Update on Space Orville

My husband, Jeff Whelan, has been marketing his eBook Space Orville, and has quite a few reviews on Amazon that are really amazing. Check out his blog and this wonderful review. 

Youthful Yogini is Now 1 Year Old!

I just realized this morning as I was on hold with my vision care insurance company that it has been one year since I've started this blog, Youthful Yogini. This has given me a "hard" copy of my journey since last year.

It seems so often in life that we go by, day by day, on autopilot. Our morning rituals before heading out the door, working our allotted time, and then heading off for errands, or whatnot, before we go home and start the evening rituals. This blog, however, has enabled me to stop and examine certain situations and reflect on them. If I felt they had a good lesson, then I blogged about it. For example, my post on Weaving Imperfection into Life helped me to put the remodeling of my bathroom into perspective.

I also looked back and saw indications that I hadn't managed my pain before it got out of control. This prompted me to put together my Tips for Managing Chronic Pain. This continues to be my reminder that all is not out of control, and just by a little tweaking (or a lot, depending on the day), I can begin to get my pain under control. In that link you will find "recipes" to help make homemade hotpacks and coldpacks.

This blog has also opened up a new world to me: Indie Authors! My husband, Jeff Whelan, published his first book, a YA humorous science fiction novel, called Space Orville. Jeff started tweeting to promote his book, and in doing so, mentioned my blog to other indie authors. In the process I met some wonderful indie authors; one of whom, Martha Bourke, has become a good friend. I also had the pleasure to interview Kristie Haigwood whose story was a page turner as well.

I am amazed at how much I have learned throughout this year and how much I have enjoyed blogging. Initially I thought I would blog only about yoga, but as it turns out, we are more than just the sum of our parts. Wouldn't you agree?

Kristie Haigwood, Indie Author

When I started this blog, I thought that it would just be about yoga. Seems that I've expanded my horizons, so to speak. Honestly, this has been such an exciting adventure. Kristie Haigwood shared with me (as you'll see in a moment) that her characters demand that their stories are told. Well, I guess that's what's happening here. I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would be so interested in learning more about indie authors. My best guess is I've seen how much work my hubby, Jeff, has put into marketing Space Orville and I guess it got me to thinking: Are all indie authors this driven? So my exploration began. I truly intend to keep up these interviews as often as I can (or as often as indies will let me!)




So it is my pleasure to introduce Kristie Haigwood to you all! Enjoy!!!

http://www.amazon.com/K.-S.-Haigwood/e/B007Q1UCZ4

I finished your book Save My Soul last month and really enjoyed it. Please give a synopsis of the book. I am really very bad at summarizing anything, especially my own books. I feel like I'm not explaining enough so you will understand what the story is about. It took me 4 hours just to write the blurb for Save My Soul. LOL. I'm not joking, I over explain, over exaggerate things and it's really hard for me to squeeze a whole book's worth of events into a couple of paragraphs. So, I will share my blurb and a review from a reader with you if you don't mind.

Blurb -

Kendra Larkin had everything going in the right direction. Her life was seemingly perfect, and she wouldn't have changed a thing about it. Unfortunately, the course of her life was about to be forever altered. A tragic rappelling accident lands her on Dr. Adam Chamberlain's operating table.
She agrees to a deal proposed by a guardian angel to help save the soul of the man who is both her doctor and soulmate. If she is successful, she gets to keep her life. However, she later learns that it isn't just her life that's in jeopardy, but her soul as well.
Even with the help of her handsome guardian angel, Rhyan, it seems there is no happy ending in sight. Torn between her newly discovered love of Rhyan, and the undeniable attraction she has for Adam, Kendra finds herself at a crossroad. With Adam's steadfast rejection of God, and his guardian demon conspiring against her, she fears her soul may already be lost.
Will she find a way to overcome the evil her life is suddenly burdened with? Or will Adam's guardian demon win both their souls and make Kendra his own personal puppet in Hell?

