The Riverbend Trilogy Blog Tour ~*~Guest Post~*~

Thank you for visiting The Riverbend Trilogy's Blog Tour! Here you will find an interesting article about Andrea's inspiration to self-publish, see The Riverbend Trilogy's new book trailer, and learn a bit about the author, Andrea Goodson! Don't forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post and see where you can visit Andrea tomorrow!

My Inspiration to Self-Publish

First, let me start with saying that I have discussed with and gained permission from my child to talk about this issue. My novel, Riverbend, which is part one in The Riverbend Trilogy started out as something much different. I began writing it about 2 years ago as a sort of journal entry. The emotions and thoughts that occured during this process quickly turned into fictional characters in my imagination and I had to get it all out onto the paper. The process was so invigorating, so inspiring, I don't quite know how to describe it. Ideas just flowed out of my mind through my hands and onto the paper. Yes, paper. The first 5000+ words of my novel were handwritten in a notebook. I still write in a notebook. Somehow I feel more creative when I do it that way. I like to go outside and sit under the large Tulip Tree in my back yard with my pencil and notebook and just imagine. I almost envision myself as Anne Shirley sitting on the sandy banks of Avonlea with her pen and unbound manuscripts! Riverbend began as a single novel and I thought for a long time it would stay that way. I decided to turn it into a Trilogy after careful thought because I feel it will better impact my readers that way. It was not due to traditional publication rules, as the first book is fairly short. I just felt that at certain places in the novel there needed to be a definitive resolution, and "end" so to speak, so that the reader might better absorb the enormity of the character's realization and plight. Book one was completed in late summer of last year and inquiries were sent out to various literary agents. Needless to say, the rejections started piling in and I began to think that it just was not as good as I thought it was. The book is wonderful, to me, but maybe others didn't see it that way. Although, the majority of the rejections I received were due to not being an established author. Either way, I continued to furiously write, but was losing faith in myself as a writer. During this same year, my 9 year old daughter had been diagnosed with Dyslexia. She had been having an enormous amount of trouble with reading, writing, spelling, and being bullied at school for those difficulties. She ended up transfering schools and receiving the specialized instruction she so desparately needed. She is very smart, testing in the above average range for full scale IQ, so she has experienced much frustration with herself, not understanding why she couldn't achieve what other children were in school. One night, very late for her, about 10:00pm, we were working on homework and studying. This had become a normal rountine for her to be up so late trying to finish homework and staying focused had been so hard that I would allow her large breaks between tasks, to "freshen" her mind. Thankfully, these late nights don't happen anymore! Anyway, on this particular night her frustration was ruling over her, there were many tears and questions like "Why am I so dumb?" "Why can't I remember this?" "Why do I have to have Dyslexia?" Of course, while my heart was breaking for my frustrated child, I comforted her and explained that she absolutely was not "dumb", and that she has gifts that others don't, and that we all have different weaknesses and strengths. My final words to her on the subject were (I can't remember exactly, but something along the lines of...) "You can achieve anything you set your mind to, YOU are in control of your life. It may be hard at times, but you will only fail if you give up." Her response floored me. "Then why don't you publish your book yourself?" Why? Why? I didn't know what to answer! Why don't I? Because I don't believe I can? Because I am lacking the same faith in myself that I am telling you to have? How could I preach to my child to follow her dreams and to always try hard if I was going to give up myself?! And that's what did it. That's when I made the instantaneous decision to self-publish. I no longer cared what any literary agent thought, I even stopped searching in my email hourly for responses! I was going to do this myself and NOBODY could tell me I couldn't, not even me! So, here I am. A brand new, indie, self-published author navigating my way through this whole new world! Everytime I look at my child I feel thankful for her wise advice.

Take a look at the NEW Riverbend Trilogy Book Trailer!

Author Bio

Andrea Goodson was born in 1982 and had a love of and fascination with writing since she was very young. Always imagining ways in which the world could be different, she began to write short stories when she was very young. It wasn't until many years later that she put pen to paper and began to work on what has become her first novel, Riverbend, part one in a trilogy. Upon completion of that work she found that writing was something she felt meant to do and would never be able to give up. Using her own experiences with hardship and tragedy Andrea uses her writing to reach others in an effort to show the world that we need not be victims of circumstance. Her main characters endure many conflicts yet find the courage and strength to better themselves.

