Meet the Character: Jack
Posted: October 25, 2014 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: blog hop, Isla's Inheritance Leave a commentToday, I’m taking part in a Meet the Character blog hop to introduce you all to one of the characters in Isla’s Inheritance: Jack the Unsworn. (You may be wondering why I’m not introducing Isla. The answer is that I already looked at her back in April, last time this blog hop came my way! The questions have changed slightly since then, which is interesting. 🙂 )
Thanks to Stacey Nash for tagging me in on the fun. Here’s Stacey’s Meet the Character post and — although if you follow my blog you’ll have read my interview with her on 18 October — following is a bit about her.
Stacey Nash writes adventure-filled stories for Young Adults in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres. She loves to read and write books that have a lot of adventure, a good dose of danger, a smattering of romance, and KISSING! Hailing from the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, she loves nothing more than immersing herself in the beauty and culture of the local area.
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Inspired by Stacey, I’ve decided to recast these questions so I’m interviewing Jack rather than just talking about him.
So here’s my meet the character from Isla’s Inheritance. Please introduce yourself.
I am Jack. Jack the Unsworn, if you wish to be formal. But for the most part I prefer Jack.
Where do you live? When is it?
I live in the Australian city of Canberra, and it is spring. Is that what you mean when you ask me when it is? How come you do not know? I do not mean to be rude, but have you hit your head?
What should we know about you?
I am a member of the duinesidhe people. (It is pronounced din-a-shee, if you were wondering.) That is the name for all of the fae races, the people who live under the hills. Specifically, I am a type of duinesidhe called a hob.
You have not heard of us? We look rather like humans in that we are bipedal, but we have long ears — which does pose a problem when we wish to go out into the human world. I wear a lot of hats and bandanas.
What is your goal?
I wish to keep my family, my people safe. There is another race of duinesidhe who are more powerful than the rest of us, and they like to keep us as servants or slaves.
I will not be a slave again. Or let the ones I love be enslaved.
What is screwing up your life (what is the ‘main conflict’, in writerly speak)?
Since we came to Australia, our lives have actually been pleasant. Very little conflict, which is how I like it. While building our homes under the hills is more challenging that it might have been in the Old World, the ones who like to enslave us do not come here.
But recently I met this girl, this unique girl, who is half human and half one of us. She is not, how did you say it, ‘screwing up my life’ … but she is definitely complicating it.
When can we expect the book to be published? It was published on 9 October.
You can find Isla’s Inheritance at: Turquoise Morning Press | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Australia | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo
Next week’s author is fabulous teen author Emily Mead. Make sure you check out her post!
Emily Mead is a teen writer and reader, apparently 17 but either 3 or ageless, depending if she’s wearing odd socks or not (usually she is). She likes using brackets, talking, acting, freaking out about awesome books and watching Harry Potter more than she should. Props to her sister for indulging these habits.
A Halloween-y book excerpt
Posted: October 23, 2014 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: aussie-owned, Halloween, inspiration, Isla's Inheritance Leave a commentIn the spirit of Halloween, and ghost stories, today at Aussie Owned and Read I shared the inspiration for the seance scene at the start of “Isla’s Inheritance”.
Once upon a time, when I was in my late teens, my party trick was seances. I know that sounds kind of weird, but it’s true. We used to improvise an ouija board, use a (clean) scotch glass as the focus, and then have at it. And for some reason, whenever I was touching the glass, it would glide around the board like an ice skater on a rink — even if I wasn’t really paying much attention.
I’m pretty sure my friends thought I was pushing the glass around, although they never accused me of it. And although I wasn’t doing anything deliberately, I sometimes wondered if there was something subconscious going on, because I often “heard” the word reply in my mind as the glass started spelling it out.
During one particularly freaky incident, one of the guys taking part had brought along what he claimed was a…
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Post-release buzz
Posted: October 19, 2014 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: am, Isla's Inheritance, Isla's Oath 2 Comments
The last ten days — since Isla’s Inheritance was released into the wild — have been crazy good. I’ve been overwhelmed with support, especially from family and friends, but also from the writing community on Twitter. If you’re a writer just starting out, I strongly recommend getting on Twitter and tapping into the wonderful support network there. Look at the #amwriting hashtag as a place to start finding people.
