Fear of Failure

For your pleasure and to my delight,

Misha Gerrick, 

has stopped by to discuss the fear of failure 

and her latest release

ENDLESS.

Take it away Misha!

Fear of Failure

Thanks, Yolanda!

I have to admit, I like to keep a positive outlook when it comes to my writing career. After all, writing on its own is one of the most challenging things I can do. Stories are complicated things. Add to that the idea that people will actually read a book I’ve written, that I’ll have to depend on them actually liking it for me to make money… Yeah. Suddenly it just adds another dimension to my doubts and insecurities.

And this is the root of my most persistent worry since I’ve decided to take up self-publishing. I know that my decision to side-step trade publishing was a good one for many reasons that I won’t be going into now. I know that I’m good at what I do. Not just because my mom told me, but readers who never knew me went through the trouble to get in touch just so they could tell me how much they like what I’ve written.

I love those moments. It’s such a boost to know that someone out there liked what I wrote.

But none of that takes away the fact that I basically turned away from centuries’ worth of conventional publishing wisdom in order to follow my own path. It’s a scary thought and for the most part, I’m completely alone in dealing with it.

Deal with it I must, though. Mostly by shoving it to the back of my mind. I try focusing on what I’m doing to make my career a success. I try setting big goals and small goals that are calculated to get me there. I remember that every little thing I do takes me one step closer to making it.

And then I write.

Anyone else struggling with a fear of failure? How do you handle it? 

About the Book

“First, do no harm.” Blake Ryan swore that oath to become a doctor. Ironic, given that he spent most of his thousand year life sucking souls out of other immortals.

Things are different now. Using regular shots of morphine to keep his inner monster at bay, Ryan has led a quiet life since the Second World War. His thrills now come from saving lives, not taking them.

Until a plane crash brings Aleria into his hospital. Her life is vibrant. Crack to predators like him. She’s the exact sort of person they would hunt, and thanks to a severe case of amnesia, she’s all but defenseless.

Leaving Aleria vulnerable isn’t an option, but protecting her means unleashing his own inner monster. Which is a problem, because his inner monster wants her dead most of all.

Amazon US | Amazon Universal | Apple | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

Excerpt

This had to be what dying felt like. Floating outside my body, waiting for that final link to my life to be severed, only vaguely aware of indescribable pain. More screams than I could count rose up around me. Hundreds of footsteps beat against tiles. I couldn’t open my eyes if I wanted to. Not when it was easier to listen and wait. People shouted for a doctor or an IV, or a thousand other things that made no sense. I listened to all the chaos, trying to untangle it in my thoughts.

Soon, I could go. The peace around me was so relaxing, completely out of place in the clamor I heard. I wanted it. To rest forever in that peace. Why not? There was a very good reason, but I couldn’t call it to mind.

A numb buzz shot through my body and shattered my serenity.

It happened again. Only this time was more of a sharp pulse. The third time jolted like lightning. The fourth…Hell. Suddenly, the screams were coming from me. My heart’s relentless thundering added to my torment.

Pain.

Everywhere.

My chest burned like fire. It hurt to breathe. Cold air drove down my throat and into my lungs, amplifying the inferno in my chest. My skin felt scorched. It couldn’t be. It wasn’t right.

I had to see. I had to understand why pain dominated my existence like this. My eyes were fused shut. My breaths grew shallow, trying to draw air when there was none. I tried to clench my teeth. I bit hard plastic. A pipe. Cold air suddenly forced back into my lungs, out of time with my own breathing. This was wrong. It wasn’t safe. I had to see. The best I got was a little fluttering of my lashes.

A high-pitched beep shot through my head. It repeated again and again. I wanted to reach over and slam my fist into its source. My arm wouldn’t lift. Something kept it trapped. A scream rose up from the depths of my soul, but the pipe jammed inside my throat stifled the sound. I only managed a whimper, trying my best not to gag. More air blasted into my lungs against my will. What was going on? I was trapped in my own body, but why?

I needed to move. I had to move. Now. Before… Even… Even though… Panic gripped me. The beeps increased at a frenetic pace. I needed to move. To be gone. Didn’t matter where. Just not here. Not defenseless. Not trapped.

The air sucked out of my lungs. I gasped, choking on nothing, strangled by invisible fingers. I tried to convulse my body. To twist myself free of what’s holding me.

Nothing.

The air rushed back in a cold flood. Seconds later it left, only to return in the same amount of time.

There was a rhythm to the air. In… out... in… out… The breaths were slow—sleep-like. I concentrated on this rhythm, striving to clear my head. If I wanted out, I needed to think. Calmly. Clearly. Eventually, those irritating beeps slowed. I tried to focus past the sound.

Voices buzzed about me, adding to my need to see, to do something to protect myself. No one seemed to pay attention to me. Good. I could use that to my advantage.

I centered my every thought on moving my little finger. It finally jerked, but collided against something solid. So the thing trapping my arm was physical and too heavy for me to lift. It was better to be trapped than paralyzed. With luck I could escape my restraints. I tried my other hand, but it was cemented stuck as well. Right leg. Left leg. Damn it! Both trapped. I had to move!

No.

No, I needed to stay calm. I tried to make larger movements, biting the pipe in my mouth against the urge to scream in pain. There was no wiggle room.

Fearing that I might be blindfolded, I focused on blinking. It worked. My eyes opened and the blur faded, revealing ceiling tiles. Why would there be tiles? Where was the canvas of hospital tents? The distant sounds of bombs dropping? The power of their explosions rushing through my blood?

No. That wasn’t right. I wasn’t there.

Where was I, then?

**********

Misha Gerrick lives near Cape Town, South Africa, and can usually be found staring at her surroundings while figuring out her next book.

