What's Going On?

I've been slacking on the blog again.  My bad!

Mainly because for past month or so I've been completely focused on two things.  One, working on the sequel to my novel, Behind the Mask.  And second, trying to decide on a paperback cover for it.  

It's been crazy and frustrating at the same time.  The cover not the sequel.

The sequel is progressing very nicely and I'm hoping the first draft will be completed sometime in the next few months if not sooner. But of course a first draft is a VERY rough draft.  And would be nowhere near ready to publish. But considering it took me many years to complete Behind the Mask, I'm WAY ahead of the game with this one.  

Now about the paperback cover.  When I decided to self-publish, for some reason I was dead set on using 'eyes' on the cover.  But over time I've realized it's not really what I want to go with.  So after much debate, I've finally decided on something else.  That said, putting it all together hasn't been easy.  

But hopefully in the next week or so I will have it finalized and make the paperback available as soon as possible.

Keeping the fingers crossed!

- Heather Carnassale aka the Delusional Novelist

THANK YOU!!!!

It's been exactly 2 months since I self-published my novel, Behind the Mask.

And I'm beyond grateful to all those who bought it, read it and supported it.  Not that I was feeling negative, but I wasn't prepared for all the love I got for it.

I sold way more than I expected and though I had always planned on a sequel, the fact the readers have requested it have given me the extra incentive I needed to get the ball rolling.

I've been working on the sequel for a while now but hadn't begun to really put it together until recently.  And it's coming along nicely.

I certainly can't take 6 years to write it, that's for sure.  But I've learned a lot about the writing process and feel I've corrected the mistakes I made.  This time, I'm writing without second-guessing or overthinking it.  The best thing for me to do is first, just write it through THEN go back and edit it.

With Behind the Mask, I would constantly write a few pages then go back, change my mind and start all over.  I REFUSE to do that this time.

So again, I just wanted to thank everyone because though I didn't start writing seeking validation, it still feels damn good receiving it.  Ain't gonna to lie, knowing people enjoyed the story and the characters have made it all worth while for me.

- Heather Carnassale aka the Delusional Novelist

Image source:  Chaloner.com

Behind the Mask - Synopsis

Here's the synopsis for Behind the Mask:


       What appears to be a typical bank robbery is anything but.  It’s Columbus Day in the city of Brotherly Love and when the Bank of Philadelphia is besieged by a group of masked mercenaries, it’s not cash they’re after, it’s five rare pink Argyle diamonds, that are housed inside a safety deposit box.  As the employees become unwitting hostages, things appear to run smoothly until one of the gunmen, 28 year-old Liam Matthews, unexpectedly gets locked inside of the vault with 23 year-old bank teller Remi Catalano.  During this time, she never sees his face or learns his name, but when an undeniable bond forms, Liam will make a fateful decision that will drastically alter the heist’s outcome.  In its aftermath, Remi will have no memory of what transpired while Liam, now a fugitive with the diamonds in his possession, chooses to hide in plain sight.  

Two months following the heist, the captor and his former hostage will inadvertently cross paths again, but without any recollection or having never seen his face, Remi has no idea that Liam is the man behind the mask.  And though he tries not to tempt fate, by initially avoiding her, curiosity along with unforeseen threats, make it next to impossible to distance himself.  But as Remi struggles to regain her memory of that day, Liam’s world begins to unravel.  

As each learns something surprising about the other, and about themselves in the process, in a twist of irony, just who ends up protecting who will ultimately define who they both really are. 

Check it out on Amazon.com

- Heather Carnassale aka the Delusional Novelist

Taking a Leap of Faith

Stephsstacks.com

Well after much thought I've decided to self-publish.  As in my previous post, sitting around waiting is crazy. So I'm not going to do it anymore.

As a self-proclaimed unapologetic NON-risk taker, I've got to stop playing it safe and just go for it. So yesterday I set the plan in motion.

After editing the book yet again, I managed to clean it up quite a bit and removed another 2,800 words. Typos, grammatical errors, mistakes, etc.  Knowing the book by heart, I hadn't read it a long time.  So with fresh eyes I started it from the very beginning.  And I was kind of stunned at how many errors there were.  Not that I thought it was perfect, I was just surprised at the stuff I missed.  Simple stuff too.  YIKES!

