Chanda Hahn's Blog, page 3

It's been a while since I've updated my blog. So I figured it is time to just check in and let everyone know that yes...I'm still here and I'm still alive. I wanted to take the summer off and spend time with my family and to give myself a break from plotting and working on books.

But alas, my inbox was filled everyday with readers asking about release dates and wanting spoilers on major plot points for my books, which I refuse to give people. When I know for certain the title of the book or a specific release date, rest assured I will let everyone else know too. The reason there isn't anything posted is because I don't know yet.

Over this summer I partnered with a literary Agent and we have been working through re-editing and polishing the UnEnchanted Series and getting them ready for....Whatever the Future has in store.

Either way, I've been polishing the series and looking at the big picture.

Read my Interview with Best Selling author Jeff Rivera!

CLICK HERE!

It's on iBooks!

Click here!

So today I think I'm going to dive into some Characters from UnEnchanted.  MINA & NAN

In Fairest, I decided to test the relationship of our favorite best friends, Nan and Mina.

In High School there's always a period of time where someone is maturing, and has a complete character change that they later regret. A moment of selfishness, brattiness the "Oh poor me syndrome etc. Somewhat of a mid-high school life crises. Come on, we've all had one. Where we let how other people viewed us or treated us changed how we felt about ourselves and how we treated others. For some of us that made us into victims other times bullies. Or peer pressure sets in and you find yourself acting ways you wouldn't normally act. And don't forget the fight with a best friend that you weren't sure if you could ever repair.


MINAI started writing the series with Mina being 15 turning 16. And as I remember what it was like being in high school and at the age of almost being able to drive and the pressure to fit in and be noticed. So Mina is unsure, clumsy, and every bit the misfit. She starts to gain gain confidence and even begins dating Brody, but really how can hotness drop out of nowhere and all of a sudden take notice of a very quiet girl. So of course, she is reluctant to start dating him, for it all seems to good to be true. Well, when you read the ending. It was. Whether that was the story manipulating Brody into like her or not, we won't ever really know.

I decided to test Mina, give her flaws, see how she would react if her rock and best friend wasn't by her side and turned on her. At first she spiraled, became sullen, selfish and ungrateful. But then when it mattered most, she still cared enough to fight for her best friend. I think sometimes when characters hit bottom, and they can't sink any lower and then fight their way to change themselves and overcome, makes them a better person in the end. It is a growing moment. It also makes the characters real. It proves they have flaws and have moments of weakness and selfishness.

I'm not interested in making infallible characters. If you want that, then read a Superman comic. But then again his personality does roll over to the dark side when exposed to a variation of the rock Kryptonite. I want characters that have moments of selfishness.

NANNan is 16 a little more worldly, but not by much. She has a car and drives, knows more about what's popular and trendy, but not when it comes to boys. She is clueless.  With her parents never really being home, she fills her time with finding and connecting with people over twitter, and her phone. Her best friend Mina, is someone she knows will never leave her, because they find they what they lack in the other.  A lot of Nan's outgoing nature is a charade; she is a girl who wants hates being alone. She covers her insecurities by being silly, chatty, and goofy. She can usually be found hanging around the Grimes most weekends and taunting Charlie, who she secretly wishes was her own brother.  Mina's small single parent family is more of a family to Nan, than her own.

Nan's parents try and spoil her and she rebels in subtle ways to try and get them to notice her. A rich girl at heart, Nan does slip up and sometimes let materialistic things get in the way of friendship. Even when it comes to her first boyfriend. But once again, that is a familiar scenario to most people. As soon as your friend gets a boyfriend, you become a third wheel.

Some people think that I made the characters catty, mopey and unlikable but I believe I made them exactly like any Teenager during a certain time in their life. We all know someone that has gone through these issues or maybe we did ourselves. But I plan on having Mina and Nan grow and mature throughout the series. Have obstacles to overcome that will in the future define who they will be later in life. When I look back at where I was when I was 15. I laugh at how immature I was and all of the stupid things I said and I did.

So I look forward to more fights, arguments and growth between Mina and her best friend Nan.

 I'm very excited to be hearing from so many of you asking about whether there is a  Book 3 in my UnEnchanted: An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Series. Rest assured there will be a third book but don't forget Fairest Book 2 just came out in JUNE.

I am taking the summer off to spend with my family. Then I will be pushing out the sequel to The Iron Butterfly and then this Winter I am hoping to have the third book done. Winter meaning, Dec, Jan or Feb. My summer is precious time with my family, so I can't respond to every single email, tweet or comment asking about a release date for a book I haven't finished yet. I'm really sorry, because my fans are very important. But once again, most of the questions everyone asks are on my FAQ's page.

So YES there is a third book to the series. Remember I've only been published six months and I've released three books. I'm typing as fast as I can, so hang with with me readers.

 

Each week I get an email, a tweet, or someone stopping me in public asking the same question, over and over. So I have decided to answer that question right here on my blog.  So enjoy the answer to my most asked question.

Can you give me any writing advice?

1. Read, Read, and then read some more. 
If you love to read, then you have the potential to be a great writer or storyteller. I've never considered myself a great writer. In fact, I think I'm downright awful. But I consider myself a FANTASTIC STORYTELLER. 

2. Get a great editor. 
My mistake, one that I am continually paying for in my reviews, is not having a professional editor for any of my books. Hey, they cost money, which I don't have. If I hired an editor, then I would have to charge more money for my books, and I want to keep my books at a reasonable price for my teen readers to afford.

