Where I Left Off

The Awakening: What Lies Inside with Author Davina Reddic

• Kristen Bahls • Season 2 • Episode 26

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Debut thriller author Davina Reddic talks to me about her novel The Awakening: What Lies Inside. 

For links to the books discussed in this episode, click the link here to take you to the Google Doc to view the list.

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Kristen Bahls:

Welcome back. I'm Kristen Bals and you're listening to when I Left Off a bookish podcast and today I'm joined by Davina Reddick, the author of the Awakening hat Lies Inside. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to talk to me, davina.

Davina Reddic:

Thank you for inviting me on. I'm so excited to be here.

Kristen Bahls:

So you had a huge event today. You had a book signing. How did that go?

Davina Reddic:

Honestly, it was my very first book signing so I was a little bit nervous. You know imposter syndrome maybe kicking in there, but it went really well. I ended up selling out and had a lot of great conversations and it was just a really awesome experience.

Kristen Bahls:

Nice. So from the author side of things, did you contact the bookstore, did they contact you, or like how did that kind of work on the back end?

Davina Reddic:

I just put myself out there. I feel like, especially being self-published, you kind of have to be your publicist and be the author and be your marketer and all kinds of things. So I reached out to them and they're really receptive towards it and they're big advocates for local and indie authors, so it paid off for me.

Kristen Bahls:

Nice, so it sold out, so you got to talk to a bunch of different people today.

Davina Reddic:

How was that? Like people actually talking to people in person that have read it? Is this real? Because she said it got her out of a book slot, which was just really rewarding for me. So that was very cool. But a lot of people didn't know that. You know, medical thriller was like a subgenre, so it was fun to be able to explain that and it was refreshing how open everyone was to just an independent author. Like they were just like, well, you know, tell me about it. And they really sat there and listened and it was like no pressure, it was just all free-flowing conversation. So it was very cool and I mean from men to 18 and up because I did ask a couple how old are you? Because I don't think you can read this, yeah and middle-aged women to millennials. It was awesome to see and interact with all different types of people so cool.

Kristen Bahls:

So did you have a discussion beforehand and then the signing after, or did you just set up your table and then people kind of came up to you?

Davina Reddic:

Yep, I just set up my table and I'm not very salesy, I just don't have it in me. So initially I was like, ooh, what am I supposed to be like pushing this? But I kind of just sat there and allowed people to just gravitate to me and I was looking at other books. I was actually reading my current book that I'm reading right now and we talked about that and it was a nice little icebreaker opener.

Kristen Bahls:

So that is awesome oh my gosh, that is so cool. That now you can say you have a book signing under your belt Awesome, oh my gosh, that is so cool that now you can say you have a book signing under your belt.

Davina Reddic:

I know it was a little daunting. I was so nervous, but in hindsight there was nothing to be nervous about. It was really great. I'm glad that I got the opportunity to do it.

Kristen Bahls:

And then you have a book event coming up in Tennessee right In a little bit. How did you decide to start doing in-person events like that?

Davina Reddic:

I mean mainly because I don't have a publisher's backing. So if I want to reach an audience I'm going to have to put myself out there and come out of my comfort zone, if you will. So I figure, what's the harm in trying? I can apply and they can either accept me and invite me or not.

Kristen Bahls:

So Well, how cool that is so cool. Well, you, you have big things going for you and I can't wait to hear what other people think as they start reading the book. And I, I just finished it. So I was. I was fresh and I used to be in a bunch of questions before we started because I wanted to know everything on the ending. But, um, I was, I was fresh and I used to be a bunch of questions before we started because I wanted to know everything on the ending. But, um, I was gonna ask what are you actually currently reading right now? What were you reading today?

Davina Reddic:

uh, The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods.

Davina Reddic:

I've heard of that yeah, I um tend to read what I don't uh tends to be my uh, yeah, my little my hobby there. I just don't read that many thrillers, but, um, I like to write them. That's like the only thing that pours out of me, but I don't read them as often. I'm a big romance girly and I've also just recently started reading um historical fiction due to another indie author, which was not a genre that I typically am drawn to, so it was, you know, nice to branch out.

