the provisional title Knights of Ariadne, as well as a novella or novelette series about a dying man’s wish to see the planets. Next year should be exciting, so I hope you keep coming back and will enjoy my books! Thank you to everyone.
How about you?
Do you have anyone to thank for their support in your writing? Anyone have any announcements about books they want to make? This would be a great opportunity for you to do that. The comments are yours! Thank you.
I Read Encyclopedias for Fun 
Reblogged this on C.K.Rich and commented:
It’s number 52 in Authors Answer. Thank you Jay Dee for including me in this great group of writers. It’s been fun. Thanks to all the readers for joining the party.
And thanks to Jay Dee for having us. 😀
Glad you’re here! 🙂
Reblogged this on All In A Dad's Work and commented:
It’s been one year since Jay Dee started his “Author’s Answer” . 52 questions answered so far. This week isn’t a question, but a thank you. A thank you too all the reader of books and blogs. Keep on reading!
Reblogged this on Theft and Sorcery and commented:
Please mosey on over to the blog of Jay Dee Archer, who has for the past year let various authors answer a number of intriguing questions about books, writing and being a writer. This being the one year anniversary, this is a big thank you from a number of established and new authors, including me!
Reblogged this on North of Andover.
Lovely idea. 🙂
Thanks. Glad you like it.
Well done to the author. Love the post.