If You're Reading This It's Not Too Late

So...by the time you read this you might have seen me on local television. That's if you live in East Africa. If you don't, never fear, I'll post it on YouTube for you. Y'all know I have a YouTube channel right? Probably not.
Never mind.
So yeah, my first TV spot.

One would think I'd be a bit more excited about that...but I think my excitement meter was broken a long time ago. I just go straight to looking for potential problems; it's sad. When I finished writing Child of Destiny I had this fantasy going where Oprah would read it and invite me on her show to ask me, "So Annemarie, where on earth did you get the idea for this absolutely unique and fascinating book?"
And I would smile modestly and tell her, "Oprah, I don't know. It just came to me, and demanded to be written."
And she would be so fascinated by me and want to know my entire story.
It was an epic fantasy fam.
But Oprah's not doing Oprah no more so...Life and Style on KTN is not at all a bad start. Don't get me wrong. But when it comes to my work I realize that I am Kanye West.

So there is giveaway related to this appearance. First two people to subscribe to my newsletter win the Child of Destiny boxset.
So here are the trigger warnings that you need to have; #majorcharacterdeath for book one, In The Shadow of the Styx, #HIV and #Incest for book two, The Swamp is Full of Mystery, #NonCon for book three, Child of Destiny and #slavery for book 4, Requiscant in Pace. The series runs the gamut from #Romance to #Horror.
You still with me?
Okay then, if this rocks your boat then click that subscribe.
Also if you don't mind, come back and give me a review?
Thanks.
Also if you're wondering why In Search of Paradise goes unmentioned in the interview, well...This is Kenya. We don't talk about gays in the morning!

Tackling the Disconnect between Art and Recognition

How about that Quincy Jones huh? Dropping truth bombs like only someone with zero fucks left to give can. I can totally relate. I laughed out loud when the interviewer asked him about MJ, about his 'sad life' vis a vis his 'success'. And Quincy goes like, "At the end, his main problem was propofol."
Man.
No prevarication. No sugar coating. Straight and simple. Such a rare trait. Especially among Americans. I loved it.

Of course, I would love to read or hear the uncondensed version, old man ramblings and all. When he said that about rap, how it doesn't provide variety for the ear, I wanted to stand up and cheer. And then go to my son's school, knock on the gate and say I have something urgent to discuss with him...just so I could show him that. I been telling him that all the songs he listens to sound the same. Anyway, like Erykah says, they're vibrating at a different frequency and this is what they appreciate. However, it wouldn't hurt to vary the beat a bit. My ear does not recognize Migos, or them other...tings. Chris Brown has been singing the same song since 2013 if you ask my ear...
However...
On the other side of that equation are people like Kendrick and Rihanna and Hov. I specifically mention those three because well, its self-explanatory no?
Damn.
4:44.
Anti.
Nuff Said.
Speaking of Kendrick, have you seen his music video with Sza? He seriously makes me want to make love to his brain. The visuals are...well, what can I say? I bow down. The song isn't bad either. It's made me curious about Sza; I just might go look for her music. She seems to have mastered the art of making love to my ear too. Perhaps we'll put her on the list.
We'll see.

Speaking of music and creativity. I saw some posts on twitter and tumblr attempting to slag Ed Sheeran's music because they wanted Kesha to win that particular Grammy.
Really?
Ed Sheeran makes epic music. Just because he's a man and we're all #grammyssomale right now does not mean he did not deserve to win. Let me tell you whose win I did not understand. #AOTY featuring Bruno Mars when both Damn and 4:44 were nominated.
Like...what? How Sway?
But as I think it was Billboard or Rolling Stone explained it; it's never the best album that wins and it's high time we stopped expecting it to. They will choose the most politically palatable for white people album every time.
Remember that.
And just keep playing those songs, streaming them, buying the album, because the best revenge is your paper right?

Speaking of revenge and reviews, today I want to tackle a difficult topic. And that's when a random reviewer tells lies about your work or gives you a one star or two stars without explanation. I finally had it happen to me and of course, I wanted to be all over that like white on rice. One reviewer actually started her review with 'Dear Annemarie' and proceeded to ask me questions like, "why did you use Adolf Hitler when someone else would have been easier?"
Now you know you can't ask me something like that without an answer. So I had to ask her, "Easier for who?"
The book she was talking about was In The Shadow of the Styx by the way.
She then went on to state how it was self-published in a hurry etc blah blah. Well, first of all, In the Shadow of the Styx was actually my first traditionally published book, it went through two editors, plus my beta reader. So I felt like, I can't let this stand. I gotta at least let her readers know that she's full of shit. There was one thing she pointed out that was an actual mistake and that was a paragraph where the name, Armand was replaced with Marcus - I might have told you that In The Shadow of the Styx was written while in the middle of writing Marcus Devereux because Phil and Lillian were just begging for their own story? Well, that was a genuine mistake that no one caught or corrected so thanks for that. Other than that, it was all nitpicking. Why did you use voodoo? Voodoo's not that well known...it was borderline prejudiced.

