I honestly have no idea where to start. Today is a day that I've been dreaming about since I was in second grade and decided I wanted to be an author. I didn't know then that it was a daunting task filled with so many different emotional journey's I would want to scream and cry and jump for joy all at once. But today, eighteen years, I've learned that.

A bored little seventh grader dreamed up a world where the book characters could be real; could protect her from things. Until I was 20 I had that fizzling in the back of my mind. Pretending it could be a really good book idea. Then last August I decided it was finally time to write it. Time to tell the story I'd randomly been dreaming for most of my life.

I may have always known I wanted to be a writer, but I didn't have the drive, or maybe it was the guts, to make it happen. I went to undergrad at UC Riverside for Creative Writing. I was told so many things by wonderful, and honestly, not so wonderful professors. More than once I'd been told that genre writing was a different ballgame than literary fiction and considered "smut". So I learned how to write brilliantly boring literary fiction - don't get me wrong I know some people love it, but it's just not enough for me.

I never had the drive to finish anything though because I got it in my mind that it wasn't being a real author. While I didn't let it get me down I did let it push me to pursue my second love, journalism and PR. Not a horrible thing but when I found myself unemployed and looking for something to do I decided it was time to finish just one of the few stories I'd started. Torn Between Two Worlds was the only one that made sense to finish.

A little less than a year later, I'm getting to say hello to my book being brought out into the world. I submitted to a publishing house that I knew was the right fit for me, and thankfully they felt the same.For the past 5 months I've been schooled in promo photos, cover  creation, book trailers, Amazon stuff and more. Now it's time to see if I did any of it right ;)

I want to take a moment and thank all the people that I never could have done this with out. Thank you first and foremost to my private school librarian - Miss Burns. Without you I may never have even tried to write, my never have known how. To SJ Davis, thank you so incredibly much for taking a risk on a me. I hope to not let you, and Hot Ink Press, down. To my rockstar editor, Elizabeth, thank you. I don't think I will ever forget to have a man clean himself ever again! (P.S. I totally checked Nightmare in Steam after that convo to make sure everything was squeaky clean!). Thank you to Skye, Catherine, Mariana, Randi and Frances for holding my hand at various steps along the way to learn how to market and release this book. Thank you so much to Joe for his incredible gift that means more than he knows. A special thanks to Riley for my beautiful (and sexy) cover - Ciara and Stryder are exactly how I pictured them! And lastly, thank you to everyone outside my lit family who have been going on this journey and supporting me.
Now for some fun! Click below to grab your very own copy of Torn Between Two Worlds and check out the slideshow of my favorite promo images!

‪#‎hip‬
18+ 
NEW RELEASE FROM Lexi Ostrow
Torn Between Two Worlds (Book 1 of the Guardians)
"A girl with an incredible gift must chose between good & evil, love & loss"
AMAZON http://smarturl.it/TornBetweenTwoWorlds
SMASHWORDS (epub format!) https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/457869

Her heart was torn differently than others, between two worlds. Her choice would affect her position in each.

Ciara Miller was born the same as others, but she got a little something extra. On her 14th birthday she learned she was a Word Speaker, someone who could create life from stories. Her gift is incomplete until her 27th birthday, before then all she can create is things she, and others like her can see. Evil wants her gift as well and the characters she choses to create become her Guardians against the unseen attackers that want to use her skill.

Stryder is a demon, created to be a backup plan for the Horseman of the Apocalypse, War. Since the day he learned he was nothing more than pawn he and his brothers had been seeking a way to betray hell and fight on the side of the angels. His world is torn apart again when he finds out he's nothing more than a story and given the option to protect a human female, Ciara, or die.

Ciara hates Stryder for replacing her former Guardian. But she cannot deny the lust and connection that rocked through her every time they touch. She could deny it all she wanted, but she belonged to Stryder and when they find themselves thrown into a war bigger than them both she must choose between her reality bound heart and her fantasy bound soul to save them.

Excerpt:  She jerked her head side to side and lifted her hand. A streak of fire licked down the tunnel, skimming over the glass and slamming into both men across from her. Three down, three to go. He didn't need War for this so he didn't bother accessing the link in their DNA.

“I really really fucking hope this shit can't be seen or melt that glass.” She was pale and he didn't blame her. But based on the reactions all people had seen was her raise her hand. Her sentence drew a startled look from the man next to her and he shoved her out of the way.

“Damn it Ciara!” He grabbed the female coming to him by the collar and slammed her head into the tank. Red spilled down her face and she dropped to the floor, alive but not an issue.

It wasn't until he was rounding on the final two that he felt the ground shake. He turned to Ciara and saw her just staring at the ground. The people around them were completely unshaken. Whatever was going on was only happening for them and he was a little tired of not knowing all the rules.

A second later he felt the heat behind him as he turned and saw Ciara, tears sliding down her face and a ball of fire the size of his head resting on her hand before she flicked her wrist and it flew at the last of their enemies. Sizzling and screams echoed because of the glass tunnel they were in.

We all have to start somewhere. Somewhere, at sometime we all have to have our first release, or we aren't truly authors in some people's minds. I am one of those people who go back and forth on what being an author truly is, but after experiencing my very first release day, I can tell you there is nothing more fulfilling than releasing something into the world.

Yesterday was my very first release day. It wasn't the book I've been babbling on and on about. It was an anthology submission that I feel in love with so much, turned into the starting point for a four full novel series - Demon in Steam. Demon in Steam released inside the pages of the sizzling Hot Ink Press anthology, Les Vaporistes. I want to take a quick second and say thank you to Josephine Ballowe for allowing me to be apart of this anthology and helping me to discover a new side of myself in writing - even if I left all the sexy demons in place amongst the steampunk! Also, a congrats to the fantastic authors whom I had the pleasure of being published with. Don't miss out on this steamy 99¢ read and click that little blue hyperlink a few lines down!

Release day was completely mind blowing. It actually came out about 24 hours early but we didn't celebrate until the set date. Setting up an Amazon Author Central account was one of the scariest and most exhilarating things I've ever done and all I did was click a few buttons. But in clicking those few buttons I suddenly was a tried and true published author. I had an identity somewhere in the business world - on one of the biggest, if not the biggest, book buying platforms in America. Suddenly the dream was so real my name was even attached to a book, my photo showing up on the Amazon desktop view and my name a clickable blue hyperlink that takes you to a page all about me on Amazon. Even if it is utterly blank at the moment :D

Being in a group, watching and reading in on comments where everyone is excited and chattering about ranking and reviews and so much more was both mind blowing and mind numbing. I could hardly keep up, being brand new to the ball game. It was amazing and for those interested, yes we did rank on "release day", #7 in erotic < science fiction! So my release day became so much more than a simple release and welcome into the world of Amazon authors. Suddenly I was a ranking author, a bestselling author. Now I in large part love the title, but I know it's not as fulfilling for myself as it was the amazing authors published in the anthology who are not new to the craft and have worked their butts off learning marketing and the perfect photos and stellar stories to get them to that status. So I feel like I lucked into it by having the honor of being in a book with them. Not that I don't love saying it :D

But releasing the book wasn't the end of it. I got to learn the ins and outs of hosting a release party from the amazing Eada Janes. She was a constant driving force as she allowed me to tag team the party during her hosting slots so I could learn the ropes. Without her I may have been staring into an abyss, never knowing when to post the prize game and when to end it. Eada I <3 you for all your help and support last night. You threw one kickass party!

So the storm of adventure that was my very first release day has passed. The exhilaration lingers and I don't mind that one bit! While the release is done it's time to get cracking on the promo! See you all next time!