If you’d like to see what Misha’s up to at the moment, you can find her on these social networks:

Tumblr | Twitter | Google Plus | Writing Blog

THE HAUNTED

My Book Blog Tour began this week

I'm guesting with Denise Covey

Alaska: Why It Speaks To Me!

____

But here I have

Melanie Schulz, author of The Haunted

from the IWSG Anthology

Parallels: Felix Was Here

Thank you, Yolanda. for having me here today; 

it’s always fun to discuss all things bookish.

My pleasure, let's get started.

1. As a writer of alternative fiction the IWSG anthology was a perfect fit, did you find the challenge easy? 

Yes and no. Writing with prompts, even as minimal as they were for this anthology, has always been a challenge for me; that’s why I don’t enter more contests. The stories I write always begin somewhere inside of me; I can’t write any other way. But, as it turns out, I already had the stirrings of this story when the anthology was announced, so in the end, I was able to write it, or rather it wrote itself.  

2. Where did the idea for Haunted come from? 

I really can’t answer that without giving away the ending. Let’s just say I wanted a particular group of people to have a voice. You’ll know what I mean once you read the story.

3. What is it about an altered universe that you appreciate?

 It gives us a chance to see the world that would’ve or could’ve been. The tagline I gave this story is: Sometimes the best things in life are the things you never got to have, and that’s what this altered universe let me do; it let me give back that best thing.  

4. Please tell us about the UBook or Newstead project. 

The Newstead Project was my first novel and the first novel in the Newstead Saga Series. Five years of my life went into developing this story. There’s some serious love there. And it’s that love of all things Newstead that led me to invent Ubooks, a patent pending new way to enjoy reading. I listen to music when I write; it takes me to that deeper level I need to be at in order to get into the character’s heads. I wanted that same experience for my readers. And now they can have it. Ubooks, in essence, are books on video, set at reading speed, augmented with scene enhancing music. And best of all? They’re free and able to be viewed on all your devices. Check out my YouTube Channel  to see the latest releases. 

Wow, what an amazing idea!

Thank you, Melanie!

Your story The Haunted - is remarkable. 

Thanks for sharing your journey.

What do you think folks, music and reading

 combined - do you listen to music when you write

 or when you read?

***

The Haunted

Melanie Schulz

Tagline:

     Sometimes the best things in life are the things you never had.

Blurb:

For five years Andy has been consumed by nothingness. Her life was fine—normal even—and then suddenly it wasn’t. No one knows why, least of all her. Desperate for answers, she seeks out yet another psychiatrist, not knowing that psychotherapy has nothing to do with it, not when the problem is that you’re being haunted.

Excerpt:

“Your dream bothering you again?” he asked, knowingly.

Andy closed her eyes and held on tighter.

He kissed her again. “It’s okay,” he whispered into her hair. “I’m here.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she breathed, shaking her head. “Nothing does.”

John pulled back to look into his wife’s face. “Are you sure you’re okay—do we need to call your doctor?”

“The only doctor I have is an ob-gyn, and I don’t think she’ll be able to do anything about this.”

John shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe it’s a hormone thing.”

Andy raised her eyebrows. “Do you really want to go there?”

“Hormones are powerful things, Andy. They can make you do all sorts of weird shit.”

“Like dream your husband’s dead?” There is was; she’d said it.

His face softened. “Is that it—is that what happened?”

Andy looked past him to the sky beyond. His hands cupped her face and brought her focus back to him. “I’m not leaving you, ever. Even if I die, I promise to haunt you.”

Andy frowned. “Don’t say that.”

“What? It’s true. You can’t get rid of me; face it.”

Andy shuddered; she didn’t know why.

***

Melanie Schulz is planted in upstate New York with her husband and three kids on a smallish plot of land she likes to believe is a farm. She plays at being a writer, same as she plays at being a farmer, and nurse, and overall enjoyer of this thing called life. One of the things she enjoys most are people who delight in discussing all things listed above. Join in the conversation at:

Website    Blog    Facebook

THE 13TH FLOOR!

The 13^th Floor

 Complete Collection

 Christine Rains

My Review:

Christine Rains has created an unusual collection of short stories about paranormal beings living on the 13^th Floor on an apartment building that is only accessible to them. The City of Carmine is under attack by evil and their lives become intertwined as they deal with issues unique to each and yet part of the whole. 

Stefanie is a werewolf, an alpha who is being hunted by the pack she should be leading. Then there is Marc, a demon who has retired from doing the Master's bidding, and Meira, a Harpy under the thumb of Zeus who falls in love with a human, a true hero that Zeus wants in his army. And that is just three of the unique characters that fill these stories of love and sacrifice in Christine Rains, The 13^th Floor: The Complete Collection.

I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent learning about the residents of the 13^th Floor. Her stories are about a group of paranormal beings in need of anonymity but extremely secure in the human world. My favorite resident was Marc the retired demon who saw himself as the landlord and protector, but I loved all the characters and their individual journeys. Each character has different obstacles to overcome in a quest for redemption and love that most never saw coming.

I happily recommend this collection to all readers of romance and the paranormal, and to all readers looking for something new – a genre they have not tried before. This is a great place to start. It's a wonderful escape, with a beautifully constructed world and well-developed characters, written with skill and with just the right amount of romance. 

I truly enjoyed Christine's 13^th Floor and since there is the added bonus called The Shadow, can we take that as an indication that more great stories are on the way with new characters and new story lines for the unusual residents of the 13^th Floor? This reader hopes so!

***** ***** *****

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse

Hosted by the Armchair Squid

 The idea is simple: on the last Friday of each month, post about the best book you've finished over the past month while visiting other bloggers doing the same.  In this way, we'll all have the opportunity to share our thoughts with other enthusiastic readers.  Please join us HERE!