Review - by M Medler "Ella"

Save My Soul is classed as a romance. I think that is wrong. I think this novel creates its own genre. I'll call it `action romance' for lack of a better description.
Kendra Larkin has a problem: She's just had an accident that should kill her. But she's too young to die, so she feels pressured to make a deal with an angel who can save her life. The trouble is, you can't trust just any odd angel and there are some little details Coen has omitted to mention in the heat of the moment.
The events begin to unravel at break-neck speed and Kendra struggles to make sense of life with a guardian angel by her side and at the same time her own feelings towards her angel, Rhyan, dashing nurse Mason and the object of the task she's been given - Dr. Adam Chamberlain, M.D.
I have to say, whenever I see mentions of angels, I worry. To me, religion is a private thing and I don't enjoy having God and Christianity shoved down my throat. I needn't have worried. Despite being full of angels from about page two onwards, Kristie Haigwood makes the storyline so real and its characters so well-defined, that it feels perfectly natural to have a guardian angel read your thoughts, talk to you incessantly and even pop in and out of existence when you least expect it.
There are so many twists and turns, you'll be pointing down the wrong path more times than not. Kendra doesn't know her mind and you'll be living her emotions and rooting for her every step of the way. You might even recognize some of her predicaments, though you might not be able to deal with them with quite as much humor and light-hearted absurdity as she does. The scenes in which Kendra tries to make the models of her photography business look more camera-friendly are the funniest I've read in many months.
I can't imagine there would be anybody that wouldn't enjoy reading this book. It is funny, exciting, fast, sexy, grown up and playful all at the same time. For me it was a wonderful find, a fantastic experience. If I was searching for a read perfectly suited to myself, I couldn't have found anything better.

Where did you get your ideas for the book? For some reason I always feel like I sound like a crazy person every time somebody asks me that question. I promise I'm not crazy; I just have very interesting friends. I don't sit around and daydream about what I'm going to write about next. I can't, it's impossible for me. Call it my muse or call it the voices in my head, but they are very real to me and they tell me what to write. I'm up to 47 voices, er...characters right now. It gets pretty crowded in my head sometimes. But hey, if I can write a novel in 21 days, then a week later turn around and write another novel in 28 days, it really doesn't bother me who thinks I'm crazy.

When did you become interested in writing? June of 2010 an idea kept playing around in my head. I would wake up thinking about it, couldn't sleep because of it, so I finally sat down and wrote a paragraph. That paragraph turned into a chapter, and that chapter turned into a book. Okay, so I never went to college, and had never even dreamed of writing a book, but now here I had one (a very rough one, but with a lot of potential, I might add). I sent it out to 57 different agents and was turned down by every one of them. I can laugh about it now. My writing has improved considerably over the last 2 years, and 5 more books. That first book is actually a series and it will be published very soon. Save My Soul was actually the 4th book I wrote.

Are you the kind of writer that needs to outline your work first or do you just sit down and start writing and let the ideas come? I sit down and start writing, and with very little sleep or food, I never correct anything until after I am finished. Writing a book is just as exciting to me as reading one for the very first time. I know it may sound strange coming from a writer, but I have no idea how the book will end, what will happen in the next chapter or even the next sentence for that matter. Like I said before, my characters tell me what to write and then I write it. Kendra was a very aggressive character. I hardly slept at all. She wanted me writing constantly. Mitch and Ciera were the same way for Forbidden Touch. I was very tired for 2 months straight. I think I slept for a whole 24 hours after finishing Forbidden Touch.

You seem very comfortable writing about the paranormal genre. Why do you think that is? 

The Paranormal world has always interested me. I had a ghost in my house when I was little. I thought for the longest that the old man was my guardian angel, but sadly it wasn't the case. I found out later on in my life that he had lived in my house before my family had moved in. He had taken his own life in the back bedroom of my house; my bedroom. LOL. Don't worry, he never tried to hurt me, but all too often I would wake in the middle of the night to find him staring at me. I was the only one to ever see him. Most kids would freak out about something like that, but I have never been normal, so I guess I am an exception to the rule. Besides, I was 3 when we moved in and 10 when we moved out. I guess I thought that it was normal for every house to have a ghost. *shrugs shoulders* As a young teen I took up reading as my hobby. I read Christopher Pike's young adult suspense novels. I was hooked. Over the years as vampires, witches, angels and other paranormal things crept into the land of words, I leeched on with a passion that cannot, and will not, ever be explained. I love the written word. I love fiction, and if you throw something in there that will make me believe there is more out there than the mundane life we all have to deal with to survive, then I'm all for it. OK, here's my two cents: We all need to believe there is something more out there! At least, in my opinion!!!

You have a new book out called Forbidden Touch. Tell me about that book? Is it similar to Save My Soul or a completely different genre? 

