Like a Virgin blog hop: all about firsts
Posted: July 14, 2013 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: blog hop, fanfic, Isla's Inheritance 21 Comments
I don’t have a manuscript eligible for entry into the Like a Virgin contest—and, even if I did, that ship has sailed. But I thought I’d participate in their “Getting to Know You” blog hop anyway, because: BLOG HOP. 🙂
1. How do you remember your first kiss?
Vaguely. I was at a party and had been partaking of something bubbly and intoxicating. Sambuca may have been involved. The fellow in question had amazing eyes (although maybe that was the bubbles talking).
If it weren’t for the alcohol making me relax, it would probably have never happened. That being said, don’t do what I did, kids. It could have all gone horribly wrong.
2. What was your first favorite love song?
Speaking of horribly wrong… Back in the 1980s, Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan (at the height of their Neighbours fame) released a schlocky duet called Especially For You. Yeah, that.
Hey, I was twelve!
3. What’s the first thing you do when you begin writing for the day?
Re-read what I wrote the previous day. I give it a once-over edit and then hunker down. If I could actually write every day I might not but, because I can usually only write once or twice a week, I need to re-read to remind myself of exactly what was going on, to anchor myself in events, emotional context, etc.
4. Who’s the first writer who truly inspired you to become a writer?
Mercedes Lackey is the first one I can recall doing it. I was writing before that, but for a while there I joined a fanclub called Queen’s Own, and discovered fanfic. This was before the internet was widespread; stories got distributed via newsletter.
Old school, my friend.
5. Did the final revision of your first book have the same first chapter it started with?
It’s the same chapter, but it’s significantly shorter than it was. I amputated somewhere between 500 and 1000 words off the front.
6. For your first book, which came first: major characters, plot or setting?
It was a combination of characters and plot. I had the idea for Isla, and for her, uh, “condition”—and I knew roughly what that meant for her.
Interestingly, her name wasn’t Isla to start with. But I had to rename her after an ex started dating a girl with the name that I’d chosen. Awkward.
7. What’s the first word you want to roll off the tip of someone’s tongue when they think of your writing?
“Easy to read” is three words, gorramit! How about “accessible”? I’ve got very little patience for writing that is dense, rambling and self-indulgent, so those are things I try and avoid in my own writing.
Click here to check out the other “getting to know you” blog posts.
I signed with Turquoise Morning Press. Again!
Posted: July 3, 2013 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: Isla's Inheritance, Isla's Oath, small presses, Turquoise Morning Press, writing 17 CommentsLoyal readers of my blog (ha!) will know that I always intended Isla’s Inheritance be the first book in a trilogy. There’s a three book arc, a meta-plot … and how cool is the phrase “meta-plot” anyway? I feel like I need to say it in this big, booming voice: “I have this plot, and it is meta.”
I’ve drafted the sequel to Isla’s Inheritance; it is in the beta-reading stages. Until last week I was calling the manuscript Book Two, because I am the queen of naming things and all shall bow before me. But when my amazing editor over at Turquoise Morning Press, Shelby, asked me for a synopsis for Book Two, I had to come up with a proper name. And a synopsis. Aaah! I wrote the latter, and then ran it past my Aussie Owned girls. Sharon suggested Isla’s Oath. For she is the true queen of naming things, and all shall bow before her.
Bow! *shakes fist*
Seriously, I’m pretty stoked with that. Isla’s Oath. It rolls off the tongue. (If you’re wondering, Isla is pronounced eye-la.)
I sent the synopsis to Shelby and then—be still my heart—she asked for a one-page pitch for the third book as well.
Now, book three is currently just a series of thought bubbles in my head. I have been working on a different project these last six months, because at the start of the year I’d had no joy in placing Isla’s Inheritance and, since I write so slowly, I didn’t want to spend almost a year working on the third book in a series that might never go anywhere.
Also, the plot bunnies were biting on this new idea. And you can never tell those plot bunnies anything.
But I wrote the pitch (with a working title that I’ll keep to myself for now). And THEY SAID YES!
