Author: Allie P.

Nikki Kan’t Quit – Rocky Row Flash Fiction

by Allie P., posted in Short Fiction

The following is a scene featuring a supporting character from the world of An Uncertain Confidence, a Rocky Row Novel.

Nikki Kan't Quit - www.alliepottswrites.comNikki Kant drummed her fingers on her desk’s cheap veneer while she listened to the city liaison ramble on her voicemail. The desk was one of those cheap particle board models you order over the internet and assemble yourself and had a tendency to wobble if her daily paperwork and personal clutter wasn’t placed on its surface just right. The vibration from her finger’s impact sent a pen rolling off its edge. She didn’t bother to pick it up.

The liaison’s voice increased in volume, becoming more clipped by the second as he worked himself into a rage. Apparently, helping a friend was the sort of thing that was frowned upon in the eyes of the city. She’d heard enough. Returning the out-dated handset to its cradle, she pulled out a desk drawer. Her fingers paused over the accordion folder that hid her secret stash of dark chocolate covered caramel seasoned with sea salt. I’m going to need this. She pulled out the accordion folder out as well as a second file folder.

The drawer stuck when she tried to shove it close. Nikki tried again. The drawer remained firmly in its position. Figures, she thought. Folders in hand, Nikki walked over to her boss’ office. By the look of his expression through the glass window, he was off to a similar morning. She tapped on the door with her knuckle before letting herself in without waiting for him to wave.

“Chief.”

“Do you realize I’ve had five reporters call me already?” He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall over her head. “It’s not even nine.” His desk phone rang. The chief frowned. “I’m guessing that’s another one now. Do you want to explain what you were thinking?”

“Not particularly, no. It shouldn’t matter. I was off duty.”

“Off duty or not, what you do reflects on this department. I hope you understand how serious this situation is.”

“I don’t, actually. All I did was go for a run.”

“That’s not all you did and you and I both know it.”

Nikki shrugged.

The chief stood and placed his hands on his desk. “You’re on your way to a suspension pending a full investigation into your behavior over the last few weeks – you understand that, don’t you.”

“That won’t be necessary, sir,” said Nikki separating the accordion holding her stash from the second folder containing a single sheet of paper.

The chief’s eyebrow shot up. “You’re quitting?” He sat back in his chair. It creaked under his weight. “I have to admit, I’m a little disappointed. I thought it would take more to break you.”

Nikki snorted. She opened the thin folder and pulled out its contents. “I’m anything but broken,” she said placing the resignation letter on his desk. “I suggest you read it.” She tucked the accordion folder under her arm. She wasn’t going to need reinforcements after all. Finally going through with her decision after drafting the letter days ago felt better than eating a dozen chocolate bars.

The chief stared at the piece of paper. “This changes nothing,” he said.

“Oh, I’m pretty sure it changes everything.” She removed the badge from her breast and placed it on the desk next to her resignation letter.

“You walk out that door, and you’re on your own. I won’t be able to protect you anymore.”

Nikki smiled. “I survived three tours. I think I can manage.”

A brief knock on the door announced their meeting. Rangle poked his head in. “Chief, I just heard-” He noticed Nikki’s presence then his gaze moved to the chief’s desk. He couldn’t have missed the badge nor the sheet of paper. “I knew it,” he said. “I pegged you as a quitter your first day.”

“I’m not surprised,” said Nikki. “You’ve always been a terrible detective.”

Rangle’s face took on a shade of puce. He turned to the chief. “So, as I was saying, I just heard that we got a lead on that bomb threat last week.”

“It’s a distraction,” said Nikki. “If either of you had only listened–”

“That’s enough, Ms. Kant.” The chief slammed his palm down on the desk. “You’ve made your decision.” He nodded at her resignation letter. “Now, how about you get out of my office so the rest of us can do the job you’re walking away from.”

