On Solid Ground: Abby's Freedom

So, the second installment of The Edge series is coming out very soon.  Abby's story will finish with a happily ever after ending, which is what all survivors hope to accomplish.  She doesn't believe she deserves it.  She doesn't believe that she's worthy.  She's broken and shattered, but with time, she is built back up.

  With the end of Abby's story, questions are left about Tommy's story.  How does one become an abuser?  What course in life does an abuser take that turns them into such an angry soul that they could harm another human being?  Well, every abusers life is different and everyone has choices to make in life.  Tommy's story will be revealed next.  The questions that so many have will be answered in a story that shows the road he took (whether forced into or willingly taken.)

In the time between now and the release date, please take a look at my new webpage.  You can find the synopsis of both books; On the Edge and On Solid Ground: Abby's Freedom, as well as trailers, teasers, photos and coming-soon, my street team.

V.E. Avance's Official Website

Looking for a Street Team

Hello everyone,

With the release of my second book just around the corner I am looking for ten (10) people to be a part of my street team.  I need these people to be able to pimp me and get my name out to the world; facebook and otherwise.  If you're interested, please email me with the following questions answered.

1. Your idea for the name of the street team (please refrain from using the book series as I have other ideas for books)

2.  How would you pimp my book and my name?

3.  How many hours a week would you invest in pimping me?

4. Have you read either of my books (On the Edge or the ARC copy of On Solid Ground)?  If you have, tell me what you liked about them.  If you haven't, tell me why.

You can apply from now (7 Aug 2014) to the end of the month (31 Aug 2014).  On the first of September I will go through the applications and pick 10 people.  Everyone who applies will receive a signed book mark, regardless if they are chosen or not.  Those that are chosen, will receive a welcome package with some custom swag.

**email application to veavance@gmail.com**

A New Author

So, I have had many firsts the past few days.  This is the first author I ever promoted here.  My followers should check out her FB page as well as her books on Amazon.  I just bought her series myself and plan on starting them tonight.  :-)

https://www.facebook.com/acwilson2013

Update

So, it's been brought to my attention that I may need to rephrase and explain about a blog I made earlier. Through counseling, I was instructed that I cannot change my past. The only thing that I can do with my past is make peace with it. So, when I say that I would not change my past, it's because I have made peace with it. I cannot change it and, it is because of the past, that I am who I am. However, finding myself was not easy and I did suffer post-traumatic stress disorder and battered woman's syndrome as a result. I stand for raising awareness that domestic violence exists and ending domestic violence.  Though I can't erase my past, maybe my story will help someone change their future (avoid an abusive relationship) or maybe my story will help someone find the strength to leave their abuser and find peace with their past.

V.E. Avance

1 Week Post-Release

It's been one week since On the Edge released on Amazon and I am proud to announce that I have sold more than I expected considering I am a very new author and I have a cliffhanger in it.  My experience is that most fans prefer to read a series with cliffhangers after the final book has been released.

I have done one giveaway that resulted in a free digital copy of my book being released to a fan and I am currently giving away another free edition of my book in a giveaway on my author page on FaceBook.  This will be the last giveaway of my book until 1 week prior to the release of the second installment of the series.
I am working on the sequel, On the Edge of Death, daily and hope that it will be ready for proof ordering by mid-May.

I would also like to announce that I have sold a total of 15 books (both print and digital).  When I hit 500 sales, I will be raffling away a $25 gift card and when I hit 1000 sales, I will be raffling away a $75 gift card as my personal thank-you to my fans support.  Without the support of shares and purchases, I wouldn't be making sales nor would I be encouraged to continue to write and tell Abigail's story of defeat, survival and, eventually, triumph!!!!

With this said, I wish all of you a Happy Easter and please be safe this holiday weekend.

XOXO,

V.E. Avance

Memories

Since the release of my book On the Edge, life has been weird for me.  The book has forced some memories that I had pushed away to resurface.  I only remembered a handful of violent situations with my (ex) husband but I was storing so many other situations deep in my subconscious.  I opened up to my husband last night, through tears, about my memories.  Every day, after my 18th birthday, was full of physical abuse.  I hid those memories because I needed to believe that I wasn't "stupid" enough to stay with abuse that raged daily.  Memories of being slammed against walls, punched in my legs and arms, hands around my throat and being chased with baseball bats began to flood back, almost overnight.  I remember praying for God to make be "behave" so that he would love me and want to stop hurting me.  It seemed that my whole life was full of doing things to make others love me.  Wanting my mom to love me, my (ex) husband to love me, friends, and distant family.