Kristen Bahls:

Well, that's cool. Who are your favorite romance authors?

Davina Reddic:

I don't really have a favorite. I mean, ali is like top tier. Christina Lauren those ladies don't miss. For me, like it's just. I literally laugh out loud when I read their stuff. So I just I don't have a favorite, but I have a lot of ladies I seem to tend towards, yeah, and especially with romance.

Kristen Bahls:

I mean, it's not like like I feel like with thrillers, you know they're so distinctive and so each author has like a very, very distinctive style. And it's not that they don't in romance, but you can kind of just like pick up a book that's in the series or just pick up a one off and like enjoy it, whereas a thriller it seems to be more like you either really like their writing style or it's completely not for you, yeah.

Kristen Bahls:

Okay, so can you tell us a little bit about your current work in progress, kind of where you are on it and anything that you want to reveal?

Davina Reddic:

Oh well, you know quite a bit about my current work in progress. I was lucky enough that you alpha read for me, so I appreciated all of the feedback there and I took it back to the table and we're in the midst of draft three. But it is about a ballet and you know the underbelly of a ballet. It takes place in France for the most part, and I think the inspiration for this one came from having lived in France. My husband he played basketball overseas actually just retired this season and there's a lot of used ballet.

Davina Reddic:

Because I take inspiration from my own, from my own life or you know things that I see around me my daughter, my middle baby, she's a ballerina and she just so. Ballet just so happened to be the topic because I'm always in dance class and then my husband played basketball in France, so I took France from from his part and there's a lot of politics and things that the audience or the spectators of the basketball game didn't get to see. That happened behind the scenes and nothing along the lines of what's in this book, but just the fact that there's so much that you don't that you know. You wouldn't know unless you were in a circle or the inner workings of it is where the inspiration for for this book came, and I would love to reveal the title with you.

Davina Reddic:

I haven't revealed it yet, but yes, oh my gosh, the title of my book is called Anne Chassé. It's in French but the book is in English, with just little little spurts of French in there that I hope are easy to you know, dissect and pick apart as you read they are they are.

Davina Reddic:

It means in essence to hunt and or, if not read in context it would mean it's a ballet move, which was nice because you could, you know, use it either way. So I'm very excited about it. It reads completely different. I would say you could have an opinion too from the Awakening. So I hope to maybe attract a reader who is not so comfortable with how would I describe the Awakening's writing. Some of the subject matter there is maybe not for everyone's liking, and so I was hoping to maybe be a little bit softer in this one but still keep to my own particular voice and do a different thriller, a different style of thriller. But Anne Chassé is definitely. I think maybe I've only written two, but this one I might like just a little bit more, but don't tell the Awakening that.

Kristen Bahls:

Thank you so much for revealing the title and yes, it is really different, but in a really good, interesting way, like it's I'm trying to think of, like, like, describe it like you said. I mean, they're just completely two completely different novels, which I think is really difficult to do because, of course, like you said, you know you're drawing inspiration from real life. So, especially with some authors, it can seem like their next novel is, you know, kind of similar. I mean, I mean, even take Allie Hazelwood, like I love her books, but some of them are kind of similar to each other versus.

Kristen Bahls:

These two are just completely, completely different, which I feel like is so hard to do.

Davina Reddic:

Not copy anything that you did before, like at all yeah, the thing is I wanted to have one that I would tell my parents that they could read, because I told them they're not allowed to read this part. I totally get that. Let me write something that you guys can actually read yeah, it's really good, really really good.

Kristen Bahls:

I was intrigued from page one really on both, but for different reasons, of course. Awesome, that's great to hear. Whenever you're getting any kind of feedback or, like you said, you're kind of in draft three, how do you really decide, like what to take and use and adjust and like when to completely readjust your draft and when to just kind of say, okay, I don't agree with that and just keep moving with what you have?

