The Challenge Update

Hello!

I told you all a while back about my 30 in 30 every month challenge, in which I challenged myself to write 30k words a month for 12 months straight. I am happy to update that I am still on track and finished the first draft of another novel this month! I am hoping to finish one more but of course inspiration has struck and that means I am also starting another. I hope I can at least try to finish one a month if I am also going to be starting one a month (or sometimes two).

What am I working on?

A fantasy

A Sci-Fi

A couple of very different romances, though all fairly mild (Think more Nick Sparks and less E.L. James)

Some are stand-alones

Some have sequels

I've also dabbled in the idea of a sort-of sequel to Reed (purchase the first here: http://goo.gl/8Ldcfi) in which you would see the main characters about 3 years later and what is going on in their lives, and would change to a Sam-focused POV. Not everyone would be in it, and I would write it so they could be read together or separately. I would love to have some feedback on this idea, I will probably write it regardless, but I don't want to go through the work of publishing if no one wants to read it, you know?

Keep encouraging me (I need it!) and thank you to all the people who are always giving me support and helping me be brave enough to talk about this huge part of me which has remained a hidden one for too long.

Book blogging.

Hello all!
I would like to start doing 2-3 book reviews per month. I will be doing them on a simple 1-5 star basis and my reviews will be spoiler-free. I will also do some author interviews for willing participants with 4-5 star ratings. If you would like me to review your book (or know someone who would) please contact me via G+ (see widget above) or on Twitter (@AlleySaltz).

Genres I like (though am not limited to) are:

Romance
drama
fantasy
chick lit
sci fi
self help
historical fiction
various nonfiction.

I DO NOT read Horror, that's the only one that is all out. I will consider any other book/genre but this one. Please send me a brief description along with the length of your book and if it is a series and I will contact you to let you know if I am in.

Thanks & please pass it on! :)

360 in 365

With the turn of the year January 1st, I did something I had never done before; I made a New Year's resolution.

I have set goals in the past but I rarely do resolutions since most people break them by valentine's day anyway.

So my resolution was simply this: to write more.

When I was a kid and all through high school I wrote all the time, and when I went to college I planned to major in English and become a writer. Life happened, however and with that, I stopped writing. I went through a solid five year writing drought where the only things I wrote were for assignments.

I missed it though, and I decided 2014 was the year of Alley, since 14 has always been my favorite number.

I wrote in January, started Reed, and eventually finished it in early February. When I realized what I was capable of, I decided to better define my resolution to "write more."

I joined a small facebook group collaboration called 30 in 30, whose goal is to write 30k words in 30 days, three times a year. This is similar to the goal of Nanowrimo to write 50k words in the month of November. Instead of only doing it a few months out of the year, though, I decided to really push myself and try to do 30 in 30 every month of 2014.

This is month six, and, in case you are wondering, blog posts don't count. If I am successful, I will write 360,000 words this year. Keep in mind, 30k is only the minimum quota for the month, and if I finish early, I keep writing. I ended off May with a whopping 56,333.

So why am I telling you all of this? Because, my friends, I need your encouragement. I know there will be moments when I lose steam or feel like giving up, and I have the sinking feeling about 3 days out of the month that I am complete and utter rubbish, wanting to scrap everything I have ever written and taking Reed off the market.
I need encouragers, you see.

The second reason is, I need Beta Readers! I am averaging a novel every 2-3 months and need people to read, proofread, and give me constructive feed back!
If you would be interested in helping in this capacity, contact me via Twitter @AlleySaltz or on G+

I know I am not the best writer, but I want to continue to grow and get better, and the more I write, the more I get sucked into the magical worlds I can create with my words.

Thank you for reading.

Alley