A Rebel's Path - Release Day!

The day has arrived! My new book, A Rebel’s Path, the third in my Enchanted Path series was released today. And for the next two weeks the digital copies of both A Smuggler’s Path and A Noble’s Path are half off!

An unruly mage from the past has returned to test the limits of Inez’s magic and terrorize Canto…

Magic has become a liability for mage-in-training Inez Garza. Now that she’s accepted Zavier’s proposal of marriage, the scrutiny she once avoided as a smuggler has become nearly unavoidable as his future queen. Any missteps with her magic risks exposing her at the highest levels of Canto and especially to her intended, who still doesn’t know she harbors inherent magic.

Control over her Powers is essential, and her only hope is accepting help from one tutor who doubts her abilities, another who covets them and her mother, who doesn’t trust either of the two.

Differences will have to be set aside when it appears a figure from the past only whispered about in stories returns and threatens all of Canto with his dark magic.

Challenging a seasoned magic-wielder with her erratic Powers is just the kind of thing that could attract royal attention, or get Inez killed. She will have to uncover closely held secrets and take help from unlikely quarters in order to keep everyone safe. But even magic has its limits…

…when you walk a rebel’s path.

Here are some early reviews:

"An enthralling quest tale with a valiant and enchanting protagonist." –Kirkus Review

"A fast-moving plot and a cast of nebulous characters who exist in the grey space between good and evil make for a thought-provoking read that hums with tension… Cruz has crafted something that truly stands out within the genre." –Self-Publishing Review

Like all indie authors, I hope you read my books and post good reviews! To learn more about my other books visit www.booksbyilcruz.com

Mechanical Creativity

As I'm sure you've noticed, new posts to my blog have been absent. I considered pushing through to make sure I had consistent content, but that's how I ended up in this predicament in the first place. Let me explain.

When the pandemic first began, I was at the start of a blog tour promoting A Noble's Path, the next book in my quartet. While I had a wonderful time getting to know new bloggers and participating in interviews, the results were mixed. People had other things on their mind and so did I. We didn't know how long this whole thing was going to last and each day was a question mark.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

After the tour ended, I threw myself into edits for book three, A Rebel's Path. And there were more than a few days when it felt like I had to throw myself into it because I had no desire to work on edits. I made a deal with myself that I would work on at least six pages every day, so I could get my manuscript to my editor in a timely fashion. I have no idea what I wrote and it showed when I got comments back from my editor saying, "This doesn't sound like you."

And it wasn't. I apologized to her and set my work aside promising to get it to her before summer. But the pandemic dragged on, my daughter was home "virtually learning" and my normal time for creativity became hampered. To make a long story short, I got stuck. So I made a really scary decision for someone who has written consistently since 2012. I stopped writing.

I knew it wasn't forever, but it still made me nervous. Why was I home, if not to commit to writing? Besides the quarantine, there was no reason I should be here. But then I started to embrace what I call mechanical creativity--artistic but guided. I practiced calligraphy drills. I used coloring books. I tried drawing tutorials. I created illuminated letter art for friends. I did a lot of redecorating in Animal Crossing. All of it had one thing in common--no writing and no stakes.

It's still scary especially because I have little patience. I want stuff done yesterday so I can check it off my list, but all the mechanical creativity has taught me to take a breath or three and realize writing will always be there. Every so often I have to relearn that.

So thank you for those readers who kept coming back to my blog and to the new arrivals, welcome. We finally seem to be on the approach to turn a corner and what better way to celebrate than getting back to normal-ish.

A Noble's Path release: Part II

Anyone who has considered indie publication or is currently engaged in indie publications knows that, to paraphrase a well-known opening line, it is a truth universally acknowledged that no matter how well a plan is executed, something will gum up the works. For me, it's paperbacks.For my last book it took a month after the digital release before the paperback was made available. This time I think I can better that wait by two weeks. Here's hoping!In the meantime, I'm happy and proud to announce that Book Two of The Enchanted Path Series, A Noble's Path, has gone live as of this morning through these sellers. Tell your friends, tell your neighbors and tell total strangers!And check back at my author website, Book by I.L. Cruz for updates about the paperback release date.

