FAQs

Buying direct supports the author. (*waves*)

Buying through a retailer also supports the author, but not as much. Every retailer (from Amazon to Kobo) takes 30% of the proceeds.

When you make a direct purchase, all your money goes directly to Rebecca.

Will that make me write faster and produce more books? Probably not…and yes. Selling direct means I can offer unique products (short stories, larger box sets, special merchandise, etc.) that I wouldn’t sell on retailers.

I will continue to offer all my main releases through retailers. 

I also appreciate all sales, so please buy your books wherever you’re most comfortable! My goal here is to give you more options, not to limit you!

Your ebooks are delivered automatically and immediately after purchase by an email from BookFunnel.

If the email doesn’t arrived in 5 minutes, look for it in your Spam folder or, if you have Gmail, in your Promotions folder.

Note: If you have more than one email address, the ebook will be delivered to the email address you use at checkout.

After your purchase, you can always log into BookFunnel with the email you used to purchase/download your books, and you will find your BookFunnel library: https://My.BookFunnel.com

Your library will contain all ebooks you have purchased from BookFunnel from any authors (including any extras you might have downloaded from me).

This is great for rereading books no longer on your device or resending ones that were accidentally deleted.

If you have a technical issue in getting your ebook, BookFunnel’s knowledgable staff is here to help!

Email [email protected] for assistance in getting your ebook to your preferred reading device.

Refunds do not apply to digital goods such as ebooks.

If you have ordered the same book multiple times by accident, email [email protected] within 7 days of your order. Use the subject “Returns” and include your name and all relevant order numbers. If it is determined that you have mistakenly ordered the same book more than once, you will be issued a refund.

Flight of the Gargoyles, book 4 of the Gargoyle Guardian Chronicles, is now available. Get it directly from Rebecca or at your favorite retailer.

More gargoyle novels are in the works!

To receive teaser snippets, bonus extras, and release-date details, join my VIP newsletter.

In the meantime, make sure you’re all caught up…

Novels of Terra Haven Series Order

Gargoyle Guardian Chronicles

At this time, no Madison Fox novels are in the works.

That doesn’t mean there won’t ever been a new adventure for our intrepid illuminant enforcer. It simply means that the next book I release won’t be featuring her.

Madison Fox Series Order

I can’t always pinpoint the exact moment I get a story idea. Usually it’s an organic process, where a group of nagging ideas suddenly come together into a story I want to write.

However, for A Fistful of Evil, it was different.

The story came to me on a sleepless night.

I was working a ulcer-inducing job that inspired me to spend my off hours arguing in my head with my horrid coworkers, replaying all the things I wished I could say (or had said) to their faces.

To distract myself from the negative storm in my thoughts, I practiced a visualization exercise, picturing my cat, who was snoozing next to my pillow. I envisioned how she would look if I could see her soul, all bright white and full of good energy.

Then I wondered what a character who could see everyone’s souls would be like…

And Madison Fox was born.

I wrote the novel fast, all in one month, and I stole rather shamelessly from my own life to speed the process along. (See the images on this page under “Madison Fox in the Real World.”)

At the time, every urban fantasy heroine on the shelves was a total badass.

They could cut through a horde of rabid werewolves while single-handedly deflecting the attacks of a clot of blood-sucking vampires.

Most were shapeshifters, powerful mages, or part vampire.

I wanted to write something different. I wanted an everywoman character.

I wanted a heroine who had a cat she enjoyed snuggling with, friends who were utterly normal, and parents who drove her a little bonkers.

Madison became the character I needed in my life at the time. Honestly, I think she’s a character many people need in their lives: someone with a lot of heart who is funny, even when she doesn’t intend to be.

I get my ideas the same place as most writers, artists, and inventors: while loading the dishwasher. And driving. And brushing my teeth. There’s a certain quality of thought (or lack thereof) during these rote tasks that encourages the brain to escape to somewhere more exciting and diverting. By the same token, these mundane tasks require just enough concentration to prevent you from thinking serious thoughts, and they enable snippets of facts and ideas and what-ifs to meld together until you realize you’ve been standing with the same dirty plate in your hand for minutes, lost in another world entirely.

If you were hoping my answer would open new realms in your own imagination, I would suggest researching any and everything that interests you, all at once, and never stop. The more things you learn, the more possibilities are unlocked in your imagination.

I also find that once I have an idea, it helps to sit down, start a fresh document, and free write until I run out of thoughts. Some pretty interesting stuff bubbles up during these brainstorming sessions.

I write fantasy for the same reason I read fantasy: I love it. It’s where my imagination always goes. Plus: magic.

One. Then I realized that while I was ready to publish, my writing was not. So I sat back down and wrote four more novels, two partial novels, and a novella. I also took creative writing classes, read books on the craft of writing, and received lots of feedback from writers I trusted. And I read a lot. I read for pleasure, and I reread the best books to dissect them to figure out what worked so well and why.

What I learned: There’s a lot more to creating a novel than having an interesting main character or a sizzling plot or beautiful prose—it’s an amalgamation of all the above, plus tone, style, pacing, dialog, word count, and more.

Most of these lessons I learned the hard way. I wrote a thousand-page novel that should have been two hundred pages long. I wrote two books without third acts. I wrote a five hundred page novel that didn’t have a cohesive voice and really started about two hundred pages in. I wrote three hundred pages into a novel before realizing I didn’t like the story and abandoned it.

Eventually, I had a novel I could be proud of, and that’s when I finally published A Fistful of Evil.

Getting a story idea is like having a dream; writing a story is like translating that dream so others see and experience it just as you did.

In other words, the ideas are the easy part. Writing is the time-consuming, far more difficult (and rewarding) part. More important, you’re the only one who can write your story. It exists in your imagination. You know it intimately. Do your story justice by giving it the attention it deserves: your attention.

Start with an idea. Fall in love with it. Then write. Keep going until you finish your first draft.

This is vital. Complete your first draft.

For the people in the back: complete your first draft.

Now, if you’re still interested in being a writer, the hard work begins. It’s time to hone your craft.

(If you attempt to go about it in the reverse order, you’ll get stuck on making perfect sentences or perfect opening pages, and you won’t get the actual book done.)

Turn your inner critic off and get writing!

Pro Tip:

Determine the times of day you can set aside for writing. These should be chunks of time (15 minutes or 2 hours or whatever you have to work with).

Use those times to write every single day. Get to the point where you can turn on your creativity the moment you sit down (waiting for inspiration is like exercising only when you’re in the mood).

Guard these writing time slots with your life.

Write.

Your first draft of your first book is going to be crap.

This isn’t me being harsh.

This is me thinking you’re human.

When was the last time you tried a new form of art and were performing on par with masters on your first attempt.

Writing is no different.

But now that you’ve got a first draft to work with (congratulations!) and you’ve determined you still want to publish a novel (double yay!), it’s time to coerce the lump of words in front of you into the shape you originally envisioned.

• Take some writing classes
• Critique other people’s writing and have them critique yours
• Get comfortable with editing
• And rewriting
• And editing some more

Creative energy is a bit like physical energy; you need to build up your stamina, and you need to build restorative habits into your lifestyle.

These are good resources:

1. Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski
2. Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
3. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

Exercise regularly. Writing is typically a sedentary habit. Movement is good for your body and your brain.

The you two years from now will thank me. Trust me.