New Covers, Edits, and Trips
Hey Seedlings!
That’s right, I did just call you that.
So, July looms in the not-so-far-off distance, and you know what that means; the re-release! Yes, I’m still excited about it. Just today my agent forwarded me some sort of thingamajig Amazon had put together for promo purposes, and you know what it said on there? It said that there’s supposed to be an audio book! Now, I haven’t heard a dang thing about this, but I’m going to guess that the good folks at Amazon wouldn’t put that on any such promo doodads if it wasn’t true. Right? Right. So, holy crap… audio book!
And that’s not all! Oh no. Not all at all, ya’ll. Nope.
Remember how I’ve been going on and on about how there’s going to be a new Seed cover? Well, it’s here! Here on this blog, that is. The old cover will stay on Amazon until the new version is available for purchase. But you knew that. There’s also a new blurb. So without further delay… :pulls back the curtain:
With nothing but the clothes on his back—and something horrific snapping at his heels—Jack Winter fled his rural Georgia home when he was still just a boy. Watching the world he knew vanish in a trucker’s rearview mirror, he thought he was leaving an unspeakable nightmare behind forever. But years later, the bright new future he’s built suddenly turns pitch black, as something fiendishly familiar looms dead ahead.
When Jack, his wife Aimee, and their two small children survive a violent car crash, it seems like a miracle. But Jack knows what he saw on the road that night, and it wasn’t divine intervention. The profound evil from his past won’t let them die…at least not quickly. It’s back, and it’s hungry; ready to make Jack pay for running, to work its malignant magic on his angelic youngest daughter, and to whisper a chilling promise: I’ve always been here, and I’ll never leave.
So there you have it. Exciting! 
As I mentioned, I’m also working on a Seed soundtrack via Spotify, as well as a total overhaul of my website.
Meanwhile, I’ve still been hard at work on The Neighbors edits. We’re currently on the third pass, but we’re in the home stretch. And that’s good, because I’m due in New York City on June the 4th. Yes sir, this little author is being sent to The Big Apple to attend Book Expo America. I’m not exactly sure what goes on at these things, but I’ll be in attendance only to hear, over and over again, how much I don’t look like a horror author. Hoho, you? You’re too gosh darn cute to write stuff like that! I’m going to keep an official count of how many times people say this to me. Maybe we should start a pool. Who’s in?
Spring, Work, and Deadlines Up Ahead
I used to hate the warmer months. Granted, I’m still not much for summer. Living in New Mexico, the heat can be brutal. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve started to look forward to warmer weather. I love the night time, and there’s just something magical about being able to step outside long after the sun has gone down and not need a jacket or sweater. We’re getting to that point now. Soon, it’ll be too warm for my taste and all I’ll do is complain about how much I can’t wait for the fall. But for now it’s nice. It mellows me out, and mellow is good.
Mellow helps with deadlines. I’m currently knee-deep in editing The Neighbors, which is slated for a December release. I’m excited about it, but I’m also tired. When I wrote the first draft of The Neighbors, I immediately knew that there was something seriously wrong with the manuscript. I didn’t feel the spark that I had with Seed–that ‘people are going to love this’ feeling that gave me the courage to put Seed out there and see what happened. So after a bit of a break I went back and I rewrote just about all that I had. After the rewrite, I felt much more confident about the story. I liked the characters a hundred times more. The dynamic between characters had changed for the better. It was a lot of work, but I was happy with it because it had taken the story in a new direction and, hence, to a higher level.
Those of you who have been following me for a while may remember that The Neighbors was slated to be released in December of 2011. Well, that was nearly five months ago at this point, so what happened? It seemed that my rewrite paid off, because Amazon loved it and proposed to purchase the rights along with the rights for Seed. After talking it over with my agent, we decided that it was a good move to sell both at once. So we did, and December 2011 turned into December 2012.
But I have to say, I couldn’t be happier about that decision. There was still something missing from The Neighbors, and with the help of my amazing editor, we’ve nailed down some pretty awesome plot points. Unfortunately for me, I loved her suggestions so much that what was supposed to be an edit turned into rewrite number two. But this time with a deadline. This is where I stick my finger in my ear and blow my imaginary brains out.
I have spent the last week and a half in serious rewrite mode. And when I say serious, I mean serious. See that weird little rectangle on your left? I’ve minimized the image that much to spare your sanity. If you want to see it in all its glory, click on it. I dare ya’.