Same genre, different paranormal creatures altogether. Vampires this time instead of angels and demons, and again I will share the blurb and a review from a reader. You really don't want me to attempt summarizing. :o)

Ciera has to break the ultimate vampire law to save Mitch, her mortal soulmate, from a terrible fate. Dane, the vampire who would do anything to win her affection, is responsible for Mitch being framed for murder. A fast chain of events is set in motion, which leads to the soulmates being torn apart and Ciera to lose her heart to the one person she has always despised, Dane. She finds herself completely in love with both men. But a rogue vampire puts them all in grave danger. Can she keep them both? Or will she have to accept one lover’s sacrifice, to save the other?

Review -

A must read paranormal romance! (especially if you love vampires) I would love to start my review with all the spoilers I read during the last chapter, because I just could not believe what happened. I was emotionally worn out when I was finished with a totally unexpected and touching ending. But alas, I do not like to write reviews with spoilers, so here is my no-telling review:
Ciera, a vampire assigned to help solve murders committed by a rogue vampire, has been secretly watching and lusting after, Mitch, a detective working the murders. One of her clever skills is the ability to make herself invisible. As such, she silently watches Mitch nightly, invades his dreams, trying to help him solve the crime. Until one day, Mitch senses her and decides he must have her. After all, he has been with her in his dreams for nights. There is strong chemistry between Ciera and Mitch and you root for them to be together from the very beginning. But Ciera is conflicted knowing that she and Mitch both will die if she gets involved with him, a human.
While is against vampire law to reveal their existence to mortals, Ciera is forced to fully show herself to Mitch and tell him who she is, a vampire, in an effort to save him. When he becomes accused of the very murders he is trying to solve, they go on the run, seeking sanctuary where they could live together without fear of retribution (death) from the Elders.
With the assistance of a witch, they almost reach their destination. Unfortunately, Ciera's brother Dane, who is not her real brother but a vampire friend assigned to watch her, captures her. And another powerful vampire captures Mitch.
Dane is a wonderful character who I disliked in the beginning because he wanted to capture Ciera and seemed like the villain, but then later, I simply fell in love with him within 10 pages. He turned out to be just as captivating and handsome as Mitch. And Ciera who initially rebuffs his advances, soon finds herself falling in love with Dane as well as Mitch. She eventually decides she wants both men in her life and cannot live without either one. I cannot reveal more as there are some major twists and turns in the story. I was almost crying by the end.
I really, really loved this book. It was a great love story and I really hope I see some of the characters in books to come.

Why did you choose the self-publishing route? Had you tried getting your manuscript published the traditional route? I tried traditional with absolutely no luck as I stated before, but I really didn't think I had another option. I didn't know about self-publishing and independent authors 2 years ago. When I did find out about it, and realized how easy it was to do it on my own, I thought, why the hell not? It's my work and all the money and rights to my book will all be mine. So I guess getting turned down by all those agents was actually a blessing in disguise. Everything truly does happen for a reason. I wouldn't have it any other way. Nothing short of the Big 6 could get me to traditional publish, and they would have to have some very deep pockets. My books are my babies, and just handing them over to someone else would make me feel like I have given up on myself and my books. If I can do it on my own, then I will do it on my own.

Please tell me something that is uniquely you. Oh, geez! I find it very difficult to talk about myself. I'm not any better than anyone else in this small world just because I have a few imaginary friends that like to help me write books to entertain people. I don't care if I sell 10 million copies, I will still talk to my readers via twitter and facebook. A few book sales and some change in my pocket will not ever make me better than the awesome people who read and love my books. They make me who I am now and who I will be in the future. I am just me, and that's who I will always be. I don't want to be someone else, and that is something unique about me, because most people dream about being someone other than who they are. I just want to be me.

Where can my readers find your book.

http://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-Touch-ebook/dp/B008DKORNU/ref=la_B007Q1UCZ4_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340989029&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Save-My-Soul-ebook/dp/B007LB76A8 

To follow or contact Kristie, follow one or all of these links!
http://www.kshaigwood.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/kristie.haigwood
http://www.facebook.com/kshaigwood
https://www.facebook.com/forbiddentouch
https://twitter.com/kshaigwood

Independent Author Network, Space Orville

I am so proud and in awe of my husband, Jeff Whelan. He received an award from the Independent Author Network (IAN) for the month of July IAN for the most hits to his IAN page. This is not a surprise for me, I always knew once he got his book published nothing would stop him. It now seems to be happening for him (and of course our family). We are truly blessed.

