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!
3 Reasons to Write the Book That Calls to You
Posted: July 25, 2014 Filed under: On writing | Tags: inspiration, Isla's Inheritance, writing 1 CommentThere is a lot of different advice about what writers should write. I see the occasional clickbait article on social media claiming to give advice on how to write a bestseller, for example (although I’ve never clicked, because I know when someone is trying to sell me something!). The more common mantra for writers is “write what you know”, something I believe in so long as the definition of “what you know” is expanded to include things you’ve researched, or a fantasy world you’ve built until you know it inside out.
But probably the best bit of advice — IMHO YMMV etc — is to write the book that calls to you. I don’t believe in a muse in the literal sense, but there’s no doubt that when I’ve been choosing between two projects, the one that drags me in like a whirlpool, that won’t leave me alone, is the one that gets written.
I’ve been pondering this a lot lately, for various reasons. So here are my three reasons to write the book that calls to you.
Because chasing trends is pointless
If you’re thinking of traditional publishing, there’s not a lot of point in chasing trends. Say you look around the bookstore and think, “Gee, were-swans are hot right now.” By the time you write your were-swan book, edit it, get it beta read, edit it again (and again), and start querying agents or editors, your idea is one of many were-swan books on the slush pile. Publishing is a slow-moving beast; that new trend you see breaking in the bookstores today was actually bought by a publishing house 18 months ago (or longer). Right now, they are buying something new, not the trend you’ve just discovered.
This is also true, although to a lesser extent, with self-publishing. If you’re going to be a proper author–publisher, that still takes time to do right. (Again with the editing, but also with the typesetting and acquiring of or designing a professional cover.)
I’m not saying you shouldn’t write your story about were-swans if that’s what you really want to do, but don’t write it because you think it’s going to be the next were-swan hit. Write it because it’s the story you have to write.
Because writing a book is hard
I don’t want to sound like I’m having a pityfest over here, but sometimes writing a book is simply hard work. It’s not always glorious, giddy typing to the Murder, She Wrote theme — sometimes it’s awkward transition scenes and words that move about as quickly as my son gets dressed when we’re in a hurry. (For the record, that’s not very fast.)
If you love your story, if in the middle of the night you think about your characters and ways you can mess with them, getting through these writing rough patches will be so much easier. This is particularly important if you’re still working on your first novel, wondering whether you can do it. (Note: you can.)
Because you’re going to read that book a lot
I just finished proofreading the galley proof of Isla’s Inheritance. I’ve read it from cover to cover (so to speak) at least two or three times in the last six months. Before I got my publishing deal, I read it maybe four more times, going over it again and again, looking at places to tighten or tweak. So not only was it my life for as long as it took me to draft it, it’s been a huge part of my life since then.
Regardless of how you decide to publish, you’re going to read your book again. And again. And again. If it’s not a story your passionate about, you’re going to get more than a little stabby. Even if you are passionate about it you may get a little stabby; it can’t be avoided. But love makes it easier.
I feel like I should leave you with some sort of uplifting message: art harder, or write the story you want to read. Something like that. But instead, I’ve decided to make you an inspirational meme. It’s my gift from me to you. 🙂
Isla’s Inheritance teaser: meet Dominic and Jack
Posted: July 19, 2014 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: Isla's Inheritance 2 CommentsBefore I start, I wanted to let you guys know that I’m going to have a giveaway when Isla’s Inheritance gets to 50 adds on Goodreads. Only 15 to go!
I think I’ve already mentioned that I’ve been working off some of that “my book comes out this year” nervous energy by playing with Photoshop, making little teaser pictures and promos and so forth. I’ve shared this one with you already:
I thought to celebrate the fact that there are less than three months to go till Isla’s Inheritance hits the virtual shelves (the paperback may take a teeny bit longer; I’m not sure), I’d share another couple of pictures — these of Dominic and Jack, both of whom feature in the book’s blurb.
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.
Dominic
Dominic was in the same year at school as Isla’s older cousin, Ryan, making him a couple of years older than her. She had a crush on him in high school, which she’s totally over. Until he kisses her at a Halloween party.
Jack
Isla meets Jack after her life takes a turn for the weird. He is very polite and proper, and has these, um, ears… (As an aside, I could stare at this picture all day. A high-res version of it is actually my desktop wallpaper right now.)
Both of these pictures have been made with legally purchased stock so they are safe to share around. You know, if you wanted to. *shuffles feet*
WOOHOO!
Posted: July 5, 2014 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: Isla's Inheritance 6 CommentsNot a very useful blog post title, I grant you, but I’m pretty pumped.
