Lake of Sins: Hangman's Army by L.S. O'Dea

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Secrets to writing a series

Some authors are plotters and some are pantsers. I’m a combination of both. This is important because plotters wouldn’t write a series in the same way that I do.

For me, the secret to writing a series is to write it in chunks, or write the entire thing at once. This may seem counterproductive because it’s going to take you a lot longer to get anything out there for readers, but for me it works.

I started writing this way by accident. When I finished my first book, it was huge – over 160,000 words. At this time, I was trying the traditional publishing route and I sent it to numerous agents. One of them was kind enough to contact me back, saying that no one would ever be interested in a first time author’s book of that size. She suggested that I cut around 100,000 words. Yeah, that’s right. Basically, she said “Cut it all – anything that big is full of fluff.” She didn’t actually say those words, but that’s what I read between the lines. She did also suggest that if I couldn’t cut that much then I should consider breaking the book into two.

That was going to require a lot of work, but it was the better of the two options – the only one I was willing to tackle. That’s how my one book became Lake Of Sins: Escape and Lake Of Sins: Secrets In Blood.

What I hadn’t realized was the benefits of writing them together. One of the main perks was I could go back and change things in book one to fit a situation in book two. I could leave little seeds—a trail for the reader to follow—in book one that will come to fruition in book two.

Once these were published, I sat down and wrote the rest. The entire series is done in rough (some very rough) draft. Part of me wishes I’d waited to publish the first two books because now I’m constrained by the rules that I set up in books one and two. Stockers have to be basically blind with no sense of smell, even though my life would’ve been easier if I could’ve changed that. I hadn’t realized how important Harbor Point was going to be when I wrote about it in book one. If I’d waited to publish Escape, I could’ve dropped some tiny seeds about Harbor Point, but as it stands, I have to live with what is published. As far as the future of the Lake of Sins, Escape, Secrets In Blood, and Hangman’s Army are the bible. The rules set up earlier cannot be broken.

So, my secret for writing a series is to write it all together and then publish. Most won’t agree with me, but that’s okay, because it works for me.

A rebellion is brewing in the world of the Lake of Sins while Hugh Truent sits in prison days away from his execution.

After taking his findings about the genetic similarities between the classes to the Supreme Almighty and the Council, Hugh had been arrested for treason and all his evidence had vanished as if made from smoke.

To protect his family, he cut off all contact with the outside world while he sat in prison for over four years waiting for his execution. He has no idea that some of his reports were leaked to the other classes and that civil war looms on the horizon.

Trinity and her friends have no hope of winning the war unless they can unite the classes. In order to do that, they need someone everyone will follow. They need the one person all the classes trust and believe in. They need Hugh.

That means they have to break him out of a maximum security prison and convince him to lead their army, but that won’t be easy because Hugh wants revenge and he’s not going to let anything get in his way especially mouthy, attractive, know-it-all Trinity.

Read an Excerpt:

Hugh

“What do you suggest we do?” From this position, the next tree was quite a distance away. The River-Men waited in the water below. He didn’t want to go back but he didn’t think they had a choice.

She went farther out on the branch toward the other tree. “Do you think you can jump?” She turned toward him, her golden eyes searching his face. “Don’t lie. If you miss, you die.”

“I’ll never make that jump.” There was no room for manly bravado in this situation.

She stared at him for another moment and then leapt. The River-Men dipped below the surface and then back up as she landed safely on the other tree. His heart thudded in his chest. She wasn’t leaving him. She wouldn’t do that. He had faith in her. He trusted her, but his stomach knotted. He’d trusted before and had been betrayed.

She tied the end of the rope around the trunk of the tree. “Do you think you can cross on the rope? If you don’t, I’ll come back, but then we’ll have to backtrack and that means sleeping in the swamp tonight.”

His arms and back ached and his hands were a bloody mess, but he could do this. He had to do this. “Throw me the rope.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” He wasn’t sure at all but they didn’t have time to go back. He caught the rope and tied it to the trunk of the tree, making sure it was tight-really, really tight. Then he grabbed the taut rope and wrapped his ankles over the top of it. Hand over hand, he moved away from the safety of the tree. He glanced down. The River-Men were swimming faster, excited and anticipating a meal.

About the Author:

L. S. O’Dea grew up the youngest of seven in a family that uses teasing and tricks as an indication of love (or at least that’s what she tells herself). Being five years younger than her closest sibling often made her the unwilling entertainment for her brothers and sisters.

Before she started kindergarten her brothers taught her how to spell her first and middle name—Linda Sue. She was so proud she ran into the kitchen to tell her mother. She stood tall and recited the letters of her name: L-E-M-O-N H-E-A-D.

She’s pretty sure she has her siblings to thank for the demons that lurk in her mind, whispering dark and demented stories.

Website: http://www.lsodea.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lsodea
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lsodea
email: lsodea7@gmail.com
Join Readers’ Group and Get the First Two Books in the Lake of Sins Series for FREE: http://lsodea.com/yourfreebooks-2/

Buy Links: This book is the third in the series--and the series should be read in order. The first two books is the series are FREE. Buy the books at Amazon:
http://myBook.to/LOS_Escape
http://myBook.to/LOS_Secrets
http://myBook.to/LOS_HangmansArmy

Buy the books at draft2digital:
escape = https://books2read.com/u/4Xgn21
secrets = https://books2read.com/u/bo6Dn9
hangman = https://www.books2read.com/u/bzpA5Z

Q&A with L. S. O'Dea, author of the LAKE OF SINS series

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. One randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN Gift Card. Please click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Welcome to Books in the Hall and thanks for answering some of our questions. What group did you hang out with in high school?