Anyway, now that that is complete.  There's a whole process of formatting it to put it up on Amazon so it can be read digitally.  Amazon has provided a step-by-step guide...thank goodness!  Not that I thought I would just upload the book and presto it's available to be bought.  But I also didn't realize the little things that would need to be done with it.  So I'm totally learning as I'm going through this.

My goal now is to have it all ready in the next few days.  Then I will set my "baby" out into the world.  Hard to believe after all this time, I'm actually going to do this.

It's daunting but at this point I have nothing to lose.

- The Delusional Novelist

It's a New Year!!!

Happy 2014!!!!

I know I haven't updated this in MONTHS as the last post on here was from my birthday at the end of May.  Yikes!  That's bad blogging on my part.  My apologies!

But I can honestly say, I've been busy trying to finish up that infamous novel that I've been writing for YEARS!

And can FINALLY declare that I have completed my first draft!  YAY!!!!!

I finished it at the end of November but held off making an official announcement until I felt confident enough to do so.

The final length of the first draft was a staggering 133,575 words and 226 pages.  Which after much research on first novels do's and dont's, that was way too large.  It definitely needed major trimming. So, I managed to cut it down to 128,596 words and 223 pages.  Which was still too big but decided to print it out and allow my husband (who has patiently waited) to be the first person to read it.  He's an admitted non-reader so wasn't sure how that was going to go but he got through it and liked it.  Of course this is my hubby so I highly doubt he was going to tell me it sucked!

A few other people close to me have read it and given me their honest critique.  And the consensus has been a positive thumbs up.  So that gave me the confidence to go ahead and try to put the story out there.

I'm currently working on the 2nd draft and have gotten the count down to 124,342 words and 217 pages.  Apparently, a first novel should be between 70,000 and 120,000 words unless it's Sci-fi or fantasy.  And since mine is neither my count still has to come down.  But in all honesty, reading through it again I find more and more things I can eliminate and/or fix.  I've learned that editing and re-reading a story over and over is NEVER a bad thing.

Once the 2nd draft is complete, my next step is to have a professional editor edit it for me.  I've been mulling over the idea of self-publishing it on Amazon while seeking an actual publisher at the same time.  But not going to jump ahead of myself.  Taking things one step at a time.

I want to thank my family and friends who have given me 100% support in writing this novel.  Without their encouragement and faith, I don't think I would have ever finished it.


- The Delusional Novelist

It's Been Awhile...

Wow!!!

I knew I hadn't updated in some time but I didn't realize it was that long!  YIKES!

The sole reason why I hadn't been posting was because I've been putting all my concentration and effort into finishing the book.  And I can finally say I'm pretty damn close.

I felt in limbo for so long that just my word count going up makes me happy.  And I know a large word count means bupkiss and it's the quality that matters.  But when you sit at one specific word count number for months and months and FINALLY extend it, it's cause for celebration.

So as I inch closer to finishing it, the real fun will begin!  As I need to go back and edit the crap out of it.  And believe me, it's gonna need LOTS of editing. 

Am I still a realist when it comes to the book/story I've written?  You bet!  BUT I've gotten a tad more confident with it.  So we shall see what happens.

Stay tuned!

- The Delusional Novelist

The New Chair!

Okay the title is lame and doesn't exactly invoke the overwhelming need to find out why I would be writing about a chair.  But it's not just any chair, it's a 'new' chair for my desk.

And with this new desk chair, I am banking on it making me super comfortable and inspiring me to finish my novel. (I look for inspiration from A LOT of sources)

The reason for the chair is because for the last year, I've been sitting on a folding chair to write.  When I bought a desk for the bedroom, I neglected to get a chair with it.  So for awhile I was using a chair from our dining room set, then switched to a folding chair.  I have no clue why I didn't buy a new chair sooner, I'm guessing I just got so used to the folding one that I didn't think much about it.

That is until I was at Staples the other night.  We were actually there to buy my son a chair for a desk in his room.  And as I perused the various models, I found myself really liking and really wanting one for myself.

So I got one. And I ended up putting it together all by myself.  My husband is a carpenter and could have easily have done it for me, but sometimes I'm stubborn (okay I'm stubborn ALL the time) and wanted to prove I could do it.  Which honestly makes the chair all the more special, the fact I got it together without any help.

But the best thing is, I have a nice, comfy chair to sit on while I'm writing.

So the big question is...am I working on the book?  The answer is a shocking...YES!!!

- Heather