Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Helping out the local artists: Michelle Roberts Design

 

 

If you're interested in heartfelt, handmade crafts check out these Messenger Birds, crafted by a talented young friend of mine. 

 

 


If you're as impressed as I am, vote for her in the Martha Stewart American Made Choice Awards. 

 

Go crazy and use your votes for her. I did...

Here's the link: Messenger Birds




Friday, August 23, 2013

Second Edition Paperback is ready!





The Phoenix Project
 

Authored by M. R. Pritchard
Edition: 2

The Phoenix Project Book 1

The United States is crumbling under the weight of the worst recession in decades, and The Reformation has been causing a stir. It started with promises of overthrowing the election under the premise of change. But change starts where we least expect it in Phoenix, a small lakefront town, hidden in the backwoods of upstate NY.

Andie's life is about to change forever. She thought making it home was the hard part, but much worse is to come. She needs to find her family, she needs to find out what's happening to her town, and she needs to find someone she can trust.

Paperback $12.99 (Includes sneak peek of book 2!)

Kindle eBook $1.99

Sunday, July 28, 2013

The hardest part of being a writer

I've had this blog post written and in the archives for a long time, waiting for the right time to press publish. I guess now is as good a time as any since most of it still applies. 

One Writer's Dilemma:

What's the hardest part of being a writer?
Time, recognition, money.
The list can go on and on and on.

What's hardest for me?

Telling people.

 

Not just any people, people I know.
I haven't even told my mother.  
True story folks.

I've been a closet writer for almost a year now. I have three completed novels under my belt and I have plans to get started on two more this year. 
No, they aren't published, yet, but soon. 
Which excites and scares me.

Why?

I can sum it up in one word: 
Failure


It's not that my writing may not get recognition, 
or that big publishers and agents continue to shoot me down. 

It's the failure in the eyes of people close to me that scares me the most.

It's that moment when you walk into a room and everyone eyeballs you and things get all uncomfortable and awkward because they know you've done something different

But no one wants to talk about it. 
Because you're not a super success. 





That's my fear. 

That's why I haven't told my mother, or most of my closest friends, or even my co-workers.

My New Year's resolution was to tell everyone what I've been doing.

Now ask me if I've done it...

Nope.

I know. I know. I need to grow some balls.

Until then I'll just continue drowning my worries with liquor.





What part of writing do you find the hardest?

(Update -- my secret has been out for about 5 months. That doesn't make it any easier. The self-doubt is still there, but at least I finally told my mother )

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

The Phoenix Project - Second Edition

One of the best parts of being an Indie Author?

Sometimes people will offer their services for free. 
Which is very exciting!



The second edition of THE PHOENIX PROJECT has been released on Kindle.



Get your eBook update or if you haven't read it buy it today!

THANK YOU Kristy for all of your hard work on both books!!

 


Wednesday, June 19, 2013

How do you find time to write?


I get this question a lot, and more now that people know I've published. For many of them it has been a surprise, for one reason: I kept my writing a secret from everyone except for 3 people.


I have a house, a full-time job as a NICU nurse, 3 gardens, 2 birds, 2 dogs, approximately 17 freshwater-tropical fish and two tanks to take care of, and... Oh yeah, I have my own human child to take care of.
So where do I find the time?

Anyone who tries discussing the latest TV shows with me could easily find out... I don't watch television anymore. Maybe once a week I'll sit down for a movie or an episode of a series that we still follow, but other than that the TV is off.

When the TV is on I find myself getting antsy and annoyed with the crap that's on. I find it hard watching TV shows or even the news. It just feels like my soul is being ripped out and kneaded and I can't find the time to bother with it anymore.



So, I write. I grow vegetables in my garden, I check the pH levels on my fish tanks, I walk my dog, I annoy the crap out of my editor, I avoid the calls from work offering overtime, I stare at the floor that needs vacuuming and the pile of mail that needs sorting. I read books: Indie books, traditionally published books, articles and newspapers. So much that the astigmatism in my left eye can't focus half the time and I've gone back to wearing glasses full-time again.

Lately, I've been really bad with pretty much ignoring all of the social media work required of an author. I find the more that I'm on the internet, interacting with writing groups and bloggers and reading book reviews, I feel like my time is being leached out of me... I also feel like I come across some of the worst of humankind. It seems people get more and more cruel with each day that passes. I find this really affects me in a negative way. I can't say I've felt this much self-doubt in a long time. Even when I first began writing (and I know those first few drafts were horrible), I still had some sense of confidence back then. Now that I've been published, even with all of the fans who approach me and talk about the books and how much they love them, I find the self-doubt monster is stronger than ever.

This week has been especially rough, I guess I'll blame it on the weeks of drowning rain, sucking the life out of me, there has been more than one occasion where I've contemplated just stopping it all.

And then I wake up in the middle of the night with a head full of ideas and conversations from characters I haven't written yet an I have to grab my iPhone and write it all down before I forget. It's those moments, and when my husband is urging me on, and when my fans are speaking excitedly with me that I think maybe this is the right thing to do.

Either way, I think I'll continue my break from the social media world. I think I will continue living life, reading great books, writing what I love, and living in my little bubble.