Click here to follow Andrea on Facebook and Twitter!

You can view the first book in Andrea's series, Riverbend, here on Kindle

All books are also available on Amazon as Paperbacks and ebooks on Nook, iBooks, and Smashwords!

For a complete listing of all books and venues, CLICK HERE!

You can also check out my reviews for 

Riverbend

Rapid Water

Waking Tide


A note from me:

Andrea will be donating the proceeds from all sales of Riverbend (ecopy or print copy) throughout the month of May to Oklahoma Relief.  

Click on any of the above links and buy yourself a copy of the book, gift it, pick up a spare in case you wear it out.  Just go buy it.  Not only are you getting yourself an awesome book, but you're also helping those affected in Oklahoma.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/NjczOTBiODQyMTI0YzkyNWZiZjgxNjc4ZjQzMzM4OjU=/

Thank you for visiting! You can see Andrea again tomorrow on Kat's Read!

www.katsread.blogspot.com

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Riverbend by Andrea Goodson

Title:  Riverbend

Author:  Andrea Goodson

Series:  The Riverbend Trilogy #1

Published:  October 5th 2012 by Andrea Goodson Books

Page Count:  100

Genre:  Romantic Suspense

Rating:  ★★★★★

Syopsis from Goodreads:

Nestled deep in Northwest Pennsylvania, amongst the thick forest of the Allegheny Mountains, is a quiet community named Kennerdell. The area is rich in Native American and European settlement history with few inhabitants and a charming culture. Growing up there was simple for 22 year old Lena Woodruff, full of happy memories and long, playful summer days spent by the nearby Allegheny River. Being the daughter of an Archaeology Professor, she was enamored with the beauty, peace, and history that surrounded her. Lena could have grown up to be an average, well-adjusted woman. But there has been a darkness within her for the past seven years, since her father’s tragic death. After managing to escape far away to Thomasville, Georgia for the past two years, Lena is forced to return home to visit her family. Upon her arrival, Lena had hoped to come clean to her mother, have a short visit and return to her secluded life, apart from her family, in Georgia. However, she is greeted by much more than she expects. She is haunted by the memories of her father's death as well as her self-destructive behavior in the years following. She struggles with guilt and regret for the pain she feels she has caused her family and loved ones. Her mother is loving and supportive and, although Lena appreciates those qualities, the pressure of living up to a standard and the recollections of her previous life prove unsettling and are too much for her to bear. Lena is quickly thrown into a web of mystery, inner conflict, grief, self-worth, love, and trust. Riverbend, book one in the three part series, exposes the beginning of a shocking mystery for Lena that could ultimately change written history. She teams up with one of her neighbors, longtime friend Will Sundback, and they begin an adventure together. But someone else is lurking about, following Lena, and keeping tabs on her every move. Who is this person and what do they know? Will Lena be able to allow herself happiness, solve the mystery surrounding her father’s work, and be able to free herself from the pain that plagues her?


My Review:

Ok, so I definitely did not leave my chair once while reading this novel. It was brilliant. I fully admit that I spent the 1st chapter wondering “what the hell happened in the past” but the rest of the book kept me captivated within its pages. Goodson has a way with words and manages to work mystery and intrigue into her work without it becoming apparent.

The descriptions and settings in this novel are great. They are real places that you feel like you could visit, or have visited. She uses her descriptions in a way that you can picture the setting for the novel very clearly. At the same time, she never gets longwinded or boring.

I think what really got me with this novel was the fact that the historical, anthropological, and archaeological facts present in the book are based in reality. Goodson took the time to research this before writing. It is not simply made up information that she tries to pass off as fact. She weaves an amazing tale around these facts, but what they are is still fact (with a twist or two, of course).

The characters are also heartwarming. You have a main character that is afraid to love because she lost her father coupled with her high school sweetheart who will still do anything for her. You can’t beat that, especially when Goodson takes the time to develop her characters into real people. I was, of course, left with the question “what is Richard’s deal?” Is he up to something or is he simply a skeazebag?

Buy your copy online here today!!!



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