Who Needs Neverland?

The Sphinx Project Blog Tour

2012-02-20T08:51:00.000-08:00

With the release date fast approaching, here is the current schedule for The Sphinx Project blog tour:

22/02/12 - Book Whales (Review, Interview and Giveaway)
23/02/12 - Book Briefs (Dream Movie Cast) Rue View (Interview)
24/02/12 - Ragged Left (Interview)
25/02/12 - Joseph Writes (Interview)
26/02/12 - Pen, Paper, Priorities (Review)
27/02/12 - Wicked Lil Pixie (Review and Impossible Covers)
28/02/12 - Book Lovers Paradise (Review and Why I Write)
29/02/12 - Books Ahoy (My Writing Process)
01/03/12 - Ragged Left (Review)
02/03/12 - Chrystalla Toma's Blog (Interview)
03/03/12 - Clu's Review (Review)
04/03/12 - Jagged Edge Reviews (Review and guest blog)
05/03/12 - Luteless Efforts (Interview) Brea Essex's Blog (Either/Or with Michaela)
06/03/12 - Bibliophilic Book Blog - (Review and The Sounds Of The Sphinx Project)
07/03/12 - Katie Reads (Interview and Review) Books Are Vital (Time management)
08/03/12 - Book Pixie (Interview and Giveaway)
09/03/12 - Jagged Edge Reviews (Review)
10/03/12 - Book Sp(l)ot (Building the World of The Sphinx Project)
11/03/12 - Shadowkissed.Net (Review)
12/03/12 - Katie Babbles (Review and Top 5 Badass Heroines) Danyelle Leafty's blog (Guest blog)
13/03/12 - Thoughts and Roses (Review and Interview)
14/03/12 - Bookchilla (Review and Interview)
15/03/12 - Paperback Dolls (Review)

Don't forget about my ARC giveaway, for your chance to be one of the first to read The Sphinx Project!

ARC Giveaway

2012-02-17T15:40:00.000-08:00

Wow... I can't believe how long it's been since I wrote a proper blog!

Everything has been insane. In less that two week I'll be releasing The Sphinx Project into the big ol' world to fend for itself. It's with the proofreader now, and the reviewers have been sent their copies already. Apart from fixing up any mistakes I can't do anything else to it. That terrifies me!

On February 22nd the official blog tour will begin. Stops including interviews, giveaways, guest posts and reviews. I'll be posting the schedule in the next day or two. If you have a blog and are interested in reviewing The Sphinx Project please let me know.

As promised, I am giving one person the chance to win an unproofed advance copy of The Sphinx Project. There are plenty of chances to get your name in the draw, and the more times you enter the more likely you are to win. Check out the form below, all the links you need are below. Please remember, as it is unproofed there may be certain mistakes that will be fixed up before the actual release.

Good luck!

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Promising Light Blog Tour : If I Were A Shape Changer

2012-02-04T14:00:00.000-08:00

Today I'd like to welcome Emily Ward to the blog, as part of her online release tour for her new book Promising Light.

~ * ~

Hey, guys! I’m so pleased to be here for the day. This post is a part of the blog tour for my fantasy novel, Promising Light. Much of the conflict in this book revolves around a family of shape changers.

If I could change shape, here are some of the things I’d do:
- Change into someone who worked on the Parks and Recreation set. Someone who didn’t do a lot of work so I could just watch them film an episode. I’d probably do this for all of the NBC Comedy shows.
- Walk around as famous people and pretend not to be said celebrity when people recognize me.
- Be a cat for a day and explore the neighborhood. I’d also play with my cats.
- Change into a man for a day, just to see what it was like!
- Fly over the country as a bird.
- Swim in the sea as a whale. Or a shark so I didn’t have any enemies.
- Become a paperback of Promising Light while someone read me so I could see that person’s reactions to everything I throw at my characters.

What would you do if you could change forms? You can be humans, animals, even inanimate objects! Some forms take more energy than others, and you can’t stay in other forms for very long before losing connections in your brain. If you stayed as a horse for a month, you might forget how to change back and be stuck as a horse for the rest of your life! But as long as you’re careful, it’s a pretty wicked ability to have.

You can read more about the shape changers in Promising Light and on various stops during the blog tour! Enter the ebook giveaway here or the paperback one on Ritesh’s blog.

And don’t forget about the gift card giveaway: the more posts on the tour you visit and comment on, the more entries you have to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (your choice!) gift card! So tell us what you’d do if you could change forms to get once more chance to win.

~ * ~
To find out more about Promising Light, and see where Emily is heading next on her tour, visit her blog now.

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It's Got To Start Somewhere

2012-02-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

I think it's about time that you became slightly more familiar with The Sphinx Project. Seeing as I can now excitedly squeal "My book is out this month" I though, why not let you have a proper sneak peek. So here it is, the official prologue for The Sphinx Project, book one of The Chimaera Chronicles.

Before you begin, it would be best to note that this is the unedited copy. There may be changes by the time you read the actual book.

The Sphinx Project

Prologue

Thefaint buzzing against my neck kept me focused, even asthe warm dirt and cloying humidity threatened to send me to sleep.One wrong move and an electrical pulse would shoot into the explosiveburied deep within the base of my skull. Having my head blown offisn’t the nicest way I could think of to die, but it was one of thefastest.

Itook a deep breath, trying to clear the cobwebs from my brain. Thelittle critters in this dense part of the jungle had long sincestopped avoiding us. They scuttled over the girls and I as thoughthey’d forgotten we weren’t actually a natural part of theirenvironment. It wasn’t surprising, really. We hadn’t moved inmore than seven hours.

Ishifted my shoulder slightly to ease the tension in my muscles.Blinking, I refocused my eyes, zeroing in on the base—nothing hadchanged. The only things that moved within the gated compound werethe security cameras, rotating from side to side on their tall posts.Submerged lamps glowed dimly in the darkness. They lined the narrowentrance road beneath the protective canopy of camouflage nets andoverhanging trees.

Thedull green camo sheet covering Mouse stirred slightly as she beganpreparing. A faint glow emanated from below its edges as sheactivated her tablet—no regular human eyes could have detected thedifference in light; anyone watching would see nothing but shadows.

Ireturned my eyes to the compound expectantly. As expected, the tinyred L.E.D lights on each of the cameras began blinking rapidly. Whenthe blinking stopped, the lights extinguished themselves, switchingon again three seconds later.

“They’reours,” Mouse whispered. Her low voice echoed—I was close enoughto hear the words from her lips, but they came through the radioattached to my ear too. From now on the people in that compound wouldsee only what we wanted them to see.

Alow drone sounded in the distance—exactly on schedule. The noisefrom the vehicles travelled straight down the narrow dirt road to ourleft. It moved closer and closer, channelled toward us by the heavyfoliage on either side.

Asthe convoy came into sight, the huge gate in the chain-link fencethat enclosed the compound began to open of its own accord; thescreeching of rusted metal announced the vehicles' arrival.

TwoJeeps and a pick-up truck loaded with men trundled past us andthrough the gates. The old machines spewed foul fumes into the air,completely overpowering the natural fresh fragrances of the forest.

Thebarriers closed again as the vehicles wound their way between thebuildings half submerged in the packed earth. They entered a long tinstructure and as soon as they were inside, those doors shut too.

“Five,”Mouse said, beginning to count slowly.

“Four.”I rotated my shoulders and arched my back slightly, loosening thekinks from my muscles.

“Three.”My hand shifted to my thigh, reassuring myself that my weapons stillsat precisely where they were supposed to, even though they’d beenthere five minutes ago when I last checked.

“Two.”I pulled the gas mask sitting on top of my head over my face. Therustling from the others told me they were doing the same.

“One!”I threw back the camouflage sheet, bursting from its protection atthe same time as the others. We sprinted silently towards thetowering fence in a perfectly synchronised line.

Severalyards from the fence I leapt, landing close to the barbed wire at thetop. The sound of the electricity whizzing through the wires beneathmy armoured gloves made me nervous—if I were to slip, would that beenough of a shock to set off the explosive?

Ididn’t slip though; there wasn’t much chance of me messingsomething like this up—the agility my feline genes gave me insuredagainst that. I leaned over the top of the wires, bracing my hands onthe other side and flipped to the ground below. I dropped lightly tomy feet, landing in a crouch just inside the compound beside theother girls.

Ilooked at Nicole, who silently signalled for us to separate. Mouseand I raced to our left. Nicole and Briana ran toward the warehousethe vehicles had disappeared into. We moved as fast as we could,hiding in the shadows of the buildings. We circled the compound untilwe reached the back of the long metal structure. The heavy doors wereshut, but Mouse knelt and swiftly picked the old lock.

“Ready,”I whispered into the radio.

“Go.”

Aloud bang echoed around the warehouse as we flung back the largedoors, the other girls did the same at the other end of the building.All four of us pulled canisters from our waists, depressed buttons ontheir tops and flung them into the building’s brightly litinterior.

Thelights dimmed quickly as gas spewed out of the silver containers. Themen within scrambled frantically for their weapons, a few managing toget shots off before they started falling to the ground. They allmissed us.

Inno time at all we were the only ones remaining on our feet. With gunsin hand, we picked our way across the room. I stepped over the mensprawled between the vehicles and I, not bothering to go around.

Itwas easy enough to find who we were looking for. Most of the men wereskinny and dressed in improvised combat gear. However, our targetwore a suit that stretched unflatteringly across his rotund belly. Ididn't know who he was, and I didn't care. There was no point askingquestions; they wouldn't have answered even if we did.

Idragged him from the car, where he had slumped against his seatbelt.Between Nicole and I, we carried him easily from the warehouse.

Thegates swung open the moment we approached, closing behind us as Mousefiddled with her tablet again.

Wedumped the target in the trunk of our vehicle, before climbing inourselves. It had been hidden way back from the road, beneath a thicklayer of foliage. The greenery dislodged as soon as Briana put herfoot on the gas pedal.

“Doyou think we’ll get ice cream for this?” I asked hopefully, as wesped towards the airstrip where our plane was waiting.

~*~

That's it, what do you think? Don't forget, The Sphinx Project will finally be released on February 28th in both electronic and paperback versions!

It's ALL About The Cover, Baby!

2012-01-28T12:21:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month I stumbled across this blog by Jim C. Hines, in which he imitates the poses of female characters on the cover of fantasy novels. Needless to say, I cracked up. So did Natasha, or as she is better know, Wicked Lil Pixie.

Now, I had already spoken to Natasha about stopping by her blog during my virtual release tour for The Sphinx Project. My mistake, though, was to mention the insane idea of doing a 'response' to Jim's blog. She jumped on it straight away, and now I can't back down, or delete those tweets....

The thing is, I need suggestions. I want to know which fantasy covers you think have forced their characters into unrealistic or comedic poses. Now I'm primarily looking for pictures of men here, just to do it properly, but if you have certain female images you find particularly giggle-wrothy let me know about them.

So there you have it... I'd really appreciate it if you could help me out here guys. What covers do you want me to recreate?

Switched Giveaway Results

2012-01-24T16:43:00.000-08:00

Were you the lucky winner? Check out the photo below to find out!

Congratulations Renae! Sorry about the spelling, I didn't notice until it was too late. Please email me on k.c.hawkings@gmail.com with your mailing address and I'll send it out when I'm next in town.

Girl Crush Monday - Patti Smith

2012-01-16T08:49:00.000-08:00

I'm really excited to welcome Carolyn Crane to the blog today to share her Girl Crush! I've been looking forward to finding out who inspires her for some time!

Girl crush: Feelings of admiration and adoration which a girl has for another girl, without wanting to shag said girl. a non-sexual attraction, usually based on veneration at some level.

Urban Dictionary

It was easy to come up with my girl crush: Patti Smith.

Patti Smith is widely known as a singer/songwriter, and one of rock’s most important innovators, but she’s also a poet, an activist, a visual artist, a writer of fiction and non-fiction, and just an amazing person.

Now for the hard part. Because while I absolutely love love love her music, it’s not specifically her music made me pick her as my girl crush. And it’s not her journey to fame or struggles and triumphs that inspire me. In fact, I’m not even much of an expert on her life.

More, it’s something about her spirit, her strength, and her way of being in the world that puts her in girl crush territory for me.

Sometimes when I listen to her music, or when I hear her just talk, I feel like her voice has this raw, truthful power—this mix of artistic bravery and vulnerability.

That artistic bravery and vulnerability is a big part of it for me. And, if you know her music, you know her lyrics are very visceral and creative. And also, she’ll do these stream of consciousness riffs during songs. When I hear that, I have this sense that she is connected to something important deep inside herself and isn’t afraid to go where it takes her. I think that makes her an awesome role model for any writer, any artist, really.

Instead of following a well-worn path, Patti Smith tried new things in music and in life. I have this feeling about her as a woman who trusts her gut and her vision. Not that she’s closed to influence and feedback—I think she’s very open to everything that comes at her—I think most strong artists are. But, she clearly has this bold vision and this fierce will to march to her own drummer, so to speak. I love that about her. She is completely unique and expressive, and doesn’t seem to care what people think. OMG, this is the most incoherent guest post I’ve ever written!

I’m reading over what I wrote and thinking to myself, You don’t even know Patti Smith. You could be projecting all this on her! Idealizing her!

But then I go back to her music and to that raw, truthful, brave, vulnerable quality of voice she has and I know that I’m exactly right about her. And I know from everything she has recorded that she has a huge heart and loves things deeply. Rock on, Patti!!

***

Carolyn Crane lives in Minneapolis with her husband and their two cats. She is the author of the Disillusionists Trilogy (urban fantasy). Website: authorcarolyncrane.com Twitter: @CarolynCrane

Conventions, Resolutions, Deadlines And Other Things

2012-01-09T10:57:00.000-08:00

I don't often write what I would consider personal blog posts, but this may be venturing slightly over the line into that territory. It's a bit of a random selection of updates and rants.

New Year's Resolutions Update
On December 31st I wrote a blog featuring a list of resolutions I'd made for this year. There were four of them in total; write a million words of fiction, read 104 books, publish two of my own, and get back into shape. I'm glad to report that I'm ahead of schedule for the reading challenge, having read three titles (on buses, trains, and relaxing before falling asleep). I've also dived into the get back in shape resolution. Just today I've gone for a run, done a weights session, and walked to the shops (twice). The publishing resolution isn't something I can do much about right now, but unfortunately I haven't done anything towards the one million words of fiction. All my writing time has been filled up with editing. I would like to add something else to the list though. I want to get a life. Before I left New Zealand I was pretty carefree; I'd talk to anyone who'd listen, go out with friends and I didn't care what anyone else thought of me. Since leaving, I seem to have become a bit of a recluse. I don't go out much. In fact, I don't seem to go out unless I have to. I want to meet new people, and do things. I don't really know how I can measure the success of this resolution, but it's something I want to work on.

RT convention (warning, rant ahead)
Now some of you may have heard me mention the Romantic Times Booklover Convention before. It's an amazing convention which I've wanted to go to since I first heard about it more than two years ago. I'd been planning on heading over in 2013, with plenty of time to save, but last month I saw the schedule and almost squealed. Three of my favourite authors are attending this April. I decided I was going to make it and began saving my pennies as hard as I could. After New Years work cut my hours down, along with everyone else's. I was gutted, but figured I'd still try and save. I kept telling myself it was still possible. I tried finding another job, but there's just nothing going at the moment. I contemplated uploading some short stories to Amazon, but by the time I would have recieved any royalties it would be too late for the trip (and that's IF I even managed to sell any). I even considered offering a really cool pre-order package for The Sphinx project with added features and the like, but ultimately I just didn't feel right trying to do that with no proven track record. Unfortunately yesterday I searched for flights to Chicago again, and what two weeks ago had been between ₤350 and ₤450, now sat around ₤600. 'That's it," I thought. "There's no chance for me now. Hell, there was probably no chance before." Well, while eating I cut open my money box out of curiosity. I counted it out and it turns out that even with the lack of hours I was still well on track with my savings. I could have been going to the RT convention, if they hadn't put the damn prices up. As I would say on Twitter: #GrumpyKate.