Because I just finished writing the first draft of the third book in the Isla’s Inheritance trilogy.
My fourth completed novel.
Holy cow.
To celebrate, here are some fireworks. (Also because it may still be the Fourth of July somewhere in America – hi, America!) I’d prefer cupcake cannons but I don’t have a picture of those.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! *spins away in excitement*
‘Isla’s Inheritance’ is on Goodreads
Posted: June 20, 2014 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: Goodreads, Isla's Inheritance 6 CommentsEven though the subject says almost everything you need to know about the matter, I feel like I should write some extra words. So, yes, my very first book baby, Isla’s Inheritance, is on Goodreads. I don’t have a cover yet (when I do I’ll be organising a reveal; yay!) but there is a blurb. And I can pat the screen and stare at it like my dogs stare at us when we’re eating dinner. You can too, if you like. I don’t mind sharing.
Isla’s Goodreads page
The way I feel right now is really best said with animated gifs. Which is a sad state of affairs for a writer, but OMG!
I feel like this!
And then I think of people actually reading it — after spending money on it — and I feel like this.
(I also feel sick, like I might throw up. But it’s probably best if we don’t animate that.)
Anyway, if you’re a Goodreads user and you want to add Isla’s Inheritance to your To Be Read shelf, I’d love you forever. Really. With hearts and chocolates*! ❤
*Chocolates may be claimed in person only.
Beautiful People: Character Interviews – Isla Blackman
Posted: June 17, 2014 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: Isla's Inheritance 3 Comments
Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic didn’t work for me, so I’ve decided to reject that reality and substitute my own. The Notebook Sisters’ Beautiful People is a new meme designed to help writers (and anyone that reads the writers’ blogs!) learn about their characters.
So here are ten questions about Isla Blackman, she of Isla’s Inheritance fame. (Fame? Just go with it.)
What is their full name and is there a story behind why they got it?
Isla Rose Blackman. Isla is a Scottish name and, although she has no Scottish heritage that she knows of, her parents met in Edinburgh. And roses were her mother’s favourite flower, or so her father told her once. Her mother died giving birth to Isla, so she doesn’t know for certain.
How old are they, and when were they born?
She is 17 at the start of Isla’s Inheritance, although her birthday is a week later. She was born almost eighteen years ago. (I originally finished the novel three years ago so it was eighteen years before that…but it’s a sliding scale till release day!)
Describe their physical appearance. (Bonus questions: 1. What is their race/nationality/ethnicity? 2. Do you have a picture of them? If so, include it!)
Isla is 5′ 4″ with brown wavy hair, usually worn in a ponytail, and brown eyes. She has pale skin and burns easily. Her father is English and her mother’s heritage is a bit of a mystery, but she’s where Isla got her looks from.
Jenna-Louise Coleman, who looks a lot like I imagine Isla would. (Source.)
Describe your character’s personality first in one word, and then elaborate with a few sentences.
Pragmatic. Isla was raised by her father to have a sceptical, logical mind. She never really got into crystals, ghosts and incense when her cousin Sarah did. The fact she agrees to participate in a seance at all is only because Dominic wanted to, and he’s hot. 😉
What theme song(s) fit their personality and story arc?
This song is the hardest one here, because I don’t write to music, so I don’t automatically associate my characters with music. All I can think of are parts of Wake Me Up by Evanescence, except the person that song is about is coming from a much darker place than Isla is so it’s not quite perfect.
Which one of the seven deadly sins describes your character?
None of them, really; she’s a lot more complex than that. She has moments of sloth, envy, lust, wrath and pride. Not really much gluttony to speak of, although she does love her coffee. Who doesn’t?
If they were an element (fire, water, earth, air), which one would they be?
Earth.
What is their favourite word?
“Sorry!”
Who’s one person they really miss? (It could be someone who’s passed away, or someone they’re not close to anymore, or someone who’s moved away.)
Isla never met her mother, but she misses the idea of having a mother more than anything, even though her Aunt Elizabeth has been a surrogate mother, especially since Isla moved in with her aunt and two cousins when she started high school. (Her dad lives on a farm an hour out of Canberra, so it was easier for Isla to move than to commute all the time.)
What sights, sounds, and smells remind them of that person?