Davina Reddic:

I think when the feedback for me personally, when it comes of someone's own personal preference. So if your feedback or commentary is reflective of like, maybe your thoughts or your way of thinking, and not so much constructive based on this story's plot, then I might not weigh so heavily on it. I consider and appreciate everyone's feedback because, you know, do not have to read this unedited, really rough draft and take time out of your life to do that. It's a favor to me and I respect everyone's time. But if it, if it's biased by way of like your, your own subconscious and your own personal preferences, then I I would not consider making a big draft change because of that.

Davina Reddic:

But if you have pointed out plot holes, or if you have pointed out maybe there's in thrillers, there's always like a flawed character, right. So if you have pointed out maybe there's one too many flaws, right, or where you're not, or you're getting lost in really how to connect with this character because I've made her way too faceted, then I would, you know, be like okay, maybe I need to sit through this because in my head everything makes sense, because I know the story right yeah, yeah, and you know where it's going, completely yeah exactly.

Davina Reddic:

I know exactly how it's going to end and to me this is brilliant, right. But if it's not coming across that way, then you know and you're reading this character completely different than how I have envisioned her playing out or him playing out in my head.

Davina Reddic:

And that's something for me to reconsider, especially if things just don't make sense, if it doesn't line up for you and, you know, if you tell me that this scene came out of nowhere, and I'm like OK, I might. I might not have noticed that because sometimes, you know, with my current schedule, I'm writing at really late hours.

Kristen Bahls:

I don't know how you do it.

Davina Reddic:

So I might, you know, mess up from time to time, so it's nice to have constructive criticism like that. I really appreciate that.

Kristen Bahls:

That makes sense Because you know, I feel like with just drafting in general, when you have so many people, um, giving you suggestions on a certain point, it's like you could almost just kind of always be in the drafting process and never say this is the final, because someone's always going to have like one other thing that they think that you could fix, so that that just seems like the hardest part trying to figure out. You know when it's done, done and when you're just going to take it as it is, and all that because you know that, no matter what, people are going to love it, and then you know, of course some people aren't going to connect with it, but that won't be the majority either way.

Davina Reddic:

Right, exactly.

Kristen Bahls:

Talking a little bit more about the awakening itself, what lies inside. So where did the inspiration for this particular story come from?

Davina Reddic:

I am a big mental health advocate and I decided to pursue my master's in clinical mental health, and so you get exposed to a lot, and while these individual stories are disheartening and I'm a very big empath I don't know if you're like big into astrology, I'm not like super big, but I am through and through a Pisces like that is me. I am very sensitive. I will take on anything that you give me. I'm going to feel it too.

Davina Reddic:

So while I write for entertainment value I made it a point to my very dear friend of mine is a licensed psychotherapist. So if I mention a mental health disorder at all, I want to make sure that my terminology is correct and I want to make sure that the symptoms that I'm expressing in this book are spot on with what one who is suffering from this disorder would experience. So the inspiration for that came from me wanting to be a bigger advocate for mental health and pursuing this master's, and then I just so happened to write. I'm a very big reader and so it was kind of like an outlet, a way I take mental health very problems, but just for a different method for me to get it out once I've learned all of these things.

Kristen Bahls:

That makes sense. And I know that they say that fiction is kind of putting yourself in someone else's shoes, and so you actually kind of are able to put yourself in someone else's shoes instead of just making like broad judgments, because you can kind of understand like where, where they're coming from Exactly.

Davina Reddic:

There's, like I almost completely offended an entire group of people and another friend of mine who beta read for me, danielle, she's also a licensed therapist. She was like Ooh, split personality disorder, not a thing. Like let's not say that, let's say what, what it's actually called today, which is disassociative personality disorder, which you know. If you're not really in the field and I'm not practicing yet then you may only you know from movies, like everyone's seen the movies, but like you know, you, you wouldn't know that that's an offensive term unless you know. So I make sure to fact check when it comes to to these things Cause, because the last thing I want to do is offend anyone.

Kristen Bahls:

And things like that are so popular. You just hear them all the time. You think that that's literally what it's called. You wouldn't second guess it if you didn't have someone checking it. Wow.

Davina Reddic:

Exactly Good to know.

Kristen Bahls:

So how did you really choose the title for the book, and what significance does it have for you?