Editing
It's what I should be doing right now, editing, but I just can't get my head around it. With everything going on here, and with work I've been rushed off my feet for the last few weeks. My sleep has suffered to the point where I've had to get a prescription to make sure I can 'kick into' a regular pattern once I finish my night shifts for the week, but I can't pick it up until tomorrow. I only got 2 hours sleep last night, and I'm starting to crash already. I told my editor that I'd have the manuscript of The Sphinx Project to her by tomorrow, but now I'm panicking. I've still got 30,000 words that are pretty much being completely rewritten, and I really can't push back the submission. If I did it would delay the publication and I refuse to do that to you guys again. I'm contemplating a walk to the shop to clear my head, and a steady supply of caffeine, but according to the pack I need to wait a while before consuming any more. From now on I'm not going to release a concrete release date until the book in question is completely ready for release, it just causes too much stress in the long run.

teasers
If you follow me on Facebook you'll know that I've started releasing more teasers for The Sphinx Project. Each night a challenge is set and if you (collectively) manage to unlock the teaser the new excerpt goes live at midnight of that day. The first one was reached easily, but I've upped the ante. Check the page at 8pm each night for the next unlock challenge, but for now this is the most recent teaser unlocked. Remember, all teasers are unedited and may or may not appear in the finished draft.

His hand lifted to my chin, caressing the soft skin along my jaw. His featherlight touches sent sparks dancing wherever they touched. He nudged my face upwards until I was forced to look him squarely in the eye. His gaze caught mine, holding it with an intensity that stirred something deep within my chest. I couldn't have looked away even if I wanted to. The air rushed from my lungs as his other arm tightened around my waist, pulling me closer into his body. For a moment he didn’t move, the unspoken question lingered in his eyes. Taking my silence as approval he lowered his face, very slowly, towards mine....

Vlogs
I've also announce via Facebook that I am intending on producing vlogs every Thursday. You can find the note and details here [clickity click]. I'm after any suggestions you have as to what you'd like to hear me talk about.

Giveaway
Don't forget, you still have a couple of days to enter the giveaway for Switched. For your chance to win head over to the post now [clickity click].

So that's all I can think of now. I'm going to get back to editing and hope like hell I can get through this in time.

Switched: Review & Giveaway

2012-01-05T11:19:00.000-08:00

I'll admit it: In the beginning I was hesitant to say yes when I was approached to review Switched. I'd heard stories indicated it probably wasn't my cup of tea, and I was worried I wouldn't like it. I'm not in the habit of giving bad reviews. I'm not a book reviewer by trade, so I don't see it as my responsibility to rant about books I dislike. I don't like tearing apart other people's writing, because I know exactly how hard it is to hear things like that myself, even if I do know it's 'part of the job.'.

Now, I had downloaded the ebook edition of Switched some time earlier, while it was still self-published. They pulled it down while they edited and recovered it before the official relaunch. I'd read a few pages, but had intended to wait until the new edition was released before continuing.

As soon as I opened the cover I felt a certain sense of dread. The first line caught me at a rough angle; it may not be grammatically incorrect, but it scraped as I read it. It just annoyed me. I was certain I hadn't had that reaction the first time I'd started the book and, after checking to make sure, I realized it had been changed. It was only one word different, but it made me worry about what I was about to read.

I shouldn't have. Switched was actually a relatively entertaining read. I liked the concept of the trylle and their changelings, it was nice to see a unique idea in a market so saturated by vampires and werewolves (not that I'm complaining about either.) It did take some time to adjust to the idea of them though, the last time I ran into a troll was some television show about King Arthur where Buffy's Giles is seduced by one parading as a queen.

In the beginning Wendy, the main character, sort of annoyed me. I could understand that she'd had a tough life, and therefore I was more forgiving, but to put it simply she was a brat. She grew on me over time, especially as she had trouble adjusting to her new life. That said, I did rather like quite a few of the others such as Rhys, Rhiannon, Willa, Tove and Matt.

About now I'm running into trouble; there are many more things I'd like to mention, but can't because it would just spoil the plot. I can say I would have liked to know more about the Vittra. Although the short story in the back of the book did answer a few questions, it raised a lot more.

Overall it was an enjoyable read. As a cross between Vampire Academy and The Princess Diaries, it is entertaining and fast-paced enough to speed through in an afternoon.

***

Now, how about a chance to win one copy of the U.K. adult paperback? Fill in the form below for your chance to get your hands on it!

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My Most Anticipated Movies Of 2012

2012-01-03T10:37:00.000-08:00

For some time I've been thinking about one particular film, which is due to be released this year. Of course, this got me wondering about what else would be appearing on the big screen over the coming months.

Now I'm by no means an expert when it comes to movies. I know what I like, and I know what I don't (usually) even if I've been told I have pretty awful cinematic taste. But no matter, I'm going to go ahead with this anyway.

I'm sure this list will probably mirror many others that you've seen, but honestly, there's a reason for that. These are the movies that I'm really looking forward to. There are dozens of films set to premier in 2012, most of them look fairly average, and the rest I just can't figure out if I'm excited or not.

The films next year that I've excluded from the list seem to fall into three groups; there are fairytale retellings (although I have included one), films I've never heard of, and new sequels to old movies. I initially attempted to make a top ten list, but decided to stop when I figured that the ones on this list are only the ones I'm really excited about. There is no order to this list, apart from my absolute most anticipated the rest are fairly interchangeable. Want to know what I'm most excited about? It's the last one.

Now in a moment I will dive into it, but first a question: Is it sad that I seriously contemplated adding Beauty and the Beast 3D to this list?

The Amazing Spiderman
To be honest I'm not sure if excited is the right word for this. I'm cautious about expressing my interest in Spiderman after the last series of movies featuring Toby Maguire. The only reason I'm really keeping an eye on it is because of the casting and the early promotional pictures. I adore Emma Stone, and after The Social Network I kinda fell in love with Andrew Garfield. I have to admit the early photos of Andrew in costume show great advancement from the earlier films, and I like seeing him tackling his own stunts.

Haywire
Before tonight I'd never really thought about Haywire. I'd seen it mentioned elsewhere, but never took much notice. What changed? The trailer popped up while I was watching television. There's something about a kick-ass heroine that you just can't beat.

The Avengers
I think Marvel have gone about this incredibly cleverly. I loved Robert Downey Junior as Iron Man. He built a strong foundation for the rest of the franchise and reeled me in hook, line and sinker. Thor helped too; what's not to like about Chris Hemsworth without his shirt? The same goes for Captain America. There are a few more lovely gentlemen who I'm sure are suitably talented in the ~~looks~~ acting department to keep us occupied. Last but certainly not least we have Scarlett Johansson rounding out the team, kicking ass as the Black Widow. Did you see her mop the floor with those guys in Iron Man two? Now that was awesome.

007 Skyfall
I want to be a Bond girl. There, I said it. I've always loved Bond films, and the Bond girls have held a certain fascination for me since the very beginning. Although there always seems to be negative connotations attached to them, there is also one factor that many don't consider: Many of the Bond girls are independent, with their own jobs and careers. Many of them, such as Vesper Lynd, Gala Brand, Tatiana Romanova and Mary Ann Russell worked in intelligence or law enforcement. Others, such as Tiffany Case and Pussy Galore are on the complete other side of the tracks. Either way, they knew their minds and went after what they wanted. On top of that, Daniel Craig is probably my favourite Bond. Even though he's blond he just pulls it off so seamlessly. I've always liked the Bond men, but he's my favourite so far.

The Dark Knight Rises
Now this is going to be stunning. I'm so excited for this movie. I absolutely loved the previous two films because not only does Christian Bale make the perfect Batman, but Christopher Nolan has just cottoned onto the mood and direction of the films so wonderfully. He's created an awe-inspiring visual feast with s much suspense you're afraid to blink in case you miss something. With Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway added to the mix this is going to be one hell of a party.

The Hobbit
I read The Hobbit when I was eleven, and although it took some time (and two attempts) I finished it. I was so proud of that. To be honest though, my reading the book has absolutely nothing to do with my interest in watching the film. I hadn't read The Lord of the Rings when I watched the movies, and it didn't hurt me one bit. The Lord of the Rings films are the most amazing movies I have ever watched. They keep me spellbound from beginning to end, no matter how often I see them... and by them, I mean the extended editions. As a Kiwi there's also a sense of pride. Peter Jackson is one of our own, and he has built so much, and included New Zealand for much of the journey. In every scene you see New Zealand landscapes and Kiwi extras. And so much of the design and special effects work was done by New Zealanders too. Since leaving home they've grown in meaning to me, reminding me of what I'm missing.

Snow White And the Huntsman
When I first heard about a Snow White movie I was a little disgusted, to be completely honest. Even more so when I learned that there would be two takes on the same fairytale filmed by different studios. The idea just made me shudder. It definitely didn't help when they announced that Kristen Stewart would be taking the title role either. That all changed when I saw the first picture. That profile shot of Kristen holding the shield set the scene, and the trailer released soon after piked my interest even more. Now I can't wait to see the kick-ass version of Snow White. Please don't let them ruin this!

The Hunger Games
This is the one movie that I would choose over all others to see next year. If I was only allowed to see one, this would be it. I fell in love with the book from the very first page. That book made me feel emotions unlike any other I've read... I don't think I've ever cried that much. I was so excited when they cast Jennifer, even more when they released the pictures, and more so when I finally got to see the trailer. I have to say, I just can't express in words how excited I am. If you were next to me you'd hear a strange "squeeing" noise as I try not to squeal in excitement.

And there you have it, my most anticipated movies of 2012. Keep an eye on the blog, because in the next week or so I'll be posting about one of those trends I mentioned earlier. I have to say, the topic really baffles me.

Girl Crush Monday - Jackie Morse Kessler

2012-01-02T14:57:00.000-08:00

Girl crush: Feelings of admiration and adoration which a girl has for another girl, without wanting to shag said girl. a non-sexual attraction, usually based on veneration at some level.

Urban Dictionary

Photo by Michelle Rowen

This blog has been a long time coming. If my Goodreads is correct, nine months and thirty days to be exact. On February third last year I read Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler. I read it in one sitting and it is one of the most touching books I've ever read. Now I've read and thoroughly enjoyed many, many young adult books over the years. A fair number of them have messages, or tackle some of the harder issues in life, but this is one of the ones that has done it the best.

Hunger is about an anorexic young woman called Lisabeth Lewis. After a failed suicide attempt, Death appoints her as Famine. She has a horse, and a set of scales, but how does an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? I'm not going to tell you that, you'll have to read and find out for yourself.

Anyway... Like I said, this book was amazing. It was well written and brought up emotions that I hadn't felt in some time. The thing is, Hunger is only the first in a series of four titles, each dealing with a difficult issues.

Earlier this year the Wall Street Journal published an article by Meghan Cox Gurdon slamming some of the 'darker' issues explored in young adult fiction. She singled out several titles, but in particular paid a lot of attention to Rage, the second title in Jackie's series.

Books focusing on pathologies help normalize them and, in the case of self-harm, may even spread their plausibility and likelihood to young people who might otherwise never have imagined such extreme measures. Self-destructive adolescent behaviors are observably infectious and have periods of vogue. That is not to discount the real suffering that some young people endure; it is an argument for taking care.

Now I admit, I haven't yet read Rage (it's on my to-read list) but based on my experience with Hunger and other similar books I was furious. I firmly believe that these books have a place in society. Indeed, I feel that they are a necessary education tool. I am a believer of education as the best prevention, and hold a great hatred of censorship in reading (that blog, my lovelies, is still to come.)

Neil Gaiman with a copy of Hunger

Jackie was classy thoughout, posting a well researched blog in response. To be honest, just reading that again makes my blood boil. You can also find other great blogs on the subject by Heather Brewer and Maureen Johnson.

I strongly encourage you to head out and purchase Jackie's books. Not only are they fabulous, but a portion of the sales goes towards charities offering help to those who need it, such as the National Eating Disorder Association.

I'll be mentioning books like Jackie's in a blog later this month addressing censorship in reading. It's an issue I feel quite strongly about and it's highly likely I'll be including quotes from my mommy.

Next Year I'm Going To....

2011-12-31T11:23:00.000-08:00

Here it is... the obligatory New Year's resolution post. What are the odd I'll actually work through my resolutions? Probably slim to none, but I'm still going to make them.

Write one million words of fiction. Now this is a pretty extreme resolution... just missing a few days could make this near-impossible, but I'm going to try. I've found that as I turn my eye to editing and promotion for The Sphinx Project, that I've been forgetting about writing... or rather, not finding the time. This will be a good way to make sure that no matter what I'm doing, I'm finding the time to pump out new words so that when one book is released there isn't a huge wait for the next. It works out at just over 2,700 words a day, so it's doable, but still very difficult. It's going to take a lot of willpower to push through with this. If you want to follow my progress there is a counter widget in the tool bar on the right.
This is an oldy but a goody: I want to get back into shape. I trained in exercise science and nutrition at university, for goodness sake. I shouldn't be this weak. With my Christmas Amazon voucher I got myself a set of dumbbells which I'm going to be putting to good use. I want to get my ice hockey/dancing/gym-going body back again. I miss my muscles.
As much as I would love to publish dozens of books next year, I'm going to give myself a more realistic goal... I want to be producing quality stories which I can't do if I'm not spending enough time revising and editing. My publishing resolution is to release at least two quality titles; The Sphinx Project and one other. If I can do more that would be cool, but I'll aim for two.
Read at least 104 books. As with any other career, you need to stay up to date with current trends and research. As a writer, that means reading what other authors are producing. As an offshoot of this, I'm going to try and read at least 12 début titles, and 12 self-published titles. Once again, you can follow my progress on the right.

There you have it... my New Year's resolutions. What are yours?

The Big Picture

2011-12-27T17:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I showed you the brand new cover for The Sphinx project. Today, I thought I would it would be cool for you to see the original artwork, before the typesetting. This work was created by the lovely Isabell, better known at The Deadly Wanderer. You can find this and the rest of her work in her DeviantArt gallery. You can also order a print of the image. If you're looking for cover art make sure to check out her incredibly reasonable offers.

Trinket Spotlight - Homer's Odyssey

2011-12-27T05:16:00.000-08:00

Last week, while looking for literary trinkets, I fell upon a site with an abundance of interesting designs. Cuffs, necklaces and earring adorned with literary quotes and phrases. This week, I'm going to spotlight just one of their creations... It was so difficult to choose, I was pulled one way by Jane Eyre, and then the other way by Alice in Wonderland. In the end I settled on Homer's Odyssey.

What do you think? Kind of nifty isn't it?

The cuff is available from the Jezebel Charms website for £26.50. Shipping is free within the UK or £2 everywhere else.

A Christmas Reveal

2011-12-25T16:19:00.000-08:00

As promised, yesterday was a big day. After months of waiting I finally got to show off the brand new cover for The Sphinx Project!

The cover art was created by the lovely Isabell, better known at The Deadly Wanderer. You can find the rest of her work in her DeviantArt gallery. If you're looking for cover art make sure to check out her incredibly reasonable artworks.

It was originally released by Shelli on her blog, but now it's here too! So, what do you think?

The Sphinx Project ill be available from February 28th. Are you excited about it?

The Self-Publishing Journey - The Idea

2011-12-23T05:53:00.000-08:00

As promised, this is the first in a series of blogs that will be outlining the evolution of a book from conception to publication.

When I began writing The Chimaera Chronicles, it was completely different to the story you will be reading come February twenty-eighth. Originally it was set a year or so after the current story, but the pacing was slowed because of the amount of history I was trying to squeeze in. After serious consideration, I decided that a lot of it was necessary to the story, although not necessarily that particular book. It baffled me for some time, until I decided to write the 'prequel'. At first I wasn't sure whether I should just finish the story I was working on, release that, and then go back and tell the earlier story à la Star Wars, but I thought that if it were me reading, I'd like to discover the story in chronological order.

As I came to the end of The Sphinx Project, I encountered a problem I hadn't initially foreseen. I had two stories, but I couldn't figure out how to join them together. I had a very definite idea of where I wanted one to end and the other to begin... The problem was that one wasn't directly after the other. There's a period of about eight to twelve months between the events in question.

I couldn't just skip it this time, because there were some very important events that needed to occur. I thought and thought and thought, but I just couldn't figure out how I could turn those events into a full-length novel. I could have added a lot of padding, but I didn't want to make things drag and I didn't want to bore my readers.

