BIG News!!!

Instead of me writing a whole new post, saying exactly the same thing, I thought it would be easier just to paste this over from my TSW/trichotillomania blog (here)...

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I have been sitting on this news for MONTHS now - waiting (im)patiently for the time where I would be able share this with you all. Well, the time has finally come and it brings me great pleasure to be able to tell you that ONE OF MY BOOKS IS GOING TO BE PUBLISHED!!!

I will start at the very beginning and try my best to tell you all in a nutshell exactly how it happened...

Last December I was contacted by Trigger, a new independent publishing house dedicated solely to mental health who were interested in publishing one of my books that I had previously self-published on Amazon: MY DATE WITH A RAZOR about my battle and eventual recovery from trichotillomania and dermatillomania. After speaking to them further, and doing quite a bit of research, I couldn't think of a better home for my little book and so in early January, I signed with them and here we are!

Since the beginning of this year I have been working on and off with my lovely editor Stephanie to expand the existing book; create more chapters before and after the diary of my journey to recovery (which makes up the main body of the book) and implementing changes that will hopefully make it the best it can be. It's my first time working with a professional editor/publication house which has been such a valuable experience and to be able to see how a book comes together has been priceless and so very exciting. They also changed the title to EVERY TRICH IN THE BOOK which I absolutely love and is so much better than the original.

Last Thursday Trigger released the cover for my book and here it is!!!!

I genuinely can't believe how beautiful it looks. I wanted something pretty but this completely blew all my expectations out of the water.

Here is the blurb:

Since her early teens, Cara Ward has suffered from trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder) and dermatillomania (skin picking), two forms of mental illness that are still often hidden away in shame. Feeling embarrassed and confused by her own behaviour, Cara kept quiet about it for years. 

But in June 2013, she was left housebound by a condition called Red Skin Syndrome. The only way to get better was a harrowing and difficult withdrawal from all topical steroids. Despite her anxiety and doubt about whether she was doing the right thing, she kept going and made a full recovery. As a result, she knew that she could “beat her own mind” and overcome anything else she put her mind to. 

And so, over a period of just seven weeks, Cara documented her struggles to gain better control of the disorders that had left her scarred and ashamed for years. Through sheer determination and willpower, Cara found a way to get to the best place she’d ever been with her trichotillomania. 

Every Trich in the Book details Cara’s triumph over trich and derma, using humour and honesty along the way.

The book will be released on 9th July (UK) and 15th October (US) and you can preorder the book here.

It's looking like it will be a couple of very exciting months for me, with my five year TSW anniversary coming up in June then my book release in July. I will be talking very soon about my journey to publication in a post on my other blog dedicated to my writing journey (here), so definitely keep an eye out for that if you want to find out more.

To be honest, it was only when I saw the 3D cover to my left last week that it suddenly felt like an actual book and not just some lovely dream.

Who would have thought five years ago that I'd have clear skin that wasn't reliant on any drugs or that one of my books was going to be published - I hadn't even started writing properly back then and it was only a what if on the back of my mind.

Life has the ability of changing beyond your wildest dreams. Trust the journey you are on and always remember that your current situation is only temporary, no matter how permanent it might feel.

So much love to you all <3
Cara xxx

And just like that, six months passed...

You probably think I had given up but the funny thing about writing is that I know I never will. Instead of writing a whole book trying to explain what has happened in my life over the last six months, I thought it might be wise instead to share some of the highlights in manageable, bite-sized pieces:

Cover for
CURING MY INCURABLE ECZEMA

• I moved to London in July and now live with my best friend, which is pretty much exceeding all expectations.
• Barely a week after moving, I started a new job which is just fabulous.
• I decided to settle in and enjoy my time in London so I spent the summer and early autumn making many enjoyable mistakes and really living life to the full - seeing friends, collecting memories and generally loving life.
• On 6th November I suddenly decided I wanted to finish the book I started working on back in March (about the skin condition I went through) by the end of the year and as a result, my life has been nothing short of insanity. 
• I finished said book which is available to buy NOW and is titled, 'CURING MY INCURABLE ECZEMA'.

