Fading by Heather Kirchhoff Review

I was recently given an ecopy of this book to review by the author, and I have to say that I enjoyed this story very much.

            This short story tells the life of a young girl who is diagnosed of cancer. If it sounds sad already, just wait because it gets worse. Not only does she battle cancer, but she is told that it will end up killing her, and she doesn’t have much time left. The story follows her relationships with her mother and best friend as she tries to accept her disastrous fate.

            The first thing I loved about this story was the second person narrative. It was unique and different and it gave the story a more personal, and at the same time detached feeling. The story read as someone reading the story to the main character, and at the same time also the reader, and I thought it was executed very well.

            I think it portrays a very emotional topic beautifully and realistically. The characters are relatable and don’t seem stereotyped or fake, which I really appreciate.

            The only thing I wished is that the characters got a little bit more development. Since the story is short, it doesn’t have the time to fully develop the characters much past their surface personalities. The story is really only a snapshot of her life and leaves most of the lives of the characters to the reader’s imagination.

            Still, the story is beautifully written, and I very much enjoyed it.

Check out Fading on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Fading-Heather-Kirchhoff-ebook/dp/B00ROHAAX4/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

~K.M.D.

Big News!

I have some big news I have to announce today. So, if you read this blog you probably know of my novel The Unusual Isles that I self-published on Amazon. Well, I have recently decided to take it off of Amazon in order to fix it up and edit it a bit more. Nothing will be changed in the plot, so the story line will not change. I will be adding in some new scenes for character development, fixing some stylistic elements to it, and fixing any grammar mistakes I find.

            Since I am really invested in The Unusual Isles, I felt that it was only necessary to make it the best that it could be. I want to get a cover made for it as well, as I have recently just realized how important a good cover is for a book. Once the second draft is ready, I will throw a re-release party similar to the actual release party. I’m hoping to get more donations and spread the word about it to a larger audience this time. I’ve recently started a street team that will be helping me with things like promotion.

The sequel is still in the works, as I haven’t had the time to work on it a lot recently, but I still plan on writing it.

            This is just a really short update, but some pretty big news! Stay tuned for information about The Unusual Isles and when it will be re-released! 

~K.M.D.

Update 12

Hey everyone! So I know I’ve been gone for a while. If you missed my last update I stated that I would be taking a break from writing for a little bit. However, I am now here to inform everyone that my break is over, at least mostly over.

            I think one of the reason I got so discouraged from writing was because I began comparing myself to other authors. Ones who work on five books at a time,  get signed to a publishing company, have their own editing services, make their own covers, have their own websites, and still manage everyday life. It was when I finally realized that I couldn’t compare myself to them that I decided I wanted to get back into writing.

            I love writing, and I don’t want to stop doing it. However, I am not able to put as much time into it as some other indie writers. I am a full time college student who also works twenty hours a week. If that isn’t enough, there’s also other things I want to spend time doing which include going to practice for my acapella group, spending time improving my drawing skills (I’ve gotten really into art recently), playing games on my 3DS, and of course writing. I can’t devote 100% of my time to writing. In reality I can probably only manage to focus about 8% or less of my time on my writing. But I’m ok with that for now.

            Being a writer involves so much more than just simply writing books. It’s almost like a second career where you have to market yourself and make connections, and keep updating your blog which I know I don’t do enough. They’re all thing I’m willing to do, but probably not to the extent of most other authors.

            For the time being, I’m going to stick to only one or two projects at a time. It takes me a long time to actually finish a novel because sometimes when I sit down to write, I only get a couple hundred words out, but that’s ok. I don’t need to rush anything. I would rather put out work that I’m proud of in three years than some crap I rushed through in three months.

            I will be informing everyone of what my new projects are in the near future, so stay tuned, because I promise I will be around a little more often.

~K.M.D.