I’m not walking away from anything, she thought. She turned on her heel and opened the office door. I’m just not following your rules anymore. She closed the door with a bang. A few of the other officers lingering nearby glanced her way at the sound, but no one stopped her as she made her way past the main desk and out the door. Nikki smiled. It was just as well. They wouldn’t have been able to stop her now, even if they’d tried.

An Interview with Allie Potts via Smashwords

by Allie P., posted in Book Stuff and Publishing News, Indie book promotion, Life as I know it

To celebrate the release of my latest novel, An Uncertain Confidence (now on sale at several retailer sites), I ventured over to Smashwords where they were kind enough to put together an interview for me.

allie potts headshot

Describe your desk
I write on a number of surfaces which have varying degrees of clutter. Too much clutter and I become distracted by the mess. Too little clutter however immediately puts me on edge. What if I make a mess? Where did I place my notes?
When did you first start writing?
I’ve been writing off and on since early childhood, though those early attempts will never see the light of day. I didn’t get really serious about writing until 2013 when I told myself it was time I stopped talking about writing a novel one day and actually tried doing it.
What’s the story behind your latest book?
The story picks up five years after my first book, An Uncertain Faith. Charlotte is following her dreams, however, living happily ever after is not as easy as it sounds. There is a saying that when you do something you love, you never work another day in your life when in reality the opposite is often true. We wind up working harder when it is our passion. Not less. Unfortunately, because it is our passion, we sometimes forget that others aren’t quite as devoted to our dreams as we are.
What motivated you to become an indie author?
Time for the most part – it became very clear to me how quickly life can change, and how it often does so without warning. I decided I wanted to publish on my own schedule rather than wait for it to be convenient for someone else.
What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
Few things beat holding the novel you’ve spent months on in your hand when it is finally published (aside from holding your real-life children), however in terms of writing overall I believe my greatest joy was the day I received my first piece of fan mail telling me how my words had mattered to them. Writing itself can sometimes feel like a lonely process, a letter like that reminds you it is anything but.
What do your fans mean to you?
I am deeply honored and yet at the same time terrified whenever anyone tells me they have read one of my books. Part of me hopes that is always the case. I am grateful to every single person who has taken a chance on me, even if it turned out my writing and their tastes weren’t a match.
What are you working on next?
I am currently working on the third book in my science fiction, Project Gene Assist series. It’s currently a mess of disjointed scenes mixed with word vomit, but experience has taught me that it will eventually get to a point worth sharing.
What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
If the sound of my kids’ feet running down the hall or my dog hitting the bedroom door as she follows them doesn’t do it, an annoying alarm clock and the promise of a hot cup of coffee or tea certainly helps.
When you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?
Most of the time, if I am not writing or otherwise working, I am picking up after my kids, doing the dishes, or getting lunches prepared. But during those rare, rare moments I am not wearing my ‘mom’ hat, I’m usually reading, watching a movie, or going for a walk around the neighborhood.
How do you discover the ebooks you read?
I am highly susceptible to suggestion when it comes to ebooks so friendly recommendations go a long way, but I also make use of the public library, support other indies as I can, or watch for intriguing blurbs in book mailings.

Books by This Author

An Uncertain Faith by Allie Potts

Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 52,270. Language: American English. Published: November 28, 2014. Categories: Fiction » Women’s fiction » General, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Women Sleuths
Be careful what you wish for. Trapped by her responsibilities in a dead-end job, Charlotte used to yearn for the life she had before marriage and motherhood. That was until the day she came home to find her husband and son missing. Did they leave her or is there a more dire explanation?

An Uncertain Confidence by Allie Potts

Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 58,580. Language: English. Published: October 24, 2018. Categories: Fiction » Women’s fiction » Chick lit, Fiction » Women’s fiction » General
Will Charlotte’s confidence prove to be her greatest strength or will it be her greatest mistake yet? An Uncertain Confidence is a sweet contemporary story and fast read about friendship, trust, and the lengths we often go to protect those we love.