Review for Space Orville

We have so much to be grateful for in the Whelan household! Through the hard work of my husband, Jeff, he has truly made a name for himself as a published author! I always knew his book would be received if he could just get it published...unfortunately, publishing houses would not take a chance on him. Their loss for sure. Now because eBooks are all the rave, indie authors have found a format to publish their works. I have never seen Jeff work harder or more energetically as he has now. He is all about promoting his book and it makes me so proud to see him shine!

If you follow this link http://jeffwhelan.wordpress.com/2012/06/17/baby-steps/#comment-366 you will find other links that will take you to interviews with Jeff and one book review. It is truly wonderful! Namaste.

BTW, Happy Father's Day to all the deserving fathers out there! Have a blessed day!

Indie Authors

I have never met a writer that is as creative or as eloquent as my husband, Jeff Whelan. He has been a writer for years and has written some beautiful, and sometimes humorous, poetry. For example, in our house, our artwork consists of beautifully written poetry displayed lovingly on our walls written by Jeff. For our birthdays and other special occasions, our celebrations would not be complete without his special poetic dedication to our day.

Jeff tried for years to get published the traditional way, but time after time, he would receive yet another rejection letter. I watched helplessly as his confidence wavered. Then my sister turned him on to Amazon. He was able to publish his completed manuscript online. Of course, there are places in the eBook that would welcome professional editing, but without a publisher, it is difficult…so he had to rely on outside readers to look at it…mainly me.

So I applaud all those indie authors out there who got fed up with waiting for their manuscripts to be published and took publishing in their own hands. To me this is a fabulous proactive way to thumb their noses at the publishing companies. Who says indie authors have substandard work? Not me!

Besides reading my husband’s book, Space Orville http://jeffwhelan.wordpress.com/category/shorts/, I have read two other indie authors, and I enjoyed them very much. The first one I read was Golden Boys by R.G. Lawrence http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=golden+boys+r+g+lawrence. This realistic science fiction story centers around high school seniors who get a chance to take a glimpse at their future. It’s both heartwarming and bittersweet. An excellent read for sure.

The other book I’ve read is Save My Soul by K.S. Haigwood http://www.amazon.com/K.-S.-Haigwood/e/B007Q1UCZ4. This spiritual book can be describes as an adventure, a thriller, and a love story. The protagonist has a near-fatal accident, but is brought back to life by an excellent surgeon. But her life could be taken away in a week if she does not convince her surgeon to believe in God again. A guardian angel struggles to keep Kendra’s soul intact, while the surgeon’s guardian demon tries to steal both their souls. This book is a beautifully written story that was difficult to put down.
 So if you have a Nook, a Kindle, or even a computer, you can choose a number of eBooks to download—some for free! I guarantee, once you start reading indie authors, you’ll be clamoring for more!

My Husband's Interview

This weekend, my husband, Jeff Whelan, was interviewed by blogger Kevin Gerald Rau about his new ebook, Space Orville. This was a really good opportunity for him to share about his book and his writing. If you're interested, take a peek!  Enjoy!  http://www.kevinrau.com/interviews/jeffwhelan.asp

Visit Space Orville on FB

My husband just started using social media to promote his new book, Space Orville. Here is his new Facebook page just for his book. Check it out!  https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Space-Orville/297378956967791?notif_t=fbpage_fan_invite

Space Orville

OK, folks. My hubby has now published his book on Lulu. It can be downloaded now in many formats. Here's a message directly from him:

 Okay, so if you don't have a Kindle but you do have a device that supports and reads "epub" files (that seems to include iPads, iPhones, Nooks, etc. You can check a list here: http://connect.lulu.com/t5/Digital-Media-eBook-Downloading/What-devices-can-I-view-my-eBook-on/ta-p/31639) and, if you are at all interested, my humble wares are now also available through Lulu.com at http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/space-orville/18740310.

    If you have trouble with that link, you can always try http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/JWhelan which not only will hook you up with Lulu but also offer up a really goofy picture of the author.

    Another great free download I've discovered for folks with any sort of reader is Calibre at http://calibre-ebook.com/download. A terrific resource for storing, reading, converting and uploading all sorts of file types. Handy and very user-friendly.

    'kay, my friends. That's all I've got for now. Thanks so much for all of your support!