Since early November it's been 5.30 a.m. starts and no social life writing and editing it but honestly, I've loved every single minute of the process. The subject matter is very close to my heart and something I am immensely passionate about. Red skin syndrome was my life for well over two years and even though it was extremely tough, it's something I feel privileged to have gone through as it not only gave me great skin but taught me exactly what's important in life. I have uploaded a little video where I talk about the book in more detail (which can be found here). 

A couple of weeks ago, something that could potentially be very exciting on a bookish level happened but until it's confirmed, I shall stay quiet and instead keep everything crossed that it works out.

I will leave it there for now (I told you it was going to be a short one...) and simply say Happy New Year!

Until next time
Cara x

SaveSave

And breathe...

Oh my GOD the last few weeks have been intense to say the least. Both personally and with everything to do with my books and blogs, a lot has happened and it's impossible to take it all in. Brace yourself, I actually plan on keeping this post short (well ... short-ish).

I mentioned in my first post since changing my name from Lily Divine to Cara Ward that I probably wouldn't be putting up old blog posts but after reading through them all, I realised I actually wanted them up - I might be masquerading under a pseudonym in them but I think they're important. They document most of my journey as a writer so far and for that, I am eternally grateful for their existence - to have a record of how it has been and how much I have done. It also made me realise that I have been following the same pattern for years and everything has ended up staying the same - I've had lightbulb moments galore, inspiration, excitement, doubt, fear then ended up making excuses as to why X hasn't happened or how Y is still in the works. On the flipside, I have still achieved so much in my relatively short writing life and besides, life is unpredictable, things happen out of our control and nothing is simple - you are doing the best you can. Life gets in the way and it has the ability at times to unravel even the most ironclad of plans.

My Twitter account has continued to be neglected - I mean, I am using it a lot but mostly so I can scroll through my feed for news, along with liking and retweeting stuff, but I can safely say that nothing original has come out of my account in quite some time. I finally sorted the paperbacks for WEIGHTING TO LIVE and CHANGES but a few weeks ago, after something fabulous happened, I decided to make one for SIXTEEN MONTHS too and within 24 hours, not only had I formatted the book file, sorted out the cover and uploaded it, it was live and available to buy on Amazon worldwide. I am astounded by how fast Amazon KDP is and exceptionally impressed with the quality.

Since my last post I have also been sorting out any remaining Lily Divine switchover admin, book covers and their alignment, book descriptions on amazon and many other fun jobs of that ilk BUT most of my time has been spent on my Trichotillomania diary which I self-published late last week, titled MY DATE WITH A RAZOR. It took a lot of work but I am amazed by how much I was able to achieve in a short space of time. I read through it twice in the end, making little corrections and edits after both read-throughs, I made a cover (which I am OBSESSED with), formatted the kindle and paperback editions and finished the trailer this Monday (which you can watch *here*) and apart from tying up a few loose ends this week, I am completely DONE!

When things finally settle down (I feel an excuse coming on...), I plan on working again on my non-fiction book about the skin condition I went through while also working on the draft I finished late last year which I have talked about in many previous posts.

I'm feeling very positive - I'm not going to beat myself up for what I haven't achieved and instead celebrate what I have done, which is quite a lot actually.

Cara x

I'm feeling generous

I am still doing well and having a whale of a time. Yesterday, a dear bunch of my close friends came to see me and it was just wonderful. I was a girl - not a girl with a condition. I am so grateful I went through this crazy hard process because it has truly changed me. This blog certainly wouldn't exist without it - or anything I have written. Normal posts will resume soon but I am having much too much fun loitering about the countryside to do anything remotely constructive. I am rereading A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught at the moment though so things aren't completely different...

Now onto the point of this post: I'M DOING ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!

If you weren't already convinced you needed to enter this giveaway, feast your eyes on this stud:

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

I am going to be giving away on Goodreads another signed copy of my book WEIGHTING TO LIVE. Unfortunately this time it is only open to people who live in GB.