Davina Reddic:

Not too proud of this, not too proud of this, but today's society is very big on like woke culture and being woke, and so I just felt that that this woman finally like realizes what's what's really going on around her, she is indeed finally like awake and aware of things. So it just felt like this reawakening was like a big pivotal moment for her, our main character. So that's just really where it came from, and I was just like everybody's woke right now. So this is perfect.

Kristen Bahls:

Yeah, and of course there are a couple lines in the book that play to it really well, so you know exactly why, without spoiling it Right? So, in your opinion, what are some of the biggest pitfalls in a thriller and how do you try to avoid those in your writing? In?

Davina Reddic:

a thriller and how do you try to avoid those in your writing? I am in a lot of, you know, thriller book clubs and as far as, like, social media goes, and I I feel like the reader is is always looking for the twisty, like give me the biggest twist. Or biggest plot twist, like I want to be like what the F at the end of this book? Right? And so as an author, I feel like and I can't speak for all authors of this genre, but I just feel like there's like a subconscious thought, like okay, how can I make this like absolute plot twist, and it almost sometimes feels like you're forcing it, where, like there's some thriller offers that that, like John Mars, for example, with in the family, I knew there would be a plot twist coming, but it didn't happen.

Davina Reddic:

So, like there was one here and then there's one there, and then I just feel like the expectation now is to have like 20 chapters just full of twists and I just don't know how realistic that is without completely losing sight of the original plot or having way too many subplots. And I feel like authors are trying to to fill this request for this twistiness but like doing a disservice almost to to the to the genre, because you don't have to make a crazy plot twist every three chapters, like you can take them on a nice little ride and, you know, do it like a classic thriller. So I'm, I'm hopeful that the. You know that's not like the majority, but I have seen that quite quite a lot in like requests and you know conversation in these groups. So it's hard to to keep that in mind, knowing that that's what readers want.

Kristen Bahls:

But then also, you know, stay true to your storyline without making some crazy twist keep popping up every five seconds because it's all hard, of course, but I'm sure trying to come up with, yeah, a plot twist that's like somewhat believable yeah, like original believable.

Kristen Bahls:

Yeah, like yep, like wait a minute, right, yeah, exactly. Well, I mean, I'm even thinking of like there was this one um Alice Feeney, book Daisyer, and it's like the plot twist in that one. You think that it's going to be like option A or B, and then C is introduced and you're like I didn't even know that C was an option that was plausible, like I could not have guessed that because I had no idea that that could even be a thing, yep, and it just plopped in there.

Kristen Bahls:

But anyway, I do really like that book.

Davina Reddic:

But yeah, sometimes it just really throws you, it's just like wait what, but it's for the sake of having the twist, and that's the part that I feel like is like, all right, let's you know, not just do that.

Kristen Bahls:

And then when you hinge it on something like that'm sure it's like, if you guess the plot twist, you're probably not going to like it because you're going to say it's predictable. But then if you, didn't guess the plot twist you're going to be like well, there's no way I ever could have guessed that, so maybe I still don't like it and then you don't right exactly okay, it's a tough genre right now it is, and especially because thrillers are so dark and heavy the whole time, and I'm sure it's hard to keep that going steadily throughout you know.

Davina Reddic:

Yes, yes indeed.

Kristen Bahls:

Kind of speaking a little bit more about whenever you're crafting books, especially like the awakening. So for your first book, what did your plotting process look like? Did you so you already had the plot twist ready to go before you started, or did you kind of just go with it like how, how in depth for a thriller did you need to be, because there are so many little things that lead up to a big thing, I guess.

Davina Reddic:

I started this several years ago but then put it down and then last year May is when I picked it back up again and then I just wrote it on my notes on my phone while walking the pond at work has just just started flowing in and so I did not, for this one, have any sort of outline, I just knew this is how it's ending and how it at that time. How it was ending is the main, the main plot twist, the little extra at the end. There um came out. It was c and c's nothing way in and it just so happened to fit. It didn't feel forced. When I thought about it I was like, oh, I kind of like this. This is. This is different, because I feel like in the beginning, based on on reviews and based how I, on how I've written it, it's a bit slower. There's a lot of build happening there, kind of creating the tension and kind of creating her mindset. At least that's what my intention was to make you feel what she's feeling. So if you're confused in the beginning and you're like what and you want to go back, that's what I wanted and I don't know how well that resonates with readers, but we'll see. But um, towards the end, there it was.