The idea for the second book in The Chimaera Chronicles initially came to me from my editor. There were, she thought, too many characters around the action, which made it difficult to differentiate between them, making them all sound quite similar. I decided to delete one of them from the manuscript completely, even though I saw her as having a role in the third book of the series.

Now I'm going to backtrack a bit here. Some time earlier, around the time of the London riots, I had thought of an idea for a story. As clichéd as it sounds, it came to me in a dream. I'd woken up in the middle of the night and typed up as much as I could remember on my phone. It wasn't perfect. None of my stories ever come to me complete, no matter where the inspiration comes from. This story just sat in my head, it was something I was really excited about, but I promised myself I wasn't going to start a shiny new project until I'd sorted out everything I was already working on.

I'm not exactly sure when I clicked onto the fact that the character I'd removed from the first manuscript could fit into this story. I do remember, that I was considering writing a spin-off series featuring the character, but the time line just didn't quite work. I needed her in the third book. Of course, I could have just created a new, similar character for the third book, but that didn't solve the problem of linking the two of them.

In the end, I decided to use this story, and this character, as the basis for book two. It's going to be set primarily in a different country (England) but at about three-quarters of the way through all of the characters and situations from the first story will pop up.

I'm quite nervous about switching to a different point of view for this book. It sort of feels lazy that I can't figure out how to keep my initial main character in the driver's seat, but I've thought it over for so long and in my mind it's a choice between: 1) Write a substandard book with lots of padding. 2) Completely skip the events of that time period. 3) Write from the new character's point of view. The thing is, at this point in time I'm planning on having around five books in this series, but only one of them would be from the new character's point of view (the other four from Michaela's) and that just doesn't seem right. As I'm typing this, I'm wondering if perhaps I should be writing two different series simultaneously that cross over. So that each series gives clues and information about the others, whilst leap-frogging along the storyline...

So yeah... I'm still figuring out the actual layout of the series, even if I have a good idea of what is going to happen in book two of The Chimaera Chronicles. I'm working on preparing The Sphinx Project for the editor now, but in a couple of weeks, once I've submitted it to her, I'm going to start writing the manuscript for book two. I'll update you on its progress as I go.

I hope you've enjoyed this blog. I'd love to know what you think, and if there is anything about the process of writing with the intention of self-publishing that you'd like me to cover. I don't know how often I'll be updating this series, probably not that often to begin with while I'm writing, but as I prepare the book for publication it will probably become more frequent.

Pre-Christmas Update

2011-12-22T03:52:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry I've been quiet for the last few days... I meant to write and upload this week's blogs on Sunday, but I got home from work late and that kinda never happened. Anyway, I just thought I'd update you on what's been/will be going on.

First off is the big cover reveal. It will be taking place on Christmas Eve, and you'll finally get to see the new design for The Sphinx Project. I can't wait to be able to show it off and give the artist the recognition she deserves.

Secondly, a while back I asked if you would be interested in blogs about 'the biz', by which I mean self-publishing. The response was completely positive, so it set me too thinking how best to go about it. I was cautious to write about my experiences so far, even though The Sphinx Project is my first book and therefore it may be different the second time around, I'm worried that I'll forget something really important. So, I've decided to chronicle the creation of my next book from conception to completion. I'll tell you where the idea came from, how I go about writing it, how I publish it and all in comparison to what I did with The Sphinx Project, to show how first and second projects can differ. I'm thinking that this project will be the sequel to The Sphinx Project, which I haven't had a chance to name yet.

Thirdly, on a similar note. I've decided on the topics for my next two vlogs. The first will be 'Why I decided to self-publish' and the second 'Five things you need to know before self-publishing'. I'm not saying I'm an expert on the subject, but I will be talking about the five things that I see people moaning about and annoying other people with. I'll try not to rant, but no promises.

Fourth. I've just taken part in an interview with some lovely writers. Their article about me will be going up sometime in the new year and I'm really excited because it makes me look so much more interesting than I really am!

Fifth... Can I stop numbering these yet? Oh well, I've been contacting bloggers in an attempt to build a blog tour for The Sphinx Project's release. it's going quite well, although a little frustrating at times. Not knocking them at all, because I can see why they do it even if it is frustrating, but it causes wry amusement to see bloggers who pretty much yell at the top of their voices that they won't go near indie writers, and yet yell equally as loud telling people to support indie book stores.

Finally. I'm on the home run with The Sphinx Project. I'm making the last of the changes before I send it off to my lovely editor again. I'm really excited to see what she thinks, although really nervous too. I've got a strange desire to make her happy with me?

Anyway, time to get back to the edits. Have a lovely day everyone!

Movie Review - Easy A

2011-12-15T08:57:00.000-08:00

The first time I attempted to watch this movie it didn't work. Although I was looking forward to it the beginning just had too many cringe moments. I'm very much a person who has to be in the right mood to watch something, and it didn't suit me at that particular time.

The second time, I started from where I had left off, about five minutes in. I watched the entire thing and it wasn't until the end that I was able to decide whether I actually liked it or not. I'd be enjoying it, and then I would hit another cringe moment.

Basically the idea of the story is that Olive pretends to sleep with her gay classmate, to help him with his bully problem. Everything spirals out of control. In no time at all every male in the school is paying her to pretend they slept together. It has a nice running comparison with The Scarlet Letter, which will please those literary buffs out there (and make you feel like you actually learned something in school if it was one of your required texts for English lit).

I have to admit, even though there were dozens of cringe moments, I loved the movie. Emma Stone was brilliant, and her family were hilarious both because of the script and the casting. It was refreshing to see Amanda Bynes playing a character a little out of the ordinary (not a tomboy) and it taught me to see Penn badgley in the way my friends saw him when Gossip Girl came out. How have I not noticed him that way before?

Anyway, I liked it. I would recommend it for anyone after a good laugh. As I'm sure you can tell by now, there are cringe moments, but if you can overlook them it's hilarious. Even though it's a comedy it could probably teach some of today's teens a few things.

Hump-Day Hearth-Throb - Chris Hemsworth

2011-12-14T08:19:00.000-08:00

Seeing as my last Hump-Day Heart-Throb blog has remained the most popular post on this blog, I thought it was time for another...

I really don't think this blog actually needs too many words. I will say this though: When I first saw Chris (It must be ten years ago now?) I never imagined I'd see him where he is today.

Click on the pictures to see their source.

I'll be honest: The hardest part of this blog was picking which trailer to add...

Book Review - Untraceable

2011-12-13T07:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday you would have seen Shelli's awesome post about her girl-crush Grace as part of the blog tour for her debut novel Untraceable. Well, I've read the book, and I think it's time to tell you what I thought.

Grace grew up in the woods. When her forest ranger dad disappears on patrol, she fights town authorities, tribal officials, & nature to prove he’s alive. Torn between a hot boy and cute ex, she heads into the wilderness to find her dad. Soon, Grace is caught in a web of conspiracy, deception, and murder. It will take more than a compass and motorcycle for this tough heroine to save all she loves.

It has been a long time since I've read a book without some aspect of fantasy in it and, as such, it took some time to get into the story. I have to admit, to begin with, I probably saw Grace as her mother, or maybe even Carl, the captain of the local police did. You'll understand that reference when you read the book.

As I got deeper into the plot that changed. I love how Grace is just as bad-ass as any of the heroines in my favourite urban fantasies, and that she is just as capable. She can look after herself better than any boy can.

I loved Mo, and I was rooting for him the entire time... Wyn, on the other hand, I wasn't so fond of. He just doesn't push the right buttons for me.

When the story finished I just wanted to throw the book across the room. I restrained myself, just, but only because I was actually reading on my Kindle and there was a big chance that I would break it if I did so. I don't want to spoil anything, so let's just say I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!

Purchase the Untraceable Paperback

Purchase Untraceable for Kindle

Visit Shelli's blog

I Have A Question For You

2011-12-12T12:27:00.000-08:00

Wow, the second day in a row that I've posted two blogs... Don't worry, I won't keep flooding you with them... I just want to ask a question...

Initially, when I started this blog, I wrote about writing and publishing a bit. It was mostly uninformed little posts about what I was doing and why. In the end I decided that to stop these, because people who would be interested in reading my books wouldn't be interested in the business/practice behind them... or so I thought.

When I posted a request for video suggestions, most of the answers had to do with why I decided to self-publish, and how I'm doing this.

While I don't want to flood the blog with writing posts, it's not like I write about anything in particular on here anyway... no matter how often I mean to. I've tried streamlining my blog, but I'm just too lazy, and too busy with other things to really keep up with it.

I know there are many other blogs that talk about self-publishing (S.R.Johannes and Catherine Ryan Howard have two awesome ones which I have found just recently) and I am under no illusion that mine would be special, or different, or amazing, but it would be my own. We all have to deal with a pretty standard set of processes in the journey to publication, although sometimes we do choose different paths to reach the final destination.

So here's the question: Would you like me to write about self-publishing... And if you do, would you rather I talk about what I'm doing/have done with The Sphinx Project? Or would you rather I blog about my next project, from conception to publication? Both have their pros and cons, although if I were blogging the new project I wouldn't have to try and remember if I'm forgetting to write about something...

What do you think?

Girl Crush Monday - Amanda Hocking

2011-12-12T05:06:00.000-08:00

I'm really excited to welcome Shelli to the blog today as part of her Untraceable blog tour. Make sure you check out the other stops on the tour to find out more about Shelli, her book, and her self-publishing journey.

Shelli has actually picked the person I was planning on writing about next, for all of the same reasons too.

Girl crush: Feelings of admiration and adoration which a girl has for another girl, without wanting to shag said girl. a non-sexual attraction, usually based on veneration at some level.

Urban Dictionary

I've really never had a girl crush. But I do have a writer crush on a girl.

On Amanda Hocking. Not because she made a tons of money but because she did it all alone. By herself.

As most of you may know, I tried traditional publishing for along time. Got close but never made it.

I am impressed with how Amanda Hocking went out on her own and ended up succeeding in a big way. After receiving several rejections, she just went out on her own. She walked down a path not many had walked before. There weren’t many self-published guides then. Not many people to turn to for advice.

The indie side of publishing business is so hard that I admire how she climbed up from the bottom to the very top.

She did a grass roots effort going from one blog to another talking about her book. She went from blog to blog and used social networking.

Within 9 months she went from selling 10 books in one month to selling 900,000 copies. Was part of it luck? Yes. Part of it was timing. But part of it was perseverance.

But I always admire entrepreneurs who are trailblazers that go down a road without knowing where it goes.

***

Thanks a lot, Shelli!

If you want to find out more about Shelli you can visit her blog HERE.

You can purchase Shelli's debut young adult novel Untraceable now in paperback, Kindle, and most other formats. You can also add it to your shelves on Goodreads.

Keep an eye on the blog for my review of Untraceable tomorrow.

The Sphinx project: The Official Blurb

2011-12-11T14:33:00.001-08:00

In celebration of my Facebook page reaching 500 likes, I've decided to release the official blurb for The Sphinx Project.

Notmany people can say their entire existence has been one big labexperiment: poked and prodded by scientists, genetically modified tobe the best and endure the worst, subjected to daily tests and trialsthat would kill a normal human. All Michaela wants is her own life,to be able to go to school, flirt with boys, maybe eat ice cream nowand then. So when the chance to escape finally comes, Michaela andher sister grab it, taking their friends with them.

Butthey weren't the only ones to find their way out of those labs.Following close behind are another breed of creature, one thatdoesn't know the difference between right and wrong, who exist onlyto feed their own hunger. The appearance of a strange boy who seemstoo much like them to be a coincidence makes things even moreconfusing. But as the world begins to literally fall apart aroundthem, Michaela must accept his help, especially when she could losethe very thing she holds dearest: her sister.

I'd love to know what you think... are you getting excited? Or does it make you go a bit flat?

PS- in case you missed it, I gave my Facebook fans a surprise a couple of days ago: a teaser from the cover!

PPS- don't forget to add The Sphinx Project to your Goodreads shelf HERE!

PPPS- I can't wait to reveal the cover!

A Rant About Sentencing

2011-12-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm going to keep this short. I generally try and steer clear of 'heavier' topics on this blog, but this has really riled me up.

A young woman was beaten up by four other women for no reason whatsoever. The entire time the gang that were kicking and hitting the woman on the ground they were yelling racial abuse at her. It was caught on CCTV and the assailants were captured. It sounds straightforward, right? Think about it... what do you think would happen now? A prison term?

No.

The assailants were released because they were unused to drinking alcohol.

This is absolute rubbish!

Alcohol should not be allowed as a defence in this case. The affects of alcohol are well documented and everyone knows the risks they take when they drink it. Even a drunk driver who doesn't injure anyone receives a harsher penalty than this, and generally that is done without any intent to harm. I'm not saying the drivers should be let off, I'm just that as they yelled 'kill the slag' while they ripped into her they obviously intended to do harm.

These girls set upon another like a pack of dogs. They used their feet and their fists to inflict injury. They committed a crime and they deserve to be punished for it. What message is this sending to the public? It's all right to beat someone up, as long as you are drunk?

To see the original article and the actual CCTV footage click HERE.

Trinket Spotlight - Victorian Bracelet

2011-12-10T07:19:00.001-08:00

First of all, I need to apologise for my little outburst the other day. I probably shouldn't have blogged about it, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I hadn't planned on speaking specifically about my writing process, or the path to publication on this blog, although I may in the future because some people have been asking questions about it. Anyway, moving on.

I have a bit of a soft spot for pretty trinkets, which is strange considering how often I actually wear jewellery. I've decided to start mentioning about the pretty little pieces and strange creations that catch my eye. I want to share my finds, not only because then I get to look at them more, but so that I can show you some jewellery you may not otherwise see, if most of your shopping is confined to the high street.

The first trinket is one that I've had my eye on for quite some time. A friend purchased it and I've been a bit of the green-eyed monster ever since. May I present, the Victorian bracelet from Dracula Clothing.

Ohhhh, look at the sparkly prettiness! The Victorian bracelet retails for US$31 from Dracula clothing, an alternative fashion retailer. I love their quirky designs and variety of pieces, although for the most part I can't see myself actually wearing most of it.

Anyway, what do you think? If you're loving it as much as I am you can purchase your Victorian Bracelet HERE.

*edit* Elle, the friend in question, says it's even prettier in real life! Visit her blog HERE.

Why Do I Want To Cry?

2011-12-06T17:11:00.001-08:00

Why am I having these doubts? I was totally fine! I was happily working away and then they just crashed into me all at once!

Am I sprinting in the wrong direction? Am I shooting myself in the foot?

I spent so long debating between following the traditional route and self-publishing. I researched for hours on end and read everything I could on the matter. I thought I'd answered all the questions that worried me and I was so confident. I was excited about my decision. I thought I was ready! Am I just tired? Is it all just becoming too much? Should I have tried my hand at the traditional route first, before jumping into self-publishing with both feet?

Am I insane to be doing this without an agent at my side? Stupid to think that little old me could possibly make a dent in an industry flooded by sub-standard books on a daily basis? Do you have any idea how many books are uploaded to Amazon every single day? How am I supposed to stand out among the thousands of titles competing for attention? How do I know I'm not going to be publishing a piece of complete rubbish?

I was so proud of myself, for my decision and hard work.

I love my cover. I love my beta readers. I love my editor. I love all the people who have been so supportive.

So why do I feel like I'm going to burst into tears?

My First Attempt At Vlogging

2011-12-01T01:20:00.001-08:00

A while ago I asked my lovely Twitter and Facebook followers what they thought about Vlogging... and the idea of me giving it a go. The response was pretty positive, so I went for it. If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter there's not much chance that you'll learn anything new, but hey, you'll get to listen to my funny accent

I had a few problems with the camera too. It kept lagging, so I had to cut and paste the good bits together.My editing skills leave a fair bit to be desired too...

But anyway, enough of my ramblings:

I hope you enjoyed it! I'd love to know what you thought and what you'd like to hear me vlogging about in the future!

Untraceable Release

2011-11-29T06:44:00.001-08:00

At the moment I've been quite quiet. I'm sorry, I've been writing pretty much nonstop. I just thought I'd take a moment to pop in and share quite an exciting release with you.

Shelli Johannes has just released her début novel Untraceable. It's gotten some amazing reviews already and I'm enjoying it too, although I'm not getting through it very quickly due to everything else going on at the moment.

