On My Hands and Knees Begging For Help:)

I know that donating to a project or cause that you have no guarantee will be a success can be intimidating. Maybe you think your pledge won’t make a difference. Maybe you are leery of giving money to a stranger. No matter what the reason, I hope you will reconsider.

I assure you that every dollar earned will be going to this book project. My fans want it so much that it is crucial for me to get it done. That being said, there is no way I would ever back out of my end of the deal.

Kick Starter is a crowd funding website that aims to help connect people with creative projects with possible investors. A person has a limited amount of time to reach their goal. If their goal is not met, no money exchanges hands. That’s right, your money never leaves your wallet.

Second, if you decide to pledge, you will receive prizes for your generosity. Therefore, it’s kind of like purchasing something. Once the goal date has passed, all the people who supported the project will receive their items.

I plan to send people who pledge emails updating them on the progress on the production of the audio book. I am producing my books through a company called ACX. The narrator I have chosen is Melissa Strom. She is a well respected and very talented actress. She has agreed to stay on for the entire series which is anticipated to be four novels.

Again, I know it seems risky. Just know that I will never receive any of your financial banking information. All transactions are completed through Amazon Payments. This is a secure way to ensure your financial protection.

The reason it is so important to me to have my books done in audio is because… well, I myself am blind. I know what it’s like to look for a novel on Audible and have it not be there. That is one of the most frustrating things a book lover can go through. Additionally, as mentioned earlier, fans have written to me wanting to know when the series will be available in audio.

The only reason I haven’t done it by myself is because I haven’t had the money. My first book only just came out in August and the second will be out in December. Therefore, right now my funds are limited. I would never ask strangers for funds if it wasn’t completely necessary. This is the only way I can carry out this portion of my dream in a somewhat timely fashion.

I am a single mommy to two great little girls. I want them to be proud of their mom. Most of all, I want to build a career that will give them a better life. Yes, money can’t by happiness, but it is a big part of life.

I don’t want to depend on Disability income anymore. I want the pride of standing on my own two feet knowing that I’ve worked my buns off to get there. When I received my first royalty check of fifty dollars, you would have thought that I had been given a mountain of diamonds and gold ripe for the picking. I cried, knowing that this was my first real pay check. I earned it all by myself and not because of something that was beyond my control.

The town I live in is a difficult one for finding regular employment, especially when you have a disability. I have tried on numerous occasions to get a job. On all of those occasions I was turned down. They of course couldn’t tell me the real reason, but I knew what it was. They were intimidated by my blindness. They didn’t think I could handle the job, though I was more than qualified. I was never given the proper chance that I deserved and wanted so desperately.

You see, I have never been someone that enjoys getting something for nothing. That’s why it took me so long to decide on creating a Kick Starter project. I finally decided that it wouldn’t hurt to try. If someone didn’t want to pledge, they didn’t have to. If they did, then awesome.

I didn’t want to wonder for the rest of my life if it would have worked. It’s the what if’s that keep you up at night and kicking yourself in the end.

The great thing about a Kick Starter project is that you can back out at any time if you change your mind. The minimum pledge is one dollar, so breaking the bank is not a problem. You will have comfort in knowing that you helped in making someone’s dream come true. Someday when I’m as famous as James Patterson or any of the other great authors out there, you can say you helped me get to where I am.

I don’t plan to take your money and run. As I’ve said, you will get some really cool prizes for each of your donations. I will send you update emails and I’d like to keep in touch with you long after the project is completed. I want you to know that your contribution means a lot to me and I will never forget it or you. I will also be happy to respond to emails anytime, even if the project is done and the productions complete. After all, if it wasn’t for all of you, it wouldn’t be possible.

I only have until November first to reach my goal. That is less than two weeks away. So I am before you on my hands and knees begging for your support. Pretty please consider helping me achieve my dream. It would mean a lot and I’d be eternally grateful.

Help Bring Clandestine and Divinity to Audio

I have launched a project on Kick Starter My project is to raise the funds necessary for creating audio books of Clandestine and Divinity.
As most of you know, Clandestine and Divinity are the first and second book in the Bound In Blood series. Clandestine was released in August of this year in both print and eBook formats and is doing very well.

I have received several messages, mainly from viewers of this blog to make the series in audio. In order to make this a reality sooner rather than later, I have turned to Kick Starter for help.

For each pledge you make, you will receive several great rewards and prizes. It is a win win situation. You would be helping an author make her dream come true and getting something cool in return.

Even if you decide not to pledge, I would really appreciate it if you could visit the page anyway. You can see a super cute video of my two girls that will make you smile. While you're there, please be sure to help spread the word by pressing the Facebook like button, tweet it and or pin it. This will help get the word out. The more people that hear about this the better.

So have I convinced you yet? Please visit the site below and check out the project and cute video of the girls.



Thanks again and I hope you decide to help:)

Giving Up Is Not An Option

Sometimes things happen in life that you don’t expect. Sometimes for a very select few people, life goes completely according to plan. The majority of us this isn’t true.

The most important thing to remember is that you are not alone in this world and there are people who understand and sympathize with what you are going through. There is no problem to big or to small that doesn’t have some sort of solution or another. There are resources everywhere and thanks to the World Wide Web, the answers are at your finger tips.

Giving up is not an option. Even when you think there’s nothing left to be done, giving up is not an option. It is true what they say “quitters never win and winners never quit”.

All of this applies whether you are blind, visually impaired and even sighted. It doesn’t matter what walk of life you come from or what your financial standing is. You matter and so does your life.

Want to make it great? Get out there and do something with it. No body can make you happy unless you are first happy with yourself. If you want something go after it, fight for it and hold onto once you have it with a death grip. Don’t stop until you’ve obtained your dreams. Stare defeat and failure in the face and stick your tongue out.

The only thing holding you back from self actualization is your own inhibitions… so knock it off!

My dream… I am getting ready to publish my first book Clandestine If I can accomplish my dreams, I know you can too. So get out there and make it happen!

A Little About My New Project And A Little About Clandestine

I just got back from camping today and it’s been a very productive writing day. My kids have been absorbed in activities that they haven’t been able to do much in the last week or so which has allowed me to be very efficient with my latest project.

I am super excited about it because the main character of this one is a totally blind person. It isn’t as easy as you would think to write a character like that. Sure I can’t see so I can easily get into the person’s head to write them that’s true. But a reader (especially a sighted reader) wants description. A blind reader wants description too but for a different reason. I live by the saying that an audio book is a blind person’s television. This is because you don’t miss anything when you read like you do when you listen to your favorite show or movie.

Anyway as always I’m veering off track. In order to make a blind main character work affectively I have decided to make her someone who became blind rather than someone who was born that way. She has only been blind for a year so she is still in the stage where she is pretty much a Debbie Downer on the subject. It hasn’t dawned on her yet in the book that blindness isn’t the end of the world.

I went through a lot of mixed emotions when I lost my sight. I have also had gobs of people ask what that was like and how it felt. I thought it would be a good element to add to the story of such a multi faceted character.

The book is still in the beginning stages so I don’t want to give away much but I will tell you that I’m only at chapter 4 and I’m already falling in love with it. Don’t get me wrong I love Clandestine too but in an entirely different way. The Bound In Blood series is fun to write and I have put a lot into it. But with this project I’ve really delved into my soul and put a piece of my soul into it.

I hope you adore this story as much as I do. I am unsure yet if it will be a series but can definitely see the potential for one with the plot that is unraveling.

I promise to keep you up to date on that and also with the second book in the Bound In Blood series Divinity whenever possible. I know I have been neglecting my blogs lately and for that I’m sorry, I truly am. But its summer time so both kids are home full time, we’ve been camping a bunch and also been devoted to the new books I’m working on coupled with getting Clandestine out for your viewing pleasure.

There have been a lot of questions about whether or not Clandestine will be made into an audio book. When it is released it will only be available in print and EBook. BUT I promise that an audio version will be made available as soon as that is possible. Unfortunately, the production of an audio book is very expensive. I looked into hiring a narrator but the cheapest I have found is five hundred dollars and right now that is just not an option for me. That is definitely one down side to self publishing, accessible formats take a while if they come at all.

I have been looking into finding someone I know read it for me but that isn’t as easy as it looks either. I have to be sure the person has the right quality and tone to their voice to portray Emily as well as the rest of the slayer gang. It will be done I promise. I’m just not sure when.

I will write again soon and let you know how things are going. PS… I will be posting this same post on both my blogs so all of you will be equally informed.

Introducing My New Blog

It is still in the beginning stages but I have started a new blog today to talk about my writing. It doesn't have a lot to it yet but I hope you all will check it out and subscribe.

Once you are there you can click on the link labeled "Clandestine" to read a blurb about my upcoming book. It will be out soon in Print and EBook format on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ITunes and hopefully at some point on book shelves at local book stores:) That last one is more of a dream of mine but we will see what happens.

I will still of course be writing for this blog so don't worry. In the very near future I will be publishing a post entitled "The Real Blind Date". The name obviously speaks for it's self so I wont bother summarizing but I know you will love it.

Please check out the new blog "Nicole Rae's Blog" and be sure to subscribe. I am also now on Twitter and you can find me at NicoleRae@NicoleRae83.There is a direct link to my Twitter on this site already and one will be up on the new blog tomorrow. The address for Nicole Rae's Blog is http://www.authornicolerae.blogspot.com

I am getting ready after publishing this post to add a link list feature to this site and it will have a direct link to the new blog for your convenience. For all my fellow blindy's if you scroll down until you find the heading "Visit My Other Pages", the link will be under that.

I'M PUBLISHING A BOOK!!!

Hi everyone long time no talk! I apologize for my extended absence on the blog. I haven’t forgotten it I promise. I have just been very busy with my latest project… my first book!!

It’s called Clandestine~ Slayer Saga Book 1! I’m getting it published and hope to have it out next month! It’s an Urban Fantasy/paranormal fiction book for young adults and adults who carry the genre as a guilty pleasure. : )

It will be available in print and EBook. I’m trying to get things squared away for an audio format to be released but that process is a little bit trickier. So to my blind readers I am terribly sorry. Hopefully though you will be able to read the book in the EBook format with an EReader using a text to speech program. I really am sorry about this but I am going the Indie publishing rout and audio publishing is very expensive. I will remedy that problem as soon as I am able I assure you. I know what it’s like to want to read a book only to find it isn’t available in an accessible format.

The publishing industry is a confusing place. A lot of work goes into publishing a book. My hat’s off to all the Indie writers out there. One good thing is that aside from the work it’s not difficult. Well, scratch that. Parts of it are hard and others are just tedious. A prerequisite for this business are definitely motivation, drive, knowledge and passion.

I will be using Create Space, Kindle Direct and Smash Words. Create Space is who will be printing the book. They have excellent customer service. They offer a number of services that you can pay for to get your book out there smoother. The good thing about them is that if you are like me and don’t have a lot of money to get your project completed; they don’t hassle you. They also don’t disregard your customer service request just because you’re not buying their services. To all my blind readers who are looking to get a book published the Indie way; I think you will be pleasantly surprised with Create Space. They are very supportive and not opposed to revamping their explanations to fit our disability. There Do It yourself (DIY) process on their site are accessible and easy to understand. The only problem with the site that I’ve run into is with the Cover Creator tool they provide. Once you get past the first step it’s no longer accessible. Well, I will say it’s no longer accessible if you are running an older version of JAWS. I’m not sure if the problem would be remedied if you were using the current version.

I haven’t had to use the customer support for the other two companies mentioned above so I can’t give a recommendation one way or another with them. I will say that I have read articles by other Indie authors that say they used them and the process was relatively seamless. I didn’t see any complaints mentioned. I have not found any articles written by blind authors so I’m not sure about that aspect.

Did I mention my book was called Clandestine~~ Slayer Saga Book 1?? I am so excited! I hope that all of you loyal readers and even new ones order a copy and request your local book stores and libraries to carry it once it’s out as well. In the beginning it will only be available online but it will be listed in the two main catalogues for book distributors. This means book stores and libraries can easily search the title and order copies! Isn’t that cool??

I will be posting a blurb about it soon on all my sites but I have to put the finishing touches on the description. I’m going to be launching a second blog soon on Blogger to further publicize the book and also future books as they come out. I have debated and am still sort of on the fence on if using this blog as my book blog as well as to talk about blindness is a good idea. If any of you have an opinion I would really appreciate you leaving it in the comment section of this post or using the “Contact Me” link to send me a private message with your thoughts. Also leave a comment if you are interested in more information about Clandestine! I would be happy to chat with you about it

Side Note: I’ve recently signed up on Twitter! I’m not really sure completely how it works yet but am excited. It will give me yet another way to connect with peers, fans and friends. If you follow me on Twitter you will get updates about this blog, the new one if and when I publish it, book info and random tid bits from my life. If you tweet to me I will always respond so happy tweeting! You can click on the link under the heading “Follow Me on Twitter” on this page or search for me at http://www.twitter.com I’m under the @name NicoleRae83. Additional note to blind tweeters: The “N” and the “R” of my name on Twitter are capitalized. Hope to see all of you there!!

Don’t forget to leave your comments about the book blog dilemma in the comment section. And if you haven’t joined this site, the You Tube Channel or the Facebook page what are you waiting for? lol But seriously, please show your support by joining, subscribing and or liking.