Promiscuous Diva: Where NOT to Write Guest Post by David Estes + International Giveaway

Where NOT to Write by David Estes

First I’d like to thank the Promiscuous Diva for giving me the chance to come on her blog! She gave me a few topics to choose from, and I chose “Favorite Place to Write.” Awesome topic, one that I can hopefully make as entertaining as possible because of my unique writing circumstances.

You see, while I feed my fledgling full time writing career snack crackers and corn chips, I’m in the midst of a two-year trip around the world with my beautiful and supportive wife, Adele. So on any given day, I’m usually writing in a completely different place. But before I get into MY ALL TIME FAVORITEST PLACE TO WRITE, I want to tell you about some of the many places I’ve written my books, as well as tell you about a place I probably should NOT have been writing.

OK, here goes! Well, my burgeoning career started none other than on the Manly Ferry in Sydney, Australia. Yep, Aussies, that’s right! My wife is Australian, though I am not, and we were living in Australia, working glorious 9-5 jobs in the city, while living at Manly Beach. Every day we rode the Manly Ferry to the city, and that’s where I would write. Half an hour there, half an hour back, rolling on the waves, catching an occasional glimpse of a dolphin or two out the window. All in all, not too bad, eh? Squeeze in an hour at a café at lunch in the city, and I was churning out about two hours a day, perhaps 2,500 words. That’s how it all started. That was definitely fun, but in the scheme of things, neither the ferry or the cafes were my favorite places to write.

Fast forward a year and a half. Four books published and it’s time to quit our jobs and do this full time, yeah! We decided that if I was going to write fulltime, we might as well make an experience out of it, travel the world the world for two years, meet people, live life to the fullest. So we took the show on the road, quitting our jobs, selling, giving away, or storing almost all of our belongings, getting plugged with more vaccinations than I knew existed. First stop: Hawaii!

Hmm, who wants to stay cooped up writing all day when you’re in sunny Waikiki, or on the North Shore of Oahu? Not me! Well, I thought, I’ve got a tiny laptop that can easily fit in the beach bag with everything else, so I might as well take advantage. That’s when I started writing on the beach. We bought a couple of cheap beach chairs and I would write while Adele would read and take photos. If I got hot, I took a dip. I was churning out LOTS of words now, somewhere in the 4-5 thousand mark per day, writing full time, publishing a new book every 2-3 months. Living the dream! Only…laptops aren’t really meant to be in the sun. Duh! We were on the beach and I’d just finished the sequel to The Moon Dwellers, and ZAP! FRY! BZZ! My laptop goes black. Like blank-screen black. Like pressing-all-the-buttons-won’t-get-it-to-do-anything black. NOOOOO!!! Yeah, I freaked. Not my best day. I’d saved a zillion times, of course, and even backed up parts on an external hard drive, but there was LOTS that was ONLY on the laptop’s hard drive, and if it was fried, I was completely ready to shamelessly break down in tears in a public place. Enter, my hero: Adele! She made some calls to a friend, who called a friend. A computer whiz friend. So I trustingly handed over my computer, and two days later, voila! Dead computer with SAVED hard drive.Wootwoot! Lesson learned, right? Well, sort of. I continued writing on the beach, but first we bought a nice beach umbrella. Ahhh shade! How obvious was that? Apparently not obvious enough for my pint-sized brain. In any case, I borrowed Adele’s computer to write the rest of the time we were in Hawaii, until I had a chance to buy a new one. OK, so was the beach my favorite place to write? Notwithstanding the fried computer incident (which, from this day forward we shall never speak of again), the beach was still NOT my favorite place to write. Too much sand trying to get into the keyboard, concerns about sudden rainstorms, lots of wind, distractions, etc.

Get to the point already! Where do you like to write? The pub?The library?A big, comfy chair somewhere in Morocco?A hammock in Mexico?Nope, nope, nope, and nope. Believe it or not, despite having travelled (so far!) for about a year to four continents, my ALLTIME FAVORITEST PLACE TO WRITE continues to be...drumroll…IN BED! That’s right, for me nothing beats waking up and getting right to it. And Adele is super supportive of this, uh, let’s call it a “creative choice” (because it sounds better than “lazy choice”). She brings me breakfast, coffee, and sometimes even lunch in bed when I’m working on a project. It’s comfortable, warm, and there are generally zero distractions. On a typical day I churn out 4-5 thousand words before lunch. Then Adele and I go out and enjoy the day in whatever city we happen to be in.

All in all, it’s an absolute dream come true, one that NEVER would have come close to coming true without the remarkable and selfless support of the bloggers, fan group members, beta readers, street team members, family, and friends who have supported and helped me along the way. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you thank you thank you, and HAPPY READING!

David Estes

"Water & Storm Country" (Country Saga #3)

by David Estes.