That’s right, I now have a three-book deal with Turquoise Morning Press. I just, I can’t even … there are no words. (That’s not a problem for a writer, is it?)
The current plan is to release Isla’s Inheritance around the middle of next year, and then the subsequent two in gaps of up to six months after that. As that firms up I’ll let you guys know.
Thanks to everyone who’s supported me in this, especially my boyfriend, the evil genius, Peter; Chynna-Blue; and all of the Aussie Owned ladies. Also, to all of my friends on Twitter and Facebook, and everyone I’ve ever met. Also to people I haven’t met yet. Glomps to you all!
Routine as an aid to writing
Posted: June 28, 2013 Filed under: On writing | Tags: Isla's Inheritance, music, Thursdays Children, writing 10 Comments
(This is a Thursday’s Children post, but I’m posting it Friday morning. Hey, it’s still Thursday somewhere in the world!)
The stereotype of a writer at work is often that of a person with a laptop in a coffee shop, observing the clientele and sipping their latte as they tap away at the keyboard. I am not that writer. I am getting better at tuning out background noise—I have a preschooler, after all—but I’m only really able to write under those circumstances when I’m really in the zone. On a normal day it’s a struggle, and I usually only write once my son is in bed and the TV is off.
Until recently, I also had a housemate. His computer was in the same space as mine and he was mad keen on World of Warcraft—so while I prefer to write without music I used to fire up whatever was on the hard drive and put headphones on, to block out the sound of orcs being slain or whatever he was doing at the time. I didn’t usually need to have the music up loud, but just had it on as white noise.
The thing is that for a while there was only one album on my hard drive. I don’t like to use the CD player in the computer because it’s old and sounded like a jet engine preparing for takeoff (even through the headphones). I could have copied some other music onto the hard drive to have it available, but I never got around to it and, after a while, playing that particular album was habit-forming.
And that is why I can’t hear the violin at the start of the orchestral version of I’m in a Cage by Tim Minchin (from Tim Minchin and the Heritage Orchestra) without my brain shifting gears into writing mode. I wrote my first two books—Isla’s Inheritance and its sequel—to this music. I’m hesitant to describe the album as the actual soundtrack to those books, because the music isn’t actually related to the story (I didn’t write a comedy, for a start)—but the album was the soundtrack to my writing.
My current work-in-progress is mostly being written to the blissful sounds of a quiet house. I did experiment with some other CDs (played in the CD player—I’m so old-fashioned), but none of them grabbed me. It seems I can only write to silence or Tim Minchin.
Hey, whatever works, right?
Do you have particular music you play to get yourself in the mood to write, or other routines that you always follow? Do you struggle without them?
Click here to see this week’s other Thursday’s Children blog posts.
Four reasons I chose not to self-publish
Posted: May 28, 2013 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy, On writing | Tags: Isla's Inheritance, self-publishing, small presses 15 CommentsA week ago I got asked the inevitable question. I imagine all debut authors get asked it these days: why not self-publish? Why subject yourself to the delays of traditional (even small press) publication? After all, my book isn’t scheduled for release for more than a year. Why wait, when I could have it out tomorrow if I wanted to, and start raking in all that cashey money?
So here are my reasons.
Please understand this is in no way meant to deride those who choose the self-publication path. If I had been as unsuccessful with the small presses as I’d been with the agents (I’m still too embarrassed to tell you guys how many rejections or ‘no response’s I got), I would have self-published Isla’s Inheritance. There are two reasons. I have faith in the story … and I wrote a sequel, which I also have faith in. No way was I going to let my first two books sit in a drawer!
But here are the reasons I didn’t decide to go directly there (do not pass Go, do not collect $200).
#1. To have someone else edit my work
I’m a professional editor. And I’ve edited the bejeezus out of Isla, in particular, because it’s my first book. I think I’m up to version eight, and that’s before Turquoise Morning Press have started on it. I’ll easily crack double digits on the number of versions before it finally hits the shelves. BUT! I’m not an editor of fiction, and I’m so close to these words right now I wouldn’t spot a hilarious typo or a misplaced modifier if it hit me in the face in a 16 point font.
