10 Things I Didnt Know Before Becoming An Author by Stacey Rourke

by - Tuesday, December 13, 2016




Title: Inferno
Author: Stacey Rourke
Genre: Teen Fantasy
Cover Designer: KC Designs
Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR


With the death of a hero, a dark force has risen. A hellhound is loose on the Rhodes Campus, building its pack with a bloody body count. 

Any hope for salvation rests in the fiery hands of dashing Irishman, Caleb, with his power over the elements. 

Fighting to save a dear friend from the internal monster consuming him, Caleb finds the love of his life a target for the vicious attacks. 

How far will he go to save Celeste from the destiny ravenous to claim her?


Facebook Release Party:





  1. Everybody—and I mean EVERYBODY—has either written a book or knows someone who has. The very second you out yourself as an author they will want to tell you every little detail about their/ their friend's experience. Just smile, nod, and plot the clever way one of your characters would get out of that same situation because let’s be honest, your characters will always be cooler and more clever than you. 
  2. Once hearing you’re an author, you will then be asked, “Have you written anything I’ve read?” Let’s take a minute and evaluate the lunacy of this question. How could I possibly know what you have or haven’t read in the course of your life? Your only real option here is to mess with them. “Have you ever read the back of a box of Cheerios? That’s all me, baby! You are welcome.” 
  3. The literary world is so flooded with authors right now, you couldn’t throw a quarter without hitting one. But, don’t think for one second you’re getting that quarter back because we’re starving artists and you just got us a fourth of the way towards buying something off the McDonald’s dollar menu! WOOHOO! 
  4. Newbie authors anticipate being rocketed to the status of JK Rowlings, or Stephenie Meyer with the release of their first book. Pardon me for a moment—BWAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAHHAAAA!!!! Yeah, that doesn’t happen, kids. They are the rare exceptions, not the norm. That’s like spending the day in the woods and being shocked and applauded that you didn’t suddenly morph into a Yeti. That … don’t … happen. 
  5. There are sick bastards out there that prey on exploiting the dreams of others. I know, ick. It’s gross and horrible, yet it happens all the time. Count it as a definite that at some point someone will approach you and promise to give you the moon and stars if you sign with them. “Want to be a New York Times Bestseller? Sign here and give me all your money, one leg, and a kidney.” Like I mentioned before, we’re starving artists. Be that as it may, you tell us you can make all our dreams come true and suddenly we are justifying the great calf workout we’ll get if we saw off a limb for the cause. Little tip kids: if someone promises you the moon and stars, run fast and far away. No one can promise those kinds of lofty claims and deliver on it. NO ONE. 
  6. There’s way more to this than simply writing. If this is your actual career and livelihood, you should be out there marketing yourself and pimping your wares like a call girl during fleet week. Okay, not just like that. There’s no need for fishnets or a pleather skirt—unless that’s what you’re into. Who am I to judge? My point—if I ever really had one—is that you need to delegate a portion of your time to market yourself and your books. They don’t sell unless you put ‘em out there! (Which probably also applies to fleet week.) 
  7. The muse is a fickled little minx that no being on earth can tame or begin to understand. Don’t believe me? Just wait until you wake up from a dream so realistic, and intricately layered with dimension and detail that you know without a shadow of a doubt that this is a book that MUST be written! You grab a pencil to jot it down, and … nothin’. Your muse, who just moments ago whisked you to a world of unfathomable creation, fluttered off to tease and torment someone else. You’re left pulling your hair out, pencil hovering over the paper as you scream, “Trees? Was there something about trees? Or bees … fleas, maybe? I CAN’T REMEMBER!”
  8. People in the literary world are the oddest, most eclectic band of outgoing, introverts you will ever meet in your life—but damn are they fun! These are people that take great pleasure in getting lost in their own minds from time to time. Which, in turn, means when they get together as a group … they cook up some seriously weird shit. Hear of a book event coming to an area near you? Go. Hang out, and meet the authors. You can thank me later when you wake up in Mexico with your underwear in your boot and a tattoo of Harry Potter’s wand on your butt cheek. 
  9. It never gets any easier; plotting, writing, editing, marketing. It’s a JOB. It’s HARD. Yes, we learn patterns and techniques along the way that help us. Even so, this stuff ain’t easy! You want it? (And by it I mean a moderately successful career and a steady paycheck.) You have to work for it, and KEEP working for it. 
  10. There is no greater feeling as an author than finally getting to type, “The End” after completing a manuscript. Want to know a secret I could probably get kicked out of the Society of Insane Writer’s Logic for revealing? We ALL type The End at the end of our books just to see it there, and possibly take a picture of it to post all over social media. Nine times out of ten we will delete that before the book ever goes to print. It’s there purely for the momentary self-gratification of knowing we can chalk that one up as FINISHED. It’s the literary equivalent of a self-five, and it is orgasmic!


RONE Award Winner for Best YA Paranormal Work of 2012 for Embrace, a Gryphon Series Novel 

Young Adult and Teen Reader voted Author of the Year 2012

Turning Pages Magazine Winner for Best YA book of 2013 & Best Teen Book of 2013 

Stacey Rourke is the author of the award winning YA Gryphon Series, the chillingly suspenseful Legends Saga, and the romantic comedy Adapted for Film. She lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant dogs. She loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction, and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head. 

Visit her at www.staceyrourke.com



or on Twitter or instagram at Rourkewrites.


Buy Links: 

#Free with #KindleUnlimited
Conduit (FREE): http://amzn.to/2acPikz
Descent (Novella): http://amzn.to/2eYdx6V


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