None, really, because she has no basis for comparison. She hasn’t even seen a picture of her mother. It wasn’t her idea to try and summon her at the seance, and afterwards she wishes it had never been suggested…
Meet my character: Isla Blackman
Posted: April 25, 2014 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: blog hop, Isla's Inheritance 5 CommentsI was tagged in the Meet My Character blog hop by the fabulous historical fiction author Nicole Evelina. (Thanks, Nicole!) The idea is that you can write about a character in a new release or WIP. Given my impending release and WIP are both about Isla, she was my obvious choice.
However, I’ve written this based on the first book, for reasons.
Jenna-Louise Coleman, who looks a lot like I imagine Isla would. (Source.)
What is the name of your character? Is she fictional or a historical person?
Her name is Isla Rose Blackman, and she’s about to turn eighteen. Her father is David Andrew Blackman, a small farmer and hobbyist ironmonger with a farm outside Canberra. Isla lives with her aunt, Elizabeth Kent, and cousins, Sarah and Ryan. But she sees her father regularly and adores him.
This meme started among the histfic writers, hence the second half of the question. Since I write urban fantasy, the answer is always going to be “fictional”. As much as it might be hilarious to write a vampire story involving a real life politician, for example, I suspect I’d be sued shortly afterwards!
When and where is the story set?
For the most part, it is set in Canberra—Isla moved in with her aunt when she started high school so she’d be closer to class. And it is a contemporary story…in timeframe if not always in subject matter.
What should we know about Isla?
Isla has a good head on her shoulders. Her father raised her to be practical and have a critical mind; for example, she never went through the new age phase Sarah did as a teenager. When her cousins drag her to a Halloween party, she thinks it’s all a bit of fun but nothing more—an excuse to dress up. She only ever agreed to take part in the séance because Dominic was there, and she’d had a crush on him when she was younger.
Turns out he’s still hot.
What is the main conflict? What messes up her life?
The first speedbump in the road is when the séance tries to contact Isla’s mother, who passed away in childbirth, and the “spirits” reply “SHE IS NOT DEAD”. Isla can’t understand why the girl running the séance would set her up like that, given they’ve never met before…but then all sorts of weird things start happening.
What is the personal goal of the character?
At first, Isla hopes for a lightbulb moment where she suddenly knows what she wants to do with her life. She has the grades for university, but decides to take a gap year because she isn’t sure what she wants to study.
After a while, though, she just wants everything to go back to normal.
When can we expect Isla’s Inheritance to be published?
October 2014. *faints*
Who’s next in this blog hop?
I’m tagging two awesome writers, contemporary author Lauren K. McKellar, and fantasy and urban fantasy author K. A. Last. I loved both of their recent releases, The Problem With Crazy and Immagica respectively. Check them out!
Isla’s Inheritance word cloud
Posted: March 24, 2014 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: Isla's Inheritance 6 CommentsSomething fun from me today. I was stalking getting a link from Tess Grant‘s blog for her spot on This Writer’s Space in a couple of weeks, and I saw her post about an awesome word cloud app called Wordle. You paste in a selection of text and it ignores the common English (or other langauge) words and gives you a word cloud of the rest.
The results weren’t perfect – it didn’t seem to acknowledge the apostrophes as part of a word so there were a handful of fragments — such as “don” and “ll”. Once I removed those, I really liked the result.
Can you tell that Dominic features pretty heavily in that chapter? 😉
I’d love to see these results for other novels. If you do it, link me your blog in the comments so I can check it out!
My penmonkey evaluation
Posted: March 6, 2014 Filed under: On writing | Tags: Chuck Wendig, editing, Isla's Inheritance, Lucid Dreaming, writing Leave a commentA couple of days ago on his blog, author and blogger extraordinaire Chuck Wendig posted what he called a penmonkey evaluation—a chance for writers to self-evaluate. I thought it was an interesting exercise so decided I’d do it here. If you decide to evaluate yourself too, please post your blog link in the comments. I’d love to see how others fare.
What’s your greatest strength/skill in terms of writing/storytelling?
Definitely my editing skills. I still have the same problems with being able to impartially view my own work as everyone else, but I think I produce a fairly clean initial draft.
At least grammatically—I make no guarantees as to content!
What’s your greatest weakness in writing/storytelling? What gives you the most trouble?
Transition scenes can die in a fire. I try to avoid them if I can, because I struggle with them so much.
How many books or other projects have you actually finished? What did you do with them?
Three.
Isla’s Inheritance – scheduled for release with Turquoise Morning Press in around October 2014
Isla’s Oath – scheduled for release with Turquoise Morning Press in around January 2015
Lucid Dreaming – currently on the agent query world tour
Best writing advice you’ve ever been given? (i.e. really helped you)
After considering all the wonderful advice I’ve received (minimise adverb use, avoid dialogue tags, etc), I couldn’t come up with just one thing I’d rate about the others.