I could have paid someone, or begged a colleague to do a proofread (although they aren’t editors of fiction either). By going with a small press I didn’t have to.
#2. To have someone else do all the other things you need to do yourself if you self-publish
I have a pretty awesome fake cover for my book, thanks to my friends. (Well, I think so.) But even if we assume TMP’s cover won’t be better—which it probably will be because I’m not a graphic designer—there’s still typesetting, publication, and promo work that needs doing.
I’m under no delusions. The bulk of promotion is going to be up to me, whether I’d self-published or traditionally published. Even the big publishing houses don’t do much for their authors these days. But every little bit of help helps; know what I’m saying?
I could have learned to do these things. If I’d had to, I would have. But I’d rather be writing.
#3. Amazon lives in the dark ages if you’re an international author
Amazon pays authors who use its publishing services (including its print-on-demand hard copy service) by direct deposit … unless you live in a country where they don’t have Amazon. So, for example, say I lived in Australia (oh wait, I do!) and wanted to self-publish using Amazon. They will pay me via international cheque (or ‘check’, for the Americans), in US dollars. If I’m not making much in royalties, the bank fees to convert the cheque and cash it could actually absorb the royalties! Sure, Amazon may pay royalties of up to 70% of eBook prices, but I wouldn’t see 70%.
By going with a small press, I have someone who will take the payments from Amazon (in instances where they are the vendor of my book) and turn them into something my bank won’t eat like the Cookie Monster.
My bank fees: an artist’s impression.
(Cookie Monster belongs to Sesame Street; I’m not trying to steal their copyright. Their cookies, maybe…)
#4. To pass through the gate
Agents and publishers are the traditional gatekeepers of fiction, which is a good thing and a bad thing.
A great thing about self-publishing is that there’s a way for people who’ve written something too challenging for a regular press to get their work out there. Unfortunately there is now also a way for people who are too impatient to bother even proofreading after the first draft to get their work out there too. And it’s difficult for your average shopper to be able to tell the difference (although avoiding dodgy covers and taking advantage of the “Look Inside” feature are great ways to start).
Having a press logo on your front cover or an imprint as part of your blurb tells the reader that someone other than the author has taken the time to make the book presentable. I wanted that—because readers have a lot of demands on their time and for their money, and anything I can do to help people decide they should give my work a go is a thing I personally feel is worth doing. Your mileage may vary, of course.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. I’m interested to hear what you think—have you chosen one path or the other? Why?
My book deal: it’s starting to feel real…
Posted: May 18, 2013 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: Isla's Inheritance, small presses 2 CommentsHave you entered my double Amazon giveaway yet, which I’m running to celebrate my good news? The details are here.
It’s been a week since my contract for the release of ISLA’S INHERITANCE was signed, and it’s starting to actually sink in that next year I’ll be able to hold my book in my hands. And fondle its pages. You know, if I wanted to.
If you’re wondering what happens immediately after you sign with a small press—other than the dance of joy, which I covered previously—the answer is that you fill in some forms. There’s financial information and contact details to provide (easy enough), an author bio to write (a little harder) and a form to fill in for your cover design preferences (hard!). The last one includes a box where I need to write a blurb (OMG, even harder!).
I still haven’t finished that last one. Writing the blurb is just as hard as writing that original query letter was. How do you summarise something you’ve agonised over for years in two paragraphs?
I was also sent the Turquoise Morning Press style sheet, and I’ve converted my manuscript to their style. That wasn’t too traumatic because the style isn’t that dissimilar to what I was using, but I did discover I use an alarming! number! of exclamation points!!
And I’ve signed up to their mailing list and received a very warm welcome. It made me go all dizzy with excitement, but I’m trying to play it cool rather than overwhelming them with slobber and glee.