Oh, that’s not the entire document. No sir. That’s maybe half, if that.
It’s amazing how many people think being a writer is glamorous; as though I sit around on my silk-upholstered chaise eating bonbons all day. Sure, it’s got it’s perks, especially when you start raking in the dough (not quite there yet, myself), but it’s a hell of a lot of work. I’ve been writing full-time for nearly two months now. In that time, I’ve written a full-length novel and have rewritten another. My brain has started to liquify itself inside my skull. It isn’t easy. If you run into someone who says it is, laugh at them, and then remind yourself to never take anything they say seriously again.
Despite the work, I’m thrilled with the results so far. It’s been hard, but yet again, The Neighbors has become something so much better than what it was, something that I can’t wait to share with you guys come December.
But before we hit December, we have the summer to trudge through. And you remember what that means, right? The Seed re-release. The set date for the new version is July 17th. When I think about it, I can’t stop bouncing up and down in my computer chair. I can’t wait to hear from readers of the first, original version, because there’s no doubt in my mind that comments like ‘I love this book’ are going to turn into ‘how could this have possibly gotten better?’ But it has. Again, with the help of my indispensable editor’s help, we’ve elevated Seed to something I’d confidently present to the harshest horror critic. I love the story and it’s characters even more than I did before, and I can’t wait for you all to re-experience the story in a new way.
I’ve been hard at work with 47North, working on a new cover for the re-release, and that’s difficult as well. I love the original cover, and I did have the option of keeping it. But I’ve added so much new material to Seed that it felt strange to leave the same cover. I wanted to make sure that when it does come out, those who have already read it will know that it’s new–not the same thing they read before. I should have a sneak peek of the new cover for you all soon, though I’m not sure if I’ll post it here or on my Facebook page, so if you don’t already follow me there… you should! And if you’re an eager beaver, the paperback copy is already available for pre-order on Amazon here.
Speaking of the paperback, as weird as it is, a lot of readers who are hellbent on buying Seed in paper have been asking me if I’ll autograph their copies. Honestly, that’s really strange to me. The idea of someone wanting my autograph is just freaky, but of course I’m going to oblige. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, whether I’ll ever have an actual book signing or what, and even if I did, it’s crazy to expect people to travel to those things. (I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t do it. Maybe if it was Stephen King and it was a few hundred miles, but otherwise, no.) I have a lot of UK readers, and a few of them have requested that they mail me their paperback copies to be signed and returned. So, if you’re one of those people who asked, or someone who would be interested in collecting a completely random autograph from a completely random author, I’m planning on signing and returning books. I’ll have more information on how we’ll go about this process closer to the re-release date.
Oh! I nearly forgot. Something else I’m doing for the re-release: a Seed soundtrack. I’m compiling a list of songs that inspired me as well as make me think of Jack, Charlie, and the rest of the Seed gang. I’ve asked for reader suggestions on my Facebook page, but I’ll take them here in the comments as well. So if there’s a song or three out there that makes your skin crawl, let me know! And if you feel like it, I have a ‘favorites’ playlist on Spotify. This list will be added to, subtracted from, and constantly modified according to my mood. But if you feel like crawling inside my head, these are the songs that are really doing it for me right now.
Okay, that’s it for now. This blog post was way too long. ‘Till next time. 
A.
Read An Ebook Week: 03.04 – 03.11
It’s come to my attention that this week is ‘read an ebook week’, and seeing as to how I’ve been wanting to compose a blog post about a handful of ebooks written by some folks I know, this is the perfect opportunity to do just that. I’d like to make it known that I haven’t read all of the books that are on this list, so I can’t vouch for whether or not they’re up your alley. Do yourself a favor and download the sample before clicking the ‘buy’ button (personally, I never buy anything without sampling first). This is simply me doing my part to spread the word about a few authors you may have otherwise not heard of.
