Sher A Hart: My Written Art

The Arctic Incident Book Review

2012-05-25T21:31:00.000-05:00

The Arctic Incident (Artemis Fowl #2) by Eoin Colfer

rating

What the second book in the series lacks in new concepts (most of those were introduced in book 1) it makes up for in heart. The Arctic Incident starts with both fairy and human psychologists evaluating the billionaire teen genius. I’m still not sure who is supposed to be narrating the books. That problem, along with the author’s habit of telling every character’s thoughts, are the worst problems. Book two starts a little slow with Artemis back in school, but after he finds out his dad is still alive and being held hostage, he ditches class and the story turns into a fast-paced adventure.

The main character, Artemis, becomes a bit more likable as he searches for his father who was taken captive by the Russian Mafiya two years ago. Artemis has plenty of funds to conduct his search: fairy gold he extorted in the first book. He also has a mother whose mind is now functional after her fairy healing in book 1 by Captain Holly Short, the real heroine of the story. But the fairies suspect him of smuggling human weapons to fairies, and for once he’s not guilty. This allows Artemis and Holly to get back together to investigate both of their problems. Needless to say, all fairy breaks loose, along with Mulch Diggums’ gas, when a new villain appears.

Although I don’t go for spy stories, this book made the James Bond style thriller into more of a buddy adventure as the starring humans and fairies realize they need each other. Artemis begins to lose his arrogance in demanding situations where he realizes he’s neglected his physical health and fitness. The excessive fairy prejudice against humans lessens as they learn all humans aren’t bad. After a dangerous chase and a great escape with body parts lost for more than one character, Artemis regains his dad. This is the book that made me decide to continue the series past the two I bought at a garage sale. 4 stars.

Since I already mailed book 1 and 2 to a follower as part of a blog prize, I'd like to thank Disney-Hyperion for making this special edition Flashback edition available through Netgalley. It makes an Arctic cool promo for the final book in the New York Times Best-selling Artemis Fowl series which comes out in July 2012.

Closed Hearts Release Party and Giveaway

2012-05-22T23:02:00.000-05:00

I confess, I'm a picky reader when it comes to reading for fun. I read SF and fantasy because everything else is boring in comparison. I get suspense, danger, romance, and action along with cool technology, magic, or other inventive concepts that I can't get in books about the real world. So why should I settle for less? I want it all.

Too bad even most SF books leave out some element I enjoy. It's a good thing one author delivers. Welcome to the future world of Susan Kaye Quinn. You can find my 5 star review of the first book in the Mindjack trilogy, Open Minds, here. Simon says, read it.

But there's more. Announcing the release of Closed Hearts, the sequel to Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn.

Book Two of the Mindjack Trilogy

When you control minds, only your heart can be used against you.

Eight months ago, Kira Moore revealed to the mindreading world that mindjackers like herself were hidden in their midst. Now she wonders if telling the truth was the right choice after all. As wild rumors spread, a powerful anti-jacker politician capitalizes on mindreaders’ fears and strips jackers of their rights. While some jackers flee to Jackertown—a slum rife with jackworkers who trade mind control favors for cash—Kira and her family hide from the readers who fear her and jackers who hate her. But when a jacker Clan member makes Kira’s boyfriend Raf collapse in her arms, Kira is forced to save the people she loves by facing the thing she fears most: FBI agent Kestrel and his experimental torture chamber for jackers.

Now available!
$2.99 Ebook at Amazon (and Amazon UK) and Barnes and Noble You can also Request a Kindlegraph.
Paper copies are available at Amazon or get signed copies from the author.

Susan Kaye Quinn is the author of the bestselling YA novel Open Minds, Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy, available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iTunes. Susan's business card says "Author and Rocket Scientist," but she mostly plays on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

CLICK HERE to join the Virtual Party for Closed Hearts

(including bonus content for the Mindjack Trilogy and writerly guest posts)

and/or

ENTER TO WIN prizes below

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As always, I'd like to thank Kathy for hosting the Got Great Giveaways hop!

If you'd like a chance at winning an entire box of books and chocolate, you can find my 700 follower contest on my "Win Chocolate and books" page. Now it's time to start hopping to all the other great book giveaways on the list. Enjoy!

Dan Wells' Free Video Seminar on Story Structure

2012-05-21T12:32:00.000-05:00

I'd like to thank fellow writer Kevin Hiatt for putting the link to this enjoyable and informative writing seminar in a blog comment for my book hook contest. He said, in part, "One thing that reading your blog intro brought to mind is the 'Ice Monster Prologue' that Dan Wells talks about when he does his 7-point system to writing a story.... I think that might work with your story since you go 4 chapters as is.. maybe a tease to get them interested and to say, "See, there's something cool coming so be patient" and then introduce your character and setting in the way that feels most natural."

