Author Archives: Lisette

CHAT WITH SHYKIA BELL

Posted on by December 21, 2014

Shykia Bell developed a love for writing at a very young age and often dreamed of authoring books, but her career took several turns before she penned her first sci-fi/fantasy novel, Camileon. She is presently working several projects, including the third installment of her Camileon series. Shykia currently resides in Brooklyn, New York with her husband Max, their cat and cockatiel.

Time to chat with Shykia!

What is your latest book?

Hi, Lisette. Congratulations on the launch of your brand new site and thank you so much for having me here at your lovely Writers’ Chateau! I’m thrilled to be your guest. My most recent novel is CAMILEON: Beyond The Veil. It’s the second in a series that chronicles the life of a young woman who wrestles with her identity and her past as she undertakes a harrowing task that could either help or hurt humanity in their fight against malevolent forces, both seen and unseen.

What do you think some of the greatest misconceptions about indie authors are?

That all indie authors are lazy, which couldn’t be further from the truth. If I recall correctly, Sue Grafton recently faced heat for making such an implication. The truth is, there are talented and not-so-talented authors on both sides of the literary spectrum, whether traditional or indie. Even so, indie authors often have to work alone in various aspects of the publishing process. Not only do they have to work on the book itself, they also have to figure out what their brand is and how to market themselves efficiently in this highly competitive industry. It can be downright overwhelming, particularly for those who dare to go against the tide by producing something different than what the current trends dictate.

How often do your characters surprise you by doing or saying something totally unexpected?

My characters surprise me quite often. For example, in CAMILEON: Beyond The Veil, there’s one character who I intended to be gentle and nurturing, but he turned out to be the polar opposite. It certainly made the story a lot more intriguing as the reasons for his nature unfolds. It actually scared me, how easy it was to write him, though some of his actions were tough to process.

Were you “born to write” or did you discover your passion for writing later in life?

A combination of both. I used to write a lot from elementary school through high school, but fell out of it during college. It wasn’t until years later that I rediscovered my passion for it. I’m so grateful that I did. It led me to meet some truly fascinating people.

Do you feel your latest book is your personal favorite or one of your previous novels?

My current novel is certainly my favorite for a number of reasons. It’s multi-faceted, and though it’s a sci-fi/fantasy novel, it contains situations that were inspired by some of the challenges I’ve had to overcome in reality. It was something I included subconsciously and I didn’t realize how truly connected I was to the characters until I saw fragments of my life in their experiences. That was actually kind of scary since I’m not the type of person who opens up so freely. For a while, I was apprehensive about publishing it, but figured by doing so I was somehow redeeming myself from some of my past mistakes.

Having our work out there to be judged by strangers is often daunting for writers. Do you have any tips on handling a negative review?

Negative reviews can be really tough to swallow, but in the end, everyone is entitled to their opinion. It’s impossible to put forth a product the entire world will like, because not everyone perceives art, or life, the same way. The best way to handle a negative review is not to dwell on it. If constructive criticism is given, you don’t necessarily have to take it, but you can give it some consideration if you feel it may help you grow. I’m always searching for ways to improve my craft and sometimes paying attention to reviews can be helpful in this regard. Yet, not everyone writes reviews with noble intentions. There are those who simply seek to tear others down by writing scathing reviews, in some cases without even having read the book. It can be tough to figure out the motive behind a negative review, especially if it is written in a non-specific manner, but rather than exert valuable time and energy worrying about it, my advice is for the writer to use those resources to write their next masterpiece.

We all know the old saying; you can’t judge a book by its cover. This is true. However, how much importance do you place on your book cover design?

I think presentation is extremely important. I’ve heard many readers state that an author’s lack of polish on their cover reflects the level of integrity they hold in their work. I’m not sure if that’s always a fair statement since there are people who care very much about their work, but simply lack the skills and/or resources necessary to put together a sharp-looking cover. I happened to be lucky; I used to work as a graphics coordinator and possessed the skills I needed to design my own cover. The photography, however, was done by my extremely talented friend.

A lot of authors are frustrated by readers who don’t understand how important reviews are. What would you say to a reader who doesn’t think his or her review matters?

Reader reviews are crucial since fellow readers look for an objective opinion on products before putting their hard-earned money behind it. Not only that, but authors truly want to hear their readers’ honest opinions; at least I know I do. Whether the opinion is favorable or justifiably critical, it shows that the author was successful in making some sort of connection. Isn’t that what we all want anyway; some form of connection that reminds writers that we’re not alone, that the reader also walks the path of our words once the book is finished?

What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?

That’s a tough one. There are so many wonderful gifts I’ve received and I’m not referring to the material sort. Other than the gift of life, the best gift I’ve ever received was a second chance to live my dream and to find true love.

What might we be surprised to know about you?

I never learned how to ride a bike. Embarrassing to admit, but it’s true. Don’t judge. It’s on my bucket list.

What are three things you think we can all do to make the world a better place?

1. Always keep an open mind. One of my mottos is a flexible mind isn’t easily broken. No one is right or wrong all the time and everyone, at some phase of their life or another, plays the role of student and teacher.

2. Find peace and happiness with yourself. Whether knowingly or not, we tend to project our unhappiness onto others, creating a terrible cycle of misery.

3. Be generous with your kindness and patience. It’s free and the more you give, the more comes back to you.

CONNECT WITH SHYKIA

Website

Twitter

Facebook

 

 

TWITTER: 10 REASONS I FOLLOW, DON’T FOLLOW BACK, or UNFOLLOW

Posted on by November 13, 2012

I’ve been on Twitter for about three and a half years. I’ve met some of the most amazing, wonderful people there. As a writer, Twitter gives me superb access to interesting people all over the world.