Our high school was very small (graduating class size of 96 and we were the “big” class), so I hung out with a lot of the groups. I hung out with the “jocks”—even though I wasn’t one. I also hung out with the “burnouts”—sorry to say that I did sample the wares there. I also hung out with the “geeks”—I was almost valedictorian (missed it by one B instead of an A). I think the only group that I didn’t hang out with was the “thespians”—although many of them were in the other groups too.

What are you passionate about these days?

I am passionate about animal rights. I do not believe that animals were put here for us to dominate. Even though I am a Catholic, I do believe that animals have souls just like us. If you have a dog, look into his or her big brown eyes and tell me you don’t agree about the soul thing.

If you had to do your journey to getting published all over again, what would you do differently?

I wouldn’t waste my time trying to find an agent. When I went to school, that was the only way to get published. I wasted a lot of time changing my story per some agent’s request never to hear back from her. Once I did some research and realized that even if my book was picked up by an agent and publisher I’d still have to do the marketing, I decided that was enough for me.

Ebook or print? And why?

I like to have my books available in both formats although the ebooks sell more. However, there is still something more “real” about the accomplishment of finishing a book when you hold it in your hands. As far as what I like to read – I’m old fashioned. I like print.

What is your favorite scene in this book?

In Escape, my favorite scene is when Gaar tells Trinity that she is “more than a Producer.” This is the first time that she truly realizes that she is good enough. She’s spent her entire life hiding and being ashamed about her differences. In this scene, she starts to realize that being different does not equate to less.

In Secrets, my favorite scenes are the ones with Hugh and Tim. I love the way that they bicker and argue. You only do that with someone who you really love, like family or very close friends. I think it tells a lot about their relationship. Plus, I find it funny.

In a world where class distinction means the difference between imprisonment and freedom and even life and death, being chosen to stay in the encampment and breed is the only way to guarantee survival for a teenage Producer.

Every year after harvest, the finest examples of teenage Producers are assigned mates; the rest are loaded onto carts and hauled away, never to be seen or heard from again. Trinity, a sixteen-year-old Producer, knows that she has no chance of being chosen to stay. She isn’t even full-blooded Producer. Her father is a House Servant and she’s spent her entire life hiding her differences, especially her claws and fangs.

She has one week to sneak into the forest and discover what happens to those who are taken. Her plan is simple, but she doesn’t count on being hunted and captured by predators long believed to be extinct. Can she elude her captors to uncover the fate of her kind and return to camp before her escape is discovered?

Trinity's plans have gone horribly wrong and she is now fleeing for her life, but at what cost to her friends and family. Can she save any of them without sacrificing herself?

Hugh Truent, an Almighty, learns of Trinity’s escape and that she is the offspring of two different classes which is supposed to be impossible. If it’s true, it would be the discovery of a lifetime, but he needs scientific proof. In his quest for answers, he soon realizes that there are those who will kill to keep this find a secret.

Trinity’s struggle to survive in a society based on absolute segregation of the different classes along with Hugh’s dogged determination to find the truth at any cost, sets into motion a collision between the groups that shatters the foundation of their world.

Read an excerpt from ESCAPE

She ran blindly away from the sound of the Guards, her backpack slamming against her spine with each stride. If they catch my scent, they will find me. She skidded to a stop. The forest had ended. A rock wall loomed in front of her, stretching to both sides as far as she could see. Little crevices and divots peppered the wall, but it was too steep to climb. She had to make a choice. The wrong one would cost her freedom, maybe her life.

The trees rustled behind her. Too late. They found me. This had all been for nothing. Now, the best she could hope for was to be taken with the others. Her chest tightened. She had to make sure that her mom and Remy weren’t punished because she escaped. She raised her hands to her shoulders and slowly turned. Her breath caught in her throat. A Tracker, the deadliest of predators, stood on its back two legs, towering above her, front legs hanging down like arms. Brindle fur covered its body and its eyes glowed yellow in the shadowed forest. Its tongue lolled out the side of its mouth, exposing a row of sharp teeth on the other side. Someone should tell it that they no longer exist in the wild.

About the Author: L. S. O'Dea grew up the youngest of seven. She always wanted to do what her older siblings were doing, especially reading stories.

Ill at a young age, she immersed herself in books. Her life changed when she read a short story written by her older brother and realized that normal (somewhat anyway, since her brother was a bit weird in her opinion) people created these amazing stories. From that day forward, she wanted to write.

However, as with all good stories, obstacles rose in her path (mostly self-created obstacles) and it took her many years to put finger to keyboard and type her first book.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/11771298.L_S_O_Dea
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-of-Sins-Escape/1525911114338421
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lsodea
Website: http://www.lsodea.com
Blog: http://www.lsodea.com/4/feed
Amazon Author Central: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00RNMCAQU

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