Edits, procrastination and Chicken of the Year…
Posted: October 16, 2013 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: editing, Isla's Inheritance, Turquoise Morning Press 2 CommentsI edit for a living. Not in the publishing industry, mind you—so don’t try and pitch me anything!—but in the public sector. Lots of boring non-fiction. So I’m pretty familiar with the process.
Not the receiving end of it, though.
As I mentioned in my last post, I got my first-round edits back from Turquoise Morning Press a few days ago. In her email, Shelby said, “Please don’t be discouraged when you open it and see all the comments and marks. This is the first round and I ask a lot of questions.”
Uh oh, I thought. That’s the same thing I write in my feedback emails when I’ve totally smashed a piece.
I mentioned it to a colleague, who laughed and asked me what I’d do if I opened the document and it was a wall of red. I squirmed.
I should add, everything Shelby said in the email itself made perfect sense, and some of it confirmed quiet suspicions I’d had about some of my characters (one in particular I neglected as the book went on, and I probably shouldn’t!).
I wasn’t able to open the file at first. I was still in the process of setting up my PC, and hadn’t installed Word yet (a long story that involves a product key not kept with the disc, because it was in my email, which I couldn’t access until my ADSL had been set up, which I couldn’t access because my network card wasn’t wireless—ok, not that long a story).
This is basically me, without the glasses. (Source)
But I got my Word and email set up on Sunday night. It’s now Wednesday, and I probably qualify for Chicken of the Year.
I told myself that, since I was part-way through a beta-read of Stacey’s manuscript, I really should finish that first.
I finished it yesterday evening.
Now I’m telling myself that I’ve got guests tonight, so I couldn’t possibly have time to have a quick look at Shelby’s comments. Thursday. I’ll do it Thursday.
Although I do still have to unpack the rest of my books, and sort out the garage so I actually have room to use it as a, you know, garage.
Maybe by the weekend?
You may commence making chicken noises in three, two, one—GO!
I’m baaaack!
Posted: October 13, 2013 Filed under: On me, On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: betas, Isla's Inheritance, real-estate, Turquoise Morning Press 2 CommentsSo I know you guys have all been wondering where I was. Well, probably not, because if you read my blog at all you know I was about to move into my new house — and if you don’t, you wouldn’t care. 😉
I’ve been in the new place for five days and we only just got the PC set up and connected to the internet. I was a bit alarmed to find myself getting twitchy and a little depressed about being sans PC. Even though I had my smart phone and access to social media, at least, I really felt the lack of access to the internet — and to word processing facilities.
Especially when I downloaded my emails yesterday and saw that my editor at Turquoise Morning Press SENT BACK THE FIRST ROUND OF EDITS ON ISLA’S INHERITANCE!
*faints*
I haven’t cracked open the file yet — I’ll save that for when my little guy is in bed — but Shelby’s notes in the email were spot on. I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into them. (Make a note of when I said that, because I bet you $100 I’ll be suffering soon enough!)
I’m also beta reading a YA sci-fi by my friend Stacey, which I haven’t been able to touch for a week, so it’ll be good to get back into that too. The last time I read it was a climactic scene and having to wait has been killing me!
I’ve unpacked two and a half out of six bookshelves — I had to wait to do the rest till the PC was set up, in case we had to move furniture. It’s been fun reuniting with all my novels; once they are all out and looking fine I’ll post a photo of my study. I’m surrounded by books and have dual screens. And this is my view:
How’s the serenity?
Aww yeah.
Interview: Melissa A. Petreshock, new adult author
Posted: October 8, 2013 Filed under: On Books | Tags: Interview, music Leave a commentToday I’m interviewing Melissa A. Petreshock, whose debut novel, Fire of Stars and Dragons (book one in the Stars and Souls trilogy), comes out with Swoon Romance in March 2014.
Your Stars and Souls trilogy has dragons, vampires, elves and at least one demigod. If you could transform into any of those types of critter, what would you choose and why?
Definitely, it would not be an elf. I’m not a violent person, and they are a warrior race. The deities hold themselves to such a high set of standards, though they do often fall short. I think I’d be setting myself up for failure there. Lol. The dietary restrictions of the vampires might be difficult for me — too many things I’d have to give up. I’d have to say a dragon, though I’m not sure how they’d feel about a female dragon among the brotherhood. However, I’d love to be able to travel and have a serious distrust of airplanes. I will fly on them, but they make me extremely nervous. Just to be able to shift from human form to dragon form and go wherever I wanted to would be cool.
Melissa A. Petreshock
Is the world of Stars and Souls, which you describe as 22nd century sovereign America, an Earth-like parallel, or a fantastical future Earth? How did you dream it up?