The book tour ended yesterday and was really successful. (I can’t speak highly enough of Xpresso Book Tours if you’re organising some promotion.) Thank you to everyone that took part, whether it be by hosting or entering my giveaway!
I’ve tried to avoid turning into one of those crazy people that sits there refreshing Amazon to look at her book ranking, but I did notice (ahem) that on Amazon Australia Isla’s Inheritance cracked number 17 on the young adult sci-fi, fantasy and magic ebook charts the day after it released. I only grabbed screenshots the night before, though, when it was at #28:
Seeing it nestled in beside some big names gave me a big, cheesy grin — and I have all of YOU GUYS to thank for that!
If you’ve read the first book and are wondering when the sequel, Isla’s Oath, comes out, the answer is that it’s scheduled for release on 22 January 2015.
In the meantime, if you liked Isla’s Inheritance, I’d be grateful if you considered leaving a review at your reviewing site of choice — you know, if you wanna. 😉 You can leave reviews anywhere from Goodreads to Amazon, Barnes & Noble to the Turquoise Morning Press page. The links to the various pages are here.
No pressure. I love you either way.
So today I became a published author…
Posted: October 9, 2014 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: Isla's Inheritance 14 Comments
Wow, that’s a pretty crazy title for a blog post. If you’d told me a few years ago that I’d be writing that today, I’d have laughed in your face. Well, maybe not in your face, because that’s kind of rude, but I definitely would’ve laughed.
And yet, today Isla’s Inheritance, my debut novel, hits the digital streets.
(For those of you that are wondering whether there will be a paperback — the answer is that there will be, but I don’t have a release date at this stage. Watch this space, because you can bet your entire book collection that I’ll be telling everyone. Loudly. And posting pictures of myself fondling a copy. Uh huh.)
The book blitz kicks off this Sunday. More than 70 blogs have signed up for the tour, which is pretty humbling. If you come across any of them, please show them your love from me. Bloggers love comments. We go crazy for them! 🙂
If you’re wondering where to buy my little urban fantasy, I’ve made a page with all of the links. As I write this Amazon US and Barnes & Noble still have the book as listed for preorder, but it should be available there in a few hours — it’s just that it’s not technically 9 October in the US yet . I’ll also edit the linked page to add other buy links as I find them — I figured that way it’s all listed somewhere central rather than in a blog post that will vanish into the ether.
Now, because it’s my release day I’m going to take a moment to give an Oscar speech. Because, for an occupation that is seen as a solo endeavour, writing sure involves a lot of people. If it weren’t for the following, Isla’s Inheritance wouldn’t be in your hand — or e-reader — today.
To Peter, my alpha reader , thank you for your initial feedback, moral support and those invaluable brainstorming sessions. I couldn’t have done it without you. To my beta readers, Mikey, Chynna-Blue and Ali, you’re the best—I owe you all chocolate. To my parents, Lorraine and Fred, thank you for not trying to talk me out of studying writing at university, even though you probably should have! And finally a big thanks to the rest of my support team: Craig, Cass, the Aussie Owned and Read girls and the BC09 crew. Mwah!
Thank you also to the team at Turquoise Morning Press, especially the amazing Shelby. First she believed in my book enough to champion it, and then she helped me level up my writing. (Please imagine the World of Warcraft levelling up sound here. It’s sort of like a clash of symbols.) I’m truly thankful to have such a great editor.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go back to hyperventilating quietly in the corner.
Isla’s Inheritance: an excerpt
Posted: October 2, 2014 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: Isla's Inheritance, urban fantasy, young adult 2 CommentsWell, it’s a week to go until Isla’s Inheritance hits the virtual bookstores. I’m experiencing a curious mixture of excitement that you will all be able to read my book soon and ABSOLUTE TERROR that you will all be able to read my book soon.
I’m assured by others who’ve done this before that that’s absolutely normal. Still: gulp.
Don’t know if I’m elated or gassy, but I’m somewhere in that zone…
Anyway, to celebrate the final countdown (*plays air guitar*), I thought you might like to read a little excerpt. But first, please humour me while I insert the obligatory links:
- Isla’s Inheritance is now available for preorder at Amazon.