16 year old Grace was reared in the wilderness. Her first pet was a bear named Simon. Her first potty, an oak tree. And, her first swing, a forest vine. Grace has lived in the Smokies all her life, patrolling with her forest ranger father who taught her everything he knew about wildlife, tracking, and wilderness survival.

When Grace's dad goes missing on a routine patrol, unlike everyone in her sleepy mountain town, she refuses to believe he’s dead. After finding a Cheetos bag and stolen government file, Grace is convinced she’s one step closer to proving all the non-believers wrong.

One day, while out tracking clues, Grace is rescued from imminent danger by Mo, a hot guy who has an intoxicating accent and a secret. Grace has never felt a connection like this before, certainly not with her ex-boyfriend, the adoring, but decidedly unrugged, Wyn.

After a few run-ins with the town's police chief, her father's partner, and some new evidence, Grace travels deeper into the wilderness that has always been her refuge only to learn that her father's disappearance is not a mere coincidence.

Soon she’s enmeshed in a web of conspiracy, deception, and murder. And it’s going to take a lot more than a compass and a motorcycle (named Lucifer) for this kick-butting heroine to emerge from an epidemic that’s spreading like wild fire, threatening everything and everyone she’s ever loved.

It's currently available in paperback, kindle, and all other major formats. Get in quickly because for a limited time Shelli is offering it at an introductory price, to thank those who have been so supportive of her. Make sure you snap up a copy for yourself, and come back to the site on December 12th to read her Girl Crush Monday!

Why I Write

2011-11-23T12:23:00.001-08:00

Today I've spent a fair amount of time running errands and cleaning. That's right, cleaning *shudder*. Sadly I can't convince my lovely boyfriend that working on edits qualifies me for exemption from chores.

As I was organising my office I came across something I forgot I had. I was going to take a picture, but then I realized you'd be able to see how truly awful my writing is. Basically, when I began writing I wrote a note for myself. I wanted to make sure that no matter what I remembered why I started. It was only five words, but it has stuck with me ever since. I found it tucked into one of my notebooks today. You know what it said?

I want to entertain people.

I want to create memorable characters that my readers really care about. I want them to root for them and cheer them on. I want to toy with their emotions. I want them to cry and laugh, even throw their books across the room. I want them to feel my characters' losses and triumphs as though it was happening to them. I want to drag them so far into the story that they can't bare to pull themselves away until they've turned the very last page. I want to inspire my readers, like my favourite authors have inspired me. I want to create worlds so real they can close their eyes and transport themselves there at will, to explore further than the boundaries set in my tales.

Is this a silly dream? I don't think so. I've mentioned before how huge the role of books was in my childhood, and ever since. J.K. Rowling, Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton, Carolyn Keene, Laura Ingalls Wilder and so many other authors shaped my childhood. I could read for hours on end without moving. I remember reading Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone lying in the tent in our back yard in the summer holidays, sitting on my mom's lap as we read The Little House series each night before I went to bed, deciding I wanted to be a sleuth while reading Nancy Drew on my bed with a plate of carrot sticks. Although I don't write children's books I want my stories to build memories for others like all of these authors did for me.

I know it's hugely unlikely any fancy awards will ever recognise my work. I write genre fiction, if I was after that sort of praise and accolades I would be writing literary fiction, and there is no way I'd be self-publishing. But you know what? I'm okay with that. That's not why I write.

Stephanie Meyer, Amanda Hocking and Dan Brown all have their critics. Huge numbers of them. It doesn't matter. They are the authors turning millions of non-readers into fanatics. These people, who may once have viewed reading as a chore, now can't get enough of it. They're touching people's lives, connecting with and, most of all, they're entertaining them.

Anyway... I have to get back to editing. But for anyone interested this is where I write, with all my favourite (and recent) close at hand.

Upping The Ante

2011-11-21T05:26:00.001-08:00

Right. I have a few updates so I thought I'd post a little blog to avoid doing what I really should be doing.

First up. This (points that-a-way! uh... I mean left...) I'm sure you've all seen it before.

As you should all know by now, this is only temporary. The Sphinx Project has an amazing new cover, but I can't show it to you just yet. You see, I'm holding it hostage. Yep, you read that right. Hostage. If my Facebook page reaches 600 likes before December 20th I will reveal the cover on Christmas eve. But wait, there's more folks! If my page reaches 700 likes before December 20th I will not only reveal the cover, but I'll give you another Christmas present too. On December 25th I will release the entire prologue from The Sphinx Project. That's right, all 1032 words.

That means I require my Facebook page to receive another 181 likes to reveal the cover... 281 for the prologue.

It may seem like a lot, but it's really not. 29 days. That's only six point something more people a day for the cover and nine point something for the prologue... Okay, yeah... It's a lot. But think of it this way.. The page currently has 419 people who like it. If every one of those people convinced just one friend to like the page then that would be well over the goal!

Secondly: Have you seen the Hunger Games movie trailer? Can I just say OMFG! The Hunger Games are some of my favourite books ever and I am so excited for this film. I kind of welled up a little when Katniss did the three fingered salute. If you haven't seen it check it out down there (points down). What do you think of Jennifer? This video sealed my love for Josh and Liam as Gale and Peeta. I don't know how I'm going to last until March now!

Thirdly: I'm currently doing the final edits on The Sphinx Project.. But here's the thing... I don't think they'll end up being the final edits because I'm changing so much! I've just gone through the first chapter (again) and chopped out a huge section and rearranged it! When my beta readers see the final book they probably won't even recognise it!

Well, okay... it's not THAT different, but there have been a lot of changes. Don't worry, this doesn't mean that I'll be pushing the release back again, I have my lovely editor booked for January so there is no way I'm postponing it again. (I retain the right to forget I said these words btw, but I'll do my best!)

Lastly: I've been thinking about the music I've been listening to as I write these books... Would you be interested in a play list of the tracks I listened to as I wrote each particular book? I know some authors do this, but would you like me to do it too?

Anyway... I've gotta hit the edits again. Let's see what else I can chop out!

Echo My Name

2011-11-13T22:55:00.000-08:00

This week my blog's going to be looking even more neglected than last week, sorry folks. As I write this I'm sitting in departures at Manchester airport waiting for my plane to begin boarding. Can I just say, I freaking hate flying. No matter how excited I am for the destination, the moment I step into the airport Andrew starts teasing me about Kateport... apparently it's some sort of syndrome where I become a complete bitch simply by stepping through the doors. You can see how awesome he is simply by counting the amount of times he has had to deal with it over the last 27 months.

Anyway, back onto the topic... what was I talking about? Oh yeah... I'm going to Italy! I can't remember if I told you or not, and this internet connection is REALLY slow so I can't be bothered checking, but here's the mandatory 'my boyfriend is pretty freaking awesome' blog.

To begin with, Italy is the one place I've always wanted to go. If I was only allowed to travel to one country in my entire life I would probably have picked it above all the others. Why? Because I've been in love with it from the first time I learned about it. It has everything (that I can think of off the top of my head) pizza, pasta, gelato, ~~hot men with sexy accents~~, history, mythology, culture and so much more.

I remember being so absorbed in the Roman and Greek sections of a children's encyclopaedia of mythology that I reread it over and over again. I love that their gods were so varied and interesting, lust-driven and spiteful.... It's probably why I like the history of the English monarchy so much too... That book was probably where it all started.

A few weeks ago Andrew started teasing me that he had a surprise; I hated it with a passion. He'd slip it into random conversations, leave notes on my desk and tell random people around us that he had a surprise. It drove me insane. Eventually (two weeks ago) he took me out for dinner, where he asked if I really wanted to know what the surprise was. When I said yes, he said one word: Pizza. He'd booked the tickets, contacted my work and sorted out time off, and everything, all without me knowing. I mean, I had a hint, he'd done something similar last year when he surprised me with a trip to Paris, but he thinks up some of the most random surprises that I didn't want to get my hopes up about one thing in particular... His surprises are ~~usually~~ always good.

Now of course this is going to be an amazing holiday, but it's also a research trip for my latest novel. I'm currently working on Echo My Name, a young adult historical novel featuring Gaia. Gaia is the daughter of a once famous general, who pissed a lot of people off. When the village in which they're living is attacked she is abducted and thrown into the arena to fight for her life as a gladiator.

Of course, this isn't the official blurb, it's just to give you a taste for what I'm working on now...Now I've got to be off, Andrew's giving me the 'I'm feeling neglected' look. If I don't post soon I hope you're all well, and I can't wait to share my photos when I get back!

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

2011-11-11T10:52:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone!

I just thought I'd pop in and say hello. I'm in the middle of NaNoWriMo so I'm racing towards the 50,000 word goal. I'll probably be a little distant this month, while I'm writing Echo My Name and editing The Sphinx Project, but come December I'll be blogging a lot more frequently. Make sure to keep an eye out for some of the upcoming Girl Crush Mondays and Hump-day Heart-throbs.

In closing I'm going to leave you with a little movie trailer... I really can't explain how much I'm looking forward to this, nor can I explain why I'm so excited... What do you think?

Girl Crush Monday - Stephenie Meyer

2011-11-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

Recently I've been thinking a lot about this girl crush section and, worried that I might soon start boring you with the same sort of women, I've invited a number of lovely people to contribute to this series. I will continue to add my own posts, but I'm throwing this blog wide open for others to spill their secret (or not-so-secret) girl crushes. If you would like to participate please contact me on k.c.hawkings (at) gmail (dot) com. There aren't too many guidelines, just write about a woman, real or fictional, that inspires you in come way, shape or form.

The first guest blog is courtesy of Ashley Mackler-Paternostro, the author of The Milestone Tapes which is set to be released in early 2012. Ashley lives in Chicago, Illinois with her husband and their three fur babies. Ashley is a believer in bigger things, wild dreams and living a genuine life. She can be found on her blog, www.ashmp.wordpress.com and twitter @AshMP.

Ashley has also been interviewing a series of writers on her own blog about NaNoWriMo, and one of those writers is me. Perhaps once you've read about her girl crush you can head over to her blog and read my interview!

I'm glad Ashley has picked this particular woman to be her girl crush. Just so you know, I'm very much Team Jacob, and I'm the one posting this, which is why there isn't so much Edward in the pictures below.

Girl crush: Feelings of admiration and adoration which a girl has for another girl, without wanting to shag said girl. a non-sexual attraction, usually based on veneration at some level.

Urban Dictionary

Source

My name’s Ashley Mackler-Paternostro, and I’m here this Monday morning to confess...I have a girl crush on Stephenie Meyer.

Here’s the deal, Stephenie Meyer has given the world, at large, something really beautiful and special, and before you knock me for the cliche bits of it all...hear me out.

Stephenie Meyer was a normal woman--she a was stay at home mom of three little boys doing all the motherly things that come along with raising children. In tandem, she played the role of wife, sister, friend. Sound familiar? She wasn’t a woman posed for literary greatness, she didn’t have a niche or come complete with a silver spoon. She was the essence of an unknown nobody taking her first breathes as a writer. But the truth is, she could have been anyone. She is the relatable, the salt of Earth, next door neighbor type of woman...like you or me.

She had a dream. Stephenie dreamt of a vampire and an average girl having a conversation in a misty meadow blooming with wild flowers. So small it is probably something many would have ignored, forgotten or pushed past...but not Stephenie...she took an inconsequential nothing and spun it into one of the most successful YA series of all times.

Stephenie Meyer gave us TWILIGHT. She’s taken flack for the writing--her style of first person prose has been met with icy reviews by some. But below the current of the actual books, she built an empire. TWILIGHT was published at 130,000 words, a dictionary by traditional publishing standards, but it inspired kids–kids, who have their noses in video games, and cell phones and live chat on the internet–to read. Heck, I’ll go so far as to say--she encouraged them to love reading--to look forward to the art of reading. TWILIGHT took adults, with their adult responsibilities and obligations and marriages and everyday ordinary lives, back to the time when love was innocent and as simple as how they felt inside that first time. From there grew a phenomena.

TWILIGHT may not be everyone’s bowl of ice cream–that’s why there is chocolate and vanilla. But no one can deny the positive things these books gave the literary community. And isn’t that what a good book is supposed to do? So when someone says, “oh, Meyer can’t write”…I have to ask…if Meyer can’t write, then what is it that she did here?

Source

Since I first fell in love with Edward Cullen and THE TWILIGHT SAGA, I’ve not only travelled to Forks and La Push, but attended the conventions and opening night of the movies, I’ve visited the blogs and forums and fan sites. And guess what I’ve found? Not only are people inspired to read…but they are inspired to write and craft. Not only do I see gaggles of giddy teenage girls in their “team appropriate” attire, but they are there with their mothers, grandmothers, fathers. It isn’t simply “their thing” ... it’s a unification of interests. There is a real connection made between people over these books and movies during a time when connections between parents and children (the teenage years particularly) are tethered loosely.

Fan created art floods the internet. Sites like Etsy.com boast page after page of locally crafted wears, jewelry, photo albums, and the like. In this economic climate, crafty folks are actually managing to supplement their income by filling a niche of story inspired kitsch from mittens to mugs and almost everything in between.

Twi-Hards are writing fictional takes on what could have happened--this is toted widely as Fan Fiction, and is highly encouraged by Stephenie herself--who is known to make secretly submitted fan fiction entries herself. How amazing is that? Kids that can barely force out assigned homework without grumbles and groans are taking genuine interest in expounding upon the lives of the Cullens and Wolf Pack, Bella and Charlie.

The tiny Pacific Northwest town of Forks, Washington--before the series became a breakout success--was on the bubble of ruin. The lumber companies were vanishing and the folks who spent their whole lives in that small town were suffering greatly. Now, that’s not so true. People, from across the globe, descend in droves daily to shop, sightsee, spend the night, gorging the community with copious amounts of cash. And for their part, the town of Forks plays along with warmth, hospitality and humor.

Source

Stephenie herself has grasped her grass roots beginning by remaining at the helm of the TWILIGHT ship. It’s not uncommon to find her at the conventions, sitting with her young admirers after hours discussing the art of writing, and gushing about her characters. And, as she’s admitted freely, she loves it. She loves the world she created with words inspired by a dream and the following it’s inspired, she loves her fans. Her stardom hasn’t jaded her, she holds no pretense of greatness...she’s still a mom and she’s still just a really sweet person.

“Good books” make masses of people think and feel. Not everyone, but some. So, by definition, TWILIGHT is a really good book...and as a writer myself, I look at Stephenie Meyer and believe her to be good writer--not simply because of what she wrote down on paper, but because of everything else she accomplished and gave freely. She chased a wild dream (literally) and caught it, she remained grounded despite her thriving success and offered readers so much more than four thick books. All of that, in my opinion, makes her very girl-crush worthy.

Movie Review - The Green Lantern

2011-10-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

So I finally saw The Green Lantern. I have to say I wasn't overly impressed.

The movie starts with a huge info-dump, where they try to set the scene by telling us a whole lot of information I really had no interest in knowing... What? There's three thousand-and-something sectors? Wow... There were a number of moments where I was left thinking 'Why would I care?" I understand that they're working from a pretty dense piece of source material, but it's a matter of culling out the boring bits and just including what really matters.

Things take a turn in the other direction as soon as we return to earth, where we crash straight into the stereotypical and clichéd characters with the most predictable relationship possible. Very little thought is put into character development... We learn all we need to know about their personalities in the first five seconds and they hardly move forward throughout the rest of the film, except for the token revelation later on, which once again had very little build up and just happens. It was hard to root for the main character. They tried to make him likeable, explaining away his cocksure attitude with flashbacks to his father's death, and using his relationship with his nephew to show that there was more under the surface, but it just left me cold.

Ryan Reynold didn't seem to excel in his role. Although he brought his trademark banter and sarcasm it seems like it's become a routine and doesn't have the same kick it used to. The only reason I was still rooting for him at the end was... well.... it's Ryan Reynolds... have you SEEN his abs?

I just don't understand how they could have spent so much money for the film to have turned out this bad? I was so excited about this film but watching it was like watching a twelve year-old who had been given free-reign to create his dream film. In the current movie climate, where we have amazing superhero films like Batman, Iron man and even Thor, hitting cinemas, movies like this really need to step up their game. Unfortunately The Green Lantern failed to deliver.

