19/20

Hello my lovelies!

Those of you who have been following me know that I had set myself a goal of having 20 published works in 2020. I can't believe I'm saying this, but right now, including the 3 pre-orders I have up on Amazon, I'm actually at...19! You can read about my upcoming novels here.

Let's look at some covers!!

I design all my covers myself, with input from trusted friends. There's certainly a learning curve to designing covers, but I'm really enjoying it and I love the outcomes. How do you think I'm doing so far?

My vision for the Onepian Chronicles covers was a lot of stars and silhouettes to give an air of mystery and other-wordliness. What do you think? This particular one came out darker due to the nature of its story line.

I've played around with this series a couple of times. When it came time to design the third cover, I scrapped the concept I had for the first two, redid them with people, and came up with this. Do you prefer people on covers like I do?

I still have a bit of writing to do to reach my goal of 20. Right now, I'm working on a few different things, so I'll have to see which one will come first. But if all goes well, I'll publish one more thing by December 31st.

I still need some help with one of my books, by the way. I'm running a contest to see who can come up with the best band name to put into my new Swapped Lives book My Brother's Wedding Singer/The Art of Being a Girl. If you want to enter the contest, go here. You could even win one of my e-books!

As always, huge shout out to the people who have supported me along my journey. Without you, I would not have made it this far and it's possible none of my stories would have ever seen a bookshelf. Thank you!

- Natasja 

Two Thousand and Twenty

Wow, what a year it's been! I published some books, won some awards, and even started a newsletter with some friends! At this time of year, I like to look back on the goals I set for myself last year.

1. Two books to finish writing.
2. Publish at least two books this year. (I say at least, because I think I can squeeze out three, but I'm not sure.)
3. Finish editing that series!

So what did I actually do in 2019?

1. I had set myself a goal of writing 2 books because I wasn't sure how I'd managed throughout the year. But then I got a ball rolling and wrote...*drumrolllll* 4 novels and 3 novellas! That's 7 whole new stories that didn't exist before 2019.

2. Of those 7 books, I published 4 of them (2 novels and 2 novellas), plus 2 other books that had been written in 2018. So I wrote 7 books and published 6 books in 2019. Even I have no idea how I did that. Check out all the books I published this year:

3. Ah, the series! The series that I've been talking about for years. Well, I'm happy to say that I'm a good chunk of the way through editing it, I've built covers, I've written new content, and I'll be releasing it soon! If you want to keep track of my progress with that a) sign up for the Indie Wordsmiths newsletter and b) check out the Onepian Chronicles here:

4. I won a couple of awards for Knockout Girl back in June! The Indie Originals awards I won were for Best Young Adult Novel and Best New Author. You can see a complete list of winners here.

5. I also recently started a newsletter with some other writerly friends. All of them have been personally vetted and are more talented than me. We cover a variety of genres, like fantasy, sci-fi, contemporary romance, urban fantasy, and YA, so if you want to keep up with us feel free to sign up! You'll even get a free sample that showcases all of our writing styles. Also, if you want to know more about my friends, check them out here:

• Lea
• Matthew
• Michelle

And now for my 2019 goals! Or should I say...goal. Because I really only have one goal this year: make it to 20 published books by the end of 2020. Currently I'm at 8. Wish me luck!


Happy New Year and happy reading!

- Natasja

Novembers and News

Wow, Novembers seem to be really good to me, and not just because it's my birthmonth! Last year, I did NaNoWriMo in 12 days and donated my hair. This year...

It took me 20 days to complete NaNo2019 but I'm quite pleased with it. Instead of starting a new novel, I had a few projects I wanted to tackle. I finished a book, wrote an 18k word novella, got halfway through another novella, and partway through another book. I know, that sounds crazy, but it works.

I stopped keeping track at day 21 because there were no more badges to get.

I would have pushed myself harder, except that I was still preparing for two releases this month! Yes, the Knockout Girl series is now finished with Outside Edge and Hooked. It's bittersweet for me to say goodbye to this series and these characters, but I'm happy to see so many people enjoying them. I love hearing readers' thoughts because everyone has a different takeaway from my books.

Remember, reviews are what keeps writers writing, whether they're good or bad. If you have a chance, please check out my Goodreads page and leave a review for any of my books you've read. Thank you!

So a cool thing my husband and I learned about this month is something called aphantasia. It's a condition where people can't visualize/conjure images in their minds or have a very hard time doing it. It's estimated that it affects 2-3% of the world's population, though that's hard to tell since people who have it usually don't even realize they have it. Seriously, read about it here and take a test to see where you fall on the spectrum.

Last thing: I'm doing my first holiday craft fair where I'll be selling my books and signing them. If you're in the area feel free to check it out. Click here or go to that "Events!" tab up top for details.