Musing on the Muse

Next week, A Noble’s Path, the second book in my Enchanted Path series, is being released. It’s a bittersweet moment. I’m hoping that it leads to more interest in the series, but I know it also means having to embrace more marketing. It’s not my forte, not because I’m shy, but because it means selling myself as much as selling my book. The book I don’t mind talking about—I get very few opportunities to do so—but talking about myself seems immaterial to the writing process.Then again, maybe that’s not so true. There have been quite a few instances lately where a book has been reviled because the writer was considered insensitive to the subject matter, which happened to be outside their background. I write about Latina protagonists because I’m Latina and I felt there weren’t enough of us as leads in stories. I write speculative fiction because I love the idea that a story is not limited to what we know. And yet I wonder if the former statement negates the latter?Is it limiting to only write from a Latina perspective just because I’m Latina? Would it be equally limiting to only write from a female perspective because I’m a woman? I think about all those fairy tales dictated and transcribed by men, who gave little to no agency to women. Caucasians who included minorities as caricatures as plot devices for stories. In those instances, the writers were limited by their gender and ethnicity not knowing anything but their own narrow perspective. It made their characters wooden and incomplete. And yet, it does give us some insight into white male rationales from a certain time period.I suppose my opinion on this subject has yet to coalesce. Should a writer be allowed to write from all viewpoints? Isn’t trying to get into the heads of people unlike yourself the beginning of attempted understanding? In an ideal world, it would be. In reality, it alienates people. One side defensive, trying to justify their right to write whatever they want. On the other, a cancel culture that precludes debate or discussion. Again, I haven’t made my decision.The only thing I can say is my desire to see myself and my daughter in stories drove me to write, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t seen myself in Anne Shirley, Elizabeth Bennet and Jo March as well as countless other women and men as I immersed myself in their stories. Great stories should be universal and personal, simultaneously because stories should connect us—joyfully, painfully, in humor and in sadness—by making us seek each other out and talk about it.

The Continuing Story of Inez Garza

Divided loyalties test Inez Garza. The infamous incident at the Academy of Natural Studies has forced her to work for the King’s Men while continuing to serve the hidden market.Supporting Birthright furthers the cause of Magical Return, but the cost may be the fall of the royal house and losing Zavier forever.And the strongest pull of all is her growing and erratic magic, which demands everything and offers only destruction in return.Inez must decide where her loyalties lie—saving Canto or saving herself.A Noble’s Path: Book Two of the Enchanted PathNow available for pre-order from these sellersRelease date: January 31, 2020 from above sellers and Amazon (print and digital)And don't miss Book One: A Smuggler's Path 

January with Thumbelina

January is a quiet, broody month. The end of the holiday season is as sudden as the beginning of it. The weather is unpredictable and rarely appreciated. And the new year has a sense of urgency to be different or at least better than the last. It’s all exhausting!I think about Thumbelina hiding out with the field mouse for the winter all cozy and grateful. Of course, the peace doesn’t last because the old field mouse because the next in a long line of creatures that think Thumbelina should marry. Thumbelina is forced to run away to avoid yet another arranged marriage. That’s what January feels like, a forced marriage between your expectations and other people’s—uneasy and slightly ominous.And yet, this is the month I’ve decided to release my new book. Crazy, huh? And yet…This post is a short one and I fear the next one will be, too. But routines are promises you make to yourself. So even a short post is a promise kept.Keep a lookout for A Noble's Path, book 2 in the Enchanted Path series.

Early Happy Holidays

Dear FF Readers,The last weeks of the year are running by and like everyone else I have a lot on my plate to include putting the finishing touches on my upcoming book, A Noble's Path.So I want to take the opportunity to wish all my readers a happy and healthy end of the year filled with holiday cheer and lots of sweets! My blog will return January 14th, 2020.[gallery ids="848,849,850" type="rectangular"]

Happy Holidays :)

Deadlines in the World of Make Believe

Fairy tales love deadlines. Midnight curfews. Seasonal mandates. Royal decrees with an expiration date. It ramps up the drama to know that not only does a protag have an obstacle to overcome, but there’s also a clock on when it must be completed. Readers love that.You know who doesn’t love it? Writers. We put our characters through the ringer, but nothing compares to the rollercoaster of meeting a deadline—especially when you’re an indie pub author. Deadlines are yours to control and without external forces demanding you meet them; they can become ephemeral. Empty. Pointless. It takes an extraordinary amount of discipline to keep to a self-imposed deadline. And sometimes we fall short.I know I did. I expected to return to my blogging within a month. Three months later I’m finally climbing out of my book edits. And I’m not done, but I realized that being a part of this community was something I missed. Not the deadlines for posting! I did, however, miss interacting with fellow writers and bloggers. But to avoid ramping up the drama in my life, I’ll be kinder to myself with deadlines and post every other week—at least until I finish edits for book two in my Enchanted Path series, A Noble’s Path.And thanks to those of you who kept reading even when I wasn’t writing.

A Brief Return

First things first: I'm not done with the manuscript of A Noble's Path: Book 2 in my Enchanted Path series. I am about 2/3 of the way done and would likely move faster if it wasn't turning into some Choose Your Own Adventure, where I write a chapter followed by two versions of what would happen next. Needless to say editing will be "fun".I'm also here to let you know that I do intend to come back to both my blogging and tweeting, but not before I finish my draft. I can almost deal with having to do non-writer things (like feed myself, raise my daughter, walk the dog and spend time with my husband) and writing my book at the same time. However, trying to write a draft while also meeting blogging deadlines, participating in Twitter and the like is just to many streams and not enough boats. I have high hopes for a return by the end of the month.In the meantime, I had a wonderful surprise awaiting me. My first book, A Smuggler's Path, has been given a B.R.A.G. Medallion by indieBRAG. I know indie publication is a slow slog through the desert, but it's nice when there's an oasis in sight. Check out their website and to my fellow indie authors, consider submitting your work for a medallion!