Hump-Day Heart-Throb - Men Of The Rugby World Cup

2011-10-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

Ladies, may I present the inaugural hump-day heart-throbs! A weekly dose of my favourite literary leading men, with a good part of real-life handsomeness tossed in to keep things interesting.

Having grown up in New Zealand, rugby holds a special place in my heart. I know that in America, where most of the visitors to this blog reside, rugby isn't well known and I think that needs to change. I was going to make a list of points to prove my point, but then I stumbled across this blog by Jonathan Rosa:

I started to wonder why such an exciting sport like rugby has yet to take off in America. I don’t understand how a sport that combines both football and soccer principles gets virtually no recognition in the States. It has everything the average American sports fan wants in a game: skill, intensity, high scoring, a great fan base, and pure brutality. Rugby is an 80 minute bloody battle for the ball. No bulky pads, no TV time-outs every two seconds, just 30 guys on a field and non-stop adrenaline.

Jonathan Rosa

Personally I think that's enough talking, and there's plenty of information there. However, I don't think this is the best way to convince the ladies that rugby is worth their time. I think the following points may help though... May I present the men of the Rugby World Cup 2011, our very first Hump-day Heart-Throbs:

Richard Kahui - New Zealand

Ben Foden - England

Sonny Bill Williams - New Zealand

Chris Cuister - Scotland

Daniel Carter - New Zealand

Girl Crush Monday - Emma Watson

2011-10-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

Girl crush: Feelings of admiration and adoration which a girl has for another girl, without wanting to shag said girl. a non-sexual attraction, usually based on veneration at some level.

Urban Dictionary

We all know her story,and watched her transform from the cute little girl to the poised andelegant young woman she is today. Emma Watson is the perfect exampleof the right way a young starlet should grow up. She's had so manyopportunities and she has made the most of them, unlike a number ofother child stars I could mention.

She's accomplished,hard-working, down-to-earth and she has her priorities straight. Evenduring an intense filming schedule she still maintained her studies,spending up to five hours a day with tutors. In June 2006she took her GCSE examinations in ten subjects and walked away witheight A* and two A grades. She passed her A levels too.

Emma stillcontinues her studies today, enrolled in a liberal arts degree at Brown University in America, an ivy league school. Sherecently took some time off so she could commit fully to her filming commitments, but she isnow back to study, spending this semester at Oxford before returning to Rhode Islande forher final year.

Not only is Emmasmart,but she's stylish as well. She has an elegant personal style,dresses like a lady and know what suits her. She has alsocollaborated on the organic and fair trade clothing lines produced bypeople tree.

"I think a lot of young people like meare very concerned about the environment and care about the wellbeingof those working in extreme poverty. People Tree is all about givingpeople choice. The more I can help promote Fair Trade and organicclothing manufacture, the greater chance we have as a generation ofchanging lives and of saving our planet. From little acorns.. Iwanted to help People Tree produce a younger range because I wasexcited by the idea of using fashion as a tool to alleviate povertyand knew it was something I could help make a difference with."

I'm proud of the HarryPotter producers, for picking such a well-adjusted girl, whoobviously had the support she needed not to fall into some of thecommon traps. And I'm proud of Emma for maintaining the dedication and restrain necessary to grown into the lovely young woman she is today. I wish more girls aimed to emulate Emma, rather than the LiLos of the world.

It's a Woman's Prerogative

2011-10-22T05:59:00.000-07:00

It's a Woman's Prerogative to change her mind. I've decided that I am going to exercise that right.

With the change of name, and the changes occurring in the story as it is edited, I have decided that the current cover is no longer appropriate. That, combined with the fact that I found the perfect artwork, means that I have decided to redesign the cover of The Sphinx Project.

As of today it is finished, and it looks amazing. I liked the last one, and it was appropriate at the time, but this one is absolutely awesome! I can't wait to show it to you, but I won't be revealing it straight away. That would be too easy.

To begin with I will be revealing a teaser from the cover when my Facebook page reaches 500 likes. From then on I will reveal another teaser every 100 likes until we reach 1000, when I will release the full cover. If the Facebook page doesn't reach 1000 before February first I'll reveal it anyway.

So there you have it. Are you excited? I certainly am. I can't wait to show it to you, so make sure you spread the word and help me to release this as soon as possible!

~Enter my Halloween give-away~
~Add The Sphinx Project to your Goodreads shelf~

~Like my Facebook page~

~Follow me on Twitter~

Procrastination And A Surprise

2011-10-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

I've found that after working a night shift I can't concentrate on writing. As frustrating as this is, I've rediscovered the joys of procrastination. I thought I'd share some of the things that have entertained me so far today, before I try and kill this writer's block.

First of all I came across this video, proving that you definitely shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, you might be surprised by what you'll find underneath.

Oh, and on the topic of covers... The Sphinx Project has been redesigned, you'll find out more about the new cover when my Facebook page reaches 500 likes.

Then I found THIS adorable article looking for a home for a blind dog... and her guide dog...

I found another video, showing a future stunt-man in the making:

And THIS article about tree houses!

And lastly, some good old-fashioned girl power!

Anyway... I've gotta go and start looking at getting some words down... I think I'm going to need some chocolate.

Don't forget to enter my HALLOWEEN GIVE-AWAY!

A Little Halloween Give-Away

2011-10-20T22:43:00.000-07:00

In celebration of Halloween and all things ghoulish I've decided to host a give-away!

The prizes:

1 advance electronic edition of The Sphinx Project
1 paperback edition of The Sphinx Project
An additional advanced electronic edition of The Sphinx Project for every 100 entries the give-away receives.

Entering is simple, just fill in the form and you're in the draw. There are heaps of ways you could earn additional entries so check out the list:

+1 Follow this blog using the 'join this site' button on the top of the sidebar.
+1 Like me on Facebook HERE.
+1 Follow me on Twitter HERE.
+1 Add The Sphinx Project to your Goodreads Shelf HERE.
+1 Tweet about the giveaway.
+1 Vote for The Sphinx Project HERE.
+1 Vote for The Sphinx Project HERE
+1 if you refer someone to my Facebook page HERE. If they like the page and comment on the wall to tell me you sent them I'll add it to your total.
+1 if you post your favourite Halloween picture on my Facebook wall HERE (an extra +1 if there's a cute animal involved)
+2 if you refer someone to the give-away and they tell me in the comments below you sent them.

Entries are open until midnight on October 31st (GMT). Entries after that time will not be considered.

ENTER NOW

Ethics and Cute Guys

2011-10-18T09:36:00.000-07:00

Today I began fiddling with the insights section of my Facebook page, and it has revealed some rather interesting facts. For example, of the 350 people who like my Facebook page, ninety percent of them are female, and a quarter are between the ages of thirteen and seventeen.

Although these are my primary target readers, I knew already that the majority of my readers would be older, simply because I know that young adult books are not just for teens. So many fandoms today are made up of older women. Those who fell in love with the likes of Harry Potter in their youth and have had their passion for good stories grow as new books feed their love of the written word. You just need to look at the Twilight phenomenon to see the perfect example; so many of the fans are teens, but just look at how many grown women profess their love for Bella and Edwards as well! Which leads to my next point, over half of the people who like my page are between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four, an additional ten percent between the ages of thirty-five and forty-four.

Now you may be wondering why I'm spouting all these numbers at you, expecting you to care? Well I'm posting this today, because of a post I'll be writing soon.

At first I was hesitant to write the post, even if it was in fun, wondering if it was appropriate for me to write in such a way when I know that teenage girls will be looking at the page. However, I've had some time to think about it and have realised that this is probably tamer than a lot of conversations they have in their cafeterias at school. I'm not going to be writing anything explicit, and even young girls cut the posters of guys out of their favourite magazines and pin them to their walls.

Some time this week I am going to be pointing out some very valid reasons why women everywhere should learn about rugby, simply so that I can share pictures of some delicious rugby players from around the world... even if the best ones are from New Zealand.

Passion and Distraction

2011-10-17T22:58:00.000-07:00

I just got home so this is just going to be a quick post before I head to bed.

I just wanted to give a shout out to Rhonnie, one of my lovely beta readers, who has mentioned The Sphinx Project on her blog recently. As a new author she is facing a choice I blogged about some time ago: traditional or self-publishing.

To check out what she has to say visit her blog now.

Ohhhh... Pretty Shoes

2011-10-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

At the moment I have been working through edits for The Sphinx Project, while doing a bit of work on The Gilded Blade at the same time.

The Gilded Blade is a young adult fantasy featuring a female warrior. As part of the research that I've been conducting I've had to look into female armour of the past. I haven't had much luck, to be honest, but I keep finding myself looking at these shoes.

Now these weren't exactly what I had in mind when I initially began my search, and they are definitely not appropriate for my characters, but I just had to share them. I have always been interested in the idea of renaissance fairs and medieval re-enactment and I think these are AMAZING. I would totally wear them if I could afford to.

Nigel Carren, the creator of these pieces, primarily reproduces and restores plate armour, but I'd be very interested to see what else he could come up with along these lines. He has already created a number of pieces, and his work has been featured in the Sunday Times Style pull out and Harpers Bazaar magazine.

What do you think? Have you fallen head-over-heels for those drool-worthy shoes? Or are they not quite your cup of tea?

N.B. As my friend points out I am well aware that pointy shoes are 'so 2007'. I'm also aware that they are made out of metal and would be terribly uncomfortable. It doesn't change anything, these shoes fascinate me!

And To Go With The Dress

2011-10-14T11:47:00.000-07:00

*As I'm sure you can see, I've had a bit of a tinker with the blog... I'd love to know what you think of the new layout?*

A long time ago I posted this blog about a particularly cool dress. Ever since I've loved looking for other ways to incorporate my love of books into my everyday life... Well, I think it's time I posted these:

How cool is that! Now that I actually have nails I'm tempted to give them a go!

For details on how to create the newspaper nails visit A Pretty Penny now.

Read, Reading and To-Read

2011-10-13T10:59:00.000-07:00

Read - Vs. Reality (The Vs. Reality Series) by Blake Northcott

I'd been meaning to read Vs. Reality for ages, but I never quite got around to purchasing it. Although it took a little time to adjust to the author's voice it ended up being a thoroughly entertaining read, it felt like reading a comic book with no pictures.

Reading - The Iron King (Harlequin Teen) by Julie Kagawa

I managed to purchase this book a long time ago while it was either discounted or free in the Kindle store... I'm not entirely sure which. I've just started reading it, so I'm not too far through (up to part two) and to be honest at this point I'm not entirely sure about it. I'll keep reading it though, I do enjoy the Shakespeare references but at times they kind of grate.

To-Read - City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

This book has been in my TBR pile for a while now. I'm not sure why I feel so disinterested in reading it, perhaps it's because City of Glass wrapped up the story so nicely. Anyway, I've decided it's got to be done, so after I finish The Iron King this is next on the list.

Star Wars Love

2011-10-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

Over the last week I've been working insane hours, trying to get as far through the first draft of The Gilded Blade as I can, and I've started edits on The Sphinx Project (again). I'm loving it but I've been super busy. I didn't have the chance to write my Girl Crush Monday in time, so I'll be writing next week's tomorrow and scheduling it because I know after a weekend of work I won't have a chance closer to the time.

Anyway, this post is a short one combining two of my loves; Star Wars and Halloween.

Today I came across this picture:

Now usually when I see pets in costume the first thoughts to race through my head are a combination of *groannnnn*, "yeuch" and "you've gotta be kidding me," but for once they were completely absent. The first thing I thought when I saw this was: That is freaking awesome!

It's kind of appropriate that I'm posting about costumes, because it is now October after all and that means just one thing: Halloween. When I was a kid Halloween wasn't really something we celebrated; it's not a big thing in New Zealand, however I have always LOVED dressing up. Over the last couple of years I have dressed as a fairy, a vampire, a ninja and Lara Croft, but I don't know what to do next... I'm thinking some sort of mummy/zombie hybrid, or perhaps Medusa... What do you think? Have you got any suggestions?

Now I told you this was going to be a short blog, so I'm going to cut it off there... But check back soon for the one where I really start blabbering on, when I talk about cosplay.

~Add The Sphinx Project to your Goodreads shelf~

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The Lord Of The Rings Read Along

2011-10-04T10:45:00.000-07:00

Source

I have a confession to make, one that's quite embarrassing to me as a fantasy writer.. I've never read The Lord of the Rings. I don't know why I haven't read the books; I read The Hobbit when I was younger, I must have been eleven because we were on holiday in Australia at the time. I remember enjoying it, even if it was tough going at times. I've seen all of the movies too, the extended editions and extra features, over and over again. I've even watched and read every piece of 'the making of' that I could find. I love them, they are the best movies I've ever seen, which is why it is so perplexing that I've never read the books.

Well now I have decided to change that. Starting next week I am going to be working my way through the entire series.

I know that I'm not the only one who has somehow managed to pass the years without reading these books, so I'm inviting everyone to join me in my read along. Whether you've never read it, or you simply want to enjoy them all again you're welcome to take part! Every week I will recap what I've read on the blog (probably about 2-3 chapters a week) and I'd love to hear your thoughts as well.

Source

Why now? Well why not? As I type The Hobbit is in the process of making it way to the big screen... well, maybe not RIGHT now, seeing as it's after midnight in New Zealand, but you get the picture... And I kind of miss having a reason to think about Orlando in that blonde wig... *sigh* ... and Viggo.... *slap* sorry guys, I'm back!

What do you think? Are you in? I'd love to have other people on board with this as well, so comment below to let me know if you're interested or not... If there are any other bloggers interested let me know and I'll see about making up a little button.

Girl Crush Monday - Jennifer Lawrence

2011-10-03T10:29:00.000-07:00

Girl crush: Feelings of admiration and adoration which a girl has for another girl, without wanting to shag said girl. a non-sexual attraction, usually based on veneration at some level.

Urban Dictionary

To be completely honest I'm not sure I know exactly what motivated me to write this; whether it was my admiration of Jennifer Lawrence, or my absolute adoration for The Hunger Games.

If you aren't already familiar with Jennifer Lawrence she is a young American actress who began acting in 2004. Having already starred alongside some of the biggest names in Hollywood she has received various awards and nominations including a nod from the Academy, which has made her the second youngest person to ever be nominated in the history of the best actress award after Keisha Castle-Hughes.

I first discovered Jennifer Lawrence early this year, when she was cast as Katniss Everdeen in the film adaptation of one of my favourite books: The Hunger Games. I was shocked at the response from some of the fans, and decided that I wanted to find out about her by my self before I made any judgement. I knew that being blonde and blue-eyed she wasn't going to get an amazing response, but I am well aware that in the world of movie magic appearance doesn't matter because there are so many ways they can change the way you look.

At only twenty-one years of age Jennifer has already produced quite an impressive body of work. She's acted alongside many big names such as Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster, and receiving a huge variety of awards and nominations. Earlier this year she received a nod from the Academy, and is the second youngest person ever to receive a nomination in the best actress category.

I began my research with her award winning turn in Debra Granik's Winter's Bone. This is a gritty and very real drama featuring Jennifer as Ree Dolly, a strong young woman charged with caring for her two younger siblings and mentally ill mother. The movie follows her journey as she tries to track down her missing father, after she finds out they're about to lose their home because he posted it as bail bond before he disappeared. I would strongly recommend checking out this movie, because she definitely displays some impressive acting chops. I can say with conviction that she made this movie, and without her I doubt it could have been anywhere near as successful.

Source

I then looked to something a little lighter: X:Men: First Class, where Lawrence dons the blue body paint to pull off a brilliant performance as Mystique. This film is a lot more mainstream than Winter's Bone, and much easier watch.

I have to say that I fully support Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, even before I saw the brilliant pictures of her in costume that Lionsgate released. I think that she is an incredibly strong actress, as well as being a good role model for girls these days. Considering her job, and her recent success, she is still a down to earth young woman. She dresses appropriately, she is realistic about her body and her curves and she has a good relationship with her mother- she took her to the Academy Awards instead of a date!

"I don't really diet or anything. I'm miserable when I'm dieting and I like the way I look. I'm really sick of all these actresses looking like birds... I'd rather look a little chubby on camera and look like a person in real life, than look great on screen and look like a scarecrow in real life."

