Author: Savana Jade

In one week, yours truly will be another year older! So I’m dropping the price of all my books for one week only to .99 cents!

Sales reflect on all platforms! Grab your copy today!!!

Connecting with my previous post, sometimes we see an image and just know that’ it’s exactly what we envisioned as our lead characters in the story we’ve created in our heads. This case is no different. There has always been a story lying in the background of  my brain. One that I would jot down notes and thought on and I would tuck it away for a future date. One day I stumbled upon an image and low and behold, I fell in love. I had the missing puzzle piece to my story. I gathered my notes, opened the laptop and began writing.

I’ve always had passion or the medical field, which is why working as a surgical technician is my profession. So, adding that part as a profession was the easy part. Creating a character that isn’t always an “Alpha” was a huge risk for me since the book world was overwhelmed with domineering males. I however, wanted to show that sometimes a man can show his sensitive side to the one he’s trying to call his and also be a major bad ass to the rest of the world that doesn’t necessarily know his true side.

I also wanted to shoe that money doesn’t always mean happiness and that there are people out that that regardless of what they were raised with, there are still people out there that work hard for what they have and still hold a strong work ethic to prove it. I wanted to show a strong woman who can overcome setbacks in life. I also wanted to show that with hard work and persistence, that goals can be achieved.

What I wasn’t expecting, was that I ended up writing a story that could have been put into two novels. The hardest part was trying to figure out where to split the story. After some rereads and deliberation, I decided to leave it be and publish it as it sits. Finding the title to it was easy. I knew all along that Focused would be the title and Driven would be it’s second book. But, knowing that I was wasn’t going to separate the story, I combined the title as well. In November 2015, I published Focused & Driven.

While I moved forward with the continuance of the Live Today Series, these two characters kept calling out to me. Deep down, I knew that Xander and Bria weren’t done with their story. I was dead set on finishing the series before anything else, but the two just wouldn’t stop pushing their story. So, I did what I felt was right and instead of stopping the continuation of the Live Today Series, I opened up a new blank page and I wrote. I had no cover set up, I felt I didn’t need one while writing. The only muse I had in my head was the male lead. It wasn’t until I was in the editing process of the story when I came across an image that screamed to me, Bria!

Shortly after, Losing Focus was published.

I wanted to show the world that there is and can still be a love story amongst married people. The spark that once was doesn’t necessarily have to go away after marriage. Sometimes we lose focus of what’s most important, and sometimes it takes drastic measures to bring that spark back. This story shows just that. That no matter how focused and driven people are, our goals change. Sometimes that’s ok, it’s how we learn to shift those goals as a family that matters. Because, it’s not just about him or her, no. It’s about them.

The Focused Series is available on all platforms.

The book world in itself is a large industry. It can be very intimidating for everyone involved. The world is separated into so many different spectrums. You have your published authors, your independent authors such as myself, your publishers, editors, proof readers, formatters, photographers, cover models and then we have you, the readers.

I like to consider the book world a family. We all work together to deliver the finished product. And that’s what it is at the end of the day,  a product. Some work alone, but most of us work together to assure that what we envision is portrayed in our words and on the cover.

Some of us spend a pretty penny in the development of a novel. Some of us have the capability of doing most of our own work and can cut out a lot of the costs. At the end of the day, however, it’s about what we deliver.

In the independent world, the author is the one who decides who gets to be a part of their creations. Including the model. What some people need to remember that sometimes the author doesn’t really “know” the model. They may have seen an image from a stock photo and fell in love with it, or they have paid to have a photo shoot done and chose an image from there. Either way, the author envisions what he or she sees in their mind and tries to deliver that image that portrays his or her words and sometimes collaborates with a photographer to deliver that image on the cover. 

What the reader needs to remember is the author is NOT responsible for the actions and beliefs of the model. Let me repeat that, THE AUTHOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTIONS AND BELIEFS OF THE MODEL. We do what we can to choose the perfect image that represents the words we have written. Thats all. We are choosing an image. We don’t always write a story surrounding that model. Again, this is just my observation from what I’ve seen and what I’ve experienced.

When a model decides to show his or her true colors, which happens more often than not, sometimes the author is the one who suffers the consequences. Think about it. If you purchased a signed paperback at a book signing and absolutely loved that story the  author delivered to you and found out that the cover model on that book decided to be a royal douche and decide to fat shame or bully someone simply because he or she doesn’t always think before they act, would you throw that book out knowing you have spent good money getting into that signing, possibly airfare and hotel stay? Or would you keep it?

Why would you punish the author? The same author who went out of their way and sacrificed so much to deliver a piece of their heart and soul and put it on paper for you? Why should the author spend more money changing a cover when at the time, it was acceptable? Needless to say, the model doesn’t care what you do with the cover. They have their money from the shoot already. They can sit back and do whatever they want. What some people don’t realize is its not just the cover that needs changing.

• A new cover needs to be reformatted  $$
• New paperbacks needs to be ordered $$
• Swag, if any needs to be changed $$
• Possible banners need to be changed $$
• Let alone the time to make all these changes.

So before people begin to blame the author, sit back and think about the entire picture. Blame the model for their actions… NOT THE AUTHOR! Support your authors. Show them your love and encourage them to keep doing what they do best, deliver a story. One that lets you get away from reality for a bit. One that you can sit back after reading it and say, “Damn, that book was amazing.” And stop blaming the author for the mistakes of a model.

Have you ever gone back to read a book you’ve read tons of times? Do you have that go to book that when you need to feel those “feels” you go straight to it?

I think as an author, sometimes we need to have that go to book of ours that we have written that has to be our absolute favorite. Sometimes we say our favorite is the most recent book we’ve written. Some of us is the one that you’ve put your heart and soul into. and for some of us, it’s the first book ever written.

I have to say I’m tossed with what my favorite book written is. I put everything into all of what I write. I tend to find myself in the middle of a emotional roller coaster just like the reader is brought into one while reading. I laugh, I cry and sometimes I have to get up and walk away from the laptop because I need a break from the story.

I think as I start out with this blog with a little memory of each story I’ve bought to you on paper. This series has given me and many readers all the feels a book asks for.

The Live Today series is a series that I created by writing little shorts of a storyline and sharing it on social media. A friend of mine kept urging me to bring these shorts together and put them in a novel. After months and months of personal deliberation, I finally caved and took each short that I had written and added some more detail and “gut”s to it and that is how Live Today started.

Live Today is a romantic comedy that has some heart wrenching twists thrown in the mix. It’s about how blood doesn’t make a family. Sometimes we choose our family. And sometimes that is all that matters. It teaches us to Live Today with No Regrets, because we can all Die Tomorrow. Nothing in life is guaranteed. Take a chance and ride the roller coaster of life as these five members endure loss, laughter, remorse, regret, strength, but most of all, love.

Live Today is currently .99 cents on all platforms. 

Please be patient with me while I work on this new world of blogging.

~Savana