Memories flooded back of all the times that I could have escaped.  I was a criminal justice major, I could have showed my instructor (a retired Sheriff's Deputy) the bruises and marks on my body and he would have saved me.  I could have went to my friends (a police officer and his wife) for help and he would have helped me.  I could have told the Sheriff's Deputy that did a welfare check on me that I was not safe and he would have helped me.  I could have done any of those things (before marriage) and I would have been safe but I didn't.  I was too psychologically messed up to reach out for help.  I was too damaged to ask for help.  I was too afraid to seek help.

Through this book, I discovered that I was trying to make people love me when their love should come easily and wantingly.  Through this book, I found that I was already loved just not from those that I had been trying to get to love me.  My husband has been through hell and back with me.  Anger and fear filled me and he took the worst of it all.  He loves me enough that he stayed with me and it paid off.  I figured myself out and realized that I was angry because of the memories that I held deep down.  I am better for this book.  I am a stronger person because of my past.  If I got to do life over again, I would not change a single thing about my past.  Because of my past, I am who I am and I am surrounded by love and support.

~V.E. Avance~

It's Done!

On the Edge is done and published as of this morning.  It's available through amazon in both print and digital.  I am excited that this chapter is done and I can devote hours and hours to book 2, On the Edge of Death in preparation for its publishing this summer (no date available).  Below, you will find links to all my sites and I hope you purchase the book and, if you do, please please please leave a review.

Amazon (kindle edition): http://www.amazon.com/On-Edge-V-E-Avance-ebook/dp/B00JEOGH8W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397269646&sr=8-1&keywords=V.E.+Avance

Amazon (print): http://www.amazon.com/On-Edge-Volume-1-Avance/dp/1497323231/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1397269646&sr=8-3&keywords=V.E.+Avance

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21841187-on-the-edge?from_search=true

Have a great weekend and happy reading!

~V.E. Avance

9 days

Hello Lovelies,

In 9 days, On the Edge will appear on Amazon for sell.  It will be exclusive only to Amazon and CreateSpace until July 16th at which time I hope to have it formatted for Nook and selling on other websites.  I have been invited to do a blog radio show to talk about my situation and the book.  There is no date set but I will keep everyone updated on it.

My head is spinning and I am getting more and more nervous as each day passes.  Though this book is purely fictional and has an entertaining, dramatic-romance to it, I hope that I was able to accurately show what I hoped.  With this book, I was hoping to show the cycle of abuse through the view point of the victim.  Every domestic violence situation is different but the cycle is the same.

So, this weekend we released the Prologue of the book.  Shannan and I brain stormed and revised and altered for hours trying to get it right.  Though I am the author, Shannan has spent hours helping me with revisions to make this book as successful as possible.  I can not begin to imagine writing this book without here and the many people standing behind me cheering me on.

Without further ado, here is the Prologue.

Thinking and Thinking

So, it's been a while since I posted a blog.  So much has been going on the past few weeks with On the Edge that some nights I was only sleeping 2-4 hours.  When the proofs arrived, I realized that it was too choppy and not good quality in many ways.  I was lacking description and emotion (Warren helped me see that).  The book was too large (6"x9") and felt weird to hold.  The print on the cover was too dark (not because of Shannan but because of the printer used).  So, I had to adjust a lot of interior of the book while Shannan had to lighten the cover up for printing.  I adjusted the size of the book to 5"x8" and put some scene separators in to make the book pop and flow better.

Now, after all of that was adjusted, Shannan and I started working on the digital formatting.  I had to reformat the interior while she worked on the cover.  This wasn't so bad but I wanted to take it a step further.  I wanted hyperlinks in the Table of Contents (TOC), which meant learning how to do that.  In the end, I ended up ruling in-text hyperlinks and everything works.  Now, I'm tweaking book 2 (I'll release the title of the book when we release the book cover sometime this summer) to make it match the new ending of the first book.

So, that's the update on the book.  Now, an update on me.  I'm tired, nervous, scared and excited all rolled into one package.  I have a type A personality so I always tend to strive for perfection and when I fall short, as we all do, I get anxious.  I've been so worried that my book has errors (though I've read and read it and have found nothing) that I am up several times at night pacing.  I've gotten to the point where I think it would be a relief for it to release because I believe that would relief my stress and worry.