Technically, it’s a bit of both and slightly dystopian. Essentially, it is this world only the year is 2189 when it opens. All supernatural beings have come out of the shadows and made themselves known to the public during a revolutionary period in Earth’s history. America has seen significant changes. The supernatural beings have taken over, creating a monarchy, so we now live in United Sovereign America with the nearly 2500 year old vampire King Corrin ruling. Being less powerful, the humans have become rather repressed within society, particularly women; though the laws are intended to “protect” them, that’s not how certain women feel, despite this way of life being the only one known to them for generations.
The concept is a combination of pure fantasy and a fantastical statement of political and social views. It’s a magnified and extreme concept of corrupted power, dysfunctional leadership, and the desire to make a difference. As well, my female main character Cait is a defined statement to young women that it’s not necessary to allow yourself to be pegged into a hole determined by society. There is more within you than outside influences may tell you, and sometimes it takes just a little support, encouragement, and a lot of courage to face the world head on, no matter what obstacles you face.
If you could give one piece of advice to a writer starting their first novel, what would it be?
Don’t write to the market. Always write the story you believe in, the story you feel in your heart and in your gut. Fads in the market come and go, but if you believe in your writing wholeheartedly and put the work into it, eventually you will find someone else, be it an agent or a publisher, who has the same enthusiasm about it. I went out on a limb by writing what I did, totally unique romantic heroes and incorporating political/societal statements in the underlying story, but my publisher fell in love with it. I signed with Swoon because Georgia had the same excitement in her voice when we spoke on the phone that I feel when talking about my work.
You describe yourself as a music addict, and have the 32-song playlist for Fire of Stars and Dragons on your website. I’m in awe and a little jealous, because I usually write in silence! What song are you listening to in your writing right now, and what sort of scene is it for?
Oh my… With 13 chapters finished, Blood of Stars and Gods already has a 20-song playlist, but the second book will be longer than the first. I’m absolutely a music addict. I have over 50GB of songs on my laptop and download stuff regularly. If I didn’t have a specific method for choosing songs, I’d have to write in complete silence, and I do edit in silence. Words flow with music, but edits require deep concentration. At least that’s my process.
Choosing the right songs for the scenes I write makes the difference between being able to write with music playing or not. They have to fit the emotional tone or events within the scenes or chapters of the book. If you listened to the entire playlist for Fire of Stars and Dragons, you’d have a great sense of the feelings the characters experience before you ever read a word of the book.
Currently, my iTunes is set to “Love Alone Is Worth the Fight” by Switchfoot, which after the way chapter 13 ended, comes into where the specific character I’m writing for stands both in his emotional state and the reason behind actions you’ll see him take. He isn’t willing to give up, even though he’s facing what seems like insurmountable obstacles. If the greater part of your destiny is predefined, what is worth the risk of consequences to fight for what you want and believe you deserve? Where does the line between right and wrong fall when you’re sure your goal is justified?
What book release are you looking forward to in the next three months?
Well, I have several friends releasing books soon, and I’m looking forward to all of them. One of my beta readers, Zara Hoffman’s first book, The Belgrave Daughter comes out on 14 October. A terrific friend of mine, Joshua J. Johnson, has his first book releasing on 29 October, a middle grade book called Bones on the Surface that I’m looking forward to reading with my 9yo son. Erin Albert’s The Prophecy sounds incredibly exciting, and so does Kristen Strassel’s Because the Night, both November debut releases. Then Josh also has Soulless, a thrilling YA novel coming out on 30 November . These are all on my Goodreads TBR shelf.
I’ll confess though, I’ve now received eARCs of The Belgrave Daughter and Because the Night, so I really only have to wait for the others. 😉
About the author:
Debut New Adult paranormal/fantasy romance author, Melissa A. Petreshock lives on a small farm in rural Kentucky with her genius husband, three exceptional children, and their feline overlords.
When not inhaling or exhaling words, she subsists on unnatural doses of coffee, sarcasm, and music. Melissa can often be found singing and dancing around her house or randomly doing Zumba routines, if not playing Wii Just Dance with her kids. She also fangirls The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Falling Skies and True Blood like a total freak.
Spending most of her time weaving myths, reality and imagination into a fantasy of dragons, deities, vampires and elves in a world she created, Melissa often forgets she lives where there are no dragons or faeries in the woods surrounding her house. (But she never stops hoping…)
You can find her at her website, on Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Instagram. (NEEDS MOAR SOCIAL MEDIA!)
About the writing:
Stars & Souls Trilogy is a New Adult fantasy/paranormal romance set in a world filled with shapeshifting dragons, a powerful demigod, an ancient vampire monarch, and a sassy human chick keeping them all on their alpha male toes.
Fire of Stars and Dragons… Undying love. Timeless bonds. Eternal consequences.
Coming March 2014 from Swoon Romance
In 22nd-century sovereign America, archaic laws declare 21-year-old Caitriona Hayden a neglected dependent following the death of her uncle, landing the sassy and self-reliant high society young woman in the midst of a trio of quintessential alpha male suitors in a world where human females should be seen and not heard.