I also love how determined she is; she graduated from high school two years early and moved clear across the country to pursue acting and she hasn't stopped since. She knows what her job entails and isn't scared of getting down and dirty if it's what is required to get it done.

"I'd have walked on hot coals to get the part (Ree Dolly). I thought it was the best female role I'd read - ever. I was so impressed by Ree's tenacity and that she didn't take no for an answer. For the audition, I had to fly on the redeye to New York and be as ugly as possible. I didn't wash my hair for a week, I had no makeup on. I looked beat up in there. I think I had icicles hanging from my eyebrows."

You will be able to see Jennifer on the big screen again in March next year tackling the role of Katniss in The Hunger Games. In the meantime make sure you check her out in the teaser trailer below.

A Blog About Lots Of Things

2011-10-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

This blog is about a few different things and it will be quite long, so I'm posting a little breakdown right here for those who just want to know the basics.

I have changed the release date The Sphinx Project to 28/02/12
I'm waiting for the editor to finish off the manuscript, in the meantime I'm writing The Gilded Blade.
I want to be a best-selling author.
This blog has reached 1000 hits, but now it's time to upgrade.

Okay, first and foremost: I have decided to push the release date back for The Sphinx Project. Recently I've had some concerns about the book and, after a chat with my lovely editor, I believe that this is the best course of action. It's not that the book is terrible, I could have a book ready and waiting for you on December first as planned, it is simply because it is not as perfect as it could be. We've discussed a number of aspects regarding the book, including some pretty major plot points, and I have a nice little to-do list to work on.

At the moment the manuscript is still with my editor, and it will be until some time later this week. When she is finished with it I shall be working on rewrites, which will take up the next couple of months depending on how heavy my work load is. When it is once again as good as I can make it I will hopefully be able to send it back to Rhonda for another run through, to make sure it is as close to perfect as it can be. I'm going to yell it out right here, I LOVE MY EDITOR, she's seems to be on exactly the same page as I am, and a lot of the issues she has raised have been things I already had some concerns about.

Anyway, for those of you itching to know, The Sphinx Project now has a release date of February twenty-eighth. I know it is a while away, but please let me explain...

When I chose December first I didn't really have any reason other than a wish to release it in time for the Christmas rush. It was just basic commercial sense to have it ready for the biggest buying time of the year. I didn't look at what other books were being released because, to be honest, I didn't consider them my competition. I figured as an unknown indie writer I wasn't going to have people seeking me out, I'd maybe sell a few copies to friends and families, and hope that others would find me through Amazon browsing or friends on Goodreads. In my mind I wasn't going for the big bang release, I hoped that I'd be able to start off with whoever I managed to convince to buy my book and slowly expand through word of mouth.

Well now I've had a change of heart; why should it matter if I'm indie or traditionally published? From now on I'm going to position the book so that it has the best chance of success. I looked at the next few calendar months, considered the work that was still left to do on the book, and then began researching when certain books were being released. January was out straight away, there are dozens of fantastic looking young adult books being launched by the mainstream publishers alone, there is no way I'd be able to make my little indie book stand out. It's hard enough for an indie writer to convince book bloggers to consider reviewing their book as it is without the huge influx of traditionally published titles. The start of February was still quite busy, but I really didn't want to make you wait months and months longer than expected for the book, so I decided that the end of February would be appropriate.

I wanted to make sure that I released the book on the Tuesday, because the New York Times Best-sellers List is compiled using data from one Tuesday to the next. Now I'm sure I can hear some laughter out there as you snort at the idea of a newbie indie write even thinking about the list, but by George I am going to try my best. I'm sure you've all heard the quote 'shoot for the moon, even if you miss you'll land among the stars'. Anyway.. on with my rambling. I chose the 28th because it is not only the last Tuesday of the month, but it is also the only Tuesday at this point in time which does not have a release from one of the major publishing houses, which reduces the competition at that point in time and means that there is less congestion when approaching the bloggers (again).

So there you have it, the new date and why I've chosen it. So what am I doing while I wait for the edited manuscript? I'm continuing to write (when not suffering from work induced writers block) The Gilded Blade. This is only the working title, I'll figure out exactly what it will be called closer to the time, but right now it sits at just over thirty thousand words and I'm still really enjoying it.

Anyway... In my sleep deprived hours at work I've been contemplating my blog. Before I dive into the nitty-gritty I just have to do a happy dance, because the other day it finally passed 1000 hits *dances*.

Now this may sound like a cold-hearted marketing exercise but it's not, my book is my baby and like any momma I want to do my best by it; if I want to give my book the best chance of success I need to figure out how to raise my own profile. A blog is one of a writers most important marketing tools, it's the major link between me and my future readers. Its purpose is to interact with you by providing interesting updates about the books and other topics of interest. The hardest part of writing the blog though, is finding content suitable for the readers I want to attract. I've been thinking hard and I think I've decided what I'm going to be doing on this blog in the future.

I've decided that I'm going to continue writing the new Girl Crush segment, and try and make it a weekly occurrence. I know from a lot of time spent within the online young adult community that most of my readers will be young women, and I think that this section would be enjoyable for them.

I've also decided that I'm going to be including more current content that is related in some way to my stories and characters, that is not directly related to writing. For example The Sphinx Project is about Michaela who is a genetically engineered young woman. Due to the gene manipulations she has a number of enhanced abilities that make her better than regular humans. I plan to include more content about superheroes and people with special abilities in categories such as books, films, comics and even current affairs. I believe that the people who would be interested in these topics may find my book interesting. I will also, closer to release date, talk more about gene manipulation in the real world- I promise not to get to technical. I also have a few ideas along the same lines for my latest work in progress The Gilded Blade which is a young adult fantasy, but I'll get to those in another post because they're something you can join in with.

I've also been considering attempting to Vlog, but to be honest I'm not entirely sure if it's for me. I've seen Jackson Pearce's videos (I blogged about them in my first girl crush Monday) and I just don't know if I could live up to someone like her. She's so energetic and interesting and fun, of, and did I mention energetic? On top of that she speaks well and everything she says makes sense! I'm worried that I'll come across sounding like a loser, or that you guys will laugh at my weird accent... Or that I'll never figure out how to make the damn things in the first place!

Anyway, that's just an idea that's on the table....I've spent way to long on here... I need to get to work. I'd love to hear your opinions on today's post and any suggestions you have regarding marketing, vlogging (including what you'd like to see me vlogging about) or what you want to see on the blog in future!

~Add The Sphinx Project to your Goodreads shelf~

~Like my Facebook page~

~Follow me on Twitter~

The Writer's Sin Series - Chocolate

2011-09-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I've removed this post because, to be honest, this blog isn't for other writers. This blog is for readers- some of them may be interested in this post too, but I just don't think this series fits in with the rest of this blog.

Fear not, if you did like it, I haven't deleted it completely. I've simply moved it. From now on you can see it, and the rest of the series, posted on a brand new blog which I will be running with the help of some other health-conscious writers.

The Deadly Sins Of Writers

It's Time For A New Project

2011-09-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

On September twentieth I sent my manuscript for The Sphinx Project whizzing through cyberspace towards my lovely editor Rhonda. Since then I have spent a lot of time looking after my woefully neglected boyfriend (who is actually on his way home from work now so I'll keep this short), watched a few films and caught up on a lot of sleep (when not working unsociable hours in a nightclub). I also started a new project.

The new project is the first in what I expect to be a trilogy- a young adult fantasy featuring Mali, a young woman who is trained to protect the future king. I've mentioned it before but now I'm actually well into it, 8,000 words to be exact. Although, it doesn't sound as impressive when you think it will be around 100,000 words when finished; that's not even ten percent! I'm really enjoying it so far, and I'm hoping to reach 30,000 words before Rhonda sends The Sphinx Project back in early October.

I've been trying really hard to figure out a title for Mali's tale, but thus far I've found nothing but dead ends. I'd love to be able to say "I'm working on this story called _ _ _ _ _" but instead I end up saying something like ""I'm working on this book about this girl calle Mali, who, um, she's kinda like... Um..." To be honest, if anyone asks now I tend to say something along the lines of "I can't tell you, it's a secret and its alllll mine." It was the same for The Sphinx Project, it only received it's name when I was pressed by the artist to tell him what he needed to put on the cover. Come on title muse, you know I love you, how 'bout you help a gal out?

Anyway... I'm sure some of you are thinking "Hold up, she said The Spinx Project was part of a series, why's she writing about this Mali person?"

I'm writing about Mali because I need a break. I love Michaela, but after working on her story for so long I need some time out. Michaela's story is nowhere near finished and there is going to be a lot more to come in the future, but even the most devoted mother needs time to herself every now and then. I'm planning on starting book two in The Chimaera Chronicles early next year, for release late in 2012.

Anyway, my Mr. is home, it's time for me to sign off. I hope you're all well and I can't wait to share more details about Michaela with you!

~Add The Sphinx Project to your Goodreads shelf~

~Like my Facebook page~

~Follow me on Twitter~

So they say it's not all about looks...

2011-09-19T05:58:00.000-07:00

A little while back I offered up the first look of the cover for The Sphinx Project as an incentive to help my Facebook page reach two hundred likes. I'm glad to say it has done its job. I posted the cover on Facebook yesterday, so that those who worked hard to see it got the first look, and now it is time to show it off here.

I was lucky enough to have Matthew from Shaed Studios design my cover and I think it's pretty cool.

After the time it took to reach two hundred likes, I thought three hundred would be a fair number for the next goal. Boy was I wrong, it was way too easy. Within a couple of hours the page had already zoomed past the big three-double-zero. I thought I would be announcing it here today to try and encourage others to join, but instead I'm announcing another reward! In return for the page reaching three hundred likes I am giving you all a teaser from the book, but you have the choice as to what teaser you want. Head along to the Facebook page, like it if you haven't already, and vote on which one you want.

So, onto the next milestone... What should it be? It can't be easy, I don't want to give all of the book away before it's even released! This one will be a little different. To obtain the next teaser from the book my Facebook page needs to reach five hundred likes. But wait, there's more!

There is a website called Goodreads, where you can organise and rate your currently reading, read and to read books, as well as interact with other readers. Currently forty-three people have added The Sphinx Project to their 'to-read' shelf, but to see this teaser that number will have to rise to one hundred.

So, there you have it. In order to get your hands on that next teaser the Facebook page needs to reach five hundred likes and one hundred people must have added The Sphinx Project to their 'to-read' shelves. To break it down that means that another 184 people must like the page, and 57 people need to add The Sphinx Project to their 'to-read' shelves.

Make sure to vote on which excerpt you'd like to read too, because I'll be posting the winner at noon tomorrow.

~Add The Sphinx Project to your Goodreads shelf~

~Like my Facebook page~

~Follow me on Twitter~

Girl Crush Monday - Jackson Pearce

2011-09-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

At the moment I am well into revisions for The Sphinx Project. I'm going through my beta-readers' notes, protecting my manuscript from giant spiders and preparing to submit it to my editor on September twentieth... Of course, this means I'm also putting my best procrastination skills into practise. With the arrival of brand-new super fast broadband this means just one thing: Youtube!

I've spent most of today watching video after video after video, most of which have been from Jackson Pearce's channel. This has inspired me to create a brand new segment for my blog, Girl Crush Monday.

Girl crush: Feelings of admiration and adoration which a girl has for another girl, without wanting to shag said girl. a non-sexual attraction, usually based on veneration at some level.

Urban Dictionary

From now on Monday is officially reserved for blogs relating to some pretty awesome women (well, when I'm not piled under other projects). Whether I admire their passion, their determination, or their shoes, they're all women who inspire me on some level or other. So here goes, my first ever girl crush Monday, featuring none other than Jackson Pearce.

Jackson Pearce is twenty-six years old, an author who currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with a slightly cross-eyed cat, a space dog and a lot of secondhand furniture. She has a degree with a major in English and a minor in philosophy, and until recently coached colourguard and winterguard.

Jackson has so far released three books; As You Wish, Sisters Red and Sweetly, all of which are written for young adults. Personally, I'm most excited about Sisters Red, a new take on the old Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale featuring two strong female characters.

I'll be honest, I've followed Jackson on Twitter for quite some time, but until recently I haven't had the means to actually watch her vlogs, and I still haven't read her books (They're on my TBR pile!). Even though I've only had access to her tweets and website I still liked her, and I've come to admire her. I love how outspoken she is, and her energy shines through even though she only has 140 characters to express herself.

As of today my admiration has officially bloomed into a full-scale girl crush, having FINALLY been able to watch her (very numerous) vlogs. I love this woman, she is officially awesome. She is incredibly funny and informative, and even more energetic than I was expecting from her tweets!

Jackson posts several videos a week, on subjects ranging from book piracy and censorship to how to put on a wig, fangirls and the zombie apocalypse. If you want to check her out visit her website or her Youtube channel now.

And to finish, may I present Jackson Pearce talking about why she writes for teens:

A Rose By Any Other Name...

2011-09-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

I recently announced that my debut novel would be titled RESURGENCE... Unfortunately that has had to change.

Early last year another book was released, it sat on the New York Times best-sellers list for about two months, but before it was even released the movie rights were optioned for several million dollars. No, I'm not telling you what it was called, if you really want to know you can look it up yourself. Unfortunately this book contains some remarkable similarities to the novel previously titled resurgence. I've never read the book, I was informed of this by a loyal friend and beta-reader and I appreciate it very much.

I have to admit, I panicked a little when I found out. Especially when Wikipedia reinforced the fact that some of the fairly major plot points were almost identical. I consulted a number of authors via online forums and the general consensus was that even though they sound very similar they will never be exactly the same. Every author has their own personal style and way of expressing themselves. A huge number of them also stated that as far as they were concerned there are no longer any original ideas, simply original takes on old ideas. On the flip-side, though, I was a little concerned when some of them suggested I play up the similarities to target his already substantial fan base.

Nicola Morgan's book Write To Be Published - which is an amazing read for any writer - has a lot of great advice, and in this case I believe I'll go with her suggestion instead:

"Certainly, it is worth making every effort to ensure your story will be as different as possible."

I don't want this author thinking I'm riding on his coattails, I don't what him to think that I plagiarised his story and most importantly I don't want my readers to walk away thinking I'd ripped them off with a knock-off book. I have worked too god-damned hard on this to let anything like that diminish what I have achieved, this story has been a huge part of my life for a very long time.

Which finally brings me to the matter of the title. In an effort to distinguish my novel from this book, and others in similar genres, I've decided to rename it. No, this isn't the only step I'll be taking to differentiate my work from that of other authors, but as the majority of you reading this blog have yet to see the inside of the book these are not changes that you will notice.

The new title, for the novel formerly know as Resurgence will be... Drum roll please...

The Sphinx Project

The Sphinx Project is the first novel in the Chimaera Chronicles, which will encompass five or six books by the time Michaela's story has been told. I, and those who have already read the novel, think that this new title suits the book significantly more than the previous title, it really does tell you a lot more about the story, it is also slightly more original.

For those of you who liked the initial title, fear not! I have plans to use it at a later date, probably for another book in the series, but for now it's just not appropriate.

If you want to find out more about The Sphinx Project this keep your eye on this blog for updates, or else check out the links below. Don't forget, when my Facebook page reaches 200 likes I shall be releasing the official cover of The Sphinx Project!

~Add The Sphinx Project to your Goodreads shelf~

~Like my Facebook page~

~Follow me on Twitter~

As Promised...

2011-08-31T16:54:00.000-07:00

I've been teasing for a while, and now the time has come... It's time for you to find out what Resurgence is all about!

RESURGENCE

Michaela and her sister aren't normal. Neither are the others on their team. Not many people have been conditioned for their future occupation since before they were born. But after years of experiments, training, and mistreatment, none of them hesitate at the chance to escape.

However, the outside world isn't what they were expecting and, for the first time in her life, Michaela must step out of her sister's shadow to save the others from the worst fate imaginable.

So there it is, I'd love to know what you think?

And even more exciting news, I've just received the final cover design! I've decided that I'm going to reveal it as soon as my Facebook page reaches 200 likes. It's getting there slowly, so make sure you head over there and join in, the sooner the page reaches 200 likes the sooner I get to show off the cover!

What's In A Name

2011-08-25T09:04:00.000-07:00

So a while ago I said that I would be releasing the title and blurb of my debut novel here, on this blog, on September first. There is a possibility that I couldn't hold it in, and the title may have slipped out on my Facebook page. For those who don't 'like' my Facebook, I guess I should share it here too.