I do have a monster in my introductory section, but it's a sweet monster. That's a play on words because the monster really is made of sweets my main character accidentally created.

I'm giving the credits and 7 points before the video because it moves so fast. Dan Wells is the author of I am Not a Serial Killer and sequels you can see by clicking the picture below.

Dan based his 2010 Story Structure seminar on The Star Trek Roll Playing Game Narrator's Guide. Not what you expected, right? That's what he says. The book picture links to Amazon in a separate tab, and you can copy the 7 points below at your convenience.

Mathew Colville, Kenneth Hite, Ross A. Isaacs, Don Mappin, Christian Moore and Owen Seylor authored the guide.

7 point system:

1. Hook

2. Plot Turn 1

3. Pinch 1

4. Midpoint

5. Pinch 2

6. Plot Turn 2

7. Resolution

When you're trying to remember the order later, remember they squeeze towards the middle. Picture an hour glass with two tight spots instead of one. Then put a hook shape hole on top. You fall in the hourglass and get pinched, have a short rest in the small middle bulge, get pinched again, and fall towards the resolution at the bottom. The hourglass should turn over to release you just in time.

Have you ever read a book that didn't resolve? I read The Hunt, a new release by Andrew Fukada, and declined to review because it didn't have a resolution. It just stopped. Being a series, I didn't expect a complete resolution, but I did expect some attempt to resolve the last revelation. It would have taken two or three paragraphs more for the main character to try to put past events into perspective regarding that revelation and then set some goals to solve the remaining problems. Instead, the author chose not to turn over the hourglass, killing me off as a reader for the next book.

Don't make the same mistake. As the Hulk says, "You won't like me when I'm angry." Kidding. I could have reviewed the book and blasted it but I didn't. Other readers didn't have the same issues I did with believability either. I thought the author went too far with all the things humans had to do to hide amongst the vampires, so far that it couldn't be done for the length of time the main character did it. I also didn't like the violence and gore. But if you're interested, you can decide for yourself.

Now on with the shows!

I hope you enjoyed the seminar. Please tell me what you think. Then take a look at my last post if you want a chance at a whole box of books & chocolate for my 700 follower contest. Oh, if you decide to buy anything from Amazon, please click my Amazon Store tab at the top of my blog so I can earn a percentage of sales to fund my giveaways. I carry the entire book and electronics departments, excluding adult only materials, so if you don't see what you want, please ask and I'll add it. Thanks!

Book hook prizes, Amazon Store, and new contest!

2012-05-19T00:39:00.000-05:00

I'm late posting winners for my "Choose my book hook" post because I couldn't decide on one winner. Using Rafflecopter is way easier than deciding whose comment was best. I took Rick Daley out of contention because he's read enough of my book to have an unfair advantage. But I proofread Rudy Toot-Toot for him, so I hope he's okay with that.

So who won? It was a tie. Dovile and Denise Z, who have both won one of my blog contests before. Denise commented about the different aspects of my hook that would appeal to different ages and which things might seem too immature (borderline silly) to older teens. Dovile commented about why she liked each number, as others did, but then she noted the questions raised too. So both get a $10 Amazon book or e-book prize. I'm inviting both send me pictures holding their books (or e-reader) if they'd like. I would have chosen more winners if I had enough funds.

I added an Amazon store to my blog to keep my contests going, so if you decide to order something, you might as well do it here and help me earn your prize money. You can see what I have to offer by clicking the Amazon Store tab at the top of my blog. I decided to stock more than just books in hopes of offering you better prizes. So I have books, music, and the entire electronics department including kindles and computers and accessories, etc. If there's something you want and it's not in my store, let me know and I'll add it. It didn't take me that long to click the buttons to add extra things once I figured out how to get the store itself posted. And don't worry that it looks like you're leaving my site. It's still my store and the money for blog prizes will still come to me.

Did I mention I love giving books to my followers? If you like fantasy & SF books, you're at the right place. Chocolate too. Since my 600 follower contest ended a week ago, it's about time to start my 700 follower contest. You can choose both books and chocolate if you're in the US, enough to fill a medium priority USPS box. You can see some of the book choices on my win books and chocolate page. Chocolate is optional, and I buy it according to the winner's taste. If Rafflecopter picks an international winner, your may choose book(s) or e-books from Amazon up to $20 US.

Here's the contest form. Do at least the first entry. Everything else is optional for more chances at winning.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'd like to thank Kathy at I am a Reader Not a Writer for hosting this book giveaway blog hop!

Review of The Soulkeepers by G. P. Ching

2012-05-15T01:37:00.000-05:00

The Soulkeepers by G.P. Ching

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book wasn't what I expected, but I liked it. I knew from the blurb that the main character, Jacob, would die at the beginning. Somehow I thought his search for his mother would be in the afterlife or another dimension or somewhere other than Earth, but instead he revived and ended up going to live with an uncle he never knew he had.