So, that's the update.  I will update everyone again when the book releases (by the end of the first week).

Best Wishes,

V.E. Avance

On the Edge ~ Official Book Trailer!

Here is the official book trailer for On the Edge.  We have Shannan to thank for this trailer.  Big ol' shout out of love and respect to her.  I think her and her husband deserve a dinner out, on me, for all the hard work.  Her poor husband lost hours with his wife and probably had to hear her stress out over this trailer.  It was not easy for her to do because of the abuse that had to be portrayed in the trailer.  Watching videos depicting violence is hard for a caring person to watch and it can cause and unheard of amount of anxiety.  

  Release date is still up in the air, but we do know that it will NOT be releasing anywhere near June 1st.  We are looking more at April 1st or 15th.  Again, this information will be released in a blog, FaceBook and Twitter.  Enjoy the trailer and, please, like us and the video on YouTube.

March Update

Well my lovelies,

On the Edge is progressing nicely through the publishing phase.  I am very particular about my books and like to make sure that I have none to very few errors so it's taking a lot longer to get through all of the editing stages for his book.  As of right now, I caught 1 error before my proof even came in.  As soon as the proof is in, I will take 3-5 days to read every line of the book and make changes as needed or maybe even add a little to the book before revising and ordering more proofs.  Regardless, release date is still June 1st and I will make sure that it not released after that date, even if I have to work 7 days a week to get the book (both print and digital) ready.  When we first release, it will be available in the United States, Canada and Europe.

I had surgery yesterday (3/17) but I still managed to get a few things done with the book.  So long as I'm not dopey or groggy, I am sitting or laying to recover which gives me plenty of time to tinker with the book and even draft up book 2.  Now, I know some authors' release the next book in a trilogy or a series 6-12 months after the first book, but I plan on releasing the next book 3-6 months (preferably 3 months) after the first book.  My overall goal is to release all 3 books by November and have  box set out by Christmas. :-)

On the Edge playlist

So the book has mention of quite a few songs in it.  They are all amazing songs and the wonderful and talented, Shannan, has put them in a youtube playlist.  Enjoy everyone.

Behind the Scenes

So, it's been a little over a week since I announced the trilogy and started marketing and promoting.  Shannan Lucckesi of Lucckesi Photography and I have accomplished a lot to prepare for the release of the first book, On the Edge, June 1st.  With how much headway we are making, I am very confident that the book will be 100% ready for release that day on Amazon in both print and digital.

Now, I have to say, I may be the author of this book and you see me more than anything promoting and pushing for this book to succeed but there are many more people that are the glue that holds this all together.  Shannan has done all the photoshoots and cover for the book.  Furthermore, she is an admin on every page for the book.  If it weren't for her we would not have any of these sites up and running and interlinked together.  Big hands up to her for all of that!  Also, she was the very first person to read and edit the rough draft of this book.  

Next is Courtney Deaton, my cover model.  She is a wonderful person and very easy to work with.  When the book was completed, we needed a model.  I sat around for hours thinking of who I could get to do this.  Courtney was perfect and jumped up and accepted my offer without second thought.  Now, this could be because I am her most favoritest cousin in the world.  :-)  Big shout out to my little girl (you will always be my little girl no matter how old you are) for helping me when I needed the help.

Next is Stephanie Kennel who, I may never have had the luxury of meeting in person, but she was the next editor in the book and caught a few grammatical errors that Shannan and I both missed along the way.  How amazing is she?!  If it weren't for her, this book would have comma issues galore!

Pam McElrath was my next editor.  She loved the book and found very little errors (about 4 if I'm not mistaken).  She made sure it was fully clean before I sent it off for proofs.  Round of applause for our final editor.

Pam Nastali has been a mentor through the self publishing phase.  Pam is writing a series of children's books with magical fairies and wands and so much more in it.  Though her books aren't ready for publishing, if you're a Harry Potter fan I'm sure you'll find her books magical as well.  They aren't just for kids.  Adults can get lost in them too.  So, I have to give a big shout out to her because she helped me with getting the paperbacks ready to go.