Then I realised it was this, which I got from Mister Wendig himself.
“Just write.”Writing your first novel is daunting. It’s a bit like mountain climbing solo, or at least what I imagine mountain climbing solo might be like. You have all these tools, and maybe some people to yell at you or inspire you, but you have to do the hard yards yourself. Each step can be torturous. There’s a risk of avalanches, and of being eaten by wolves.
But the feeling when you get to the top is ah-MAY-zing, and the next mountain you climb is just that little bit easier.
Even if you only manage to write 200 words in a session and it’s like squeezing blood from granite, that’s still another step forward.
Worst writing advice you’ve ever been given? (i.e. didn’t help at all, may have hurt)
“The beginning is critical. If you don’t hook your reader, or that agent or editor, you’re screwed.”This is not inherently bad advice. It’s actually very true. But where it tangled me up was when I was starting that mountain climb on my first book. I knew how critical the beginning was, and I felt from the start that mine had issues. I got so hung up on getting the beginning right that it took me a very long time—embarrassingly long—to move on with writing, you know, the rest of the book.
The reason this is bad advice is because I fixated on it at the wrong time: during drafting rather than editing. When you’re drafting, just draft.
One piece of advice you’d give other writers?
You can edit badly written words. You can’t edit a blank page.
Just write.
In other news, on Tuesday I was over at Marcy Peska’s blog, doing an interview about writing dialogue. Yes, I was talking about writing about talking.
Beginnings: starting in the right place
Posted: January 6, 2014 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy, On writing | Tags: editing, Isla's Inheritance, writing 4 Comments
Starting your journey… Source
One bit of advice you’ll often hear from agents and various other book people—such as PitchWars mentors and other competition judges—is to make sure your book starts in the right place. I’m basically giving you that same message, but thought I’d do it with an example.
The inciting event—the first big, life-changing incident that triggers the plot—in Isla’s Inheritance happens at a Halloween party. That event is in the first chapter of the novel, and always was…but the first draft of that chapter started with Isla and her cousin Sarah receiving the party invitation and sorting out costumes. I’m still fond of that scene, because it sets up the relationship between the two characters, and Sarah is a lot of fun to write. But it wasn’t the best place. Isla thinking about whether she had time to get her homework done before the party wasn’t exactly the sort of thing that hooked the reader.
In my defence, it was my first novel, and I learned by making the mistake. :p
The fact my opening sucked bugged me all through drafting the book, so after I’d finished and taken the time to get a bit of distance from the writing, I went back again. (The distance is crucial. As I said, I was fond of the costume-choosing scene, which meant I needed to take the time to see it for what it was.) I cut the first part, and started the scene instead with the two girls and Sarah’s older brother, Ryan, arriving at the party. That’s better, I thought!
That was the version of the book I started querying. I entered it in PitchWars at the end of 2012, and the feedback I got from mentors really shook me. I was still starting in the wrong place, damnit! Again, I was still taking time to establish the characters. I had Sarah and Isla giggle over an old school crush. Dance. I thought I was setting the scene, but it was still slow.
I went back and amputated even more from the scene. By this point I’d probably removed around 2000 words. Now it starts with Isla, at the party, meeting Dominic—her eventual boyfriend—and getting invited to participate in a séance. Sarah doesn’t even appear until the end of the chapter.
Whether that ends up being the perfect starting point for the book will ultimately be decided by my editor at Turquoise Morning Press, and—if she is happy with it—by the reader. But it is far, far better than where I began.
If you’re getting told your book starts too slowly, have a look at what you’re trying to show the reader in your opening scene. For example, say you start with your character jogging, thinking about their life (apparently this is a very common beginning, as is staring into a mirror). You want the reader to see upfront that your main character is a physical creature who has problems that need pondering. Instead, why not start with the manifestation of the problems. You can always have the character jog later, or mention the athletics trophies being knocked to the ground during a zombie attack—that sort of thing.
Obviously there are exceptions to every rule. (For example, if your character is doing a marathon and they rupture their Achilles tendon in the first page, or get hit by a car, because the rest of the story is about their healing journey.)
I’d like to think I’ve learned this lesson now. I’ve started three other novels, and all of them have a much quicker beginning to the plot. But I learned it the hard way. Avoid my mistake, grasshopper!
In case you missed it, check out my latest advice post over at Aussie Owned and Read… Querying agents and publishers: a glossary.
Cassandra Page 