I have more news coming before the end of the year but until then, happy reading!



- Natasja

NaNoWriMo 2019!

NaNoWriMo 2019 is starting this Friday, Nov. 1! This will be my ninth year entering and so far I've got a streak of four years won in a row. Last year, you might recall that I finished my book in 12 days. That was The B-Boy, which was published and released in August.

My first NaNo was in 2011, when I wrote My Best Friend's Brother/The Summer I Turned into a Girl. I published that one the following summer and have since published a sequel. 

This year I'm hoping to tackle a few projects. Yup, you read that right. I need to get more words written than the requisite to win NaNo. I do have a complete novel that I plan to write during the month (more on that later), but I also have a couple of novellas and another book to finish before the end of the year. And what better time to get those done than during November?

Other things happening in November: both Outside Edge and Hooked are coming out near the end of the month, which will wrap up my Knockout Girl series! I'm excited and I'll probably find some fun way to celebrate. I'm also a little sad to say goodbye to Knockout Girl. So...don't be surprised if at some point I say I've got another book for the series, but it won't be any time soon.

 

I have a new project I'm working on but I can't elaborate on it just yet. I've mentioned it before, though, so if you scroll through my past posts and find anything related to spaceships and other planets...you might have a piece of the puzzle.

Anyway, if you're even remotely interested in doing NaNo this year, head on over to https://nanowrimo.org/. It's loads of fun, even if you don't make it to 50k words. There are local write-ins, chats with other writers, pep talks from published authors, and badges to collect! If you're trying it this year, feel free to add me as a buddy. Just search for Natasja and you'll find me.

Happy writing! I'll check in at some point next month.

- Natasja

Goals and Resolutions

We're halfway through 2019 so I'm reflecting on the resolutions I made. For anyone wondering, here they are:

1. Two books to finish writing.
2. Publish at least two books this year. (I say at least, because I think I can squeeze out three, but I'm not sure.)
3. Finish editing that series!

 To recap, here's what I've actually done so far this year...

1. Goal complete! I've actually written two books and a novella and I'm halfway through another book. Two of these books I didn't even know I was going to write.
2. Goal complete! Standup Guy was released in February and My Brother's Best Friend/Learning to Sing Like a Girl was just published this June. However, I still have plans for at least one more book and a novella.
3. Ah....the series. The sci-fi one. I'm still working on that. It's been pushed aside a little as I work on my Knockout Girl series, but I've had several requests for when I'm going to get around to publishing it. Some day! But probably not until next year.


I'd say I'm doing pretty well this year. Looks like I'll have to give myself harder goals for 2020.

Happy reading!!



- Natasja

More Books, More Hugs

So, two weeks ago I announced that Standup Guy is now officially available on Amazon (in paperback, ebook, and on KU). If you read and enjoyed Knockout Girl, then you definitely won't want to miss this super satisfying conclusion. If you have not had a chance to read Knockout Girl, no worries! But when you're finished, please leave me a review on my Goodreads page  or on Amazon (and I'll love you forever and ever!) 

If you've read Standup Guy, you'll have noticed I left you with another first chapter to a new book. Don't worry! I don't have an official release date for that one right now, but I do plan to publish it sometime this summer. If you would like to keep updated on anything new I'm coming out with, I've just recently started a mailing list. I likely won't send out too many things but if you want to join, click here or click on the "subscribe" tab above.

I have some more really exciting stuff planned for this year, including a redesign and re-release of My Best Friend's Brother/The Summer I Turned into a Girl. Take a peek at the unofficial new cover:

Before I sign off, I just have to say how incredibly grateful, proud, and happy I am for all of the people who have helped me along my self-publishing journey. As I always say, there is no such thing as "self-publisihing." Whether you helped with the actual writing, editing, or design process, or you just "liked" my posts in support, or you were just there to say "Tasja, calm down, everything is okay," then I want you to know I will never be able to adequately express my grattitude. I hope we stay friends for a long, long time and that someday, I may be able to repay you.

Thank you! Here's a virtual hug (physical ones can be given to those within hugging distance).

- Natasja

Two Thousand and Eighteen

Happy New Year!!

Time to party it up like this champ

Everyone likes to make resolutions at this time of the year. I kind of do that by telling myself (and my alpha reader*) how many books I will finish writing and how many I will edit extensively. So what's on this year's list?

1. Three books to finish writing.
2. One book to write for nanowrimo.
3. An entire series, consisting of eight books to edit.

So, you know, no big deal.

Here's to a great 2018 for you, me, and all the fictional people in my head!

- Natasja


*What's an alpha reader? It's a person who reads all your stuff, first draft or otherwise, laughs at the ridiculous mistakes you make, and yet still tells you that you're amazing.