But I do have some exciting news for you, which is actually the point of this post. I have a rough timeframe for when ISLA’S INHERITANCE will be coming out: the northern hemisphere fall of 2014. (Or autumn, as we’d call it here. Except here, of course, it will be spring. Confused yet?)
Giveaway to celebrate my good news
Posted: May 13, 2013 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: contests, Isla's Inheritance 22 CommentsA week or so ago I passed 1000 followers on Twitter. (I know, I’m as baffled as anyone!) And to celebrate I’d promised to give away an Amazon voucher here on my blog. But by then I was in the middle of contract negotiations with Turquoise Morning Press for my new book deal for ISLA’S INHERITANCE, and I figured, why not have a double giveaway to celebrate both things at once?
I truly do feel exceptionally fortunate this past week.
So I’m giving away two Amazon gift vouchers. To enter, click HERE!
The draw ends at 12am on 26 May. You can get entries by following me on Twitter, Facebook or here at my blog, or by commenting here or tweeting about the competition. Note that last one, the tweeting, can be done every day for an extra entry.
Numfar, do the Dance of Joy!
EDIT: Thanks to everyone that entered, and congratulations to my two winners, Anabel and Lexi! 😀
How I signed with Turquoise Morning Press (aka ‘they’re pitching woo!’)
Posted: May 12, 2013 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: Isla's Inheritance, small presses, Turquoise Morning Press 12 CommentsFor those of you that haven’t heard my exciting news, I’ve signed with Turquoise Morning Press for the release of my debut novel, ISLA’S INHERITANCE. To say I’m thrilled is the understatement of the century—and I say this knowing the century’s barely gotten started. ALL OF THE SQUEES WILL BE MINE!
So here’s my story.
If you’ve been reading my blog over the past month you’ll know I’d pretty much given up on an agent showering me with love and chocolate. I’d stopped sending out new queries and, as at a fortnight ago, only two agents were yet to reply to outstanding queries. One of the two had my full manuscript, so there was a shred of hope remaining, and I was holding off really hitting the small press market till I heard back from her.
Except one particular small press had a Twitter pitch party back in March. I figured what the hell and entered. They requested my first three chapters and then, a few days later, the full manuscript. And then I waited. And waited.
Waiting, gentle reader, drives me NUTTY BANANAS!
About six weeks later, I lost my nerve and sent my query out to two more small presses. One of them requested the full MS at the query stage (this was TMP), the other just the first pages. Three days after that, I heard back from the original small press. It was an offer of publication. OMGOMGOMG!
Trying to be polite, I emailed the agent with my full and asked her to get back to me within a week. (She replied saying she would.) And I emailed the two other small presses, withdrawing my book from consideration. I mean, they’d had it three days—there was no way they’d have made it off the slush pile, right?
Wrong.
I got an email from the YA editor at TMP almost immediately, asking if I’d signed anything yet. I told her I hadn’t, and that I was waiting a week. She then offered me a contract.
Image belongs to Disney’s “Chicken Little” (a highly underrated kids movie, btw)
There was squealing and jumping up and down. I couldn’t believe, after all of the “NO” I’d been getting from agents, I’d finally got not one but two lots of “YES”. AT ONCE! That’s more yes than I’d ever had! Willow describes it best.
Willow: “They’re wooing me. They’re pitching woo.”
Buffy: “The wooing stage is always fun.”
Willow: “Rejection I can handle ‘cause of the years of training, but this…”
At the end of the week I heard back from the agent, as she’d promised. She said that she liked what she’d read so far (yay!) but that she hadn’t had time to finish reading the MS, and she didn’t want me to sit around and wait for her when there was an offer on the table, so she was going to pass. I respect that.
So, trying to decide between these two small presses was one of the harder decisions I’ve ever made in my life, let me tell you. They were both offering excellent—but slightly different—contracts, and they both have great teams. It came down to weighing up the two contracts and deciding what I wanted more. I’ll try and put a blog post together later about the factors I considered, in case it will be helpful to anyone else.
In the end, I obviously chose Turquoise Morning Press. But I would have been happy with either press, and I feel very blessed that while my agent query journey was long and unfruitful, my press query journey was mercifully short, and put me out of my misery!