The title of my début novel will be....

Resurgence

So, what do you think? Do you like it?

The blurb is still top secret for now, you'll get that when you're supposed to.

I Think It's Time For A Change

2011-08-14T17:29:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it, I've always been one of those girls... You know, the ones who seem to wear jeans and t-shirts all the time.

All of my life I've seen girls who just have it, the ones who can effortlessly throw on anything and make it look cool. I, on the other hand, always saw things that I would love to wear, but I've never had the guts to actually go out in them. I'd try things on and feel so completely out of place, as though people would think I was trying too hard, I always worried that people would laugh at me. I've always wondered how those girls have the courage to go out wearing such awesome outfits, did they know the whole time that they would look awesome? Or do they have doubts just like me?

Well, it's time for a change!

Today a friend of mine bought a gorgeous bracelet from an online store called draculaclothing.com. I liked it, so I went and had, what I thought would be, a browse. I immediately fell in love with their jewellery. It is just so incredibly awesome, and a lot of it is really quirky too.

I was already planning my future shopping list before I even realised they sold clothes too. These clothes aren't your run of the mill high street designs, but man are they awesome! I probably won't be wearing their designs from top to toe, but there are a number of pieces that I am really keen to incorporate into my new wardrobe.

I know that as soon as I step out I'll get all self-conscious and nervous, but screw it... I like these things, and for once I just want to ignore those nagging little voices in my head that are telling me that it's a bad idea.

As soon as I can afford to splash out on some new clothes I'm going to bypass the jeans and do it properly!

So, are you like me? Always worried that you'll try and follow a trend, just to fall on your face? Or are you someone who knows you look good no matter what?

I'm Still Buzzing

2011-08-10T13:04:00.000-07:00

I'm rather excited. I have been since I made up my mind to self-publish and posted that last blog. There are now only 84 days before my début novel needs to be with the editor, and 112 days until it is released, so I thought I would give you all a bit of an update.

In regards to the book's progress I am editing like crazy, trying to get it into perfect condition. Very shortly I shall be sending it to my beta-readers and then, once they've combed through it, I'm sending it off to the editor.

The book will be released on December first, just in time for Christmas. But that doesn't mean you have to wait that long to learn more about it! On September first I shall be announcing the title of my book, as well as it's blurb here, on my blog. I shall also be launching a small contest, where one lucky reader will have the chance to win a digital edition of my début novel. But that's not all, folk! On October first there will be another surprise waiting for you, and on the first of November there's going to be an extra-special treat!

Thank you so much for your support so far, and I hope that when the time comes you enjoy my book.

I'm scared!

2011-08-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

Actually... I am absolutely terrified!

Recently I have made a decision, a huge one. It's one that I have been considering for a very long time, in fact, the very first post on this blog dealt with the subject in question, and I had been thinking about it well before I wrote that... I have decided to self-publish.

So what is it that has me trembling in my boots?

To begin with there is still a certain stigma attached to being self-published, many people still see it as the last desperate act of a failed author. More and more people are now choosing the self-publishing route, as opposed to pursuing it because they don't have any other choice. These days there are some very talented writers pursuing their own path, and although it is raising the standard, and reputation, of self-publishing the prejudice still exists.

I'm also worried about the level of work that I will be able to produce. Traditionally published authors have the resources of huge publishing houses behind them, and yet there are often mistakes to be found in their finished books. If, with all these resources, their work still contains errors, what chance do I have of creating the perfectly polished novel? That's not to say I won't try my best, quite the opposite, along with my six beta readers, who have been so encouraging throughout the time I have been writing, I am planning on enlisting the aid of a professional editor. They don't come cheap but I believe that if a reader is going to pay good money for a book that I have written then they deserve the best product I can provide.

Most of all, I am afraid of failing. I have spent countless hours pouring my heart into my writing and I believe in my work, but there is the ever-present fear that no one else will like it. What will happen if, after all the time I have spent working on it, not a single copy sells? What if I end up receiving page after page of awful one star reviews? Am I strong enough to handle that?

In the end, all of these fears are things that I have to deal with. I made up my mind to do this, I have taken the challenge and if I fail I'm the one who will have to deal with the consequences. I want to share my stories, I want to weave tales that enthral my readers and I want to draw them so closely into my worlds that they can't face leaving them until the tales are complete.

Some people think that by self-publishing you’re saying you don’t need anyone else to tell you you belong on bookshelves; you don’t need a deadline or an editorial team backing your every word. I'm not saying this, I simply want to try it my way for once. It may work, it may not, but there is much to learn with either outcome.

Like I said, this was an incredibly difficult decision. I am not against traditional publishing, far from it, one day I would love to be published. It would be amazing to work with an editor from a big publishing house, but for now I want to see if I can make it on my own. I want to try my hand at all the tasks that would usually be divided up to dozens of people in different departments.

At the moment I am in the process of editing the book which will soon become my début novel. If everything goes well this so far untitled work will be available just in time for Christmas. I hope that you might consider indulging yourself in it for a little winter treat.

Wacky Races Down Memory Lane

2011-07-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

My blog about Captain Planet really triggered a trip down memory lane! After posting it I became obsessed with all of the cartoons that I was obsessed with years ago!

I grew up in the nineties, and although a lot of the REALLY awesome old school ones (like She-Ra and Thunder Cats) were all before my time (or claimed by my brother) I still think I did pretty well.

We had the old favourites like Ninja Turtles, Wacky Races, Yogi Bear, The Smurfs, The Jetsons, Topcat and The Flintstones... You know... All those good old-fashioned Hanna-Barbera style shows. These are the ones I began with, and probably watched the most of. I remember them, cherish them and I still love them, but I think that the ones I remember most prominently were the ones that came a tiny bit later. Unlike captain planet, these shows created no desire within me to continue the story after the show had finished for the day.

In the 1990's anime flooded into New Zealand in the form of children's cartoons, those are the shows that really stand out for me.

The first anime I remember was Samurai Pizza Cats, which was just so fun and idiotic that it kept a then five year-old me entertained. Then there was Sailor Moon, that's the first time I remember actually acting out scenes and arguing over who could be what character (I always wanted to be Sailor Moon, but I would probably prefer Jupiter or Mars now :P).

I loved Dragon Ball Z, but I got sick of one half hour episode covering barely a five minute time span (yep, the spirit bombs still growing...). Then there was something about huge robots that people controlled, even though the robots were sort of alive... I can't really remember that one, if anyone has any idea I'd love to know the name!

There are three that stand out at the forefront of my mind though; Yu gi oh, Cardcaptor Sakura and Pokemon. I could quite happily watch them again today. All of them pulled me in, I wanted to collect the cards, capture the Pokemon and master Duel Monsters...

I always wanted a Gameboy, just so I could play Pokemon myself. I closeted myself away whenever we went to a family friends' house so that I could play Pokemon Blue on their computer, because it was the only chance I had... The desire for the games never went away and, when I started working in an electronic gaming store, I ended up purchasing Pokemon on Nintendo DS... And I still play it. Better late than never.

I also have quite an interest in Magic the Gathering, which could be credited to my early love of Yu-gi-oh... Oh... And Miriam's insistence that I try it out :P

*Sigh* I wanna watch Yu-gi-oh now :(

Everyone Deserves Their Own Happy Ever After

2011-07-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

There have been so many horrible stories in the news lately. Stories that fill me with sadness, bitterness and, in some cases, complete rage (I'm looking at you Anders Breivik), but this story left me with warm fuzzies.

I know it's not exactly new news, but today I came across this page, which contained a whole set of photos featuring just married couples in New York State. All of the newly-weds are gay. [Click the photos for source sites]

Look at the joy on their faces and their obvious affection, this absolutely makes my day.

Congratulations to all newly-weds, whether you're gay or not, everyone deserves their own happily ever after.

It Wasn't That Awful... Was It?

2011-07-26T08:40:00.000-07:00

Last night I didn't really get all that much writing done, I spent most of my time poring over one of the first stories that I ever wrote. Looking at it now I see how awful it really was, but I still like the concept and the characters. It's actually rather amazing to see how my writing has evolved in such a short time... Well, I hope it's evolved, maybe I just don't realise how awful it still is...

Now that I've caught up with it, figured out what is missing and what desperately needs changing, I've decided that I'm going to push on with this one. I really want to finish it. I know if I can get the writing sorted and fix all of the little details it could be an amazing story.

The currently untitled manuscript is just over 27,000 words long and I intend to increase it to a total of just over 80,000 words. It is a young adult fantasy and is designed to be the first of a trilogy, if all goes well. This is a character I have always wanted to write about, in some form or another. I'm hoping like heck that I can bring this story to a point where it is suitable for others to read.

My current goal is to finish and polish this story and the one for which I finished my first draft a little while back by December first. As of that date I would like to be able to either query them or begin to self-publish them, depending on which route I decide to follow.

What are your earlier stories like? What are you working on now?

I Want This Dress

2011-07-25T09:28:00.000-07:00

It is 5.30pm here, which means only one thing: It's time to brew some tea and sit down to a MASSIVE night of writing. I'm gunning to get as far through my young adult fantasy as possible so that Mali's story starts to take on a bit of character.

Before I dive into my novel though, I thought I would share a little something with you which I completely love. You see, the other day I tripped over a pretty awesome Tumbler account thanks to Jani... And I just had to share this:

Yes, that's a dress made of books. I would SO wear that!

Want some other ideas for what to do with old books? Check some pretty nifty ones out here.

Captain Planet, He's Our Hero, Gonna Take Pollution Down To Zero!

2011-07-23T14:06:00.000-07:00

The other day I heard some awesome news, Captain planet and the Planeteers is going to be turned into a movie!

For those of you who aren't familiar with the cartoon it centres around Gaia, the spirit of the earth. After being awakened by the ecosystem's screams of distress, caused by the actions of the humans, she sends five magic rings to five teenagers. Each of the ring controls an element of the nature; Earth, wind, water, fire and heart.

The teens, nicknamed the Planeteers, are tasked with protecting the earth. In times where the the rings aren't enough, they can combine their powers to summon Captain Planet.

Don Murphy, of Transformers fame, along with his production company Angry Films have signed a contract giving them exclusive rights to develop a live action motion picture. This is freaking brilliant!

I am so excited about this, I remember running around pretending I was Linka, able to create wind from some tacky little plastic ring. Boy I miss those days.

Did you ever watch Captain Planet? Are you excited about the motion picture? Which planeteer did you pretend to be?

Gaming Agenders

2011-07-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit of a geek girl, there's no denying it... If I had the money I would still be addicted to World of Warcraft, if I had someone to play with I would be playing Magic: The Gathering at every chance and if I had a decent internet connection I would be pwning D.O.T.A.

Recently I've been playing a bit of X-Box, although I have to admit that every time I do so I feel like a traitor! I grew up with Playstation and am still a PS girl through and through.

The other day I was playing Mortal Kombat vs. DC Comics and I realised something: If I have the chance to play as a female character I will always choose that over the male option.

After some intensive research (a quick Twitter poll) I found that in most cases, this was the case, girls like to be girls. We like the opportunity to kick ass like we can't in the real world, and prove that girls are just as good as, if not better than guys, even if they are gaming characters.

My research is backed up by THIS article, which talks about the gender distribution in World of Warcraft. Of the data collected only 3% of women played as a male character. But the thing that interests me most about this article are the statistics regarding male players: Of the 840 men involved in the data collected 193. These numbers mean that 23% of males surveyed preferred playing as a character of the opposite sex, almost a quarter of the participants.

A quick scroll through the comments shows a number of reasons for the gender bending, but there are two that seem to pop up more than usual: The aesthetics and the assistance.

One of these reasons is that many believe female characters to receive more gifts and assistance, but Jean believes this is as much to do with behaviour as it does with appearance. She says "Whether or not you get attention from male players who want to shower you with "gifts" depends, like rl, on if you act like a tramp or not. The sexier, flirtier, more helpless you act, the more you will attract that sort of organ-driven male player to give you things."

Another opinion held by many of the commentators was that the female characters were much nicer to look at. Jean observes that Game designers do a horrible job at making males look decent and says that most of the time the females have huge tits with lots of cleavage and the males all look like sexless children. Another contributor said it more plainly: f I am going to stare at a butt all game it might as well be a butt I'd like to look at.

Jean continued to note something else which was rather interesting:

I will also tell you that most women can tell which females are being played by males after hanging out with them even a short time because they play women the way their little pubescent little dreams WANT their women to act. Most women, women of any quality at all, do not act in RL the way most males play their female characters.

And to finish I would like to share this last reason, because I found it rather giggle-worthy:

I like to hurl vicious insults at he screen, and playing a female character allows me to use one of my all-time, if least accessible lines, "You just got your a** whipped by a girl."

So, when you play games do you play as your own gender? If not, why not?

[Source]

Is Outlining For You?

2011-07-01T09:17:00.000-07:00

So the Spring Into Summer challenge has got me thinking about the way I write, or to be more specific, the way I prepare to write. In the past I haven't don't much more than jot down the most basic of details, a few points of interest around which my plot evolves, but I know others work much differently.

During Spring Into Summer I decided to try the other way, to see if it could stave off those horrible 'which way next' moments. I set up a spreadsheet with every minute detail mapped out. I plotted characters, locations, events, clothing, everything I could think of... I even drew maps. I worked hard, well, for the first few chapters anyway, but then I got a little stir-crazy. I wanted to write, and you know what? I couldn't.

After all the time I had spent outlining you would think it would have come easily, but it didn't... After all of that I just wanted to write something else, a different project where I could just let the ideas flow naturally.

So what about you, do you plot out every single detail? Or do you leave it up to the muse watching over you to guide your hand en route?

Happy Little Memories

2011-06-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

As you grow older there are often times when a certain item, scent or sound reminds you of your childhood. Many things bring back the memories of my early years, but recently I have discovered one that I had not been expecting: The Edmonds cook book.

The Edmonds cook book is a New Zealand favourite. First published in 1908 it was initially sent to every couple who announced their engagement in the papers, and was also available for housewives who applied to Edmonds in writing.

My mother always had the book close by whenever she was in the kitchen, it was easy to find in the third drawer down, just below the cutlery and kitchen utensils, and later on the top shelf of our pantry. I remember baking chocolate cakes and walnut loaves, ANZAC cookies and fudge.

My grandmother sent me my copy of the book, as she gifted one to my mother when she first left home. Gran has gone through several editions during the time since she first became a farmers wife oh so many years ago.

I didn't realise that such a small thing would bring back so many memories. When I got in the car after Andrew had picked me up from work I ended up sitting there crying, after pulling it out of it's brown paper wrappings.

Such a small thing, so many happy memories.

What brings back your childhood happiness?

What Am I Writing?

2011-06-24T15:38:00.000-07:00

So it has been a while since I posted... Things have been a little insane with work but mostly it is just because of writing.

Tomorrow it will have been 50 days since Spring Into Summer began, and therefore time for the final check-in. To date I have managed to write a grand total of 68,525 words over the fifty days of the challenge.

These words were spread out over four projects, I thought perhaps I might share something about them here:

For story one I wrote 55,183 words. This untitled young adult novel is the project for which I completed my first draft several weeks ago. The story revolves around Michaela, a young women with some special genetic quirks that aren't exactly natural. Michaela and her sisters are all unique in a way that would make them a valued commodity for those who could use their particular sets of skills.

Story two received an additional 4,866 words. Although it is currently unfinished this story is about Emaliana, or Mali as she is better know. Mali is of mixed decent, half elf and half human and is sworn to protect the royal line as her ancestors did before her.

Project three is quite new, just 2,883 words long and to be honest I have no idea where it is going to go. I'm really enjoying writing it, and I'm interested to see where it will go. Oh, and I get to write about a princess.

The last project is one that I've wanted to do for many years... Long before I consciously decided that I wanted to be a writer. It is still only short, having just reached 5,500 words, but I am really enjoying it. Gaia, my main character, was abducted for the sins of her father and thrown into the violent underbelly of the ancient city where she has to fight to survive.

So there you have it... My current projects and the writing that got me through #SIS50K... I know they may sound kind of lame, but I'm hoping they won't be when I'm done.

What are you working on at the moment?

What's A Little Competition?