Quick Facts

Release Date: June 6th 2013.

Genre: YA Dystopian.

Formats: Paperback (only at Amazon), Kindle, Nook, Smashwords

The book is suitable for all audiences.

Book Synopsis

Huck Jones, the son of the admiral of the Soaker fleet, has a legacy to live up to. Haunted by the distorted memories of his mother's untimely death, he must face his demons and the man who raised him as he strives to take the courageous step forward into manhood. When he's transferred to the worst-performing ship in the fleet, everything he believes is called into question when he meets a lowly brown-skinned bilge rat girl. Huck walks a deadly rope...

Meanwhile, Sadie, destined to be a Rider in the Stormer army, seeks to avenge her brother's death at the hands of the Soakers. Trained hard by her mother, an experienced Rider, Sadie knows strength and determination more than most. Her father, a Man of Wisdom, has shown his cowardice more times than she can count. As her world and family fall apart, she must cast aside her anger and focus on the wisdom she's always brushed off as foolishness.

Amidst everything, a Plague ravages all, discriminating against no one.

When four worlds collide, lines will be drawn, sides will be chosen, victory will be sought. Death will be wrought. The mysteries of the Cure for the deadly Plague will be uncovered. Who will survive? And what will those who do learn about themselves and the ones they love?

GOODREADS

Excerpt

When the weight of Gard's heavy hands lifts from the crown of my head, I look up and the war leader nods. I stand to cheers and thunder from stomping feet, stride toward the stables, invincible, where a horse is being led toward me.
With a sleek, black hide, long, black mane, and fierce brown eyes, she's everything I always imagined she would be. Stamping her feet, pulling at the ropes, snorting heavy plumes of breath out of her flaring nostrils, she's unbroken.
It takes four strong men, Riders, to control her, and even then, she's uncontrollable. Wild. Hungry. Mine.
As I approach, I notice a mar on the complete darkness of her coloring: A single patch of white sits high on her nose, almost between her ears, shaped like a butterfly. White wings.
Can she fly?
I'm still admiring her wild and untamed perfection, wondering where she was found, how hard it was for the Horse Whisperers to lure her close enough to capture her, whether she put up a fight, when one of the ropes are thrust into my hands.
Thankfully, I have enough sense to grab it firmly, to hold on, to remember the words my mother taught me, let them flow freely through my mind. I am yours, you are mine, we are one. A warrior and a steed become a Rider. Fight with me even as I fight with you. Separate, our strength is breakable, matched by many; combined, our power is above all, unstoppable.
The words roll over and over in my mind as I take the second rope, walking my hands up the thick strands, feeling them burn my palms as the horse bucks and strains against the bonds that are so foreign to a creature that has known only complete freedom while roaming wild on the plains.
Freedom is an illusion. I'm surprised to hear my father's words in my head while I'm so focused on approaching my horse. I shake my head and resume my chant, this time out loud, first as a whisper and then louder and louder as I get closer and closer. The horse isn't calmed by my words, but I know she hears them, because she's completely focused on me now, and I'm oblivious to the ceremony that continues behind me.
Passion. The name occurs to me just like my mother said it would, right when one of the Riders are thrown down when the horse charges sharply to one side."Passion," I say, and she stands perfectly still, matching the intensity of my gaze. "Sadie." She snorts, as if my name is but a cricket under the stomp of her grand feet. And so it is.
I shouldn't be this close, not at the first meeting. My mother told me, but it takes Passion to teach me.
She seems calm since I spoke her name. Her head even bows a little, and my mother said a wild horse will never do that. Already, our bond is special.I reach forward to rub the white butterfly on her nose.
Her drooping eyes suddenly flash with anger and her head bucks as she leaps forward, butting me, throwing me backward, nearly stomping on my leg as I skid across the grass.
Passion.

The Author

David Estes was born in El Paso, Texas but moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when he was very young. He grew up in Pittsburgh and then went to Penn State for college. Eventually he moved to Sydney, Australia where he met his wife and soul mate, Adele, who he's now been happily married to for more than two years.

A reader all his life, David began writing novels for the children's and YA markets in 2010, and has completed 14 novels, 12 of which have been published. In June of 2012, David became a fulltime writer and is now travelling the world with Adele while he writes books, and she writes and takes photographs.

David gleans inspiration from all sorts of crazy places, like watching random people do entertaining things, dreams (which he jots copious notes about immediately after waking up), and even from thin air sometimes!

David's a writer with OCD, a love of dancing and singing (but only when no one is looking or listening), a mad-skilled ping-pong player, an obsessive Goodreads group member, and prefers writing at the swimming pool to writing at a table. He loves responding to e-mails, Facebook messages, Tweets, blog comments, and Goodreads comments from his readers, all of whom he considers to be his friends.