Davina Reddic:

It was, yeah, I felt like she was the last, the last plot twist there. I felt like she was mentioned enough to not be a complete blind side, but not mentioned enough to where it would be. Like, oh, shoot, okay, like I get this. So I really liked how she fell in, but she was not a part of my original plan there, it was just the basis, because if you read it, I feel like if you are at all paying attention and picking up the clues, you will figure out about midway what's going on with our girl. So I wanted to have another like kind of gut punch at the end there. Um, so I hope that that's. That's what happens when you read it yes, it did for me.

Kristen Bahls:

yep, I was gonna say it's very. I would describe this book as kind of like sharp objects meets. Uh, we were liars where you're like trying to figure it out and and at a certain point, whenever I'm reading books like this, I kind of go into the mode of like, okay, I'm just gonna not try to figure anything out and I'm just gonna literally read what's going on, and then that's gonna help me. Yeah, later and it did With this whenever you're maintaining suspense throughout the whole book, how did you kind of do that? How did you really like?

Kristen Bahls:

maintain the suspense until you got to that final crazy plot twist. And that may be kind of an unspoken I don't know if that's easy to describe I'm going to try.

Davina Reddic:

This was actually really tough, because I feel that's why she's not really formally introduced until a little bit further later, like she doesn't tell you her name or you know where she's from or anything about herself. She's just kind of starts talking to you, right, and, and so I was like how do I, how do you have a character that you didn't introduce you, like you know, and how do you, how does that not turn off the reader? Like I'm reading this one? I don't even know her name, you know. So it was quite difficult in the sense that I didn't want to reveal it too soon, but I didn't want to drag it on to the very, very end either, because I feel like if I would have done that, you would have lost interest very quickly. So it just took a lot of patience and quite a few rewrites on my end to um, I wanted to be like here it is like it's. If it was my first draft it would have been like 45,000 words, because I was like here, I was just so excited to get to that like that big reveal that I had to to dial it back, and I luckily had a really great editor help me with that and my beta readers helped me with that. So, just, my pacing is really tough, really tough. So any, any author, any genre, that pacing is so difficult to to really nail in, in my opinion, and it's so, so subjective.

Davina Reddic:

My opinion of the pace was it was fine, it was building, we needed to do, like I, you don't rush these types of things and especially you know it's a, it's a medical disorder and you know these things take time to like, reveal themselves and to you know, really like, okay, like I have to deal with this. But some people are like, well, no, this is way too slow, like it should have been, from, you know, the beginning, the first five chapters. If they would have read, like the last 70% of the book, this would have been a five stars for me and I, you know so I have to take these types of things with, you know, a grain of salt. But keeping suspense, I feel, has a lot to do with the pacing of your story. There's no suspense If you give it, if you give it all away in the beginning, like I would have done, um, but then again, you know you don't want to, you don't want to drag it out too long either. So that pacing is pivotal.

Kristen Bahls:

And I'm sure it's hard when so many people just watch TV and especially kind of like crime shows and thrillers and stuff on TV where by the end of the episode they know what's going on. When you read a book, you're not. It's not the same not the same time commitment there. Yep, what is your favorite scene that you cannot wait for readers to get to, and you can describe it vaguely if it spoils anything.

Davina Reddic:

My favorite scene is Sarah's scene. I really love her introduction and, yeah, she's definitely my favorite. That's the one that I can't wait for readers to get to. The one that I personally loved writing the best was Em's recollection of her wedding day. I just feel like it made her such a human, if that makes sense. I felt so much emotion reading that because if you feel if there's a lot of days like as human beings we don't really feel like ourselves, and if you for her just being able to pinpoint one day where she really just felt good, that was my favorite scene to write. It's not like a big fun scene. There's not a lot of stuff going on. It's not like it's a big fun scene. There's not a lot of stuff going on. It's not like it's a big exciting scene. So I don't think that that's one that like would stand out a lot for readers, but for me that one was like yeah, I could see that I don't want to say anything else about it because I feel like I'm going to start ruining things.