Theo Pendragon claims her as his ward, ordained to guard her through to a long-awaited destiny unbeknownst to Cait, but finds more than he expected when passion ignites within the dragon for the first time.
Always drawn to the pursuit of knowledge rather than the heat of desire, powerful demigod Dante cannot deny everything his future holds in Caitriona.
America’s monarch, ancient vampire Corrin, has no interest in the frivolity of love, yet marrying Cait could be the answer to his continued survival.
Thrown from studying for college exams to facing matters of life and death, eternity and destiny, loyalty and love, revenge and deception, Cait must choose a husband knowing the consequences are eternal, the love undying, the bond timeless.
Blood of Stars and Gods… Blood saves. Blood lies. Blood runs between sacrifice and gain.
In progress. Release to be determined.
Writing for Young Adults
Posted: October 7, 2013 Filed under: On writing | Tags: contests, guest post, writing, young adult 1 CommentToday’s guest post is by Lauren K. McKellar, whose debut YA novel, Finding Home, came out on 1 October. Yay!
I have to confess: I wasn’t a YA author by choice.
I’ve always loved writing and reading, and my taste has always been to read up. When I was ten, I read Lord of the Rings. At eleven, there wasn’t anything ‘mature’ enough for me in the school library, so I read the dictionary.
Yep, I had all the friends.
When I decided I wanted to try writing again, like I used to when I was younger, it was natural that I should try my hand at my current flavour of the moment: chick lit. I tried it during NaNoWriMo of 2011 and, needless to say, like many good first forays do, it sucked.
Badly.
Then I saw a competition advertised, Hardie Grant Egmont’s The Ampersand Project. It looked perfect: run by Aussies, a comp for first-time authors…it had everything! The only thing that didn’t quite fit with my master plan was the age group: it was for Young Adult writers.
‘No worries,’ I told my partner. ‘I’ll just write a YA.’
Ha! Like it’s that easy.
My first attempts at YA were terrible, so much worse than my first chick lit novel. I gave up. I deleted documents, I scrunched up pieces of paper and I threw my virtual competition entering spirit in the bin.
Then, something crazy happened.
I read a YA book.
It was completely by accident and, to be honest, I don’t think I knew it was YA before I picked it up.
And what happened? I was hooked.
I loved it. I loved it so much that I went out and bought a stack of other YA books, gorging myself on these teenage novels like a starving person at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Possibly with less restraint.
At the eleventh hour, I went back and attempted a complete rewrite of my Ampersand attempt. This time, I was armed with knowledge. I knew things, things I didn’t know before, including:
- Don’t write down to your audience. Who likes being spoken to like they’re a little kid? Not me.
- Try to avoid trends, e.g. brands of phone, social media specifics and current bands/movies. Trends change quickly for us all, but not so much as they do for teenagers.
- Don’t preach. My novel does feature a lot of teenage drinking, and it was hard to straddle the line between positive message and lecturing on the evils of booze. I’d like to think I’ve achieved it. Or, if not, I’ve given it a damn good shot!
- Research your genre. The kind of YA books I liked showed me things, things that some people might frown upon but that I loved reading about when I was a teenager. I wanted to read about sex. I wanted to read about drugs. I didn’t want them glossed over; I wanted details.
That doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do, and Finding Home (my debut novel) doesn’t feature a whole heap of graphics on either matter. But they both feature. And I think that’s okay.
I didn’t get chosen for the Ampersand project. Honestly, I’m a little embarrassed when I think back to the copy I handed in then.
Luckily for me, though, I did get a publishing contract. I actually had two publishers who I tricked into thinking that Finding Home was worth putting to print.
And, after much hard work, deliberation and excitement, Finding Home is on sale now, for young adults, through Escape Publishing, a Harlequin Australia imprint.
And do I read chick lit anymore? Hell to the no.
For a chance to win one of two $5 Amazon cards, one $10 Amazon card or a copy of Finding Home, click HERE!
Lauren McKellar is a writer and reader of Young and New Adult books. Her debut novel. Finding Home, is out now, and can be bought from all your usual eBook sites (links available here). She also works as a freelance editor for novels for all age groups and you can chat to her on Twitter or Facebook any time you like!
Formatting tricks in MS Word
Posted: October 6, 2013 Filed under: On writing | Tags: agents, formatting, MS Word 2 CommentsI originally posted this over at Aussie Owned and Read in May. I decided my blog needs a few more yawns and a little less excitement (lol), so here it is again for those that missed it.
I can’t decide if this is going to be the most boring blog post in the history of the world, or extremely useful. It may actually be both—I shouldn’t limit myself to a single option, I suppose!
I’m here to talk to you about Microsoft Word formatting tricks to save time when you’re reformatting your manuscripts to meet different agents’ or publishers’ requirements (or so they look correct in blogs; I just had to fix this one using one of these tricks). These tips have all been written for Microsoft 2010, but they work in 1997–2003 as well; they just won’t appear quite the same way on the screen.