That being said, here’s the list, and here’s to hoping that you find something below that you’ll enjoy:
Arson by Estevan Vega
Arson Gable feels like a freak. He can create fire. He never asked for it. He never wanted it. But he can’t shut it off. Before now, three things were true: he both loved and despised his grandmother; his life was going nowhere; and he was alone. But when a strange girl–who feels more normal behind a mask than inside her own skin–moves in next door, Arson hopes to find something he’s never had: purpose. Using what he fears most about himself, Arson must face his consuming past and confront the nightmare that is his present as he walks the fine line between boy and monster. Read More…
Veronasongs (The Matadors) by Simbarashe
Donica Pine views herself as a normal, average, teenage girl. She loves to write, she’s attending public school for the first time in her life, and she’s developed an innocent crush on a boy in her class. The only problem is, everyone around her sees her as anything but normal. In this, her first year of high school, she’s been advanced to the junior class. Her older brother is infamous for keeping a universally loathed bunch of friends. Her mother might be a lunatic. Read More…
Exiled (The Protector Book 1) by M.R. Merrick
Chase Williams is a demon hunter in the Circle, or at least he was supposed to be. On his fifteenth birthday, Chase stepped up to the altar to claim his elemental power, but it never came. Elemental magic is passed down to a hunter through the bloodline, but on Chase’s birthday, the bloodline stopped.
Exiled without the Circle’s protection, Chase has spent two years trying to survive a world riddled with half-demons and magic. Read more…
The Dying of the Light: End by Jason Kristopher
“I didn’t see Rebecca die the second time.”
The United States military hides a secret: the completely real existence of eat-your-brains, one-bite-and-you’re-dead zombies. The Army has known they exist for over a hundred years, and has been quietly and expertly keeping the secret.
Until now.
His hometown destroyed, with everyone he has ever known dead and gone… Read more…
High Moor by Graeme Reynolds
When John Simpson hears of a bizarre animal attack in his old home town of High Moor, it stirs memories of a long forgotten horror. John knows the truth. A werewolf stalks the town once more, and on the night of the next full moon, the killing will begin again. He should know. He survived a werewolf attack in 1986, during the worst year of his life.
It’s 1986 and the town is gripped in terror after the mutilated corpse of a young boy is found in the woods… Read More…
Desert Places by Blake Crouch
The first installment in the Andrew Z. Thomas Series and a prequel to Crouch’s and Konrath’s thriller STIRRED…
Greetings. There is a body buried on your property, covered in your blood. The unfortunate young lady’s name is Rita Jones. In her jeans pocket you’ll find a slip of paper with a phone number on it. Call that number. If I have not heard from you by 8:00 P.M., the police will receive an anonymous call. I’ll tell them where Rita Jones is buried on your property, how you killed her, and where the murder weapon Read More…
And to round it off to a lucky seven, there’s always my little gem which, if you haven’t read yet… shame on you. 
Seed by Ania Ahlborn
In the vine-twisted swamps of Louisiana, the shadows have teeth.
Jack Winter has spent his entire life running from something no one else can see. His childhood is his darkest secret, but after a near fatal accident along a deserted road, the darkness he was sure he’d escaped rears its ugly head… and smiles. But this time, he isn’t the only one who sees the soulless eyes of his past. This time, his six-year-old daughter Charlie leans into his ear and whispers: “Daddy, I saw it too.” And then she begins to change. Read More…
Happy reading!
Beads, King Cake, and the Ghosts of the Bayou.
I can smell beignets in the air, hear the scream of a steel guitar. There’s a guy on the corner waving me down, fully clad in his waiters uniform, a wide smile pulled across his face. That place? They’ve got the best food in the Quarter. You’ll only know if you try it. A block away, someone’s wails into a karaoke microphone. The sludge in the gutters shine with the reflection of neon lights–somehow, here, even the sludge is attractive, buzzing with strange electricity, with an unshakable energy that you won’t soon forget. This is Bourbon Street, at least an outsider’s take. And while many would claim Bourbon is the pulse of all of Louisiana, they’d be wrong. Because I’ve had my finger on the pulse, and it’s far quieter than the incessant buzz of countless bars.
The closer we get to Mardi Gras, the more I miss it. Don’t get me wrong–when I visited Louisiana it wasn’t during Mardi Gras, and quite honestly I doubt I’d have adored the Quarter as much if it had been. With that many people, there’s an inevitable overflow of people onto the otherwise quiet Royal Street. I liked Royal the way I saw it–silent, nearly abandoned, its distinctly Southern homes standing in the shadow of ancient trees even in the dead of night. Those of you who know me and those of you who have read SEED are privy to the fact that when I packed my bags and left Louisiana in 2008, I didn’t pack everything. A sliver of my soul is out there somewhere, hovering over a murky bayou, twisting through the kudzu, tangled in the branches of an ancient oak. SEED was my attempt to take you with me, my attempt to drift back there on nothing but memory.