The general consensus is that you don't reply to reviews of your books, but I think that's bullshit. Every other industry keeps an eye on reviews and if there's a problem, they actually reply to the reviewer and ask for more info or clarify the issue. So why not authors? Why we gotta stand by and let the bullshit stand unchallenged? It gives readers of those reviews a very one-sided view of your product. And when what the person is saying is lies, why not rebut it? I'm not saying stalk your reviewers and pounce on every bad review like a crazed banshee. But if you see an obvious lie, you can point it out.
One review I read said, "I was looking for a nice horror story but this isn't that."
I had to double check my amazon categories in case I'd made a mistake but no, the book was still categorized as a 'thriller' and no, there was nowhere indicated that it was a horror. So...*raises eyebrow*.
I think that the people who want you to shut up and sit down are the same people who write these janky ass reviews.
Now please note that I am not saying every bad review is a janky ass review. I once got a two-star review that I really appreciated because it was written from a place of truth. I just...I can't stand lies and prejudice. I really..can't.
The rule that I live by when writing or marketing or generally living is to march to the beat of my own drum. It's good to hear what other people have to say, but at the end of the day, it's your life, your decisions. Do what feels right for you.

Welp

Have you ever had a book launch give you mood swings until it feels like maybe you're undergoing menopause? No? Just me then?
Okay.
Today I woke up feeling like everything I ever wrote is trash. Have you ever felt like that? It all began when I checked my texts and saw this book club was discussing reading and reviewing In Search of Paradise. One of my literati members is a member of that group so they'd brought it up. And it seemed like people were up for it, and enthusiastic - kind of- about reviewing and even referring me to other reviewers...all very positive right? Well yes, it was, but somehow it just made me doubt every single word I wrote like, "Oh God, what are these strangers gonna think of me?"

This is not me.
You can ask my son and he'll tell you, "Mummy ain't scared of nothin'" - hopefully in grammatically correct English.
Ask anyone who has known me for like five minutes. I am truly one of those people who just doesn't give a fuck about other people's opinions. But here I am, second-guessing myself, wanting to find another profession, eating chocolate for breakfast...okay maybe I'd have done that last one anyway. The point is, I'm all discombobulated.
Over a book.
Maybe this is it; menopause is here.
Or I'm just a self-absorbed dickhead. One or the other.
It's freaking me out going from being Kanye to...I don't know, somebody who doubts themselves.

Maybe it's stepping out of my comfort zone? Probably. You think this is how Colin Kaepernick felt - and I am in no way comparing myself to him; he's my hero - when he decided to take a knee? Just hooo, okay here goes nothing. But expecting criticism and whatever from the masses and just letting it roll over him and still, do what he thought was right?
I mean this isn't that serious I guess but it's a problem. It's a problem in this society and many people would look at this couple and start quoting bible scripture at me. That's okay. What I fear most is that maybe I took this bit of culture and didn't' do a good job representing it. It's a responsibility and maybe I failed. Or that's how I feel today.

Well anyway, there's one cure for self-absorption and that's looking outside yourself and turning your attention to someone or something else. Another member of my literati squad wrote a blog post today about the origin of Jaluos. My beta reader, Ben, who is American told me that I need to include a glossary in my book for my non-Kenyan readers so they can understand all the very Kenyan references. Well, I didn't do a glossary but I did do footnotes. However, there are always blanks to fill and if you wanna know more about Ben's Jaluoness, read this article. Curiously it also talks about not letting our origins define us....serendipity perhaps?

Only One Came Back

I have to write a story about aliens and humans in a romantic relationship and I have writer's block AF. I have three days left to write it so I can't afford this shit much longer. I thought maybe writing something else might unstick me. Open a doorway to this story. Here's hoping...