Kristen Bahls:

Yeah, thrillers are harder to talk about because, yeah everything, you're afraid that you're gonna ruin it with with anything. I'm sure that was hard at the book signing too, whenever people would ask you questions and you're like, and I can't say that tell me about your book.

Kristen Bahls:

I'm like, oh, I can't, because there are a lot, of, a lot of cool things that are going on, um, and by the time you realize what what's happening is, when it would, yeah, start. Yep, did any of the characters really surprise you with their actions or their development kind of over the course of the story?

Davina Reddic:

No, they didn't. They didn't. I expected dad to be a little bit more assertive and, you know, a little bit more aware. But the brushing under the rug and, you know, coddling that he did is not necessarily what I intended, but that's just how the cookies ended up crumbling. So I guess if I had to pick one, it would be him. I think that, um, if I was to pay attention to him more and rewrite it, maybe I might make him a bit more of a vigilante. But, um, but yeah, no, he didn't. He didn't do what dad was supposed to do, in my opinion.

Kristen Bahls:

Well, I mean it kind of makes sense, though, because the coddling might be why she leaned in preference towards him over her mom, who was actually trying to help a little more Exactly, Without I don't think that's what. Yeah, I don't feel like that's all right. So, um, what, overall, has the self-publishing process been like, because that is a whole beast in itself. Was there anything that just really surprised you that you didn't think about before you started it?

Davina Reddic:

the marketing aspect of self-publishing is so hard like I'm I'm not going to sugarcoat it, it is it is like here's writing the book and then like here's marketing the book. It is like a 24 seven job. It is literally a second full-time job. You have to, you know, advocate for yourself and it's. And if you are not an extrovert or if you don't have a big presence online or you don't know how to start gaining traction, it's tough, it's really tough. So that part of it was surprising. But this book community is really great. I mean, they are chock full of resources and there is no gatekeeping. At least in my experience, I have not found one person to be a gatekeeper. If anything, they are like rooting for you and I'm so proud of you and congratulations and what can I do to help basically. So for that I was thankful. That is a positive surprise because I did not expect such an outpouring of like community there between independently published authors.

Kristen Bahls:

So it's very cool. I agree, they are really nice, even just like going to book events and meeting other books, to grammars and like anyone you talk to in line or the authors, everyone's just like, hey, I love reading these books too and let me tell you all about everything. And yeah, it's really cool to hear it, because you know, you just see these published books and you're like, oh, that author would never talk to me because they, you know, they already have their own thing going and they're, yeah, they're all pretty open.

Davina Reddic:

Yeah.

Kristen Bahls:

They've been really great. What marketing strategies are there? Any that you have found really um found a lot of success with any that you have found really found a lot of success with.

Davina Reddic:

I have entered contests like a story writing contest, and they typically will do a review for you, an editorial review and marketing. It really depends on you know where you're coming from and I don't want to sugarcoat it like financially. If you have money to spend, then you can boost from and I don't want to sugarcoat it like financially. If you have money to spend, then you can boost your ads and you can boost all of your posts and you know you can run Facebook ads and I run Amazon ads like daily consistently with you know daily limit budget. So if you, if I feel like the avenue is a little bit easier, if you have a little bit more financial freedom, but if funds are tough, then I would say I've reached out to so many just bookstagram girlies or not just girlies guys too, and you know TikTokers and I'm not I'm not on the ticky tock like that, I'm not very good. I mean that one is I probably aged myself with that one.

Davina Reddic:

So I'm not on the ticky-tock like that. I'm not very good at that one. That one is. I probably aged myself with that one. I'm not very good at that one.

Davina Reddic:

But I have reached out to voice programmers who do you know TikTok and they have been amazing. Like if I just you know, do you mind and you know if you are you interested in, and I will send you a PR box and you can read it and subjectively review it on your time. I never asked with like a time frame, like can you do this by in the next couple weeks? Or I just simply asked if you weren't full. Your TPR wasn't full and you were interested in this. You know storyline in this plot. I would love to send you a PR box and if you feel inclined to review it, I would really appreciate that. I've never put a. You have to review it if you want me to send you this box.