Now, for those that didn't physically work with the book but were inspirations I have to shout out to my husband, Blake Elliott, and best guy friend in the entire world, Nick Lucckesi.  Let me tell you about these two guys in their own individuality.

First, my husband.  This man had to endure all the psychological turmoil that I suffered after leaving my abuser.  Let me tell you; I was NOT easy to get along with in the slightest.  But, he stuck by me and had faith that I would recover from all of it and it paid off.  I am now a better person and very glad to have him around during the drafting of the first book as well as the future books.  He takes care of the kids, does laundry and even the dishes.  I love this man with all my heart.

Nick was my rock when I was leaving my abuser.  He came over the moment I was released from the hospital and just chilled with me while I cried and did whatever it was that I did during that time in my life.  He was even my right hand man when I had to face my abuser in court.  Then, to top things off, I took over a lot of his wife's time while creating this book.  Nick truly is a wonderful person.

So, you see, there are many people involved in the execution of this series.  I'm sure every one of these people will be a part of books 2 and 3 and we may see even more faces with the next two books.  I just want everyone to know that publishing a book is not just the author, though that is the only name that is plastered everywhere.  It's a group effort to get the book in tip top condition and ready to sell.  I would not be promoting nor trying to sell this book if I didn't have others helping and if I didn't know it was good enough to stand against all the publishing houses books.

My Story

My encounter with domestic violence was nothing compared to the character, Abigail Wilkinson, in On the Edge but it was still traumatic and life changing.  I was 17 1/2 years old when I met my first husband.  To me, he was my high school sweetheart.  We were married just shortly after my 18th birthday and it wasn't long before I was in the hospital receiving head CT's and MRI's and several stitches in my head to close a gash that was inflicted by a man that was supposed to love me unconditionally for the rest of my life.  

My ex husband and I were destined together because he was a wonderful friend of my ex boyfriend.  When my boyfriend and I didn't work out, his friend was there to pick up the pieces of my broken heart and show me what love truly was.  He was always there when I needed to talk and took me out on dates and showed me the love that I desired.  So, it goes without mentioning that I didnt see the psychological abuse that he was inflicting on me. Looking back, I can see the situations where he was building me up and tearing me down.  He would tell me I was beautiful and that he was lucky to have me.  However, when he would become angry, he would quit talking to me and act as if he could have any other woman he wanted.  For a girl with low self-esteem (I thought I was fat and ugly) this type of behavior can lead to her become desperate to keep her man.  I would do things that I wasn't supposed to (see him when I was supposed to be working or talk on the phone after curfew) just to keep him from leaving me.  

After several months of this, I turned 18 years old.  At 18, that's when he started grappling with physical abuse.  Nothing too severe at first.  He punched a hole in the wall next to my head or he would push me or slap me.  I just assumed this was love and how love was supposed to feel.  After some time elapsed, he started punching me in my legs and thighs and leaving bruises where I could cover them.  The sad part was that I was a criminal justice major and my instructors were all police officers or former police officers.  To add more insult to injury, my best family friend was a police officer and I could have gone to him, his wife or his children seeking help and would have received it but I loved this man and didn't think I could do any better than him.

On October 31, 2002, I married my abuser in a courthouse ceremony in Idaho state.  I was barely 18 years old and he was barely 20 years old.  I thought he loved me but I found out that the only reason he married me was because a wife can't testify against a husband and I knew about a felony he committed and I was the lose link that needed tightening.  (I didn't discover this until I was halfway through my divorce from him.)  

Our marriage was not a marriage by any means.  He was an utter ass to me and I stood around and took it.  I dealt with the abuse because I didn't believe in divorce.  January 12, 2003 marked 1 full year that he and I had been together.  The night before, he went out with a friend and was doing drugs and having multiple affairs.  It was around 2 o'clock in the afternoon on the 12th when I confronted him and told him that I was leaving.  I couldn't do this anymore and I wanted my old life back (yes, I was over all of it and I really was leaving).  He got angry and smashed my VCR to bits (yes, this was a time when VCR's were in and DVD players were just becoming popular).  He walked out of the bedroom and I was seeing red.  I grabbed his DVD player and threw it against the wall (bad move on my part!)  He comes barreling in through the bedroom door with a drinking glass in his hand.  He looked at what I did (the DVD player still worked.  In fact, it just quit working last year (2013).  He said something to me but I can't remember what it was.  I just remember putting my hands over my face and my thumbs over my temples and bracing for the worst.  The next thing I felt was a stinging sensation on the left side of my head and then it went numb.  I felt liquid warmth running over my hands and remember thinking to myself, "I'm bleeding and I need to find help."  