There's a story in the bible about someone giving three different people stuff and only one came back to say thanks. A lot of stories in the bible use examples of threes, I wonder why that is.
I"m not here to preach, relax.
I can't even tell you where in the bible to find that story. I'm not proud of it. I used to be so devout.
Life man.
It makes you cynical.
Anyway, so this book down here *finger points down*

It is just about the most read book of my bibliography. Not a day goes by that at least one copy isn't 'bought' (it's free).
And yet.
Not one review has been written on it.
Not one.
It bothers me. Why do so many people read it and continue to read it but then can't be bothered to come back and tell me what they thought? Even if it's 'this book is aight.' Or 'man, I hated it.' Just so I know what y'all are thinking.
Otherwise, my imagination goes crazy and I start thinking about why people keep getting it. Of course, there's the fact that it's free. I imagine that's a good incentive...
But it's quite high in the best selling categories which means other free books don't move as fast as it does. So...
Why are y'all reading this book but not reviewing it? Was it something I said. Are y'all fucking with my mind? Because I gotta tell you, it's working.

Sex and Violence Themes in Child of Destiny

This morning I received an email from a reader who won one of my giveaways. She had finally got around to reading Child of Destiny and she had some concerns.
She started the email with all the positive things she had to say about the book which I really appreciated and it also put me in the mind set to really hear her concerns. I need to learn that skill; I don't think I'm good at it AT ALL. I mean well though.
Anyway so she said that the book grabs you to begin with but then she wasn't prepared for all the 'gratuitous sex' and stopped reading. Now you would think that since this is how the book begins, it would have occurred to me to maybe wonder if it was too much or maybe that I should place a warning. Probably a trigger warning because the sex is in no way consensual.
But I didn't.
I didn't think.
So I really want to thank +Toinette Thomas for pointing it out to me.
I want you to be prepared when you open the book.

The email came in the wake of some feedback I'd gotten from a writing group on +Facebook where two people point out that I have three punctuation errors on the first page of the book. The question I had asked was why more people don't leave reviews so that really threw me.
Is punctuation that important?
I was dubious.
But then I remembered that yeah, I always notice when tenses change when I'm reading something so if I've made such mistakes I'd like to correct them.
This weekend I'm editing Child of Destiny to see if I can catch those. It really made me wonder though; is that really why y'all haven't reviewed the book?
- Are you unable to get past the sex to see the story?
- Are you put off by punctuation errors?

Tick the box which applies to you.
I want to talk about the sex and violence a little bit. Give a little background.
Child of Destiny begins with a sex scene which has dubious consent AT BEST. I want the reader to decide for themselves what they feel is going on.
It's stark.
It's in your face.
You'll probably be embarrassed and/or turned on and/or triggered and/or put off and/or disgusted. It's not gratuitous. It's essential to story progression and it's also a subject that tends to be glossed over to 'protect sensibilities' and yet it's an issue that plagues many girls in the world, of that age.
Including me.
I wrote the beginning from two perspectives; jumping from Mya's head to Leo's. The same Facebook page and many people before have said that that's confusing. But it's essential for you, the reader, to be in both their heads. To follow their trains of thought. To come along with them so that you can understand what is happening. To write it any other way is to make it gratuitous.
I am accepting all emotions but I want you to go in there prepared for what you'll find.
So if you've read it, or started reading and abandoned it, talk to me. Help me to help you. Whichever means you use, I'm listening.

Erase and Rewind: Book Launch Day!

It's Launch Day! for Erase and Rewind...your surprise November book.

I like to let the book speak for itself, so click on the preview and...preview it. I'll just...wait here.

Did you like it? Was it good? Alright so what's next?
Click on buy of course. And while you're there you might as well click on Share as well. Best to be thorough.
Now here's where it gets good.
For one thing, there's a prize to be won for just buying the book. And here's how you win it:
1. Have you liked my face book page? If not, do that. Just scroll to the top of this page and find the icon for 'Facebook Page'.
2. Join the launch party event by clicking on 'going' on Facebook or registering on eventbrite below.
3. Shop. You can click on the buy now link above, shop now on Facebook or go to bit.ly/EraseandRewindbookpage
4. Read the book.
5. Leave a review/fill in the sign up form.
6. Get in the draw to win a prize

In addition to ALL of this awesomeness, all my other books are half price this week. huh? HUH?

In addition to all of this, I have a proposition for you...unfortunately it isn't dirty...
If you're a writer you know how hard it is to get people to review you right?
Well, I have a new system; probably it's an old system but I just thought of it...
You buy the book if you feel it's your cup of tea, you read it, review it and send me the link to your review. When you do that, I send you your money back. Win win.
If it's within this launch week, you also qualify to enter for the prize.
Win win win!
Who's in?

Gettin' Those Reviews

Hi.

How are you today?

I'm...I don't know. 

Sad maybe?

I gotta get up really early in the morning and that always depresses me to no end. I wasn't built to see the sunrise people! Has anyone ever thought how much money they'd save if they had their weddin' at four in the afternoon? I mean seriously; no having to cater for lunch, no stressin' about waking up in the middle of the night for the bride to get made up on time. Y'all have the whole. fucking. day. To do that shit. On top of that, your guests don't have to wake up at the ass crack of dawn to be on time. Win. win. win. 

