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Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Unrest by Victor Arteaga - Book Tour - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!


Hi, lovelies!  It gives me great pleasure today to host Victor Arteaga and his new book, “Unrest”!  For other stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.

Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!  Also, come back daily to interact with Victor and to increase your chances of winning!

Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!


Unrest
by Victor Arteaga

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GENRE: Paranormal, Sci-Fi

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BLURB:

Remembrance Day is just an excuse for vampires and humans to throw themselves a parade. They like to pretend they did us werewolves a favor. But I guess it's not all bad. I do get cheap booze, live in an underground lunar city, which some would find cool, and I am employed. Sejanus Industries isn't a benevolent corporate ruler, but they're the devil I made a deal with. My life is quiet and mostly non-violent but one message from my cousin could cause me to lose everything I've sacrificed for my peaceful life.

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EXCERPT TWO:

The salt of my perspiration mingled with the tang of copper and I shifted focus to my ribs, neck, knuckles, and legs. I could feel pools of blood passing through burst capillaries begin to collect under the surface of my skin to form bruises. Air recyclers and purifiers pushed a drifting breeze and the moisture on my body lifted the heat off my skin. I felt a massive swell of energy coming up from deep within the ground through my feet. It surged with something not quite electric, but it had a familiar thrum. The depth of power terrified me. Strange as it sounds, it felt sentient in a way. As though the pool of boundless power wanted me to tap into it. I ignored it, focused on the strength within me, and visualized wisps of gold light filtering through my injuries, pushing away and draining the inflammation around them. The crack in my rib needed more attention, so I let the light linger there, and when it was healed, I eased out of the trance.

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GUEST POST:

Overcoming Writing Obstacles:

Writing is not easy. Beyond the often herculean efforts of learning the craft like grammar, dialogue structure, general writing dos and don’ts, just sitting down to right brings its own sets of challenges. Over the last five years I’ve come up with ways to overcome the three biggest life challenges when it comes to writing, so I can spend more energy focusing on what matters most.

1.)  Time

I never felt like I had enough of it. When I started to pursue writing seriously, I was in rehab, had a three-year-old son, and work. Finding a solid chunk of time to write while juggling the rest was borderline impossible. So, I had to get used to doing a lot in a little bit of time. My job as a massage therapist offered a lot of flexibility when it came to that. I got in the habit of bringing my laptop with me, even if I was fully booked for the day, and leaving it setup in the breakroom. That way if I had a client cancel, or run late, I could hop on, and write what I could within that time. The trouble with writing in sprints, at least personally, is that I need time to warm-up to get my mind focused. My shortcut was talking to anyone who would listen about my projects, within reason, of course. I have a solid base of clients who are happy to critique my ideas, offer insights or ask difficult questions about the work which kept the world fresh in my mind so I knew what I was going to write before I sat in front of my laptop. I don’t think I’ve ever stopped working on a project, and I consider talking to people or thinking about it as working. It allowed me to use the limited time I had much more efficiently. Writing sprints are a busy person’s best friend. If you want to learn more, check out Chris Fox’s free book 5,000 Words Per Hour.

2.)  Focus

Staying on task and avoiding distractions, especially social media, while writing is tough. On the off chance I had more than an hour available to write, I used a productivity app called Freedom on my laptop. What Freedom does is block any activity on websites or apps for a set length of time and doesn’t let you turn it off until the timer reaches zero. So, if I had two hours, I’d tell the app to block all distractions (the list is also customizable and you can add any website, or program you want to the list) for two hours and press start. That way I had no choice but to write. You can also sync the desktop app to your phone. I swear I’m not getting paid by them to promote their product, but it was a lifesaver. Otherwise I’d spend an hour and a half laughing at memes on Reddit and Facebook and have one sentence written: “What am I supposed to write about again?”

3.)  Writer’s Block

The bane of every writer’s existence. Writer’s block was something I didn’t struggle with early on just by virtue of being an addict with a hyper-active brain. However, when I did struggle to put words on a page, the two apps I used the most were Fighter’s Block and Write or Die. Essentially, what they do is force you to keep writing until you hit a specific time, or word-count goal. With Write or Die, if you don’t consistently write, it will warn you in a variety of ways like making a sound or having spiders crawl on your screen. In hardcore setting it will actually delete words. These apps were essential for marathon sessions like NaNoWriMo. They forced me to hit my daily word goals and I finished the manuscript for NaNo in around twenty-five days. Using those apps taught me it doesn’t matter what you put down at first. Sometimes I’d write “This is dumb. Why can’t I think of anything, I was on such a roll yesterday…” but eventually something would click, and the words would flow.

I know this list isn’t exhaustive, but I believe these are the most universal issues I see writers talk and seek help for. Hopefully my solutions to these issues will help others get around their troubles, or inspire more creative answers that fit their specific goals and obstacles.

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AUTHOR BIO:


Victor Arteaga is a writer of science fiction, fantasy, and paranormal stories. Though he’s always been an avid reader, his dream to be a writer was jump-started when he got sober in March of 2015. What began as an exercise to keep his sobriety billowed into a deep and unbridled passion to create. His experiences with addiction and being a first-generation American from immigrant parents inject a flavor of unique authenticity to his characters and worlds that he creates. His imagination is given free rein to conjure worlds and experiences on the page which enthralls and captivates readers.

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CONNECT WITH VICTOR:

Website:

Blog:

Email:

Facebook:

Twitter:

Instagram:

Patreon:

BookBub Book Page:

Goodreads Author Page:

Goodreads Book Page:

Amazon Author Page:

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BOOK BUY LINKS:

Amazon Kindle eBook:

Amazon Paperback:

Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:

Barnes and Noble Paperback:

Kobo eBook:

Apple iBook eBook:

Google Play eBook:

The Book Depository Paperback:

BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Victor will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.



**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this blog.  This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**

This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions.  Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.

15 comments:

  1. Victor ~ Good morning! Welcome to FAB! It is so great to have you here! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)

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  2. Your book sounds like alot of fun. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Thanks for your guest post! I feel like most authors deal with those three obstacles! However, I actually feel like I get more done when I'm pressed for time. It makes me sit down and actually focus for 20 minutes when I've got 30 other things to do so that I am laser intense on my writing. I've enjoyed your posts!

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    1. Yea, I'm one of those people who also work well under pressure. If I have a big open-ended chunk of time I just bounce around with no focus. That's why I have to use apps to take away all those options so I'm forced to either stare at my Word document or write. I actually kind of miss having such a tight schedule because it really forces efficiency.

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  4. This sounds like my kind of read!

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  5. Interesting post. This is definitely some helpful information.

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  6. I appreciate getting to hear about your book. Thank you for sharing!

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  7. I'm amazed by an author's world building creativity. Thank you for hosting.

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  8. This sounds so good thanks for sharing!

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  9. Thanks for sharing about the Freedom app. That is exactly what I need to keep the distractions from distracting me!

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  10. Thanks for sharing this book. It's a new one for me.

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