The Fair & Foul by Allie Potts

Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 87,560. Language: English. Published: July 22, 2018. Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Cyberpunk, Fiction » Science fiction » Utopias & dystopias
Brilliant programmer and researcher, Juliane Faris agrees to be part of an experimental procedure involving a manufactured virus. Subjects are granted unprecedented knowledge and cellular control over their bodies, but viruses have a way of mutating and altering the altering the lives of those who never knew they were at risk.

The Watch & Wand by Allie Potts

Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 76,000. Language: English. Published: July 22, 2018. Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Cyberpunk, Fiction » Science fiction » Apocalyptic
Between a war declared on all but the most basic technology, worldwide economic collapse, and a plague-spurred global panic, governments have collapsed leaving law and order to be defined by those left behind. Stephen knows he should be grateful but can’t help wishing his life was more than survival. That was until he met a girl on the run from a group known as the Watch.

How Not to Launch a Book in Ten Easy Steps

by Allie P., posted in Book Stuff and Publishing News, General Tips and Tricks, Life as I know it, Writing and Publishing Tips

This time next week, I’ll officially have four novels with my name on them. Four. I can hardly believe it, but it’s true. You would think that this would mean that I’m quite the expert on launching a book, but sadly this is another example of something I’m far more qualified on the topic of what not to do.

1. If it is your first project, don’t wait to start building up a presence on social media, blogs, or working on growing your mailing list until after the book is for sale. For some strange reasons telling people about your book after it is officially on sale doesn’t exactly make for the best opening weekend.

2. If it is a sequel to that first project, consider launching it within a year of the first in the series, if not sooner. You might have been obsessed with your characters and the world over that time, but apparently, readers move on during that time. Readers can be fickle like that.

3. If you do mistakenly wait for more than a year (or five), consider re-reading your original time or two before attempting to write the sequel. You might think the fact that you read and re-read your original novel twenty-gajillion times during the editing process would mean you have your character’s mannerisms and tone etched into your bone. You’d be wrong.

4. If you go ahead and write the novel without revisiting your original story and send out a half-baked manuscript to early readers, don’t be surprised when they tell you your story is flat (but in the nicest, most constructive, supportive way).

5. If you did send out a half-baked story, don’t spend more than a week questioning all your life choices leading up to this moment of misery while pondering if it might be better to change your name and start again in Idaho (which I hear is lovely), or similar place.

6. If you do decide to give yourself a break by pushing out your self-imposed publishing calendar from the Spring to the Fall, don’t think all that extra time means you can’t still be working on it.

7. If the stress of working on a seemingly never-ending project did get to you and you found yourself going on a vacation, savor that time with your family or friends, but know you will have to kick the work into overdrive the minute you get back.

8. If you did allow bad habits to creep back into your process while you indulged in a few weeks of rest and relaxation, write out a marketing and production plan the day you return so you can start planning out your tasks and get your head back into the game as quickly as possible if only to make up for lost time.

9. If the words “marketing” or “production” plan put you on edge, know you are in good company. However, know that you still have to do these things even if you’d rather put your fingers in your ear and sing lalalalalalala. Therefore, you might as well get over yourself and find a way to write that stuff down, but more importantly, follow-through. You’ll save yourself a ton of heartache later.

10. If your eyes completed glossed over #9 as some sort of mental denial, or you are already coming up with a dozen or more reasons why there was always something else more pressing to do, well then you too might just find yourself a week from launch day in a state of mild panic realizing that while you do have a completely re-written book itching to go on sale, you only a handful of advanced reviews scheduled, and absolutely no blog tour stops or social media events planned on your calendar.

It’s not an insurmountable situation, but the alternative is much to be preferred.

And that, my friends, is how not to launch a book.

Living happily ever after is a full-time job.

