Guest Post and Giveaway: The Wild Hunt (Faerie Sworn #1) by Ron C. Nieto

Published: May 29th, 2014

Cover Design by Mathia Arkoniel

Descriere:

Magic still lingers in the mist-covered corners of the world, wherever the Old Ways are remembered. However, as civilization and reason scoff at the Fair Folk, the paths to power have been forgotten by all but a few.

Lily Boyd was meant to become a faerie doctor, a warden of humans and a keeper of balance, until disbelief and pragmatism led her away from the hidden world and into a mundane life. But truth has a way to be Heard and she will be forced to face it if she wants to save her family.

Armed with nothing but her childhood memories and protected by a debt of gratitude she doesn’t understand, Lily must decide who to trust while she navigates a world that is darker and more twisted than she is prepared for.

And should she make the wrong choice, should she mistake friend and foe… the eternal balance between the Faerie Courts may shatter, and then there will be more than Lily’s life on the line.

GUEST POST

Starting out as a writer – five things you should know

Okay, so today I get to give some advice to all those writers who are thinking about striking out in their own adventure. I don’t know everything there’s to know, but I do know a few things and I want to share them with you. 

Ready? Here we go! 

1. Your first novel shouldn’t be your first published novel. Of course there are exceptions, but as a rule of thumb you want to write “practice novels” before considering yourself ready. Don’t get me wrong: writing a full novel, all that tension and emotion, and finally typing “the end”? That’s big. Not everybody can pull it off. But if you want to make writing your living, you need to keep writing “the end”. You need to find your groove, see what genre you’re best at, find your weak spots and bolster them. The best—only—way to do that is by writing more, trying new things, seeing what works best. 

Treat your practice novels with the same level of commitment you’d have for “the real thing”, but don’t worry if they’re not perfect yet: they don’t have to be. They just have to improve. 

2. Your first published novel won’t be a bestseller. Bestselling is not a matter of quality, and most new authors stumble when accepting this. Truth is, to sell well you need to have a quality book, a stroke of luck, and the stars need to be aligned just so. Even if you manage to be noticed, you need to give readers another book and prove you’re not a one-trick pony. Luckily, since you want to be a writer, you’ll keep writing. That’s the key: keep writing. They’ll find one of your books, they’ll learn of you, they’ll come back for more. 

Don’t fret over sales. Instead, release one book and begin working on the next one, because that’s how you’ll make your living, not through a one-day explosion of downloads. 

3. People want to hear about your new novel. They don’t want to be hit over the head with it over and over again, but they want to know your book is out there. So while I’d tell you not to use social media for promoting sales regularly, feel free to go crazy on release days and on special occasions and then let them know where they can check if they don’t want to miss any updates. Mass promotion in social media is quickly filtered as junk, and either blocked or overlooked. 

Social media is a place to make connections and to make your readers feel special, not a place to find new readers. 

4. Everybody who is anybody has a website. You need one too, even if you’re just starting out. Don’t write a blog if you don’t want to, but have an about page for your readers to know who you are, a page where all your books (or books-to-be) will be listed and a sign-up form for a newsletter—which is key because it gives you both a channel for all the promotion you shouldn’t be doing in Twitter, and you know they’ll see it so you don’t have to send out each news but once. 

Don’t clutter your website. Animated gifs and acid colors are all fine and dandy, but if you give your readers a headache, they won’t come back! 

5. Writing is your dream job. Never forget that: writing is what you want to do, what you are passionate about, what you can talk about for hours and hours… Never lose sight of that, because it’ll bleed through. And if you ever get tired and bored, your readers will know and the story will die. 

Love your writing, love your story. Write it as it needs to be, and in the end it’ll all work out. I promise!

EXCERPT

Lily woke. She didn’t have any recollection of falling asleep or passing out, but when she opened her eyes, the cottage was no longer in sight and she was no longer riding.

A dream? She stirred and a jolt of pain traveled her body.

“I would ask you not to do that,” the level voice of the stranger said somewhere behind her. “I took great pains to close your wounds and I dislike working in vain.”

Lily moved her arm ever so slightly, just enough to glimpse her hand. In the dim light, it looked covered in a mud-like paste and wrapped in rough cloth. A doctor would fret at the possible infection, and it did feel numb, but after the attack and the overwhelming events, numb was too much of a blessing to complain.

“Where am I?” she asked instead.

“Someplace safe.” He walked around and crouched in front of her, close enough for her bleary eyes to make out his features and study him. His coal black hair was wet and slicked back. Occasional droplets of water fell down his brow, running down the side of his face and neck. He had delicate eyebrows, a well-defined jaw and sharp cheekbones that gave his angular face a striking, atemporal beauty. His thin lips were smirking.

“Who are you?” Lily pressed on, fighting a sudden urge to crawl back and put some distance between them.

“A friend. The question is, dear girl”—his eyes caught the scant light and glinted, the luminescent green of lichen—“who you are. What is your name?”

“Lily,” she said. He canted his head, eyes narrowed in thought, and after a moment she added, “Lily Boyd.”

That startled a laugh out of him. He rocked forth on the balls of his feet, his crouch bringing him too close, breaking all illusions of personal space. She caught sight of his tongue, darting out to wet his lips.

“Such delicious naivete,” he said. “It truly is, is it not? Lily Boyd.” Her name rolled off his mouth, languid and sensuous, and she felt a chilling tingle down her spine. He watched her reaction and nodded, satisfied, before sitting back to give her a little more room.

“What’s yours?” she asked, trying to shake the odd sensation.

“Why are you wearing that piece of jewelry?” he asked in turn, pointing to her neck with a long, delicate finger.

On reflex, her hand went up to grab the silver charms and the movement sent another flash of pain through her arm. She gritted her teeth through the worst of it.

“It’s a gift. From my grandma,” she said when she could form words again. “Why?”

“Who is your grandmother?”

“You saved me from her house. Why were you there, anyway?”

“Such inquisitive mind.” He offered another smirk and reached out to touch the pendant around her neck. “So you are the faerie doctor’s blood, then. Giving you her protection is much like her, yes.”

“You’re not… I’m not following you.” Lily sighed, letting her head roll back and closing her eyes. Her head had begun to pound. “And you haven’t told me your name yet.”

“And I won’t.” He laughed. “But you may call me Troy if you must.”

Goodreads

About the author:

Ron C. Nieto is a fantasy and romance author who has been writing in her secluded fortress for the longest time. Recently, she had a talk with her cat and decided that she should share her creations, because it was selfish to hoard them all for herself.

If you would like to know more about her, please visit her website.

Website ** Goodreads ** Facebook ** Twitter ** Pinterest

Author's Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway