Venis Nytes Writes

  It's November,  my birthday month and the anniversary of the day my brother died. Both are just a day apart. The first week of November is hard for me and I having been mourning every year since that fateful day when he gave his life to save someone else. 💔 I was just getting to know him and then he was gone. It's also Nanowrimo. The writers fast track time of the year. This month writers are expected to write 50k words or what is considered a complete book. Social media is filled with anxiety, depression and some proud moments of meetingb thy he daily goals or crushing them. I don't take part. For the last two years that I even knew about it, I did the large chunk of my writing in October knowing, November is a rough time. So I'm hashtagging  #nanowrimounofficial or #unofficialnanowrimo when I post word count goals. I set up a kdp account earlier and have been considering writing on Vella. I have two new wips I am working on. The first is a holiday themed story base...

  This month, has been full of doubts and depression. I got a few good reviews for some of my stories but then all of a sudden, Wattpad takes down Kissing in the Rain.  I had just over 1600 reads which was the first time I had reached over 1k reads on any of my stories.  I even had an overpriced book cover made.  That whole situation really stung. But I decided to wear it as a badge of honor and put the entire story that was better edited on Inkitt where I am almost up to 600 reads in under a month. I didn't edit the last story. I will before publishing.  Here's two encouraging reviews. I  am getting reads and votes, but I wonder if people aren't leaving a review because they don't want others to know they are reading erotic short stories.  Do other writers of erotic works have the same problem?  Anyways, Beef Witch You is done just need hard edit and formatting. I want to publish more than one book at a time because I want the freedom of writing ...

  Good gravy!! It's already September. Half of the month is gone by. Hi, my lovely readers!! I did it yall!! I finished my first draft of my novella Beef Witch You .  To type the words The End.    Life changing. I completed something that was not on my list of life things. I have written 2 complete novellas.  Kissing in the Rain: an erotic short story collection  Beef Witch You   (it's a semi-light hearted fun witch fantasy) I  still have a bit more editing, but I created the book cover myself and found a pro to make a promotional video for the story. I think it turned out nice.  Did you know that I have a Spotify playlist for Beef Witch You?  I paid for some advertising last month, but it didn't help as much as I expected.  I made a tiktok page but I don't want to be in front of a camera. I have no desire to attempt any of the latest trends and since I am a new writer...not a new actor, I wonder how it will help me gain exposure fo...

  Writing marginalized characters This was posted on @mpiper_writes on IG I think it's a wonderful piece of advice and a great discussion as a fledgling writer.  I have an Egyptian Trans character, a bi male, a gay female and an asexual character in my wip Ginnie Transformed. They are all side characters. I focused more on the personality than trying to tell their story, but wanted diverse representation in my story.  Just like when I used to read romance growing up and never saw a woman of color represented as a love interest. I like seeing the pieces of a character that aren't perfect and more authors are incorporating this aspect into their books. But mentioning sometimes is better than writing as the premise because looking from the outside in is a whole different perspective.   I am a black woman married to a white man. My father's second wife was white, and the brothers and sister I was raised with are biracial which came with its own set of challenges....

  So August is upon us. I set some lofty goals for the month. I posted this on some of my social media sites.  Here are my writing goals for the month of August: I have completed half of Chapter 6 of my ongoing story Beef Witch You  and hope to be ready to start Chapter 7 midweek while I finish up and edit Chapter 6. That is how I have been able to post between 3500  to 3700 word chapters weekly. Beef Witch You will be a novella. Eventually I  will write a novella for each sector of Forestdale.  They will be free and published on Wattpad and Inkitt. I think it's a good way to practice and improve my writing while slowly building an audience.  I invested a little into some marketing efforts to drive readers to my books on Wattpad. The effect over all,  has been minimal at best. I have gained some very loyal followers of the story which makes me happy.  I have also tried jumping on some writerslift or writerlifts on Twitter but again, it's slow...

  Aspine Aspine (first draft) The first strike of lightning was followed by an ominous rumble of thunder. A heavy downpour of rain soon followed. Simon, Aspine's tabby, let out a sorrowful meow as he scurried to safety under her bed. "Scaredy cat." Aspine admonished gently with a slight smirk. She pulled up the soft down comforter and snuggled deeper into the soft haven of her bed. Streaks of light danced across her bedroom wall, lighting up the darkness in zebra stripes of whitewash. The rain patter across the roof played a treble beat of the seductive rhythm, soothing to her ears. The splashing water drops on the pavement outside her window, made for a sultry acoustic accompaniment. She thought of him then. The guy from the bar. The guitar player. His pale grey eyes haunted, as he picked and strummed his custom, Jaguar Fender. The power he possessed over the crowd, over her, spread through her very being like a drug. His music rippled through the air and landed gently ...