- If Amazon isn’t your thing, you can also find the book at Smashwords, where you can add it to your library and preview it.
- The book blitz celebrating the launch runs from 12 to 18 October, and if you’re a blogger you can sign up here. You’ll receive a pack with all the details you need. 🙂
And now, on with the excerpt-y thing.
Excerpt
“I’m not sure which is worse,” I whispered to Hamish, stroking his fur, “believing I killed my mother, or believing she abandoned me…and Dad lied about it.” Hamish didn’t answer. He was already asleep. “Well, you’re no use.”
Against all odds, the steady rhythm of Hamish’s breathing lulled me into a doze. It seemed like no time had passed when I awoke to a change in light: my father’s large frame was in the doorway, blocking the light.
“Isla? Are you awake?” His voice was tentative.
“Yes.” I sat up, rubbing my eyes. Hamish grumbled a protest.
“Can I turn the light on?”
“Sure.”
I blinked and stared at my father. He looked dishevelled and his eyes were wide, like he’d seen a ghost. He was holding the gift bag he’d given me on my birthday. “You left this at the restaurant the other week, when you went out for dessert with that boy,” he said, his voice strained.
As confused and resentful as I was feeling right now, I still loved him, and his appearance worried me. “Dad, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said. He was an even worse liar than Sarah. He came into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. “Here.” He tried to hand me the bag. Vomit burned the back of my throat, and I flinched back.
He saw the flinch, and his face grew even more drawn. “Isla, take it.” There was an urgency in his tone that I neither understood nor liked.
“No. Dad, what’s going on? You’re freaking me out.”
He looked around the room. “Do you have any of my work in here?”
The question confused me. I felt my cheeks warm. “Um, I’m not sure.” The answer was no. Pretty much every piece of ironwork he’d given me was in the shed. The rest I’d given away to friends.
“Here.” He upended the gift bag. The heavy iron circlet tumbled into my lap.
My stomach twisted with nausea so severe I clenched my teeth, afraid I’d throw up. Where the iron touched my thighs through the denim of my jeans it felt ice-cold, and yet it burned at the same time. I gasped, shoving it away from me and onto the floor. It singed my hand.
“What the hell are you doing?” I jumped to my feet. Hamish leapt up too, yapping.
Dad said nothing but the look on his face was wild, despairing.
“You’re crazy,” I cried, fleeing the room.
“Isla, wait,” Dad yelled after me. But I ran, snatching my bag from the hallway before rushing out the front door. I ignored the bite of tiny rocks on the soles of my feet. I had to get away from him, from everything.
‘Isla’s Inheritance’ now available for preorder
Posted: September 27, 2014 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: Isla's Inheritance Leave a comment
In case you somehow missed me squeeeing* it all over social media like my five-year-old with a paintgun, Isla’s Inheritance is now available for preorder at Amazon.
If Amazon isn’t your thing, you can also find the book at Smashwords, where I’m told you can add it to your library and preview it, but alas not preorder it.
For the less digitally inclined, there will be a paperback available in due course. I don’t have a timeframe on that yet, unfortunately. Rest assured, when I do I’ll be squeeeing that too. And then ordering a huge box of copies so I can roll around in them fondle them smell them OKAY, YES, ALL OF THOSE THINGS!
Soon people will be reading my words, and I feel crazy excited. Also nauseous. And proud. And nauseous. Did I mention nauseous? Eep.
*What do you mean, squeee isn’t a verb?
Book blitz sign-ups for Isla’s Inheritance
Posted: September 17, 2014 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: book launch, Isla's Inheritance Leave a comment
OH MY GOD, YOU GUYS! Next month, starting the weekend after my book comes out, I’m having a week-long book blitz. There’ll be a giveaway (a $50 Amazon gift card!) and excerpts or an interview or I-don’t-know-what-because-I-haven’t written-it-yet!
If you have a blog and are interested in taking part, please sign up here!
And now, I will express my giddiness with gifs!
Cass goes AWOL
Posted: September 12, 2014 Filed under: On Books, On me, On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: Goodreads, Isla's Inheritance, motherhood Leave a commentHello! Remember me? I know I disappeared for a week there; I confess, I knew I was going to be offline but I wasn’t organised enough to schedule posts (with the exception of yesterday’s) in the interim.