Davina Reddic:

But I feel like that worked out in my favor because every box that I've sent, um, they reviewed it and whether it was this was not for me or this was amazing, I'm giving it your flowers now has been great.

Davina Reddic:

I don't I don't expect everyone to love it and, um, I appreciate the honesty because I can do. I can do things with that, like if there was something that you can pinpoint for me that just didn't do it for you, like I can. I can, you know, make mental note of that and maybe that will click for me the next time I'm writing, if it's something that was like repetitive, like repetitive feedback. But yeah, I really appreciated those bookstagrammers. They will really push for you, they will write some really legit reviews and they will repost and they're all just so nice, so nice, and you can literally separate the. I love you like I love your personality as a person, but your book, this one, was not like I didn't like this one, but let me read your next one and I've gotten that too. So I mean, I just think it's been really great, oh yeah.

Kristen Bahls:

I mean Bookstagram as a whole is just awesome. It's the place to be. It's so fun. So kind of on that vein, do you read your goodreads reviews?

Davina Reddic:

not anymore. But the first month I stalked them I think I might have refreshed every three minutes. To be honest, I was like so nervous on how it would be received. I just was like, oh, like, was it too much or, you know, was it okay, like um, but I have. I have since not been reading the reviews. I feel like the first time you get your feelings hurt. Review is very. It kind of scars you a little bit and then you're kind of just like all right, because for every, for every bad review, there's a good one, and so I have just, you know, been able to take those with a grain of salt. But that that first one, that first one is this is a stinger for sure. You know it's coming, right, you know it's coming, but until it actually comes you're just like floating on cloud nine and it just like anvils you back down.

Kristen Bahls:

Well, it's your baby, and you know. I don't know if you follow Geneva Rose, but she actually took okay, she took, you know, one of her bad reviewers, scott, who told her that she should write a better book, and she uses everything and I think she even dedicated Home is when the Bodies Are to Scott. So, yeah, you know, there are definitely going to be a lot of Scots, yeah, in the world for sure I got.

Davina Reddic:

I got one that was pretty bad, um, about editing, and I was just about like you should hire an editor. And then I like pulled up my receipt for editing and I was like well I did.

Davina Reddic:

But you know, what can you do? Honestly, I just take it. Take it all with a grain of salt, exactly, I think, mostly just keeping in in my head that I write these for me. Um, has really helped any any review in Like I love. If you love it too, that makes me feel great. And if you hate it, that's okay, because it was, it was fun for me to write Like this was. You know, I don't. I don't ever want to have to write dependent on how it's received or, you know, for financial reasons, because then I feel like it would take away what it's doing for me right now.

Kristen Bahls:

And even though I already kind of said this, I feel like just with thrillers in general, it is so not that everything else isn't subjective already, but thrillers are just so subjective, like it just seems to vary so much. You never know how someone's going to receive it, and it's funny because even the friends that I have that we generally tend to agree on most thrillers. There will be a couple that I'm like, yeah, I didn't like this, and she's like I loved it or, you know, opposite, yeah yeah it's just completely.

Kristen Bahls:

You never know how someone's gonna.

Davina Reddic:

But yeah, it's a tough one.

Kristen Bahls:

But I'm glad that there were so many books to grammars that were able to review it and cause that helps so much substantially with your reviews and I know I've heard a lot of self-published authors saying just how hard it is to like get their review numbers up in general on Amazon and good reads and story graphs and all of those across.

Davina Reddic:

Yeah, they're amazing. I couldn't thank them enough, honestly. So the PR box was like nothing in comparison to what they did for just sharing, just like my engagement overall, just going up just from one share. So you know it was awesome.

Kristen Bahls:

So how do you balance your writing career and your day job and your family?