To enter the Goodreads giveaway, click here(or click the widget on the top right hand side of this page).

Giveaway ends on Tuesday 13th October 2015. 


Links to buy the paperbacks
WEIGHTING TO LIVE: here (UK) and here (US)
CHANGES: A SHORT STORY COLLECTION: here (UK) and here (US)
***Also available at all worldwide Amazons too***

If you enter, best of luck *runs out the door into the countryside to loiter some more*

Until next time.

WEIGHTING TO LIVE AND CHANGES ARE NOW PAPERBACKS + GIVEAWAY!

***Details for the giveaway at the end of this post***


What a crazy three weeks it's been! To cut a long story short, I decided I wanted to make my book WEIGHTING TO LIVE into a paperback using the Amazon company CreateSpace. After formatting etc, CreateSpace sent me a proof of what my book would look like and I was overjoyed with the quality and end result - my little novel turned into a book front of my eyes ... AN ACTUAL BOOK! Somehow, being able to hold a copy makes it all suddenly feel so very real. Because of the time it takes to have your books sent from CreateSpace, I decided to buy the finished copies via Amazon UK and that is where the hilarity started: my books arrived looking completely different from the proof I originally received via CreateSpace. First, the cover itself was not only wonky as if it had been drinking too much alcoholic ink, it also had a purple colour scheme (when it should have been grey) and the inside pages were such a lurid peachy colour that it made me feel like my eyes were melting. I contacted Amazon customer services with this matter which I thought would be pretty simple to rectify but instead it turned into a situation that has made me, at times, question my sanity.

An abridged version of a typical Amazon scenario I have experienced over the last few weeks:

ME: 'Hello, I have been waiting 2 business days for a response from the fulfillment centre as to why these issues happened with my book and I haven't heard back from you so was wondering what was going on.'

AMAZON CUSTOMER SERVICES: 'Oh I am sorry about that, I will send your query to the fulfillment centre and we will get back to you within 2 business days.'

***2 business days later***

NO ANSWER FROM AMAZON CUSTOMER SERVICES - repeats earlier dialogue TEN TIMES.


Luckily in the end I was forwarded onto CreateSpace - where I should have been forwarded to in the first place - and they were brilliant and this morning I received perfect copies of WEIGHTING TO LIVE - THE END. CASE CLOSED!

In these last few ridiculous weeks, like a madwoman, I also decided to make CHANGES: A SHORT STORY COLLECTION into to a paperback and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out, so ... CUE ALL THE PICTURES OF MY BOOKS AT EVERY ANGLE IMAGINABLE:

Baby 1

Baby 2

My babies together in the grass

Babies turned over to get an even tan in the sun

Artistic splayed books

DAZZLING SPINES!!!!

Sorry/not sorry for the mass of photos.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

I am going to be giving away on Goodreads one signed copy of my book WEIGHTING TO LIVE and it is open internationally.

To enter the Goodreads giveaway, click here (or click the widget on the top right hand side of this page).

Giveaway ends on Sunday 6th September 2015. 


Links to buy the paperbacks
WEIGHTING TO LIVE: here (UK) and here (US)
CHANGES: A SHORT STORY COLLECTION: here (UK) and here (US)
***Also available at all worldwide Amazons too***

If you enter my giveaway, good luck!

I'm off to look at, stroke and cuddle my books then tuck them in for the night because they have had a very long day.

Until next time.

My New Obsession: The font RAGE ... I should probably also mention that I have a new book out.

Move over the novelette, I have a new obsession and that is the font RAGE ... and it seems ever so appropriate for MY BRAND NEW SHORT STORY THAT IS AVAILABLE TO BUY ON AMAZON AS AN EBOOK NOW!

Here is the cover for it that showcases my new love (the font RAGE):

And here is a rather vague blurb for CIRCLE:

Saving someone’s life isn't always the right thing to do. 

A short story in 5000 words from the author of the WEIGHTING TO LIVE series.

Want some good news?