Louisiana is infectious, from the alligators that lazily drift through the swamps to the dilapidated shotgun shack along the water’s edge; there’s something in the air that turns you inside out, makes you feel like you’ve been there a thousand times even though it’s your first time. They say that meeting your soul mate is a lot like reuniting with a long lost friend. Maybe that’s it. I’ve stood on the Pacific Coast of Big Sur and watched the waves crash onto the shore. I’ve walked the streets of Manhattan while the buildings towered overhead. I’ve stood at the foot of the Matterhorn and had coffee in Freud’s favorite Viennese cafe. All of those places are still with me, but none of them haunt me like my geographical soul mate. Will I find another place that grabs hold of me the way Louisiana has? Maybe. Of all the places I’ve seen, I haven’t seen anything yet. For now, however, I stand firm: Louisiana has a certain kind of magic no other place can touch. There are ghosts in the air, secrets in the soil, Voodoo tangled in the moss that hangs from the trees.
I knew there would be magic. Anyone who has seen pictures of Lafayette’s cemetery #1 knows that. Magic like that is easy to feel after dark. What I didn’t anticipate was that I’d be able to feel it in broad daylight, be it on Bourbon Street or the distant town of Saint Francisville. But it was there. Walking the immaculate grounds of Oak Alley plantation in Valcherie, even just driving along the highways–seemingly in the middle of nowhere when, suddenly, there’s a picturesque Southern town winking past the car window–that magic was inescapable, and it came back with me. A thousand miles away, and I still feel it.
If there’s a place that can change you, that can twist you from the inside out, it’s her. Maybe I’m more open to it, maybe the Voodoo slithered up through my feet and into my blood. Maybe they poisoned my food, because everything was ‘the best’ I’d ever eaten. Maybe… but I doubt it.
I say that I left a piece of my soul in Louisiana, but in truth, I was just making room. I had to let a little piece of myself go to fit a piece of Louisiana inside my heart. Mardi Gras, king cakes and beads… they make me miss it because they remind me of where I could be when I’m not. Maybe I should bake myself a king cake and eat up until I find that plastic baby–and then I can wish for a reunion, me and that jazzy, haunting, beautiful place.
Did you like this post? Follow Ania on Twitter, Facebook, and visit www.AniaAhlborn.com to learn about Ania’s debut novel, Seed!
Updates, Edits, and Musical Inspiration
This isn’t much of a blog post; more of an update, I suppose. I like to fool myself into thinking that you’re interested in what I’ve been doing. Delusions of grandeur or something. I suppose it’s better that I feel this way now and have it lessen as time goes on rather than have it increase and turn into a raging egomaniac, right? Hey, it happens.
So, what have I been up to? Well, lets see…
First thing I did this month, other than whine about sales, is redecorate the home office. I was hit by a burst of inspiration (and the absolute mess that used to be the office in the first place) and redid the whole room in about four days. It was a ton of work but the difference is pretty amazing. I’ve been spending a lot more time at home from my ‘regular’ job because my hubs is awesome, so I figured hey, I’m about to start on another novel–wouldn’t it be nice to be able to write it in the home office rather than in the dining room? (Yep, I wrote nearly the entirety of The Neighbors sitting at the head of the dining room table. It was kind of weird, and the chairs aren’t all that comfortable.) So now I have an awesome work space with minimal distractions. Sidenote: writers, this sort of thing is absolutely worth the effort. If you have a cluttered, uninspired workspace, you’d be amazing what a difference it makes.
You can't see me in this photo, but I'm sitting right where you're looking... probably while you're reading this. Weird, huh?
And oh, how I’ve put this space to good use. I’ve been working with a professional editor to give Seed a good clean-and-polish for the re-release this summer. I was pretty apprehensive at first; not that I’m afraid of working with an editor or resistant to changes, just that I had never done it before and didn’t know what to expect. To my surprise, the whole experience was pretty amazing. I ended up adding about six thousand words of manuscript on top of countless edits and modifications. I’m pretty thrilled with the result. I knew Seed was a strong manuscript as it was, but now? Oh man. I’m so excited to get it out there, and I hope that many of you will check it out once it’s re-released because I really did add tons of detail. How much is tons? Well, check this out:
It looks like a lot of edits... because it IS a lot of edits. Oh god, so many.