There are some people I need to thank, because this is after all the Oscars my blog. To my alpha reader, Peter, for all his support and for making fun of me when I freak out; to my beta readers, Mikey, Ali and Blue, for their invaluable feedback; to my Aussie Owned ladies, especially Stacey and Katie, for holding my hand this last fortnight and patting it gently so I didn’t faint; to Kim and Krystal for humouring me when I designed my fake cover; to Cass for making me think I could actually do it; to all my tweeps on Twitter and Facebook for the moral support: THANK YOU! Thank you a thousand times over! Mwah!
The genre dilemma: urban-paranormal-fantasy? Para-urban-tasy?
Posted: April 30, 2013 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy, On writing | Tags: genre, Isla's Inheritance, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, writing 2 CommentsI commented a little while ago that ISLA’S INHERITANCE, my first novel, is either urban fantasy or paranormal fiction, depending how you look at it. I usually call it urban fantasy. On the off chance a clearer answer is actually out there, I decided to go to that font of everything: Wikipedia.
Wiki defines urban fantasy as follows:
“Urban fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy defined by place; the fantastic narrative has an urban setting. Many urban fantasies are set in contemporary times and contain supernatural elements. However, the stories can take place in historical, modern, or futuristic periods, as well as fictional settings. The prerequisite is that they must be primarily set in a city.”
First sentence: check. Second and third sentences: check. Fourth sentence: … uh. Sort of.
It is set in a city. But the city is Canberra, which isn’t known as the bush capital for nothing. It’s a sprawling place with a population of several hundred thousand, and a lot of parks, reserves and other pockets of nature within it. For a story about modern-day faeries with an iron allergy, it’s pretty much the perfect setting.
But is it an urban city, in the sense people mean? No, not really. We don’t have a subway (or rail!) or lots of high rise buildings. New York it ain’t. Sydney it ain’t. Also, most of my scenes are set in the suburbs. I asked an agent on Twitter if that was okay, and got a resounding no. They quipped that it would have to be suburban fantasy.
Uh oh.
Okay, let’s look at paranormal then.
Uh oh again.
It seems that paranormal is only actually defined as a subcategory of romance, called (funnily enough) paranormal romance.
“Paranormal romance is a sub-genre of the romance novel. A type of speculative fiction, paranormal romance focuses on romance and includes elements beyond the range of scientific explanation, blending together themes from the genres of traditional fantasy, science fiction or horror. Common hallmarks are romantic relationships between humans and vampires, shapeshifters, ghosts, and other entities of a fantastic or otherworldly nature.”
My book has a romantic element, but that element isn’t the focus of the story. And it’s something that develops over a longer arc than is typical in your paranormal romance novels, where usually the characters lust after each other from pretty early on.
Of the two genres, I think my decision to call Isla’s Inheritance urban fantasy is right, because it has more of the hallmarks of that genre. For example, this one: “While several adult stories focus on professional heroes, many teen urban fantasy novels follow inexperienced protagonists who are unexpectedly drawn into paranormal struggles. Amidst these conflicts, characters often gain allies, find romance, and, in some cases, develop or discover supernatural abilities of their own.”
Have you struggled to categorise your work? How did you resolve it?
Inspired by cover art
Posted: April 25, 2013 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy, On writing | Tags: book covers, Isla's Inheritance, self-publishing, Thursdays Children 14 Comments
As I’ve previously established, I love looking at gorgeous cover art. And as I’ve also recently established, I’m coming to the end of my agent query ride on ISLA’S INHERITANCE. But that doesn’t mean the end of the ride for the manuscript, just that it’s time to consider my options for unagented publication.
So. I like to think ahead. I like to look at cover art produced by different small presses, and at indie books’ cover art, and imagine what sort of art I might have on Isla’s Inheritance. And I have a couple of very talented friends, who’ve helped me put together a draft cover.