IT IS TOTALLY FREE TODAY!  (*Regular price 99p)

CIRCLE is very different from WEIGHTING TO LIVE and I hope you enjoy it. A suspenseful thriller (well I hope it is anyway) that is definitely out of my comfort zone but I had so much fun writing it.

I thought it might also be interesting to include the picture to the left which was my first idea for the front cover. I think I made the right choice to go with the one above but I am rather fond of this one too. Both covers were made completely on Paint (where my obsession for the font RAGE started).

You can get CIRCLE here (UK Link) here (US Link) and at all other Amazons around the world!

Also, on an unrelated note, I have a little FYI to add instead of making yet another blog post about it: I think the cover saga might be over. They are DONE (I think...).

Until next time.

Just one novelette-o, give it to me

^ I cannot take credit for the title of this post - all Mother Divine's work - but I was so excited about it that it's been waiting as a draft for weeks (and I mean weeks). Busted. ^


Yes, my new book is available and it's the same one I talked about here.

I'm not going to make a song and dance about it, I'll just show you the cover instead:

It is the final instalment in my WEIGHTING TO LIVE series. A novelette (still my favourite word) standing at 12,042 words (first draft 14,371 words).

I loved writing about these characters and shall be sad to say goodbye to them (for a while at least...) but I suppose it's out with the old and in with the new - I ALREADY HAVE WITHDRAWALS!

You can buy it as an eBook here (UK Link) here (US Link) and at all Amazons around the world!

I am taking some time off from writing to catch up on some reading, get away from the computer to save my poor battered eyes and to think about what to do next for the best - I have a couple of ways I could go, it's just deciding which route to follow.

Until next time.

CH-CH-CHANGES!

^ There is no other title appropriate for this post, I'm sorry (not sorry) ^

It's official, CHANGES: A SHORT STORY COLLECTION is available to buy worldwide as an eBook on Amazon! To read all about the book's journey click (here) and (here).


Curious what the cover looks like?  Well here it is!

As you may have so rightly guessed, the (very) random pictures represent each of the stories and when you read them, you'll understand how (Ooo). The cover is by my fabulous mum with the black pen and writing by me.

Each short story concentrates on a character which appeared in my first book WEIGHTING TO LIVE. Here is the mini blurb about it:

Four short stories.  Four people whose lives are about to change. 

This is a companion to Lily Divine’s debut novel WEIGHTING TO LIVE focusing on four characters from the book. They are standalone stories but it is advised that you read WEIGHTING TO LIVE first as there are spoilers. 

The four short stories are: 

Father Says (Mary Rose) 

The New ‘Kid’ in Town ('Italian' aunt) 

The Girl with Green Eyes (Scottish cousin) 

Miss April in August (April) 

I just adored writing them all and it was fabulous to revisit certain characters I loved writing about in the first book. I have priced it for now at 99p and to buy CHANGES: A SHORT STORY COLLECTION click here (UK) and here (US) plus it's also available at all other Amazons around the world!

It's been what can only be described as a full-on week and I'm definitely feeling the effects of it now (stiff hands anyone? Or a self-induced cold perhaps?) so I'm taking the rest of the weekend off.

Until next time.

The Day Has Come!

Yes, after a few delays with formatting etc, I am now a self-published author with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing!

It's been crazy trying to navigate my way around the world of formatting/editing/self-publishing to-do's but I think I have everything sorted (I hope).

So without further ado, here is the cover of my book:

Ooo ah!!

To find out what Elizabeth the First has to do with a coconut, you will have to buy the book I'm afraid. It's called Weighting To Live and here is the brief (and pretty vague) blurb for it:

If you like cats, hot men, food, family drama, ridiculous people, humour and romance, you might just enjoy this small tale at a little under 52,000 words about one girl’s battle to change her life in the midst of the illness of her beloved grandmother, a miserable boss, a crazy family, weight battles, inner demons, a lack of self-belief and a bit of trichotillomania (hair pulling) thrown in. She really is weighting to live. 

I am really proud of how it turned out and hope you all like it.

You can buy it *here* (UK Amazon link) and *here* (US Amazon link) plus at all the other Amazons around this beautiful world!

Until next time.