Behind the Moments: Origins

In honor of  the three months since A Moment’s Worth came out, for the month of October, I shall be doing a series where I reveal some background history of the novel each week.  I might include some content that may contain spoilers, so be careful when reading if you haven’t already read the book yet.  I hope you enjoy.

So it took about a year and half to completely get A Moment’s Worth from something that it was in my head, to being available worldwide digitally.  I wrote a little bit of it when I was 20, I wrote most of it when I was 21, and the rewrites were done earlier this year at the age of 22.  So at the point we’re at in the calendar year now, we’re very much approaching two years since the project officially started.  I’ve talked about how this project got started in the few interviews that I’ve done, but now, I’m going to go more in-depth on it.

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Behind the Moments: My Influences

In honor of  the three months since A Moment’s Worth came out, for the month of October, I shall be doing a series where I reveal some background history of the novel each week.  I might include some content that may contain spoilers, so be careful when reading if you haven’t already read the book yet.  I hope you enjoy.

I have a style.  I’m very aware of that.  I’m also adept at coming up with original, creative ideas when it comes to storytelling.  I have not doubt about that.  However, like any creative person, I have my share of people whom I look to for inspiration and such; whose ideas I look into consideration and then develop it into something of my own.  For that matter, today I want to discuss who my three influences were when it came to writing A Moment’s Worth.

A Summer of Book Promoting, Blogging, and Other Shenanigans

When I was growing up, never once had I ever been assigned to write one of those “What You Did Over Your Summer Vacation” essays.  I’ve always thought that would be such a fun assignment to do, but never once was I ever requested to do that.  However, with fall starting tomorrow and that I start my final quarter as an undergrad this coming Wednesday, I figured I take advantage of the fact that I own a blog and write my own “What I Did Over My Summer Vacation” essay, once and for all.  Besides, there’s been enough events that have taken place this past summer that definitely deserve an overview of sorts.

Going Forward As An Author

As I continue to promote and encourage people to check out A Moment’s Worth, I’m also thinking of my next tactics as an author.  I’ve made my mark as a new author and now I’m planning ahead as to where to go from there.

I skipped my Saturday post?? Not really…

Yes, I did do a post yesterday- like I’ve been doing on every Saturday for the past eight months.  It’s just that yesterday’s post was a little different.  It was a reblog from The Best Slice of Pie; a blog based out in the UK who interview unknown and up-and-coming authors and review their works.  On Friday, they posted this amazing review of A Moment’s Worth, and so naturally, I figured it be wisest to reblog it on my blog.  It was so beautifully written, that I couldn’t help but share it.

I did intend to do a regular post yesterday.  I had a topic in mind and everything.  However, with the fact that the solid foundation of what exactly I was going to say hadn’t been cemented yet, I figured it be best to hold off on it and give it more time to simmer and develop.  In the mean time, I was answering interview questions for The Best Slice of Pie, and they should be posting that sometime within the coming week.

I just wanted to make this clear is all.  It wasn’t my “traditional” post that I posted yesterday, but it nonetheless counts.

So if you haven’t already read the review, then I encourage you to check it out.  In the mean time, I’ll be back on Saturday.

-Lauren

A Moment’s Worth is now available through the following venues: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, iTunes.  Please leave a review if you can, for my goal is to get a total of at least 20 reviews on all venues (so far, I’ve gotten 3 reviews so there’s still a ways to go).

Check out its Goodreads page, which includes two trivia quizzes for all who’ve completed reading it already.

8 Questions for Sarah Dayan

Today I’m taking a little breather from talking about A Moment’s Worth and am, instead, providing the next interview of my interview series.  Two weeks prior to the release of my book, indie author Sarah Dayan celebrated a similar accomplishment when her debut novel, Greater Than the Still, became available for purchase.  Today, we will learn a bit more about the making of the novel, as well as her journey as a writer.

To give a bit of background info about her, Sarah Dayan was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, where she still resides to this day.  She is incredibly well-traveled, and has written about many of the places she’s been to for Toonari Post.  Other hobbies of hers include playing the piano and guitar, photography, and giving in to her sweet tooth.  You can learn more about her on her website and you can follow her on Twitter.  Be sure to also like the Facebook page for Greater Than the Still as well.

photo provided by Sarah Dayan

Final Thoughts Before AMW Part 2 of 2: Last Bits of Advice for Potential Readers

Two days remain until A Moment’s Worth is finally released.  It’s the calm before the storm.

Despite the thoughts and feelings that are continuously coursing through my mind, body and soul as described yesterday, I feel ready to release it.  However, before doing so, I also want to make sure that anyone who is going to read knows what they’re getting themselves into.  What kind of book are you about to read?  What can you expect?  Who would enjoy this book?  What mindset should you meditate on before reading A Moment’s Worth?

Special Sunday Post: Recurring Themes to Know Before Reading AMW

I have a little over a week before A Moment’s Worth becomes available.  Within the past several months leading up the occasion, there have been days where I would dedicate my weekly post to discussing a theme, my observations in how it  plays out in literature (and sometimes in real life), and how it will be incorporated into my book.  However, not everyone who is reading my blog now may have not been reading it at the time when some of these previous posts were written, or perhaps missed out on it somehow.  So before AMW is released, I thought I take this time to provide for you all links to those various posts to read up on, in preparation for the book.  All the links will be listed below for you to take the time to look through them.

Enjoy!

-Lauren

Special Sunday Post: “A Moment’s Worth” Is Now Up for Pre-Order!

If I were anymore excited or nervous or whatever it is that I’m feeling right now, I’d probably be “shaking like a Polaroid picture.”

So I may have mentioned before, I said I would be expanding more with the distribution of A Moment’s Worth.  While I am going to make it available on Amazon, it will also be available through other venues as well thanks to Smashwords.  For those who don’t know, Smashwords is an ebook self-publishing platform that’s been in business since 2008.  By making it available to Smashwords, my book will also be made available on venues such as Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobos, and many other venues as well, worldwide.

Reflection: 1 Month (+1 Day) Since the Release of “The Shadows”

With A Moment’s Worth now being less than three weeks away from its release, it’s soon to be all that the attention will be on in my life (though it already very much is as that release date is coming up).  However, before all goes full swing into that particular work of mine, I want to look back on my first release that technically did cement the beginning of my career as an author; my short story, The Shadows.

I released The Shadows exclusively on Amazon on May 27th, which means it’s now been one month and one day since then.  It’s a fantasy story that focuses on the Council of the Sun Spirits (the shadows) and their observations of present-day humanity.  However, after one particular meeting where the Chieftain has had enough of hearing about shootings, cowardice, harm towards the environment and such, he declares a ban on the sun from appearing for the rest of time on earth.  It’s left to the rest of the council to show him how not all of humanity is like that, and shouldn’t be punished for the actions of certain individuals.