Uncertain-Confidence-www.alliepottswrites.comCharlotte’s life is on an upward swing. She’s in business with her best friend and her art is finally getting noticed.

Nothing could possibly go wrong … until everything does.

One disastrous night out ends with the sudden collapse of her best friend’s husband, putting him in the hospital and leaving Charlotte to manage things alone.

Uncertain about her ability to keep her business and her aspirations for artistic stardom afloat, Charlotte enlists the help of a stranger who promises to make her dreams come true. But in doing so, Charlotte may learn just how dangerous trusting the wrong person with your dreams can be.

Will Charlotte’s confidence prove to be her greatest strength or will it be her greatest mistake yet?

An Uncertain Confidence is a sweet contemporary story and fast read about friendship, trust, and the lengths we often go to protect those we love.

On Sale Oct 24th

Read an excerpt

The Early Flight – Don’t Blame Me, I’m Exhausted Poetry

by Allie P., posted in Life as I know it
The early flight and bad poetry - www.alliepottswrites.com
(Simon and Garfunkel’s Sound of Silence, for whatever reason, was stuck in my head this morning. That song is beautiful poetry. The following is not)
Hello airport lobby, my old friend
I’ve come to wait in you again
Because demands for security screening
Brought me here when I should be sleeping
And now I’m sitting, staring at the backs of empty chairs.
No one cares.
While I wait, for the early flight
I don’t know why I booked this flight
The sun hasn’t shone its light.
While I wish I could return to bed
I look for someplace I might rest my head
But then I cringe at the sound of the intercom
Calling Tom –
Please return, your flight’s departing
And then I glanced at the corridor
A dozen people, maybe more
People shuffling like walking dead
People moving like limbs are lead
People whose current style is a photo they’ll never share
No one dares
Make pre-flight contact
Sigh, I thought, it’s a look I too well know
As the crowd began to grow
I turned my gaze back to my gate
How I wished I’d left on a different date
But my wishes, like those for extra sleep
Were interrupted, by the speaker’s bleep
And the people yawned and swayed
As they continued on their way
And a sign flashed it was time for boarding
Then I saw a line quickly forming
And I knew, that the time for complaining was done…
…at least, this one
So began my day, with an early flight

7 Alternatives to Vellum, or How I Spend My Weekends

by Allie P., posted in General Tips and Tricks, Product, Service, and Software Reviews, Writing and Publishing Tips

5 Alternatives to Vellum - www.alliepottswrites.comVellum. It’s not just for illuminated scrolls. For those of you not in the self-publishing world, or those newer to book formatting, Vellum is also a popular software option that helps magically transform your manuscript from a document processing file into something the non-publishing world might call a book. (This post includes affiliate links)

I know plenty of authors who basically describe it as the bee’s knees when it comes to formatting your book. But what if you are allergic to bees? What do you do then? I say that as a bit of a joke, however, They limit Vellum to Mac users. It’s not cheap to use either, so it isn’t for everyone. Nor is the entire process of book formatting for that matter, but that is an entirely different subject.

So what is an author intent on publishing a new book to do?

I’m glad you asked as I have recently spent far too many hours getting my various books ready for its upcoming publication date by experimenting with Vellum alternatives offering formatted files I could then take to a professional printer.

Microsoft Word

This was my trusted go-to method of getting my books in initial shape for years as it allowed me to tweak font sizes, add decorative flourishes, and basically customize my book’s size and content any way I saw fit. However, Word has an annoying habit of inserting blank pages, “helpfully” adjusting page numbers, and text can be overly stretched with funky spaces between the words if you don’t know some of the advanced tricks.

  • Pros – High degree of control
  • Cons – Takes forever and a day if you don’t know what you’re doing, or haven’t written your entire manuscript with Word formatting in mind (i.e. you didn’t take advantage of Word ‘styles’) and may just drive an author to drink.