Anyway, say you’ve got your beautiful manuscript, and you’ve written it in a standard paragraph format, with an indent at the front of each paragraph. An agent asks you to submit it with no indent and an extra carriage return between paragraphs, like this post. You don’t have to do it all by hand: there are a couple of quick tricks you can use to reformat the entire document in seconds.
The first step is to get rid of the indents at the front of the paragraphs.
How to access the paragraph formatting box: click the little arrow in the bottom right corner
If you’ve used the hanging indent option it’s easy enough: just select all your text, go into the Paragraph box, and set the indentations to 0pt and none. (If you don’t know, the paragraph box is on the Home ribbon; you access it by pressing the little arrow in the bottom right corner of the box.)
But if you’ve used the spacebar to indent, you need to use the Find and Replace tool. (Press CTRL+F and then click on the down arrow at the far right of the search box and choose Replace.) In the find cell, put the number of spaces you used (say three). Leave the replace cell empty and hit Replace All. That should remove all your indents—although you’ll want to run your eye over it to make sure you haven’t used a different number of spaces anywhere. (This is also the way I reduce two spaces after a sentence down to one.)
Then you need to add that extra carriage return.
This is the sneaky bit. Go back into Find and Replace. In the find cell, write ^p. In the replace cell, write ^p^p. The caret (that’s what the little upside-down v is called) tells Word to look for the paragraph character. Then hit Replace All again.
Ta da! (Okay, I know I’m the only one excited about this, but can you at least pretend to be excited?)
Obviously you can also use this tip to go the other way as well, reducing two carriage returns to one and then adding indents.
Other Find and Replace functions
Other awesome functions of the Find and Replace tool include finding other special characters, and finding specific (or all) text in a certain format. All of these options are accessible from the Find and Replace tool if you click on the button that says More>>. The extra pane that opens up has two more buttons (Format and Special, funnily enough), which open up a world of new options.
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Searching for an italicised word and replacing it with an unformatted version
For example, in my first manuscript I’d used a few foreign words (okay, words I made up) and italicised them throughout the entire document. But because they were used quite often, I later decided the italics were annoying. I didn’t want to search for every occurrence of the word and fix it by hand. And I also didn’t want to unitalicise the entire document—because I’d used italics for other things, like thoughts.
So I did a find and replace for each of the words formatted with italics, and replaced them with the same word with the font set to “Regular”. What could have been an hour’s work was done in minutes. (You can also search for all examples of italicised/underlined/whatevered text by leaving the find box empty but specifying the format.)
Another example would be if you’ve used tabs to indent your paragraphs rather than spaces or indents, and you want to change it to (say) spaces. If you look in the Special dropdown list, you can see that the tab character is ^t. So if you find ^t and replace with three spaces, Word will take care of it for you.
Format Painter
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Format Painter: my favourite and my best
The last tool I want to mention is a little gem called Format Painter. You may not use it much in drafting a novel, but it is pure gold for a document with different styles, such as a non-fiction manuscript, essay or newsletter. Format Painter lives on the Home ribbon.
Put your cursor in a block of text with the correct formatting, and then click that button. Then click on the paragraph you want to apply the correct formatting to. Voila! All of the formatting should be applied to the new paragraph. (I say “should” because sometimes it’s a little flaky. But it usually works a treat!)
So, those are my favourite Microsoft Word formatting tips. I hope they help you as much as they help me. Do you have a favourite formatting trick? I’d love to hear about it.
Hey! Are you still awake? *pokes*
Interview: K.A. Last, YA author
Posted: October 4, 2013 Filed under: On Books | Tags: Interview, young adult 2 CommentsToday I’m interviewing the fabulous K.A. Last, Indie YA author. In my opinion, she’s an Indie author who’s Doing It Right ™.
Your book, Fall for Me, was the first self-published novel I ever read. It was fun and fast-paced, and left me wanting to know more about the characters.
Thank you! You are too kind, and I feel honoured that my book was the first self-published novel you ever read. I hope I set a high standard of expectation. 😉
Maybe too high! To be honest, some other self-published novels I’ve read since haven’t fared very well in comparison. What advice would you give a new writer considering self-publishing?
My advice would be: aim to be as professional as you can with the resources that you have. That short sentence encompasses a lot of things: marketing, editing, cover design, production — the list is endless. Independent authors need to keep up with the standards that traditional publishers have set, so we can do away with the stigma that Indie means lower quality. I pride myself on producing a quality product (which unfortunately doesn’t mean to say that everyone has liked my books).
My other piece of advice would be: an Indie author is their own boss, but we can’t be too hard on ourselves. This publishing thing is a lot of hard work, and there are times we need to be a little nicer to ourselves. Oh! One more thing: take everything in your stride, don’t respond to negative situations, and if you fall, pick yourself back up again and keep going.