2011-06-09T09:32:00.000-07:00

So you know you want to write. You start your story, but somewhere along the way you lose your motivation. It may not be completely gone, you'll still sign on and write a few words here or there and consider yourself progressing, but you aren't dedicating yourself to it as much as you know you could be.

I know it sometimes feels like you''re trudging through knee-high sludge, trying to get on with your story, but how are you supposed to get through it? I don't know about you, but these are the main things that push me into my writing and make me get stuck in.

Just a quick notehI write because I enjoy it, I know it is highly unlikely that I will ever be able to earn a living off it, but I can dream, can't I? Everyone dreams of doing a job they love.

I hate my job: If you follow me on Twitter you have probably read about some trash I have to deal with at work, but I'm not going to start an 'I hate my job' rant here. I know it is incredibly difficult for writers to earn a decent living from their writing, but at times it seems like the only hope I have for getting out of my dead-end job. We are barely earning enough to make ends meet and after all the bills are paid there is nothing left to put aside. We want to relocate ourselves to a bigger city so that we could search for jobs that we would actually enjoy (and have some relevance to our qualifications or future aspirations). That's not to say I wouldn't love to become a full time author, that would be a dream come true, but I'm not completely delusional.

Guilt: Although my current twenty hour a weeks feels longer than any 70 hour week ever did, it is still only twenty hours worth of pay, and on minimum wage it just doesn't make the cut. Andrew, my partner, works a hard full time job, taking care of the majority of our expenses. It's not that I don't look for more work, it is simply a matter of no other work being available. Lets put it this way, a 12 hour position in my workplace attracted over 200 applicants, there is just nothing going. As I stated in my previous point, I know it's unlikely that I could earn money on my writing, but at least this way it feels like I'm doing some sort of work as opposed to just pottering around the rest of the time.

Competition: I can't help it, I'm competitive and I always have been. Whether it is against myself, racing to see if I can beat a certain daily word count, or against others to see who can write the most words in the shortest time, I love competition. I can probably credit competition for the completion of my first draft so much earlier than expected, it really pushed me that much further.

I'm not saying that these factors would motivate everyone, just that they are some of the things that push me to write when the words aren't really flowing.

What motivates you to get stuck in to your writing?

I May Need Some Help

2011-06-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

So, looking around the blog I can see it is a bit boring... I have my little wall, where I tend to post my rambling thoughts and bore the living daylight out of everyone, and I have an 'about me' section, that is it.

I just can't think of what else I should add. I'm unpublished, I so can't post any information about where you can buy my books, and I don't want to post random rubbish just to fill space.

When you visit someone's blog (like mine) what do you like to see? What pages do more than fill up space? If they are just going to be fluff I think I would rather just leave my blog feeling a little empty.

What are the favourite parts of your favourite bloggers' blogs? What turns you off a blog completely? Help? Pretty please?

That Pesky Little Imagination...

2011-06-06T09:08:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, my name is Kate and I suffer from Shiny New Story Syndrome, or SNSS if you want to get all smart about it.

Some of you may well be familiar with this little problem, some of you may have been lucky enough to escape it, but since I started writing it has been the bane of my existence.

The easiest way to explain it, in my case anyway, is to imagine that you are starting a new project. You think of a character or a situation and ideas flood into you, propelling your pen across the paper as though the muse is literally guiding it onwards. Of course no one actually knows what those contraptions are now, those pen-things, but allow me to exercise some poetic license okay? You write and you write, filling your pages with meaningful words displayed in beautiful calligraphy. All of a sudden you pause, quill (yeah, I changed my mind) suspended above the parchment as a solitary drop of ink slips from it's tip to stain your page. In your mind's eye you are seeing something completely different. A new place, a new period in time or perhaps a completely different character.

Of course you could just ignore these nuisance creatures, tugging at your thoughts and diverting your concentration, but I tend to be awful at paying attention to anything begin with. After writing ten thousand or so words you shunt your carefully crafted words to one side and start anew with your shiny new story idea.

In all honesty this is probably the reason that I have been unable to complete an entire first draft before now. I found the will to persevere whilst working on my SIS50K challenge that I mentioned in my last blog and I'm glad of it. Now that I have had a taste I can't wait to complete my next draft.

Have you conquered your SNSS? Or do you still suffer from it? What do you find to be the best cure for this literary malady?

#SIS50K Update

2011-06-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

So I thought, seeing as I wrote about the spring into summer challenge the other day, I might as well update you on my progress, so here goes:

As of check in on Friday (although I only actually checked in today it doesn't change the numbers) I had completed exactly 13,500 words, bringing my #sis50k total to 35,986.

As this is only the fourth week the target would have been for 28,000 words - one thousand a day - which gives me 7,986 words to tide me over for this week, which I need.

I am currently working on a project that I started some time ago, but I am restarting is and attacking it from a different angle. I am also, for the first time, actually attempting to outline it beforehand. I have gone about it in a very organized way; I have a spreadsheet with chapter details and what I want to convey, I have a document on which I record details of my world's climate and history, another for fauna and yet another for flora. I am trying to pay as much attention to everything as I possibly can because in the future I have plans for different stories to be set within the same world. I'm not even going to get started on the details and information I have stashed away for my characters!

I suspect that most of this week shall be dedicated to getting to know my characters and story, before leaping back into the actual writing. I'm hoping that I can get my plot on track enough so that I can start on my first draft as soon as possible. Fingers crossed I will be able to keep up with #sis50k.

The big question: Do you outline your stories before you start? Or are you a fan of just diving in? Perhaps you sit somewhere in between? I would love to know what works for you!

Spring Into Summer

2011-06-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

Prior to Monday's blog about finishing my first draft I had been a bit slack in the updating department. My excuse? I've been writing. Surprising, right?

At the moment I am participating in the Spring into Summer 50k writing challenge... thing. Kaz Mahoney, author of The Iron Witch, is the brains of the operation. Kaz explains her inspiration for the challenge by saying "Spring Into Summer is a way to give me the push I need to get back to ‘first draft’ writing.".

It's pretty self-explanatory really, the aim is to write 50,000 words in 50 days, a slightly more achievable version of NaNoWriMo, with weekly check ins. At the time of writing this blog we (all one hundred of us) are 31 days in and my current word count stands at 46,638 words, plus another 10,203 which I accidentally deleted. The challenge has really been encouraging me to focus on my project.

Seeing as I have now finished the first draft of my initial WIP (I started it before the challenge) I am spending today outlining, instead of writing. Alas, there shall be no increase in my word count, but come tomorrow I will be diving straight back in. I have decided to work on a project I started some time ago, a young adult fantasy centering around a young women of mixed blood called Maliana.

So, do you participate in any writing challenges? Which are you favorites?

Although it is now too late to join, if you are interested in following the Spring Into Summer participants you can do so by following the #sis50k hash tag on Twitter or the weekly check ins on Kaz's blog.

Can It Ever Match Your First Time?

2011-05-30T15:07:00.000-07:00

So today marks a huge milestone for me: For the first time in my life I have completely finished the first draft of an original novel.

Clocking in with a grand total of 54,501 words it is not exactly as long as I had been planning, or hoping, but I guess that is what revisions are for. To be honest, in the past I have never written this many words in one project.

I didn't really realize how close I was to finishing, it kind of surprised me. The whole time that I had been writing I was thinking that the finished story would end up between 70,000 and 80,000 words, so when the natural crept up on me 15,000 words early it was a bit of a shock.

I can't explain the excitement that erupted when I realized I was finished; I wanted to yell, or scream, or laugh, or dance but I wasn't exactly sure which. I settled on chips with mayo in celebration instead.

What does that mean for me now? Well Michaela is going to be pushed away into a draw in the back of my mind for the next month (or so). I am going to occupy my time with a different writing project. In another month I'll be pulling Michaela back out again to start on some intense revisions, I already have several pages of things that I've decided I need to look at or change.

Have you ever experienced the satisfaction of finishing a first draft? Does the feeling fade with each following manuscript? Or does it repeat itself with every first draft you complete?

Why I Write Fanfiction

2011-04-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

If you read the first version of my 'about me' section, you will be aware that I participate in the writing of fan fiction. I am sure that opinions on this will be varied, so I thought I would write a blog expressing my opinions on fan fiction and why I write it.

When I was in primary school - elementary for those in America I believe - I remember creating the typical picture books on folded up pieces of paper. when I was five or six I vividly recall ever so carefully illustrating my story with a picture of an ant queen, crown and all. It appeared that every other little girl in my class had the same idea and, at the end of the session, Mrs. Dorset patiently explained that, no, not even queen ants wear crowns (nor do soldier ants have machine guns).

The first time I really attempted a 'proper' story I was ten years old. I worked my way through my entire exercise book writing my 'novel'. This book was my pride and joy, I was generally a little rascal who avoided homework like the plague, but I was constantly scribbling away within it's pages.

What was my first novel about? Well, There was Rodgerigo (Who eventually became Rodger after my teacher laughed at the name) and some woman, who became stranded on a desert island after their boat sank, or ran ashore, or something. They fall in love and make the most of what they have by building a tree house. They expanded their lofty home when their first child arrived, and kept building as their family got bigger. Of course this probably involved 'so and so was born' with no additional details of their conception, but they did have lots of babies. I don't remember much else about it.

It sounds familiar, right? Yes, that's right. Inadvertently I had begun to write a fan fiction of the Swiss Family Robinson, which had been one of my favorite books at the time.

During my time in Ms. King's class she introduced me to Harry Potter. For some reason I found myself reading Chamber of Secrets first, but nonetheless I fell in love with these books. Throughout the next few years I read them, re-read them and then I read them again. I hung around fan sites and generally obsessed about them.

As I left primary school, and ventured into intermediate - a school that caters for children aged ten to twelve, designed to prepare students for high school - I put aside my writing, but I eventually I discovered what fan fiction actually was and this lead to a whole new level of Harry Potter love. Whilst I waited long years for a new book to devour (in about three hours flat) I had all of these weird and wonderful takes on the Harry Potter world to keep me entertained. I eventually tried my hand at these stories (and looking back it thoroughly embarrasses me) but I believe this is what got me back into the 'writing frame of mind'.

I enjoy writing fan fiction, it helps me connect with people around me who may share similar interests, but I also believe it helps me evolve my writing and helps me to improve.

There is also the fact that I can not benefit commercially from fan fiction, this comforts me. I know this may sound strange, but you hear people talking about practice novels to work on their storytelling prior to writing THE novel, the one that will get you published, this idea terrifies me. All of my ideas are my 'babies' I hope and dream that once I have crafted them into a story as close to perfect as possible, that I will be able to publish and share them. I don't like the idea of 'wasting' my ideas, as good for my writing as it could be. This is where fan fiction comes in. These stories, characters and world inspire their own ideas and themes, which pull me towards them. I can work on my craft, whilst sharing my work and receiving feedback in the form of reviews from readers and fellow fan fiction writers.

I know there are some authors that intensely dislike fan fiction, and although I don't necessarily agree with their arguments and reasoning I will respect their wishes, you won't find me writing fan fiction about writings by Yasmine Galenorn or Robin Hobb.

When writing fan fiction I deliberately choose to write about minor or invented characters; You can see, in the fan fiction I have currently posted, that I chose to write about Shadowkissed Anna, a character from Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series. This character is only really mentioned in passing, as a figure who lived well before any of the characters in the story, but I felt a connection to her and a draw to write about her story.

There are a number of reasons I choose to write about the most minor of characters, but the main one is because this way I have more freedom to write as I wish, I am less likely to screw with the authors work. I respect that the authors have made their characters a certain way for a reason; Harry Potter wears round glasses, Draco Malfoy is straight (well, he has a wife in Deathly Hallows anyway) and Rose chose Dimka. These are part's of the authors work and if I were to alter them I would be as good as saying, yours isn't good enough, you did it wrong, you should have written it this way. Which I think is rather rude. I generally take characters and put them in new situations, whilst attempting to maintain as much of the authors original 'feel' as possible.

I have read of numerous published authors, who have written fan fiction in the past. Although, ashamedly, I don't recognize most of the names listed I have heard Meg Cabot's name mentioned a few times.

There is one last reason, that I write fan fiction. I am hoping to reach out to people who enjoy my writing, in a vain hope that perhaps one day, they may be convinced to take a chance on reading one of my original works of fiction one day. It would be absolutely amazing to me if someone were to one day create a fan fiction situated in the world of my books.

My Big Decision

2011-04-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

As a ‘pre-published author’, sometime in the near future I will have a huge decision to make: Should I pursue traditional publication? Or should I try my hand at self publishing?

For a lot of people, this decision is easy. The traditional route of incessant agent querying appears to be the winner. But I just don’t know if that is right for me.

Until recently I was very much on the bus with this idea. I had planned to finish my manuscript and send it off to my ‘dream’ agents. Of course they would accept it, I’d earn a huge advance and become a NYT bestseller. I would never have to earn another penny ever again. (Don’t worry, I was dreaming. I have always known it wouldn’t be that easy.)

In recent time though (since my discovery of self-publishing and Amanda Hocking) I have begun to question this. After the success Amanda Hockings has been able to achieve it seems every man and his dog are jumping on the bandwagon for their chance at easy literary fame.

To be honest I really like the sound of self-publishing, purely for the challenge. There is a lot of work that goes into self-publishing. You have to write the book, figure out how to get said book onto Amazon (or any other platform that you are willing to use), create book covers, market the life out of them (without spamming), interact with readers etc etc etc. I would love to be able to say I succeeded and it was all due to my hard work.

On the flip-side there are still a number of factors that make me less inclined to follow the self publishing route.

The first reason why I will probably decide follow the traditional example would be that I hold the belief that having an agent validates you as an author. Having an agent means that they think you and your work is worth fighting for, worth staking their reputation on. No matter often I share my work with friends and family there is always a nagging thought in the back of my mind that they are just being nice when they compliment my writing, I can't help it.

The second reason, would be directly related to the amount of work required by self-publishing… Even Amanda Hocking, the poster girl for self-publishing, has turned to traditional publishing for her next series.

“I want to be a writer,” she said. “I do not want to spend 40 hours a week handling e-mails, formatting covers, finding editors, etc. Right now, being me is a full-time corporation.”

Thirdly, there is a common opinion that self-publishing is the last stop for those who can’t find success anywhere else, those who agents have simply rejected over and over until the authors gave up submitting. I hear this I automatically think, ‘Oh, I don’t want my work to instantly be considered not good enough for traditional publishing’. But then again, even Amanda Hocking received numerous rejections before she began self-publishing. There are a lot of reasons for agents to reject books, but it doesn’t automatically make it a bad book, or unsellable, as Amanda has proven.

Fourth, there are the numbers to consider. If I were to one day decide that self-publishing doesn't work for me, then I could be in trouble. As Natalie Fischer, an assistant agent with Bradford Literary Agency (who, incidentally, is rather entertaining on Twitter) states in her blog 'What you need to consider BEFORE self-publishing':

Why Agents are Cautious of Representing Self-Published Authors? Because it is a tough sell. A self-published author can no longer be listed as a debut author, which means that a publisher is going to have to base the advance they can offer (if any) on the author’s sales history. A publisher offers an advance based on a projection of how many copies they can expect to sell – and if the self-published book sold only 500 copies…

Book stores and publishers also look at these figures in a very similar manner.

Lastly is the reason I initially began this blog. Earlier today I read a blog titled ‘Why I’m Scared (To Self-Publish)‘ also by Natalie:

Because that means that you’re saying you’re good enough. You’re saying you don’t need anyone else to tell you you belong on bookshelves; you don’t need a deadline or an editorial team backing your every word.

I'm worried that if I self-published people would be constantly thinking that, but the whole time I would be feeling the direct opposite. I would constantly be worrying that my work wasn’t good enough. Is it full of gramatical errors? Blatant spelling mistakes? How about gaping plot holes? When one publishes through a publishing house the story goes through so many stages, and yet there are still occasional spelling mistakes etc. What chance have I got? I wouldn’t be able to afford an editor, and I know for certain some of my writing is absolutely appalling grammatically, as much as I try to correct it myself.

I think, in the end, I will probably attempt to follow the traditional route. I’ll query my favourite agents and hope that one of them see something special within my writing. But come rejection time, I will probably relish the challenge of self-publishing. I mean, it’s better than nothing. Right?