Greetings, First name / reader:

 

On behalf of Nicole Adrianne, I would like to formally apologize for her absence these last few weeks. She's been incredibly busy working on mentoring courses, reaching out to struggling authors, helping an overwhelmed, newly single mom in her community, and—my favorite part—speaking with me.

 

Who am I? I'm Eira Estridsen, the former Crown Princess of Lumiallis. You might know me from my biography, Girl in the Snow, or from my picture in the middle of the enormous banner at the top of this email. Nicole has been gracious enough to listen to my depressing, yet motivating tales and chronicle them in fascinating detail. It's truly wonderful to share my life with the world, although it feels a bit too revealing at times. My mild embarrassment will be worth it if my story makes you feel less alone in this dark world.

 

Anyway, let's circle back to the issue at hand. Since Nicole has been a tad overwhelmed with all of her responsibilities lately, I've encouraged her to take a little break. So, for the past few weeks, she's been catching up on some self-care as well as many practical tasks. (She's terrible at keeping up with her laundry, you know.)

 

When I offered to take over her newsletter content and inbox, she was absolutely thrilled! Oddly enough, she'd never considered that possibility before. I couldn't tell you why. Most of you are here because of me, so why shouldn't I be the one to correspond with you every week? 

 

Well, that came out a bit more narcissistic than I intended. You could also be here because of or my good friend Robin, I suppose, or maybe even after reading the tales of Margot, Kiona, Rowan, and Jada. As long as you're not here because of your love for Vespera, who's single-handedly ruined my life, I think we'll get on just fine.

 

The only concern Nicole had when I volunteered to take on this role is that it might come across as a bit, in her words, “cheesy.” She reasoned that, since I'm already the main character of an entire book series, you all might not want to hear from me every week as well. However, I've assured her that I'll excel in this new role. 

 

Please don't prove me wrong, readers. I need this job. Do you know how difficult it is to earn money as an international fugitive? In the past, I've tried to host a tell-all blog with true, historical accounts about my household to get some income, but I don't think that will help me while Lumiallis' power grid is still offline. (That whole disaster, by the way, is not my fault, no matter what Vespera has told you.)

 

Moving on. Nicole's been telling me about every detail of this new course she and her writing mentor have created for authors, and she wants me to share it with you this week. That's a little silly, considering most of you are readers, not authors. But she's so proud of her accomplishment, I just couldn't say no to featuring the course in this message. Here it is in case you want to check it out:

Nicole also asked me to include a write-up for the course here, but it's so incredibly long that I'm going to skip it. Don't tell her. If you want to see the course description, just click on the button below.

Thank you very much for reading my very first newsletter. I hope it's satisfactory. I have a few ideas for topics I'd like to feature in the coming weeks, but I'd also be happy to answer any questions you might have for me. Just reply to this message and pose your questions. If I don't respond directly to you, please don't take offense—but know that I'm here, and I'm listening.

 

by YA SFF Contributor Becky James:

"Kickstarters are here to stay, and I gotta say, I am loving them. Since discovering the platform in 2012, I've nabbed front-row seats in project creation with some amazing creators, snagging some great merch at the same time! (Bookish pins, anyone? Yes I'm obsessed.)

 

In case you're new, Kickstarter is a crowd-funding platform for creatives. Creators pull together project costs all the time, and writers are no exception. Every book costs time and money in terms of editing costs, cover art and purchasing the ISBN, which we don't mind, but there's often very little budget for the cool extras we long to stretch to like chapter header images and character art.

 

By Kickstarting a project, the creator can bring you the same great project made BETTER. As the Kickstarter progresses, creators often have an initial funding goal (the amount needed to push go on the project) and then stretch goals, for those juicy extras. Commissioning character art, more editions, better looking paperbacks and hardbacks... the list is endless.

 

But not only that, Kickstarter lets me get close to the creatives and lets me buy not just a book (like from any retailer), but all the cool extras. Signed paperbacks, sprayed edges, superb swag, I'm in bookish heaven! Creators put together their own packages, their own book boxes, if you will. And they can offer more than just physical rewards too, I've see a short story in your favourite universe written just for you on offer!

 

So, whether you're a Kickstarter newbie or an experienced backer, these are the six campaigns that we will be running, nay, SPRINTING, to back! A lot have limited edition or special edition runs, so when they are gone, they are GONE. You'll kick yourself if you miss these. Each entry here has a handy-dandy button to take you right to the campaign, so you can click "Notify me on launch." It's a free way to support these guys, as a follow costs nothing, but also makes sure you are the first to know when the campaigns go live!"

Train hard. Trust no one. Survive at all costs.

Anya always believed she was safe, but when her parents are brutally murdered, she is thrust into a new reality. Forced into a training facility that teaches survival, Anya vows to avenge their deaths.

Being pitted against other teenagers in game-like scenarios quickly becomes her new norm. The training makes Anya stronger and more resilient. But when she falls for a trick to eliminate her competition, the facility’s sinister motives are exposed.

Her new home is no sanctuary and a heartbroken Anya is left with a devastating choice. Play by the savage rules and get out, or follow her heart and pay the price.

Broken heroines and machine minds battle in this exciting young adult science-fiction suspense series. THE FACILITY is the first book in the Breeder Files series.

Thank you to reader Jenny for this suspenseful recommendation, which she says is the “start of a good series."

A family of cats cuddling! From left to right: son, mother, father (Link, Odessa, Kuzco). 

DISCLAIMER: Some links within this email could be affiliate links. This means that if you click the link and choose to sign up or pay for the product or service, I will receive a small commission. This does not increase the price for you. I am paid by the company that provides the product or service. These commissions help keep Nicole Adrianne Author running and allow me to provide you with more books. You are under no obligation to purchase via these links, but I thank you if you do!