Just a thought.

I went to have my hair and nails did yesterday, after a loooonnng period of neglect. So I'm telling my nail lady about how I can never find anyone to do my hair satisfactorily and I whip off my scrunchy to show her my split ends. And then she gasps! like, 'Is that your hair?'

seriously?

Inside, I was like deadpan, "Nope, it's not my hair, it's just this...stuff...that grows out of my head. I have no idea..."

Nobody would be friends with me if they could see my inner dialogue. It's super rude.

Yes yes, this post is about reviews. I'm getting to it. Give me a sec.

If you're a writer, I'm pretty sure you've solicited for reviews; be it from your relatives, your friends, professional reviewers, other authors, your followers on various social media...amiright?

I know I have.

Thee irony is that of all the reviews I've ever requested, only one person, who is a fellow +Supernatural blogger, actually took my book, read it, and wrote a review for me. One person. I can't even tell you how many I've asked. All my other reviews happened spontaneously, when some totally random individual decided to read the book, and then write a review. 

Those are the best actually. Because you don't feel like you had any influence on the contents. So when they give you five stars, you know it came from the heart. 

So the question arises; is there really any use in soliciting reviews? I've spoken to other authors who experience the same thing with solicited reviews. Even on +Goodreads; where they are very pretentiously serious about their book reading. Someone commits to reviewing you and then that's the last you hear of them. It's exhausting.

On the other hand, there are too many advantages to having good reviews to totally give up on getting them. What are you gonna do? Sit back and wait for them to happen organically? 

Keep trying and hope that you'll meet that special group of people who tell you they'll review and then actually review?

I don't know what the answer is.

However, if you are an entity of your word, and would like to review a book of mine, do drop me a line. You can inbox me from my facebook page.

Meanwhile this book is free on smashwords. Read it. Review it.

Aaand as a bonus, get a load of this mural:

Thank You!

I really really appreciate it when you leave a review on my work; it warms the cockles of my cold dead heart. You need to know that.

You know Child of Destiny is my baby don't y'all? I'm so glad that you're enjoying it. Thank you for the five star reviews!

The Swamp Is Full of Mystery; FREE TODAY!

Hi! Some good news for you loyal reader; for the next 24 hours, The Swamp is Full of Mystery is FREE OF CHARGE!! on smashwords. This is your chance to download the hell out of it, read it and leave a review; glowing or not. I have a thick skin.

Here's an excerpt:

Leo banged into the house throwing his bag behind the door and heading to the kitchen to look for something to eat. He was ravenous; this latest growth spurt was fucking with his metabolism. It was like he was Dennis the Menace crossed with Garfield he felt so out of sync with himself. Luckily it didn’t affect his coordination otherwise he would be fucked. He stuck his head in the empty fridge, waiting to hear any sound in the apartment that would indicate his mother was home but the silence was as thick as ever. Since there was nothing to eat in the fridge and he was sure they were out of canned goods he turned around and left the apartment, crossing the street to The Rusty Nail to see if Jon would fix him a burger maybe.

Jon did that sometimes and half the time, he didn’t even make Leo pay for it. Jon was a great guy, but he wasn’t running a charity. Sometimes he asked Leo to hang out at the bar and ‘talk’ to his patrons... in other words flirt outrageously and make them buy more beer. Leo’s curious charm seemed to work equally well on men and women and Jon wasn’t above taking advantage of it. Not like he had any problem singing for his supper. And it was just talking after all….

“Leo my man, how’s tricks?” Jon greeted him as he came up to the bar. The man knew well that Leo was under age but he wasn’t really sweating it. It wasn’t like the law was likely to visit any time soon.

“My kingdom for a burger brother man”, Leo replied with a smile. Jon was not immune to Leo’s charms either.

“Coming up”, he said placing the order with the kitchen. His bar might be dingy but the kitchen was clean. Jon ate there after all, he expected the food to be good. Leo watched the patrons at the bar; there was a pool table at the other end with some old timers playing a game. He wondered if he could hustle them for some cash; they didn’t look familiar which probably meant they didn’t know him and how well he played. They didn’t look exactly flush with cash but looks could be deceiving. Maybe they were a couple of truckers just passing through. They weren’t common in a small town like Le Marais but they weren’t unheard of... Leo swung off his stool and sauntered over, watching them play intently. One of them kept casting glances at him like he wanted a piece; but he wasn’t sure which team Leo played for. Leo stuck out his hip, just enough to give a taste, not enough for invitation. It distracted the guy enough that he was off his game. Leo straightened up and moved in for the kill;

“Fancy a game?” he asked smirking at both men.