Affinity Publisher

A few years ago, I discovered an alternative—Affinity Publisher. The one caveat is, while you can, in theory, use Affinity Publisher to write your novels or text books from scratch, I don’t recommend it. It works much better when you import a Word file, or to a lesser extent a PDF file, with your text and then use the program’s fantastic text and paragraph control features to tweak how words appear on the page. The program costs approximately $54 US, but it is a onetime fee versus an ongoing subscription.

  • Pros – Improved readability compared to Word in terms of text spacing. Much easier to control pesky things like blank pages and funky page numbers.
  • Cons – Occasionally glitches when you try to move pages around after initial import, so save and save often.

Adobe InDesign

InDesign offers a lot of the same customization capability of Word and Affinity, which can help your book stand out from the competition (caution – this isn’t necessarily a good thing). Like Affinity, it also does a better job then Word at handling the space between words on the page. But unlike Affinity, InDesign is no newcomer to the industry. This means there are plenty of tutorials available to help you get started, which is good because it has more features than you even know you need. However, it isn’t cheap.

  • Pros – Highly stable platform with industry leading functionality
  • Cons – it’s an Adobe product, which means a steep learning curve and a high price tag though there is a free trial option.

Scrivener

Scrivener is a word processing and story organization tool specifically designed for books. You can copy and paste your manuscript from another word processor into the software, or import it depending on the file type, and export the Scrivener version as a print-ready PDF. However, it is probably far easier to write the entire project in the software from the get-go. While Scrivener is designed for print books, it also has a partnership with Vellum if you prefer their templates over Scrivener’s offerings provided you are willing to pay the price for both services.

  • Pros – Super easy to export your complete manuscript into a print-ready pdf
  • Cons – The product works best when you write your manuscript from end to end in the tool rather than try to import it from another processing program, and doesn’t offer the same level of customization in your book’s format as offered by Word or InDesign (once again, this is not necessarily a bad thing as some people can’t handle the awesome power that is font selection).

Reedsy

In addition to editing, Reedsy includes a free book formatting service. All you have to do is upload your manuscript into its online user interface, designate elements of your book like chapter name or section separator, select a book size, and a theme. It also is partnered with Blurb, which is a print on demand service, making it easy to print your book once it has been formatted.

  • Pros – Easy to use with a price that’s hard to beat. It even inserts back matter pages for you like your social media links, description (with images) of your other books, and a note about how people can join your mailing list.
  • Cons – There is no desktop app, which means you have to trust the cloud completely with your manuscript, and the user interface isn’t intuitive. Also, you are limited to three themes and three book sizes. Also, you don’t get your formatted file right away, though I only had to wait for a few minutes before I received the email saying my book was ready.

Atticus

Atticus was created specifically as a direct alternative to Vellum for more budget-conscious authors and non-Mac users. However, while it is cheaper than Vellum, it isn’t free. That said, like Affinity, you only have to pay a one-time fee of $147 to purchase it rather than sign your earnings away with a subscription. It is worth mentioning that it is newly released software just out of its initial testing phase. This means that there are some features still in development, but does come with 17 customizable templates, and free updates for life.

  • Pros – You can use the same software to write your book and for formatting it for print and ebook distribution. It also supports both offline editing and online access with automatic backups of your work to the cloud.
  • Cons – As this software has just been released, it may be glitchy and will likely require a number of updates. It will also take a while for tutorials to catch up, so may require more learning through experience compared to other tools.

Outsource it

Of course, you also have the option to outsource book formatting if, unlike me, you are a sensible person who would like to actually spend time with your family or friends on the weekends (or be working on your next book) rather than seated in front of a computer screen waiting for swirling wheels or flipping hourglasses to say your file is ready.

  • Pros – You keep your weekends
  • Cons – You have to trust that your formatter knows what they are doing and, if you find that edits are required in your final proof, it can start getting costly.

But in the end, no matter which path you choose, holding that end product in your hands for the first time is always worth the hassle. Trust me.