See all the red stuff? That’s all additions, subtractions, clarifications, you name it. And all that blue stuff is editor’s notes. So yeah, it’s definitely going to be a full-fledged re-release, and I couldn’t be more excited about it.
Those of you wondering about sales, they’re up and down but next month will be better. That, and I won’t have much time to worry about them for the next couple of months. I’m getting read to drop the green flag on book number three, which I’ve tentatively titled The Pines. That title isn’t going to stick, but it’s good for the time being. Those of you itching to know what book number three is about, well… read Jack Ketchum’s Off Season. Fair warning, that book is seriously screwed up and I’m not big on writing gore, but if you read that you’ll have a decent idea of what I have up my sleeve. Just subtract the cannibals and add snow. I’ll be starting work on The Pines no later than the beginning of February, and I’m pretty excited about that too.
Man, I’m just excited about everything lately.
Other than that, I’ve been watching a lot of Breaking Bad (I was reprimanded about not having seen it since I live in Albuquerque, so I got on it and it’s pretty awesome) and listening to a lot of Gotye. If you haven’t heard Gotye, he’s pretty amazing; very much my musical muse at the moment. I editing almost all of Seed to him and will very likely write a good deal of The Pines while he’s streaming through my computer speakers. He’s like a fresh, indie Peter Gabriel and his videos are just phenomenal. If you have an hour to spend on YouTube, check him out. Brilliant brilliant brilliant.
Okay, I guess that’s all I’ve got for now. I’ll keep you updated on Seed stuff as it comes to me. Until then, feast your ears on this:
Readers To The Rescue: An Author’s Appeal
A lot of people see asking for help as a sign of weakness, and maybe they’re right. My father would be the first to point that finger. He’s your typical hard-headed ‘tough guy’ who doesn’t need help with anything (even if he does). I imagine that if he had a motto, it would be somewhere in the realm of ‘if you can’t do it yourself, you shouldn’t be doing it at all.’ I was raised with that mentality, and despite my best efforts to shake it off, I still catch myself getting frustrated when I can’t get something done on my own.
That being said, this blog post isn’t the easiest to write… but nothing good ever comes easy. I’m about to ‘put myself out there’ and that’s never a walk in the park. The moment it’s time to come clean, to be utterly open and honest, all of our insecurities–even the ones we swore we had conquered–come rushing back; a lot like that dashing high school quarterback, the one we wanted to date or the one we wanted to be. You know what I was in high school? A drama club geek who grew up to be the president of them all. So, you know… bear with me here. I may end up tripping over my own tongue.
I posted a question on my Facebook and Twitter account yesterday. It was a question regarding whether or not asking for help from my readers would be endearing or pathetic. Maybe pathetic wasn’t the right word to use, but endearing won out. Not a single one of you snorted or rolled your eyes. Okay, who are we kidding… I’m sure someone snorted, but they were good enough not to type it out for the world to see. Lucky for them, too. I’ve seen some of the comments on my Amazon reviews; some of you guys are positively rabid (and I love you for it).
But before I make my appeal to you, I’m going to talk your ear off first.
As I’m sure you know, Seed was free for three days. I know some of you looked at that whole situation funny–after all, what a stupid idea, right? Giving away the only book I have out for free. Ridiculous. Well, I partly did that as an experiment and partly did it as a way to show my appreciation for all the attention, the sales, the amazing reviews, warm comments, and even the occasional email telling me how much you loved the book. Someone once said ‘no good deed goes unpunished.’ I grimace at that idiom because in my case, right now, that couldn’t be more true.
When I put Seed up for free, it was ranked in the high 350′s among all the books in the Kindle store. It was #1 in Occult, #18 in horror overall. When Seed came off the free promo, it was close to #3,000. If you’re an indie author, take my experience as you will. Some would say it was totally worth it; after all, all of those free copies are potentially new readers for anything I put out in the future. Others would (and probably are) looking at those numbers with absolute horror. I’m in both boats. And that requires more explaining.