Davina Reddic:

I'm just really tired and I should buy stock in coffee and like. In general, I am a merchandising planner by day, so it's nice because they're complete opposites or polar opposites. I just work in numbers and product all day, whereas this is, you know, I get to come home and be creative. My kids happen to have very busy schedules, which means I am at practices and tournaments a lot, which gives me a lot of time to be in the car and with my husband home from being overseas. That means I'm back to being a passenger princess and I am typing or writing in the passenger seat en route to things.

Davina Reddic:

I also take my lunch. I think it's important. I am a very hard worker, but take your lunch. If you work a nine to five, take your lunch every single minute of it where the work is not going anywhere, and I will just go outside and I'll take my note, my phone and I'll just have. If I have an idea, I'll type it in my notes and then when I get home I'll like open my laptop and put it, put it in properly.

Davina Reddic:

I just sneak in little bits of creativity throughout the day when I can. I don't hold myself to a. You have to hit 500 words today, or you need to hit a thousand words today. I feel like doing that puts unnecessary pressure on myself, and then sometimes I will just write filler, just to write, because I'm telling myself I have to hit this word goal of the day. And so I stopped doing that and now I just write when the inspiration hits or when I have a few minutes. I'll write a couple of sentences and then I'll come back and I'll build on those couple sentences.

Davina Reddic:

And it has been much more relaxing of a process this go around than with the first one, I think, because I started it so long ago and then picked it back up. I felt like, okay, if I put this down again, I'm not, it's going to be another couple years, right? So I put a lot of pressure on myself and so I've learned from that and I'm not going to do that that again. And it seemed to have worked, because I started uh and chasse in february and you, you've already read a bit of it and we're a lot of it, a lot of it, and we're we're well on our way. So I'm I, this new method has worked. I also did outline this one. I did not outline, I did not outline the awakening, but this one had a whole chapter outline, so you know I'm learning as I go.

Kristen Bahls:

I mean, you can't decide what works for you if you don't try a little bit of everything, and that's right.

Davina Reddic:

How do we know what we like if we don't try it?

Kristen Bahls:

yeah, I think just the more that you try to force creativity, then the harder it is to actually happen yeah, yeah, especially with something like this, where it's like, as an indie author, you can put yourself on all these tight deadlines and make it really not fun and have to hit a certain word count, but then you know what? Are you creating something that you like. Is it answer to Like? Why would I do this to myself, I mean?

Davina Reddic:

I'm just going to, you know, enjoy the ride a little bit more. So that's what I've been doing with this one and it's been very nice and cathartic and it's been flowing, so it's been good. So I think I'm going to stick to outlining and not putting pressure on myself.

Kristen Bahls:

And then my last question is what has been the most rewarding experience throughout this whole process so far?

Davina Reddic:

Kind of corny and yeah, but my kids are so proud of me, so that is probably the most rewarding. And to see, like, how receptive my husband has been to kind of I don't want to say switching roles, because I am nowhere near the success that he has had in basketball, but like I've watched him do like commercials for you know department stores and I watched him do like post postgame interviews and you know he's got Wikipedia pages and you know all these different types of things and he has been so great and so supportive of swipping, swapping roles with me and fangirling for me now, like like I did for him in the in the in in the stands, and so it's just rewarding to see how receptive my family has been. Um, because I literally just came out of nowhere with it and was like I'm, I'm gonna like legit write this book and then I'm just gonna publish it and they're just like cool, do?

Davina Reddic:

it and my kids are like mom. At the at the signing today, I just have like one of those you know final banners and my son, he's three, he walks in and he goes mommy, that's you, and I was just like I printed it, babe, but yeah, that's me. So I just think that making my kids really proud of me and my husband being really proud of me for doing something that I actually enjoy has been really rewarding. And then having someone come just to meet me is like crazy thought and it's just a big wow. Like, like I said, I'm an empath so I would cry thinking about this right now, but it is, it was. It was such a rewarding experience like I couldn't have asked for for more from my debut and, you know, entry into this, this world yay, that's all encouraging to hear.

Kristen Bahls:

Well, that's it for today. Thank you for listening to Where I Left Off A Bookish Podcast. You can visit Davina's site, sign up for her newsletter, follow her on social media and purchase all of her novels through the link in the show notes, or you can always find them on kindle unlimited and stay tuned for next time thank you.