A lot of people I know find Twitter very daunting, mostly because they’ve never really tried to use it. It can be intimidating to some to have only 140 characters to make a statement. But it works, and it works well. The more you do it, the more you’ll probably appreciate the way this micro-blogging site works.

Twitter can both be great or not-so-great depending on what you hope to get from it. I’m going to share with you the reasons I follow/follow back, don’t follow back, or unfollow.

WHY I WILL OR WON’T FOLLOW/FOLLOW BACK

1. I consider several things when deciding to follow or follow back. Does this person engage with others? If she is actively having conversations with other tweeters, I’m more inclined to like this person. For one, it shows that she realizes that there are other people on Twitter. And I’m much more inclined to like people who have a photo of themselves for an avatar.

2. There’s nothing wrong with promoting your own work in moderation, but I am a strong believer in cross-promotion. Does this person take a moment to recognize the works of others from time to time? To tweet content of interest?

3. Does the person’s follower/following ratio make any kind of sense? If someone follows me and I see that he is following well over 1,000 people, but only 132 people are following back, there is always a reason. A quick look will tell me that every tweet is virtually the same: they’re all about that person’s book, for example, or the tweets make little to no sense. If the person has 40,000 followers and is following only 2,000 back, I’m not going to assume that he’s found me to be a part of the scintillating minority. Rather, I’m going to think that he’s followed me to get the follow and will unfollow me soon after.

4. Did this person actually follow me or did a bot follow me? For example, I have a novel called Squalor, New Mexico that has nothing whatsoever to do with New Mexico, but often I’ll be followed by businesses such as a real estate company or an auto repair facility in Santa Fe. Nothing against these fine businesses, of course, but it’s clear how they found me and we likely are not tweeting about any common interests.

5. Does the person tweet original content or does she just quote? There are people on Twitter who do nothing but tweet the quotes of others. Once in a blue moon, if I see a great quote, I’m happy to pass it on, but in most cases I have little interest in following someone who merely tweets quotes.

WHY I UNFOLLOW

6. I know that I am not alone in my loathing of people who send DMs (direct messages) to strangers upon following with links to their products or services. Just don’t do it. Really, do NOT do this! If there’s one way to guarantee that I will never check out your book or product, just send me a link about it. To quote my friend author Stuart Ross McCallum, @writer99 on Twitter: “e-converse before e-commerce.”

Some people may ask: If I don’t send you a link, how will you ever know about my new novel, The Vampire and the Hound Dog Get Married? My answer: Engage with people on Twitter as you would in person. Join conversations, start conversations, pay attention to others, retweet what others have to say, be polite, and follow the golden rule. Once you do that, you’ll find that people will click on your bio because they like you. They’ll want to learn more about you. And what do you know, they may even download a copy of your book to their e-reader.

One woman, upon following, sent me a DM that said, “Enjoy the ABC series.” Hello? I only agreed to follow her on Twitter, but now she’s assuming I’m going to read all three books in her series? On what planet?

Then, there are those who send a message saying, “Don’t forget to ‘like’ my FB page?” Hey, I have no idea who you are. We’ve just met. Do NOT assume I’m going to support you at hello. Okay, so how can you ask people to ‘like’ your FB page without being obnoxious? Try a general tweet like this: “Would appreciate ‘likes’ on my FB page. Happy to reciprocate. Just DM or tweet me the link.” Isn’t that better? You’re asking for something but simultaneously offering to help others.

Upon following, I often get a DM saying, “Let’s keep in touch on Facebook, too.” But this person doesn’t want a mutual friendship; she wants you to “like” her page. I am not a fan of this deceitful practice.

7. I’ve just spoken about sending inappropriate direct messages to people. The same goes for tweeting links at people. Not only do people do this, but they do it to people who are not even following them. When I have a new blog, I tweet it to the general public. I do NOT tweet links AT people unless someone specifically asks me to do so. Tweeting links at people is, in a word, spam. There are exceptions when good friends tweet links to me; I have no issue in these cases.

8. I’m much more interested in interesting people than I am in numbers. Some fantastic people who have been on Twitter for a while, just happen to have high numbers of followers, very high, and they actually engage with as many as possible. It’s easy to figure out who cares and who doesn’t. Then there are those who merely want the numbers. They think that if they spend all day and night amassing 30K followers, they’ll be more likely to sell their product. As I see it, the number of followers has nothing to do with sales. YOU are the product first, and if people don’t care about you, they won’t care what you are selling. And, please, don’t boast about how many followers you have. It just tells me that you couldn’t care less about anything but a number.

9. Many people use certain sites to find out who is following back and who is not. I use these sites, too. I won’t necessarily unfollow people who aren’t following me back, but these sites do help me to clean up my lists. These sites often offer people the option to tweet out the IDs of those who have unfollowed them. Maybe it’s just me, but I find this to be very childish, like calling someone out on the playground. If people unfollow me, that’s okay. But I do not tweet about it. That’s just silly. And when I see people who do this, it’s just a turnoff to me.

10. Politics and religion: For many, these are two subjects to simply avoid. While I do choose not to tweet about either, I am very interested in and most appreciative of the political tweets of others. But tweeting politics is always risky. Many people who do not agree with you will unfollow you. And I am one of them. So, while it’s fine to tweet politics or religion, just understand that you will alienate some people. If you’re okay with that, go for it.

To sum it up, our experiences, good or bad, are what we make of them. Behind the avatars are real people who, like ourselves, deserve to be treated with respect. Enjoy your time tweeting, and I look forward to seeing you in my stream.

And please, tell me about your experiences with Twitter. What are the reasons that you follow, don’t follow, or unfollow?