I’m the last person who’s ‘all about the money’ when it comes to my work. As you read this, I hope that you keep that in mind, otherwise my appeal to you will do nothing but make me look like a money-grubbing jerk. I’ve said this before, and I continue to say it: my readers are everything. They’re what made me, what will continue to make me, and what will–if it comes to it–end me as well. I’ve been loud and clear with the industry that my readers are my best asset, that I refuse to do anything to compromise my relationship with those who, at this point, not only see me as an author but also as a friend. One of the first things I said to Amazon was that I didn’t want a contract if it would mean price gouging on ebooks. Had they told me ‘take it or leave it’, I would have left it. Pinkie-swear I would have.
But on the other hand, neither you nor I have been immune to the shit that has become our economy. I’m a product of a small family business–one that I’ve worked for since I was sixteen (haven’t had a summer vacation or winter break since). This office, which once brought in plenty for me and my family to live off of is now limping along like a wounded dog. We keep wrapping up its leg, but it just keeps bleeding through the gauze.
Enough of the explanations. At this point I’m just beating around the bush.
I need your help and I need it now.
Seed has gone from selling 100+ copies a day to, I don’t even know what, but it’s not pretty. Yes, it’s slowly clawing its way back up the charts, but I don’t have a single doubt in my mind that it will not make it back to where it was–not on its own. No way. I waited it out to post this, watching the numbers, chewing my fingernails off.
I’m sure there are some people (writers, no doubt) who are reading this with a Grinch’s grin pulled tight across their face. I’m sure those are the ones who are thinking ‘man, this girl… she’s sad, daring to post such a pathetic plea.’ Maybe I am. I don’t know. All I know is that whenever the chips are down, it’s you guys who cheer me up. If I say one word about a bad review that’s got me down, I get dozens of comments telling me to ignore it. With that said, I suppose it’s natural that I’m turning to you now.
This is a self-portrait.
I’m sure that nearly everyone who’s reading this has already bought and read Seed. You wouldn’t be here otherwise. I don’t want your money, I just want your voice. My appeal to you: plug the book. Be it on Twitter, on Facebook, on your own blog, to the person sitting next to you in class or on the train. Behind the scenes I’m doing everything I can to push it, but I’m only one person. You guys, though… you’re a hundred times more powerful than me. If you enjoyed the read, tell people. If you haven’t posted a quick review on Amazon, do so. If you have a Twitter account, post a link. If you have Facebook, well, you know what to do.
I’ll be honest, I feel absolutely awkward posting this. My dad would be muttering behind my back, shaking his head, snorting at it all because ‘you can’t count on anybody.’ But I know he’s wrong.
Or at least I hope he is.
I guess I just have to swallow these jitters and hit enter before I delete this entire thing. Thank you, either way.
A.
(If you need the link: Seed on Amazon )
Some Opportunities Only Come Once; Seize Them. I Am.
It’s difficult to know where to start this post since there’s so much to say. This year has been a whirlwind. I wrote a novel. I self-published that novel. And the rest, well…
This entry may excite some, and it may anger and disappoint others. Fortunately, this year has taught me a lot of things–one of those things is to ignore negativity. It was hard at first, but I’ve gotten good at it. Believe it or not, but I used to be a hardcore pessimist. Optimism is my new flavor of choice. It’s hard not to be optimistic when something you’ve wanted for so long begins to come true.
First, the bad news, because it’s always better to rip off the bandaid rather than slowly peel it back.
A lot of you have been asking me about The Neighbors, and rightfully so. I did, after all, say it would be released this December. Here we are, December the 21st, and still no Neighbors. Surely they must be arriving any day now. Truth: they aren’t. Yes, the book is finished. It’s been finished for months. No, it won’t be released when I said it would be, and it won’t be released next month or the month after that either. I can explain. But it’s a long story.
I published Seed in May of this year, and it became a little miracle. Without much publicity, and without much fanfare, Seed clawed its way to the top of the charts by sheer willpower alone. Literally to the top of the charts. It was Amazon’s #1 horror novel for a few weeks. #1 horror novel… by some girl nobody has ever heard of. I’m not one to blow my own horn, but that’s kind of phenomenal. This stuff happens, but it’s always some other bastard who has all the luck. I guess my time was up. That some lucky bastard was me.
I’m sure a lot of people were counting on my luck to run out. But it didn’t. Seed hung on, and it’s still hanging on… not at #1, but pretty darn close. I’m sure a lot of people thought to themselves, ‘there’s no way that self-published book has staying power’ but somehow, by some strange magic, it’s kept up with the big boys. How long will it holds its position? There’s no way to tell, but there are a few people who believe that Seed will gain even more momentum before it slows. Enter Amazon.