My very talented friend, Krystal, is a photographer, and although she usually does outdoor shots with children she was happy to do a photoshoot with a gorgeous model, and send me the images. My other very talented friend, Kim, is an indie author who designs covers, so when I sent her a manipulated version of the cover (complete with cheesy font and plain background) she very politely told me what I was doing wrong and helped me come up with something a thousand times better.
Unfortunately it’s too early for me to share the cover with you, even though I’m bursting with enthusiasm about it and want to show everyone. Partly because there’s no guarantee if I publish with any publishing house that I’ll be able to use it as my cover, although in that case I’ll turn it into art for the blog. And partly because cover reveals are actually a big deal in the promotional cycle of a book (as you may have noticed from the recent cover reveals I’ve been posting), which requires me to have an impending release to promote.
But I’ve saved it as my desktop wallpaper. And sometimes I sit and look at it, and it gives me ALL THE FEELS! So even if no one ever sees it but Krystal, Kim, me and my boyfriend (when he uses my computer), it was worth the time I spent on it.
This isn’t the cover, but it is the title with the image removed. ALL THE FEELS.
Click here to see this week’s other Thursday’s Children blog posts.
Musings from the query rollercoaster
Posted: April 17, 2013 Filed under: On the Isla's Inheritance trilogy | Tags: agents, Isla's Inheritance, queries 14 CommentsAs my regular reader knows, I’ve been querying my first manuscript, ISLA’S INHERITANCE, for about six-to-nine months. I’ve blogged about my generic strategy for querying before.
You’ll notice the first of the items in my strategy is from the Miss Snark playbook: exclusives stink. I noted that one of the benefits of having a lot of queries out at once is that a single rejection seems smaller. Think about it: if you’ve got ten queries out there and one agent says no, then the ratio of “no” to “possible yes” is 1:9 in your favour. Those are pretty good odds.
I don’t blog about the actual details of querying—who has my query, who said no, who has a partial or a full—because there are some things a writer just shouldn’t share with the (largely indifferent) masses. How many agents or publishers have already said no is one of those things; do I really want to advertise to a potential agent that a number of other agents passed? Especially if it’s a big number?
(As an aside, thoughts on individual rejections—especially if they tend toward vitriol—are another, and top of the list of things not to blog about. Not that I have any vitriol to vent, mind you; the rejections I’ve received have generally been very polite form letters. Sometimes I’ve gotten nice individual feedback, including from an intern who said she was sure I was getting lots of offers. Bless her and her wishful thinking; do you think I should send chocolate?)
However, I think I can say without oversharing that I’ve had a little bit of trouble finding a home for Isla and her friends. I like to imagine it’s not because of the writing—although I may be deluded on that score; every parent thinks their child is the most beautiful and talented, right? I had some problems getting the pacing at the start of the book right, but my beta readers have helped me with that and I think I’ve more-or-less nailed it now. (Again, I may be deluded.)
No, I’m pretty sure my biggest problem is that my book falls somewhere between urban fantasy and paranormal fiction, depending how you look at it. And it seems the big publishing houses aren’t that wild about urban fantasy or paranormal fiction right now. So agents aren’t that wild about it either, because if they can’t sell it to a decent-sized publishing house, what’s the point for them? I’m not judging, mind you; it’s just a financial reality.
I haven’t quite given up hope on getting an agent. I still have faith in Isla’s story, across the first book and the sequel both. But I’ve stopped sending out new agent queries. The last batch that are out there is my last.
Writers’ nervous habits: a case study
This decision means my number of queries in the field has dropped below the magical ten that were keeping me sane. My ratio doesn’t look as cheery anymore. Suddenly I’ve developed a number of nervous habits, mostly around checking my email inbox and spam folder every twenty minutes. I can’t bear not hearing anything. I can’t bear it! Obviously I want to receive a “yes, I love it; here is a purse of monies”, but at this point I’d be satisfied with a “not for us, thanks”, just so I know!
Any tips for me, so I don’t pull all my hair out before my next birthday? (Which is tomorrow, by the way, so yes, it’s serious!)
Cassandra Page 