Hopefullyshe will forgive me for that terrible pun...
Yes, Iyana is here to talk about her new release, IMPROVISE, an m/m romance from Books To Go Now. She's talking about the trials and tribulations of getting this bestseller ready for the reading public! Take it away, Iyana...
Hi
Naomi, thank you so much for having me on your blog!
I’d
like to share with you and your readers my new release from Books
to Go Now Publishing.
This short story is the first release I have with them and I’m very
grateful for everyone who made this no.
1
in Amazon
Best Seller
list in Action/Adventure
Gay & Lesbian
category. That was the first time for me. I feel so happy and very
grateful for my publisher and you, readers.
I
also want to talk a bit about the problems I had in writing and
editing this story. First, I’d like to say that I’m very grateful
for Books
to Go Now
for having guided me in editing this one. I learned a lot from the
editors from the publishers I worked with, and each of them taught me
something. With BtGN I learned a lot about point of views and passive
writing.
I
wrote the first draft of Improvise
using present tenses. I used them because that was the style I liked
when I began this. The editors didn’t really point out at that
issue but I re-considered it and decided to change the tenses to
past. I really hoped it helped improve the story.
Point
of views is one of the aspects I try hard to be careful with. I
learned more about it with BtGN, for example for the use of ‘to.’
This might not be a new thing for other authors but it was for me. I
just knew that He
stood up to reach for the salt
shows his POV already.
The
next thing was about passive writing. I know passive voice and I try
not to use it a lot in my stories, but I didn’t know passive
writing is more than that. Anything with to be, will be, will have
been, etc. is considered passive. It’s much better to use action
verbs, instead.
Editing
this piece had been hard but thankfully BtGN gave me as much time as
I needed. I only sent my edits back after I felt sure about them.
BOOKS
TO GO NOW
12,000
WORDS
Blurb
A stage actor, Tim Gregory found someone had broken into his changing room and turned everything upside-down. When insurance investigators Brent Sullivan and his partner came to see him, he it was to answer to his previous call. It turned out that the agents wanted to question him on a missing necklace that was stolen some time ago.
After witnessing what happened to Tim’s room, Brent Sullivan was convinced that the insurance company was not the only one that wanted the necklace. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that Tim didn’t want to tell him where the necklace was. He honestly didn’t know or remember. The worst thing was some people didn’t care if Tim remembered or not. They would do anything to get the jewelry back.
Excerpt
Tim
felt as though he was looking at his own reflection in the mirror,
only a few years older. His dad was very young when he had Tim, and
everyone agreed he had aged well. Tim had his dad’s eyes and
lips—something that somehow made his dad very proud. That was when
he didn’t seem infatuated by his own son. Tim wouldn’t willingly
stay in a room alone with his father. Simply looking at him from
across this glass panel made Tim wary.
“My
son.” Paul smiled like a predator. “You’re such a sight for
sore eyes. I’ve missed you, boy. What brings you to this lonely
corner of the world?”
Tim
had only come to get some answers, nothing else. He certainly didn’t
plan to indulge in small talk. “Dad, you lied to everybody. Why?”
Paul
kept beaming. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Cut
it out, will you? I’ve got men messing things up at my place and
insurance investigators on my tail. Tell me, what are you hiding and
where?”
Paul’s
face hardened and his fingers tightened on the handset. He leaned
forward, almost pressing his nose at the glass panel. Tim resisted
the urge to pull back.
“What
did you tell them?” Paul hissed. He glanced back at a guard
standing with a bored face.
“Nothing.
I had no idea what they were talking about, what your friends were
looking for. Tell them to stay away from me. You are—I don’t want
to have anything to do with you.”
As
if he hadn’t heard Tim’s words, Paul gritted his teeth. “The
necklace is mine. Don’t you dare lay your hands on it.”
“Fuck
you and your necklace. I don’t even know where it is. I don’t
want to know and I don’t care.”
“Keep
your voice down, damn it.” But Paul’s face showed puzzlement. He
hissed, “What do you mean you don’t know? My lawyer gave it to
you on the second day of the trial.”
“I
don’t, okay? Do I need to spell it to you? I never received
anything from your lawyer.” Tim huffed. “Then it must be with
your lawyer. Now tell your friends to leave me alone.”
“They’re
not my friends, leaving me to rot here all by myself. By the way, my
lawyer couldn’t have known. I put it in a thick sealed envelope. I
saw myself when he gave it … wait.” Paul frowned. “That’s
right. He didn’t give it to you.”
“Surprise,
surprise.”
Add
to your TBR
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About
the Author
Starting
writing extensively after her obsession of The
Lord of the Rings,
Iyana finds herself unable to stop and keeps on writing especially
when life gives her lemons. She only began to publish her stories
last year after a constant nagging from a friend who thought it would
be such a waste to keep the stories for herself. To Iyana, writing is
never a waste. When not writing, Iyana sings, shouts, and jumps
around with her kid pupils in the class, or travels around the
country for her every day job.
Author’s
Links
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