3. You need a to have a phenomenal concept. 
Just because you wrote a book, doesn't mean you will sell it and make money. In fact, it is quit the opposite. Most likely, it will sit on a digital shelf collecting cyber dust. But hey at least your wrote a book! Which is more than most people. I uploaded UnEnchanted just for fun, (without spell-checking) and it hit the charts within days. That is NOT the norm.
My favorite book series is The Iron Butterfly, because it's written in first person and it's epic fantasy.  But it doesn't sell. My least favorite book is UnEnchanted, because I struggle with third person and tenses, and I felt like I almost burnt myself out by writing it in 3 weeks, but that is everyone's favorite.  What can you do?

4. Don't read your reviews!!!! 
I feel that reading bad reviews and ratings is almost like submitting yourself to cyber bullying. There are people who will rip your book to shreds, rip you as an author apart and tell you your horrible etc. It will make it hard to gain confidence in yourself or keep writing. Some days I lay in bed and go "what did I do? I'm a horrible author...so and so just said so!" And I will find it very difficult to continue writing, but then I remind myself of all the teens and adults who want to know what's going to happen next and I get up and continue the story. Telling myself everyday, I can do it! I'm a storyteller. 
Just read your fan mail and the comments on your blog or website! It is way more ENCOURAGING!!!!

5. Yes, a cover does sell a book! 
Please, please don't make the cover yourself. Try and find someone who loves to play in photoshop, or a graphic design student, who wants to add to his or her portfolio. Find something that looks great as a thumbnail, because be honest with yourself, you thumb through your phone looking at the pictures to decide if you are going to stop and read the blurb.

6. Don't give up.
Not every book is meant to be a best seller. Not every story is meant to be a book. But every story should be written down and recorded. Find yourself a support group of other writers. I had the chance to stumble upon an awesome group of YA authors online. The Pacific Northwest Young adult Authors, who encourage me, help me promote, and answer all of my dumb and author book questions. Believe me, I have a lot.

NEW E-Book RELEASEFAIREST (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 2)Sequel to UnEnchanted
  Mirror, Mirror, on the wall,Who is the Fairest of them all?
In the sequel to UnEnchanted, Mina Grime discovers that all is not fair when it comes to the Fae and their tales, especially when they don’t all play by the rules.  Barely surviving the Story’s first fairy tale quest, Mina still has hundreds to go before she can end the curse on her family.  But a new player arises to challenge Mina while new rules revamp the game she has just barely begun to understand.All the while, people are mysteriously disappearing, including Jared, whom Mina must finally determine to be friend or foe.  And with the loss of her greatest weapon, Mina must try to outwit a lethal hunter.  Can Mina survive the most difficult quest yet while protecting those she loves from falling victim to one of the deadliest tales of all? Or will she become a pawn when she strikes a bargain with the Queen of Fae?

BUY EBOOK NOW: AMAZONBUY EBOOK NOW: SMASHWORDS
COMING SOON TO BARNES AND NOBLE AND iTUNES
Check back: I may be doing a new release give away in the next few days!

Hey Readers! I'm part of the talented Lisa Nowak's Blog Tour.
Her newest book Driven is out right now, so if you haven't heard about it here is your chance. I think this book is perfect for all of those tomboys out there like me.


The last thing on 16-year-old Jess DeLand’s wish list is a boyfriend. She’d have to be crazy to think any guy would look twice at her. Besides, there are more important things to hope for, like a job working on cars and an end to her mom’s drinking. Foster care is a constant threat, and Jess is willing to sacrifice anything to stay out of the system. When luck hands her the chance to work on a race car, she finds herself rushing full throttle into a world of opportunities—including a boy who doesn’t mind the grease under her fingernails. The question is, can a girl who keeps herself locked up tighter than Richard Petty’s racing secrets open up enough to risk friendship and her first romance?~~~~~~~~~~“The first romance is captured beautifully—just the right combination of natural and awkward, of eager and scared.”
~ Bob Martin, writing professor, Pacific Northwest College of Art Buy it on AmazonBuy it on Barnes and NobleBuy it on Smashwords~~~~~~~~~~In addition to being a YA author, Lisa Nowak is a retired amateur stock car racer, an accomplished cat whisperer, and a professional smartass. She writes coming-of-age books about kids in hard luck situations who learn to appreciate their own value after finding mentors who love them for who they are. She enjoys dark chocolate and stout beer and constantly works toward employing wei wu wei in her life, all the while realizing that the struggle itself is an oxymoron. Lisa has no spare time, but if she did she’d use it to tend to her expansive perennial garden, watch medical dramas, take long walks after dark, and teach her cats to play poker. For those of you who might be wondering, she is not, and has never been, a diaper-wearing astronaut. She lives in Milwaukie, Oregon, with her husband, four feline companions, and two giant sequoias.
Lisa's blogFollow Lisa on TwitterLike Lisa's Facebook pageSubscribe to Lisa's newsletter for upcoming releases_________ Lisa Nowak Author of: RUNNING WIDE OPEN http://amzn.to/RWOAmazon GETTING SIDEWAYS http://amzn.to/GSAMAZON DRIVEN http://amzn.to/DrivenAmazon Blog: http://lisanowak.wordpress.com/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/Lisa_Nowak Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LisaNowakAuthor

UnEnchanted Sequel is finished and being edited. The cover is being finalized and I'm on track to release the ebook version of UnEnchanted's Sequel the week of June 1st.
 
But you heard it here.


FAIRESTAn Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 2
Soft Release Date June 1st

Now once it is released it takes a few weeks to be distributed to all of the retailers. It will appear on Smashwords first and Amazon, and take a few weeks to go to Itunes and BN.

There is a new button on the site. It is a BUY button. It now allows you to buy an autographed copy of either UnEnchanted or The Iron Butterfly from me, using PayPal.

Please give me 2 weeks to get the books to you. I only keep a limited supply on hand for shows and book signings, so I may be in the middle of a re-order.

So enjoy and collect them all.