You’ve described yourself as a bit of a control freak, so I can see why you love the idea of self-publishing. Would you consider pursuing a small press or traditional big six publishing deal after having self-published your first two books?
This is quite a hard question, and one I don’t really know the answer to. A year or so ago I would have said yes, most definitely. I guess if a big six offered me a contract with a huge advance I might consider it, but if I was to go with a publisher I think I’d feel more comfortable with a small press.
These days the big six publishers still expect their authors to do a lot of promoting. I do that anyway, so the added benefits would need to be worthwhile. I’m in this for the long haul. Things take time, so I’m happy working away at building my fan base, working on my next release(s) and doing it myself for the moment.
Also, I think sometimes I’m too impatient for the query process. I finish something and I want to get it out for people to read, not sit around and wait while someone may or may not want to sign my book.
As well as writing, publishing and promoting your books, you also have a graphic design business, and you work and have small children. How do you find the time to do everything?!
Ha! I don’t. Basically it’s whatever has priority gets done first. All the other stuff waits. If I have the choice between sitting down to do edits and playing with the kids, I play with the kids. My family is the most important thing in my life, and they always come first. I can stay up late and do edits after the kids are asleep.
There’s a quote I love from The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom: “It is never too late or too soon. It is when it is supposed to be.” Exactly!
Cover illustration: Lawrence Mann
You’ve got a new release coming out before the end of the year, Immagica–which one early reviewer described as “the Never Ending Story meets Jumanji with a little Alice in Wonderland thrown in”. How have you found the experience of writing fantasy as opposed to urban fantasy? (I’ll be honest: so far the world-building has scared me off writing that genre!)
Immagica was so much fun to write. You shouldn’t be scared of writing fantasy! With something that is pure fantasy and set in another world, there are no rules. In Immagica I made the rules so no one can tell me any part of it is wrong. The world-building was a really exciting part of the story, and I love the world I’ve created. I’ve found Pinterest is a great way to help with inspiration and visualisation.
Urban fantasy is also a lot of fun to write, but there are already certain rules in place that you have to follow. If you break them there needs to be a good reason for it, or a really unique take on something that is already established. Basically I’m happy when I’m writing whether it’s fantasy, urban fantasy, dystopian, paranormal romance, or contemporary (yes, I have a contemporary WIP, although it may turn into an UF). Each story is different and sucks me in with its own uniqueness.
For those who’ve read Fall for Me: if you were stuck on a desert island, would you choose to be stranded with Grace, Josh or Seth? Assume for the purposes of this question that none of their various supernatural abilities are available (so you can’t just choose one that can teleport!).
Oh dear, I love all my characters for different reasons, so this is a really hard question. But I think I would have to choose Seth. He is a very multi-layered character. He’s a typical bad boy in that he likes to uphold his mean exterior, but on the inside he has a lot to offer. I’m assuming we will be on this island for a while and I think he would provide the most interesting conversation. He’s also been through a lot in his long existence so I think he could teach me a thing or two. Not to mention he’s pretty nice to look at. 😉
Haha, I’d choose Seth too. Mostly because I’m superficial and he’s smoking hot! Thanks for dropping by. 😉
About the author: K. A. Last was born in Subiaco, Western Australia, and moved to Sydney with her parents and older brother when she was eight. Artistic and creative by nature, she studied Graphic Design and graduated with an Advanced Diploma. After marrying her high school sweetheart, she concentrated on her career before settling into family life. Blessed with a vivid imagination, she began writing to let off creative steam, and fell in love with it. She now resides in a peaceful, leafy suburb north of Sydney with her husband, their two children, and a rabbit named Twitch.
You can find her at her website, or on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads or on Amazon.
Blurb for IMMAGICA:
Title: Immagica
Author: K. A. Last
Genre: YA Fantasy/Adventure
Expected Date of Publication: November 2013
Word Count: Around 66,000
Cover Illustration: Lawrence Mann
Cover Designer: KILA Designs
Immagica…
Where anything is possible, but not always controllable.
Enter at your own risk.
The night before her fifteenth birthday, Rosaline Clayton receives an amulet from her deranged father. He tells her she must find the book, and begs her to save him. Rosaline is used to her father not making any sense, and she dismisses their conversation as another of his crazy rants.
Rosaline and her younger brother, Elliot, find the old, leather-bound book tucked away in their Nana’s attic, and it sucks them into its pages. They land in a magical world where anything is possible, but when Rosaline and Elliot are separated, the only thing Rosaline wants is to find her brother and go home.
The creatures of Immagica have other ideas. Rosaline befriends a black unicorn, two fairies, and a girl named Brynn, who are under threat from a menacing dragon. Rosaline discovers she is bound to Immagica in ways she doesn’t understand, and the fate of this magical world rests entirely on her shoulders.
Add Immagica on Goodreads today!