The reason I was AWOL was that our family had a gathering down the coast, which meant wrangling the five-year-old for a night away. We had a good time, though he did insist on dragging me into the surf when the water was about ten degrees celcius at best. (Google tells me that’s fifty degrees fahrenheit, if you’re wondering.) I only went in up to my knees, but it’s a miracle I still have toes left.
He’s declared he wants to learn to surf. I’m quietly having conniptions about that.
On the Monday when we got home, I had surgery. Planned surgery — it wasn’t because of frostbite or anything! My boy and I stayed with my folks for an extra night so I only got home yesterday afternoon.
I’m slowly getting better, although I am sore. Mostly I’m just glad it’s over.
Cover giveaway competition results
The winner of the $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift voucher as part of my Isla’s Inheritance cover reveal giveaway is Alicia. Congratulations!
Goodreads 2014 Challenge Complete
As I did in 2013, I set my Goodreads Challenge target at 40 books. Unlike last year, I finished it in the last week rather than in December. However, I feel a bit like I cheated, because among my 40 this year are three novellas and nine childrens books (mostly by Roald Dahl). So my new goal is to get to at lest 52 books by the end of the year, so that I’ve read 40 adult or YA novels. That’s also one book a week, which is quite nice!
We’ll see how that goes!
What have you been up to in the last week?
Cover reveal and giveaway: ‘Isla’s Inheritance’ by ME!
Posted: August 30, 2014 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: book covers, Isla's Inheritance 6 Comments
Oh my god. YOU GUYS! I’m so excited to finally be able to share my Isla’s Inheritance cover with all of you. Plus I decided to have a fabulous giveaway, to show my love! Scroll down below the pretties for details. ❤
Big thanks go to Kim at Turquoise Morning Press for the lovely cover, and also to another Kim, at KILA Designs, for the amazing banner. Kims rule!
Isla was content to let her father keep his secrets, but now she can’t stand the touch of iron and her dreams are developing a life of their own. She must discover the truth — before it’s too late.
Seventeen-year-old Isla Blackman only agrees to participate in a Halloween party séance because Dominic, an old crush, wants to. She is sure nothing will happen when they try to contact the spirit of her mother. But the séance receives a chilling reply.
SHE IS NOT DEAD.
Isla doesn’t want to upset her father by prying into the family history he never discusses. When the mysterious and unearthly Jack offers to help her discover the truth, Isla must master her new abilities to protect her loved ones from enemies she never knew existed.
Giveaway
Click HERE for your chance to win a $25 gift voucher from either Amazon or Barnes & Noble (winner’s choice).
About Cass
For another author’s cover reveal on my blog, a bio would normally go here. But since you guys already know more-or-less who I am (I assume!), here are three random facts about me:
- I’m not scared of spiders or snakes, but I am terrified of leeches.
- My childhood toy was a doll named Sarah. Sarah is also the name of Isla’s cousin. Coincidence?
I think not!Yes, actually. - My favourite colour is brown. Because coffee. And chocolate. And my gorgeous book cover. Wheeee!
Sign-ups for ‘Isla’s Inheritance’ cover reveal now open!
Posted: August 20, 2014 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy Leave a commentYOU GUYS! My cover reveal is scheduled for 30 August. I MIGHT FAINT!
If you’ve got a blog and would be interesting in hosting the Isla’s Inheritance cover reveal that day (or really any day after that; I’m not fussy) you can sign up here. There will be a giveaway! And a pretty cover! And kittens juggling*!
*Note: Cover reveal will probably not include kittens juggling.
Isla was content to let her father keep his secrets, but now she can’t stand the touch of iron and her dreams are developing a life of their own. She must discover the truth — before it’s too late.
Seventeen-year-old Isla Blackman only agrees to participate in a Halloween party séance because Dominic, an old crush, wants to. She is sure nothing will happen when they try to contact the spirit of her mother. But the séance receives a chilling reply.
SHE IS NOT DEAD.
Isla doesn’t want to upset her father by prying into the family history he never discusses. When the mysterious and unearthly Jack offers to help her discover the truth, Isla must master her new abilities to protect her loved ones from enemies she never knew existed.
Cassandra Page 