About three months ago, I got an email that blew my mind. It was from Amazon Encore. Seed was making noise and they were listening. This was amazing news. It was one of those indie success stories you hear about now and again. Unknown author writes book, publishes book, and suddenly gets a publishing contract. Except that this time, that unknown author was me. I had my reservations, of course, but after a lot of thinking it over I decided that signing with Amazon was the best move I could make, at least as far as the future of my writing career was concerned. Sure, I could snub my nose at them and say I could do it on my own, but I’m not that bold, and I’m certainly not that stupid.
But I could handle the Amazon deal by myself. I’m a smart cookie. I was going to proceed on my own. That is, until I got an email from Paramount Studios. That’s right, the one in Hollywood. They wanted to know what was going on with Seed’s movie rights. While reading that particular email, my eyes fell out of my head.
Then, another email. Questions about translation rights. Suddenly, I was waking up in the middle of the night with my heart trying to jackhammer its way right out of my chest. I was in over my head. WAY over my head. I needed help. I needed (dun dun DUN)… an agent. As surprising as it was, it was harder to find an agent than I anticipated, even with Seed’s shiny sales numbers and emails coming at me left and right. I’m lucky enough to know some amazing people in this industry at this point, and one of those amazing people pointed me toward his own agent–a godsend! My luck was holding strong.
Despite the pending Amazon deal for Seed, I was still full speed ahead when it came to releasing The Neighbors independently. Amazon was aware of my plan and gave me their blessing. And then my agent, David, suggested something that gave me (yet another) anxiety attack: let Amazon read The Neighbors. Let’s just see what they say.
They loved it.
They loved it… and offered me a two-book deal; Seed with their horror imprint, 47North, and The Neighbors with their thriller imprint, Thomas & Mercer. Two imprints, two books, one contract, one no-name girl, a glittering future, and a partridge in a pear tree.
So there you have it: good news and bad news. The bad news is that The Neighbors won’t be available until late next year. The good news, or… at least a piece of the abundance that is good news, is that both Seed and The Neighbors will be available in print, potentially available in audio, potentially available in different languages, potentially available in physical book stores. I say potentially to all these things because we’re still in the beginning stages of all of this. All the while, I’m being told ‘baby, you’re a star!’
Could it be a setup? Well sure, anything could be. Do I think it is? No.
My cover designer asked me just today how I feel about waiting on The Neighbors for so long after I planned on releasing it on my own. I told him the truth. Of course, I’d love to not have to wait to release it. A lot of people were looking forward to reading it. But you know what? If a little bit of a wait is going to guarantee that I’ll be writing for you guys for years to come, I’m willing to check the days off of the calendar. And if a little bit of a wait is going to make this thing I’ve wanted for so long come true, well… I’ve been waiting forever up until now. I can make due with a little longer. I only hope that my readers will understand why I’m doing it. Hopefully this blog post helps.
With all that said, Seed is slotted for a re-release in the summer. Of course, the ebook will still be available through then. The Neighbors is going to have a splashy release in the fall. And until then, well… we’ll just get to know each other better while I continue to come up with new nightmares. Because the better I know you, the better I know how to keep you awake.
Here’s to 2012; a year that somehow, unbelievably, promises to be even better than 2011.
Did you like this post? Follow Ania on Twitter, Facebook, and visit www.AniaAhlborn.com to learn about Ania’s debut novel, Seed!
Holiday Eye Candy From… The House Of Horrors?
As a horror author, most people simply assume that my favorite holiday is Halloween; and while I do love everything about Halloween (especially the endless horror on TV), October isn’t the month that I pine for all year. I’m a Christmas girl through-and-through. As soon as Thanksgiving is gone, I’m pulling boxes out of the attic and decking the halls… and not with spooky decorations either. Odd as it is, I’m a traditionalist when it comes to the holidays. I don’t have a black pipe-cleaner tree decorated in nothing but red. My tree is a fresh-cut nine-foot fir, decked with delicate glass ornaments I’ve spent years collecting and carefully storing year after year. My favorite carols are by Bing Crosby and Doris Day. I spend countless hours in the kitchen cooking and baking, countless more wrapping and hand-tying pretty bows. For one month out of the year, my brain-demons are exorcised by ol’ Saint Nick, my dogs wear holiday sweaters, I wrap myself in a colorful apron and dance around the kitchen to Little Isidore’s Christmas of Love (look it up; it’s an awesome song).