Cover reveal: ‘Kiya: Mother of a King’ by Katie Hamstead
Posted: October 1, 2013 Filed under: On Books | Tags: book covers, small presses 1 CommentNefertiti has forced Naomi to flee Amarna with Malachi and the three children. But even under the protection of Naomi’s family in Thebes, Nefertiti still hunts her and Tut. Nefertiti sends assassins to kill them, and while Naomi fights to protect the children, Malachi fights to keep her safe.
With three children in tow, one of which isn’t her own, she is labeled the harlot outcast wife of the pharaoh and is shunned. She isn’t safe among her own people, and flees from being stoned to death. Although her family protects her, she must find a way to survive.
While Naomi struggles to keep herself and Tut alive, old adversaries return as Smenkhkare takes advantage of Akhenaten’s ailing health. Naomi must rely on Horemheb’s promise to protect Tut’s birthright, but her feelings for Malachi could cause more problems with Horemheb than she expects.
There’s a pre-release tour running, so if you want to see more you can find out here.
AND there’s a giveaway HERE!
Are you ready for the cover?
Ready for it??
Kiya: Mother of a King
Born and raised in Australia, Katie’s early years of day dreaming in the “bush”, and having her father tell her wild bedtime stories, inspired her passion for writing. After graduating High School, she became a foreign exchange student where she met a young man who several years later she married. Now she lives in Arizona with her husband, daughter and their dog.She has a diploma in travel and tourism which helps inspire her writing. She is currently at school studying English and Creative Writing.
Katie loves to out sing her friends and family, play sports and be a good wife and mother. She now works as a Clerk with a lien company in Arizona to help support her family and her schooling. She loves to write, and takes the few spare moments in her day to work on her novels.
You can find Katie on Goodreads, Facebook or Twitter.
Interview: Dahlia Adler, YA author
Posted: September 30, 2013 Filed under: On Books | Tags: Interview, young adult 5 CommentsToday I’m pleased to be interviewing Dahlia Adler. If you’re part of the writing community on Twitter, particularly, you’ll probably have heard of Dahlia; she’s full of good advice and kind words for new writers. Her first book, BEHIND THE SCENES, comes out in June next year.
Tell us about your THREE-BOOK DEAL with Spencer Hill Contemporary (SHC)! I gather they signed you up not for a trilogy but for separate books. How did that process work?
This was actually sort of a hilarious process, because in addition to being my wonderful, talented editor, Patricia Riley is also a friend of mine. She loved (well, hopefully loves!) BEHIND THE SCENES and once we started talking about it, I couldn’t stop babbling about every random thought I’d ever had, and one was what my imaginary companion novel would be. As the deal was happening, she said, “Well, what if it wasn’t so imaginary?” And then as we kept talking, she said she didn’t want to lose me after two books, and I knew I had a couple of others I thought could be perfect for her and SHC, so the non-trilogy three-book deal was born! Definitely not typical in process or practice, but I’m very, very excited that Patricia’s stuck with me for a while longer!
What has your favourite part of the publishing process been so far?
I announced my deal five months ago and it’s still the greatest feeling in the world every time someone tells me they’re actually excited to read my book. Like, people I don’t know who don’t have to say that to be nice to me. That is so amazing, and having great editors at SHC in Patricia and her incredible editorial assistant, Lauren, makes me feel infinitely better about what I’ll be releasing into the world!
What about the worst part?
Dahlia the Divine (as she shall henceforth be known!)
I just turned around my first round of edits, and there’s always this nagging feeling of what else I could’ve or should’ve done, and the anticipation of the response, and thinking “If only I’d had another week.” And while now, sure, there’s always another round of edits, the realization that one day there won’t be—that what I’ve done is what readers will get—is terrifying. But eventually, you have to let go, and that’s why I think it’s so, so important to trust the people in charge of your book that they’ll make it the best they can be.
All your books (that I’m aware of!) are young adult contemporary—even The Book of Esther, a retelling of the biblical book of (surprise!) Esther. What draws you to that genre?
I love contemporary for all the lives it allows you to live vicariously; that’s always been a huge draw to writing it for me. This definitely traces back largely to the fact that I strictly observe Orthodox Judaism (if I’m never gonna eat bacon in real life, I’m going to have characters who do!) but I’ve also come to realize that part of what I love about contemporary is the challenge of creating new stories in the confines of a world that already exists.
Now, granted, my worldbuilding skills when it comes to making up alternate realities and fantasy lands are nonexistent, so I highly doubt I could write another genre even if I wanted to, but there’s something so cool in contemporary about having to create new worlds, schools, local cultures, etc. within the existing geographical boundaries, social constructs, and laws of our world. It’s a fun challenge every time, trying to figure out a way to make your story stand out when you’re playing by the same guidelines as every other contemporary writer!
I’ve got a Pinterest board where I collect blog posts that are great resources for writers, and your posts and Chuck Wendig’s are the majority my pins. You also volunteer your time on contests like Pitch Madness. How do you manage all these incredibly generous contributions to the writing community while also finding time to write, work and, you know, eat? Do you have a TARDIS?!
