This is not the end. It is a new beginning.

This is not the end. It is a new beginning. 
Though I've spent years, since 2008, writing about the craft and the industry from an author's viewpoint, I feel its time for some fun changes.

My new blog, Electric Dreams Blog, will be more personal where I will be sharing not only my professional life, but also what goes on behind the scenes in the writing life.

From family recipes, research trips, and other fun aspects to putting a book together, I hope you'll find it just as fun and educational as the NiteWriter blog has been for me. I will continue this blog as an archive so that all the writing and publishing posts are still available.

I hope to see all of you over at the new digs! I have so much to share with you guys!

Blessings, Raquel Byrnes

IWSG, Reading Changed Me

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG

This month's Insecure Writers Support Group topic is:

How has being a writer changed your experience as a reader?

The truth is...A LOT

I was always a voracious reader. I was the kid in school reading as she walked to class, totally oblivious of people saying hello or...to my utter dismay, opening doors. I chewed through tomes in just a couple of days always on the prowl for a new series to swoon over. Often quoting characters and expecting others to understand my nerdy references. Yeah...that kid.

Now I am an adult version of that kid. I still read like its going out of style. I still tend to get lost in a book even in a crowded room.

BUT...reading took a little of an unexpected turn for me. It became a learning experience on how to write. 

As an author, I can appreciate what an author is doing in terms of technique. When I read, I notice things like dialogue, world-building, character development, story arc...and I learn a ton from each author.

Reading helps me identify what works and what doesn't. What I like and why I like it.  And hopefully, improve my own writing.

I figure the more I take in great writing...better writing...than my own...the more I learn.

Because of this, my choices in books has changed to reflect my taste for higher quality products. The YA genre in particular is pumping out some amazing series...I am truly excited as a reader and fan!

So now, happily, I have an actual professional reason for my book hoarding! Yay me!

Please take a look at some of the other insightful posts by the Insecure Writers Support Group...you never know where inspiration might strike.

+Raquel Byrnes

Dreadfully Creepy

There is something so AWESOME about starting a new project. Working through a three book series like the one I just finished is rewarding, sure...I feel happy to have completed Lady Blackburn's story.

However, the excitement of discovery in research, of brainstorming 'what if's,' and the start of weaving together the images in your head into a cohesive plot are some of my favorite things in the world.

This go around I will be writing a Gothic Mystery series entitled The Dreadful Darlings. So...SO happy to finally get to work on this project.

It was my motivation during the last chapters of The Chasm Walkers when my deadline loomed and my eyes drooped while writing at 2 in the morning.

I love the dark and dreary stories. A die-hard Poe and Henry James fan since childhood, I always did enjoy a good ghost story.

So here I am gathering dream journal entries and sifting through my subconscious for what scares me and you know what? I discovered something amazing.

I am not frightened by the dark. I am unnerved by the bright and blaring. The shifting shadows of a scorching sun on barren ground. The far out fringe of the desert dwellers where I live.  

In short...not the English moors or the murky bayou waters. I am afraid of the things that thrive in the light and heat.

This should be an interesting journey....

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If you like creepy and exciting -- 

Check out my YA Steampunk Thriller, The Tremblers coming soon!

+Raquel Byrnes