The one who’d been checking him out looked up, “Aren’t you a bit young to be hangin’ in a bar pretty boy?” he asked.

Leo tossed his dark hair out of his face, his piercing grey eyes holding the old man’s; he shrugged, “I won’t tell if you won’t”, he said.

The old man smiled at him as if he really could not help himself. Leo stuck his hand out, “I’m Leo Devereux”, he said.

The old guy stuck out his hand too, “Trevor McKinney”, he said.

“Nice to meet you Trevor”, Leo said shaking his hand. His eyes cut to the other guy who was studiously ignoring him. He held out his hand to be shaken, “And you are…?” he asked.

The second guy looked up and met Leo’s eyes. That was his mistake, “Phil Carter”, he  mumbled sticking his hand out briefly to make contact with Leo’s and then taking it back like he’d been burned.

Leo smiled at them and nodded his head, “Trevor? Phil? Fancy a game?” he asked again.

“Sure why not?” Trevor said.

“Say... twenty a game?” Leo proposed.

“Son if you is too young to be in a bar, you is definitely too young to gamble”, Trevor said looking up and down Leo’s five foot eleven frame like he’d like to eat him alive.

Leo searched his pockets, looking for cash to put down. He was sure Charlotte had slipped him a twenty at lunch time to pay for his food... he hadn’t used it because Miles paid for his lunch so... ah, there it was.

He put down the twenty and stared at both men, challenge in his eyes, “You scared?” he asked. It was one thing to refuse to play with him because he was too young, it was too much to expect to turn away from an accusation of cowardice. Trevor stepped forward, “Rack ‘em”, he said with a glare.

Customer Reviews

Finally they took down the old version of my book. Which means customer reviews are lost. I thought I'd put them here....

ZeeBee
A well written prequel that definately piques your interest for what's to come. Easy to follow, entertaining - will certainly have you wondering what could be in store for you after death. Money well spent

JB

My 3 star rating of this book is a comment on the price. $7.99 for a 95 page book which turned out to be the prequel to some other book is a rather hefty price to pay for a book.
Second, maybe it's naive, but I was kind of hoping that the book would be set in Kenya. I suppose the writer is going for a wider, more international audience (thus, make the characters western, and the setting American), but I don't think the book would have suffered if the characters were in Nairobi. It's exactly the kind of book I'd like with Kenyan characters. A fantasy tale not weighed down with political complaining.
That said; this is probably one of the better written, light reading books I've read this year. The book opens like chapter 9 in a "Mills and Boon", and then totally shift direction with the death of the two main characters, Phil and Lil.
And then things get weird. We're introduced to a whole bunch of very intriguing, very strange characters. Phil and Lil go on a quest, and then the book ends.
The book is very easy to read, and actually quite unputdownable, however, there is too little payback for the effort. The secondary characters remain a little too vague, no mystery is resolved, and there is the kind of feeling that we're still reading chapter 5 of a larger story.
I believe that although books are part of a series, each book should be able to stand alone as part of complete tale. This doesn't quite come through.
Would I read Annemarie Musawale again, yes.
Would I recommend this book? Maybe if it is sold as a package with the next book. (Which I have not read).

Eileen Wainaina
Now I definitely hope that there is a book two coming up. If you want a book that will challenge your way of thinking and raise a lot of questions about life after death...this is it. 

Excerpt -Between Death and Heaven; Out Now.

Gerrit, read it, love it, review it, reap the free sequel, share...

Getting Book Reviews

People are opinionated right? You'd think it'd be easy to get them to just fucking write down their opinion of your book once they finish reading it but it isn't. At least not in my experience. Even when you offer them the book for free...especially when you offer them the book for free. They're all like, yeah I'll read it. Or they text you or call you to tell you what a great read it was, but actually going to the site and writing down their opinion?

I won't say its impossible, but it just seems to be very very difficult. Its exhausting trying to get reviews. More exhausting than writing, editing, proofreading and marketing put together. Even when you get websites exclusively dedicated to book reviews; its still hard to get them to notice you.

So what is a girl to do? I've never been the wallflower type; I'm not schooled in the art of trying to get people to notice me...I hate forcing on guys. I like things to happen organically, naturally, on their own. But you can't really do that when you're independently publishing your own works. You have to find a way to shout, scream, wave your hands, stand out from the crowd. You can't wait for people to notice you; you have to put yourself all up in they faces...That's modern day publishing for you.

So if you're at all interested in reading great stories then do give me a hollaback.