Thanks so much for that! Regarding time, I’m honestly just very, very lucky. My husband is the crazy kind of supportive that will say things like, “I’ll clean up the enormous mess you just made in the kitchen—you go write.” I also have a brain that thrives on multi-tasking, a job that allows for some surreptitious tweeting during the day and blogging during lunch, a subway commute that ensures I’ll always have plenty of time to read and often beta, and incredible friends and CPs who keep me sane and my work better.
But I also don’t have kids or pets. I don’t give any time to things like exercise. I don’t have other hobbies. I’m pretty apathetic as to the cleanliness of my house. And I really don’t care if I get to shower every day. Or every other day. Or every three days. It’s easy, especially over social media, to forget how both our personal wiring and personal circumstances feed in to what we are able to put out into the world. But those things can factor in as much as skill, knowledge and desire do.
What book release are you most looking forward to in the next six months?
Oh God, this question is torturously unfair. I am so, so excited for so many upcoming releases, and anyone who follows my blog will see me talking about them a lot over the next few months. I’ll answer, but I’m going to cheat a little and go with something that’s in the next six and a half months, because it really is the answer that automatically comes to mind when I think about the release I’m dying for: OPEN ROAD SUMMER by Emery Lord, which releases on 15 April 2014, from Walker.
Our books are similar in premise, so obviously it’s an idea that excited me from the get-go, but I’m really excited for the differences, too—I know nothing about the country music world, and I love that there’s a huge travel aspect to the plot—and now that I know Emery personally, I’m particularly excited for the amount of heart and humor I know will fill it. So…is it April yet??
Dahlia Adler is an Assistant Editor of mathematics by day, a Copy Editor at Spencer Hill Contemporary and Ellora’s Cave by night, and a YA author and blogger at every spare moment in between. She lives in New York City with her husband and their overstuffed bookshelves, and is represented by Lana Popovic at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth. You can find her on Twitter at @MissDahlELama and blogging at The Daily Dahlia and YA Misfits.
Blurb for BEHIND THE SCENES:
Eighteen-year-old Ally Duncan’s best friend may be “the” Vanessa Park – star of TV’s hottest new teen drama – but Ally’s not interested in following in her BFF’s Hollywood footsteps. In fact, the only thing Ally’s ever really wanted is to go to Columbia and study abroad in Paris. But when her father’s mounting medical bills threaten to stop her dream in its tracks, Ally nabs a position as Van’s on-set assistant to get the cash she needs.
Spending the extra time with Van turns out to be fun, and getting to know her sexy co-star Liam is an added bonus. But when the actors’ publicist arranges for Van and Liam to “date” for the tabloids just after he and Ally share their first kiss, Ally will have to decide exactly what role she’s capable of playing in their world of make believe. If she can’t play by Hollywood’s rules, she may lose her best friend, her dream future, and her first shot at love.
Review – ‘Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh’ by Katie Hamstead
Posted: September 27, 2013 Filed under: Reviews | Tags: aussie-owned, AWW, reviews, small presses 2 CommentsWhen I was asked to participate in a review tour for one of my favourite 2013 releases, new adult historical romance Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh by Katie Hamstead, I was thrilled. I don’t often review books on this blog (I’m not sure why, exactly) but I really did love this book. And I’m not just saying that because Katie’s an Aussie and I like to support Australian writers.
When Naomi’s sisters are snatched up to be taken to be wives of the erratic Pharaoh, Akhenaten, she knows they won’t survive the palace, so she offers herself in their place. The fearsome Commander Horemheb sees her courage, and knows she is exactly what he is looking for…
The Great Queen Nefertiti despises Naomi instantly, and strips her of her Hebrew lineage, including her name, which is changed to Kiya. Kiya allies herself with Horemheb, who pushes her to greatness and encourages her to make the Pharaoh fall in love with her. When Akhenaten declares Kiya will be the mother of his heir, Nefertiti, furious with jealousy, schemes to destroy Kiya.
Kiya must play the deadly game carefully. She is in a silent battle of wills, and a struggle for who will one day inherit the crown. If she does bear an heir, she knows she will need to fight to protect him, as well as herself, from Nefertiti — who is out for blood.
I’ve always been interested in Egyptology but was never a student of it (if that makes sense) — and I usually find historical fiction dusty and dull. But Kiya is the sort of character-driven story that keeps you turning the pages until there aren’t any more, and then you wonder when the sequel is coming out. It has enough historical detail in there to set the scene but not so much that you’re bogged down in it and lose sight of the story.