Because this blog has become a place to share both my writing as well as little pieces of my life with you, my readers and friends, I present to you… a side of myself you very likely never saw coming.
Did you like this post? Follow Ania on Twitter, Facebook, and visit www.AniaAhlborn.com to learn about Ania’s debut novel, Seed!
Photofile: The Great Belgian Bowie Search
Just recently I had the pleasure of spending ten days with a Belgian boy I’ve known for years and years. He lives off of waffles and dark chocolate courses through his veins. Say hello to Lorenzo.
“Hello, Lorenzo!”
(That’s how the Dutch say ‘hi’.)
Lorenzo is more than a little obsessed with David Bowie, so when he arrived he didn’t even bother to say ‘hi’. All he said was ‘take me to Bowie’ and locked himself in the guest bedroom.
So, what does one do when a crazy foreigner locks himself in his temporary room? Find Bowie, of course. So, without further ado, I present to you our ten day search.
If you think ‘eccentric’ in New Mexico, you think Santa Fe. We started there.
No Bowie, just some sugar skulls and Dias De Los Muertos guys. We decided to give White Sands National Monument a shot. Lorenzo was excited because David Bowie filmed a movie there and Rens insisted we’d find him if we looked hard enough. Unfortunately for Lorenzo, he didn’t grasp just how vast White Sands actually is until we got there. Once we did, he took in the enormity of it with slack-jawed wonder.
The sun eventually set over the dunes and, still without Bowie found, we had to give up the search until another day. We moved on to Lincoln, New Mexico, thinking that maybe we could find Billy The Kid’s ghost and ask him where the enigmatic Ziggy Stardust was hiding. Unfortunately for us, Lincoln truly is a ghost town. There wasn’t a soul to be found. Not even a dead one.
Giving up on New Mexico altogether, we decided to search the Grand Canyon. We figured, it’s only the biggest hole in the world, heck, anything could be in it, including a musical space alien from Mars. So we hauled ourselves into Arizona to continue our search. This, too, was far bigger than Lorenzo had imagined; even bigger than White Sands, really… so he simply stood there peering through borrowed binoculars, cursing under his breath.
Not there either. That’s when Rens had an idea: maybe the Grand Canyon was too desolate; maybe Bowie had moved on to bigger and better and more industrial things, like the Hoover Dam. It was on the way, so we checked there too.
While the Hoover Dam did resemble a weird space station, Ziggy wasn’t there either. At this point Rens started to cry. “We’ll never find him!” he wept in his funny Belgian accent. I patted him on the shoulder and shook my head, trying to comfort him, but he was inconsolable. Eventually his weeping became embarrassing and I shuffled him back to the car. That’s when we started driving again, not toward home, but toward the dazzling lights in the distance. Because if Las Vegas is good enough for Elvis, it’s surely good enough for Bowie, right?
First, we checked The Strip:
We found a lot of hot babes, but no Bowie. Next, we searched the casinos:
We eventually ended up on Fremont Street: our final searching place. Luckily, the King was there. Unluckily, he wasn’t very helpful. He’d only speak to us for tips. So we said ‘screw that’ and continued our search on our own.
And then, in the distance… could it be? Rens was so happy! Not only did we find Bowie, but we found a friendly Elvis too!
Finally, our ten-day search had paid off! And all it took was like… two thousand miles of driving. But it was so worth it. Look at that Bowie. Okay… don’t look at him for that long. The effect wears off.
The next day I climbed into my car and prepared to drive for another ten hours while Lorenzo waved at me with a big smile on his face, truly satisfied because the Southewestern leg of his tour has resulted in nothing short of victory. So that, dear readers, bloggers, Tweeps, and friends, is how I spent a week and a half with a crazy Belgian. Thousands of miles traveled, dozens of restaurants visited, miles of pavement pounded beneath our weary feet, we finally found Lorenzo’s unicorn.
If there’s a moral to this blog post it could be this: follow your dreams, you’ll find what you’re looking for.
But really, it boils down to: if you’re looking for something, you’ll find it in Vegas.