His step-father was outside working on a car and I went running down the hallway trying to get to him.  The front door was open and I was screaming "Call 911.  I'm bleeding!"  His step-father got in the car and drove away.  All I could do was continue to scream for help praying a neighbor would hear me. 

He caught up to me and grabbed me by the back of my hair and drug me to the bathroom.  He closed and locked the door and filled up the bath tub with water.  I feared that he was going drown me but he surprised me.  He grabbed my head and forced me in the water but he was trying to wash the blood out.  Yes, he was holding my face under water and I was struggling but he never left me under for more than a few seconds.  

He took me back in the room and proceeded to yell at me and tell me that this was all my fault.  I piss him off and he can't control himself because I won't conform to the wife he wants me to be.  I'm looking at the window as he's yelling at me and see 2 cop cars show up.  I point this out to him and he bolts for the front door and locks it.  He fights with the officers refusing to let them in.  I'm praying that they will make entry and not leave me behind.  Praise God, my prayers were answered.  They threatened to break in to get to me if he didn't let them in.  He lets them in and tells me to change clothes (my clothes were covered in blood).  I only changed my shirt.  There was no covering up the blood on my pants or the blood still seeping out of the wound in my head.

They knew what happened but I told them anyways and my husband was arrested for domestic violence.  My step-mom came and picked me up and took me to the hospital.  I'm unsure how many stitches I had, but I had to have stitches to stop the bleeding and I met with victim services and my grandparents took me home where I belonged. 

My divorce was final on September 24, 2004 (took me a long time to get him served as he was in and out of prison).  I was 20 years old and divorced.  On November 5, 2004 I met a man that would be my husband and the father of my children.  He showed me what it's like to truly be loved and respected and my poor husband has had to deal with the aftermath of the psychological and physical abuse done to me, but together, we have overcome that part of my life and are now happy and living life the way it should be.  

On the Edge: A Look into the Author's Mind

On the Edge is a book about a young woman who finds herself in a dire situation that leaves her life hanging in the balance.  On the Edge is a fictional book that talks about a subject that many teenagers and young adults know very little about; Domestice Violence.  Growing up, I had witnessed domestic violence between my parents and even suffered child abuse but I was never taught was constituted domestic violence and what didn't.  I thought hitting and slapping, you know the pysical stuff, was abuse.  That is, until I suffered domestic violence first hand.  It was then, that I realized-and of course over years of education-that domestic violence is psychological and emotional as well.  

When drafting On the Edge, I was looking for a way to bring young adults (teenagers and early adults) to this book.  How can I attract the audience that I deperately want?  That was easy, make a fictional books with fictional characters and bring it situations that the age group understands.  Get them hooked on the characters and the plot.  So, with research on the "popular" things that young folks are into and many hours thumbing through FaceBook (not to mention many hours of seeing "duck faces" eek!) I finally created a plot for the book.  

I did not create this book to try to become rich (actually it's rare to make millions on books).  I wrote this book to get the word out about domestic violence and to get the population that is most susceptible to domestic violence aware that it exists.  Did you know that the age group most affected by domestic violence are 16-24 year olds?  I did not know that!  

So, to sum up this blog, when I started writing this book, I thought about my past abuse (to be left for another day) and thought that "if I only knew what to look for" or "if someone else knew what to look for" maybe I would have saved myself pain and heartache.  Then it clicked!  I could save someone pain and heartache.  That was when On the Edge began!

Sneak Peek

Want a chance to read the first few chapters of On The Edge before it's released? Now is your chance! Head over to the Facebook page HERE and give it a like. Contest is on the timeline. Good luck! 

On The Edge

Book #1 of the series will be released this year!

Abigail Wilkinson is a high school senior who falls in love with bad-boy, Tommy Jackson. Tommy seems like a great catch for the sweet and innocent Abigail, but things are not always as they seem to be. Tommy becomes possessive and controlling with each passing week of their relationship before becoming violent and demanding. To complicate matters, her brother’s friend, Jason Williamson, professes his love for her but life isn’t as simple as leaving Tommy for Jason. Decisions and circumstances leave Abby’s life on the edge of no return.