There’s romance, intrigue, betrayal, more romance … It takes a powerful and clever person to rise in the vicious Egyptian court, and Kiya has to swim with the crocodiles or be eaten by them. And yet she manages to do it while maintaining her innate good nature. The pharaoh Akhenaten is crazy and dangerous at times, but he actually genuinely seems to try and care about his (insane number of) wives. I just wish he’d been a bit stronger, to kick Nefertiti to the curb — as they say in Ancient Egyptian parlance. 😉
One of the plot twists at the event left me teary, and I almost never cry when I’m reading. (Gasp, get bug-eyed — sure. But cry? Almost never.)
This was a five-star read for me.
Find Kiya on the Web: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Curiosity Quills
Born and raised in Australia, Katie’s early years of day dreaming in the “bush”, and having her father tell her wild bedtime stories, inspired her passion for writing. After graduating High School, she became a foreign exchange student where she met a young man who several years later she married. Now she lives in Arizona with her husband, daughter and their dog.
She has a diploma in travel and tourism which helps inspire her writing. She is currently at school studying English and Creative Writing.
Katie loves to out sing her friends and family, play sports and be a good wife and mother. She now works as a Clerk with a lien company in Arizona to help support her family and her schooling. She loves to write, and takes the few spare moments in her day to work on her novels.
You can find Katie on Goodreads, Facebook or Twitter.
He said, she said: dialogue tags
Posted: September 26, 2013 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy, On writing | Tags: editing, Isla's Inheritance, words to be wary of, writing 4 Comments
Source: wiki commons
I mentioned dialogue tags briefly a while ago in a post about “crimes” I commit when drafting—I tend to leave out the name of the other actor in a conversation between them and my first-person main character. It’s one of the things I edit in later.
Here’s a more comprehensive set of thoughts on dialogue tags. Anyone who’s read On Writing by Stephen King will know his advice, but here’s a summary:
- Don’t underestimate the power of “said”. Readers usually don’t notice it, and it lets you anchor the identity of the speaker in the reader’s mind with a minimum of fuss.
- You don’t have to attribute every single line of dialogue. In a back-and-forth conversation between two characters, it’s usually pretty obvious who is speaking for several lines after you include a dialogue tag. And if you have “X said” at the end of every quote, your reader will get annoyed.
- Dialogue tags other than “said” should be used sparingly (see example one, below).
- Consider using character action as part of the same paragraph that contains the dialogue. The action then identifies the speaker.
Example one: too many dialogue tags
This excerpt is taken from Isla’s Inheritance, although I’ve edited it to demonstrate how jarring excessive dialogue tags can be.
“It’s me. Dominic,” he said.
“Dommie?!” I squealed.
“If you must,” he replied dryly.
“I didn’t know you were back!” I exclaimed.
“Got back a few days ago; been catching up with the folks. Hence the lack of effort,” he laughed, indicating his Halloween costume with a wave of his sheet.
“It could have been embarrassing—I almost wore the same thing,” I admitted.
I’ve actually seen poorly edited books that read like this. I sit there wondering whether the author used a thesaurus to avoid repeating the same descriptive word—which means I’ve stopped paying attention to the story and am paying attention to the poor craftsmanship instead.
To make it clear: I’m not saying to never use these words. But I avoid any dialogue tag that doesn’t describe something the reader wouldn’t have gotten from the dialogue itself. For example, “shouted” and “whispered” are okay in moderation, as are “murmured” and “muttered”. But there’s never a reason to use “exclaimed” (because the punctuation mark already indicates that the dialogue is an exclamation), and if you’re using words like “flirted”, consider instead describing the flirtation. (“Hi there,” I flirted doesn’t tell us much; “Hi there,” I said with a wink is much more descriptive.)
Example two: a mix of tags and action
Here is the same sample text as in example one, with minimal dialogue tags, and action used to anchor the reader in the scene. (I also used fewer adverbs.)
“It’s me. Dominic.”
“Dommie?!” I sat up straight.
“If you must,” he said, voice dry.
“I didn’t know you were back!”
“Got back a few days ago; been catching up with the folks. Hence the lack of effort.” He indicated his Halloween costume with a wave of his sheet.
“It could have been embarrassing—I almost wore the same thing.”
Because there are only two characters, I don’t need to attribute every line. It gets more complicated when you’re dealing with multiple characters, but that’s where use of action really comes into its own.
Know the rules before you break them
One technique I noticed Aussie bestseller John Marsden use is not bothering even trying to attribute the dialogue. He used this particular technique when he had a bunch of teenage characters chatting excitedly and it didn’t really matter who was saying what. Stripping all the dialogue tags and action out sped the dialogue up to a sprint, which conveyed the conversation’s sheer chaos.
This is definitely a case where you need to understand the rules before you disregard them, though—the same technique wouldn’t have worked in any of the other dialogue scenes in his book, so he didn’t use it there.
Variety is key
As with most things in life, the best guide for dialogue tags is “everything in moderation”. If you mix up “said” with other dialogue tags, no dialogue tags and action, you’ll have a pretty solid foundation for conveying your dialogue and furthering your story.
Cassandra Page 