It turns out the two families have been estranged for good reason. Jacob doesn't fit in with his adoptive old blood relatives or at his new school. He makes enemies at both places and he's miserable trying to find a way to get back home to Hawaii to look for his mother. The only bright spot is a girl from India whose family doesn't fit in much better than he does. I enjoyed the multicultural aspect.

It doesn't take long for Jacob to get in trouble. The female doctor across the street becomes involved as his teacher and strange things start happening. Some are in the summary, but others aren't. I had a hard time deciding whether the doctor was good or evil, a distinction that played a pivotal role in the story. Without giving too many spoilers, I will say that Jacob finds an unusual way to travel while looking for his mom. He also discovers an unusual talent. One idea is too similar to another book, but the other is very creative. Both cause more trouble and consequences I didn't expect.

I didn't like that Malini, a supposedly good girl, sneaks away from home at night, an unlikely choice for someone with her upbringing. One thing leads to another, and Jacob's bad choices mount until he makes one that turns even Malini away. That's when we find out the nature of the bad guys. If you don't like books that involve religious themes, you won't like this one. I'm fine with any book that puts the subject in a new light. Creativity makes a big difference in my interest even if I don't agree with the book's interpretation of free will and consequences of sin.

There are some editing problems and mis-used words, but few problems most readers will notice. The story structure is sound and the pace is good leading to a page-turner climax. Overall I give The Soulkeepers four stars. I would be interested in the sequels, but it's not for young teens who might model the behavior of the characters.

View all my reviews

Indies versus the Rulers? and contest winner!

2012-05-11T12:55:00.000-05:00

Rafflecopter chose Katrina Page as my 600 Follower Contest winner. She won a whole box of books and chocolate, including my ARC of Julie Kagawa's The Immortal Rules if she wants it. It's a lot harder to choose the best comment for my book hook post. I'm not procrastinating, but I need more time to try out the suggestions before I post the winner.

Once I read Kathy Lynn Hall's post about Indie authors seeking the authority of other indies as leaders, I wanted to give it a wider audience. Please read it and consider. Is another ruler what indies want or need after working so hard to escape the authoritarian traditional publishing regime?

That seems like going from this Queen to this King: Not quite the same level.

I agree that Indies need help, especially when it comes to editing, but I would vote for a co-op model with rotating responsibilities for those who don't want to join World Literary Cafe. Personally, I don't have any problems with WLC. Here's their mission statement:

The World Literary Cafe is an online community that bridges the gap between readers and authors, with the mission of promoting great literature and bringing together the literary community. The WLC offers helpful promotions to authors, reviewers, bloggers, and editors by creating avenues to bring them together under one umbrella in an easily navigable venue.

No single ruler there. And here's the latest reason why I like WLC. After I commented on Kathy's blog, I read my last few emails from WLC and found out they were indeed the group she was talking about. But The Readers Seal of Excellence isn't about one indie seeking the role of ruler over others. Here's a quote from today's WLC email: "...editing, storyline, development, and overall quality of these books will all be factors in recommending a book for The WLC Readers Seal of Excellence." It will take a group of reader/reviewer recommendations to earn that award, just like it takes a certain number of "likes" on Amazon before it recommends a book to readers. There's even an upcoming teleconference to make sure everyone understands the criteria--with three choices to vote for the best time. That's a far cry from authoritarian, and a very good way to encourage higher standards for indies. Boy, do they (we) need it.

If you're an indie who hasn't yet joined WLC, I think you should try it before you decide it's not for you. They even offer critique groups and beta-readers now, and believe me, 99.99% of indies need serious help in the editing department. I put so many indie books down that I wrote a whole series on editing which you can find scattered in the last two months of my posts. One includes a link to an editor who provides a big chunk of book editing for a mere $75. I stopped sending lists of errors back to authors whose books I didn't finish because I don't have time to do that and still finish rewriting my own book. So please, if nothing else, take advantage of the beta-reader and critique groups on WLC or Rachael Harrie's matchup. I promise this will be my last post on editing--until or unless I see the need again.

Wait, I see the need right now. I commented on Kathy's blog about the poor editing on Melissa Foster's book and it turns out she did have her book professionally edited. The problem was a formatting issue that slipped through, and it horrified her until she fixed everything that she could fix. Melissa emailed me to ask that I put a link under my comment on Kathy's blog, and I did, but I want you to see her whole comment and the link here too.

"Can you do me a huge favor? Would you mind commenting back where you stated that my book had so many errors and maybe just reference the blog post above so people realize that I do take editing seriously? I always have had my books professionally edited. In fact, my most recent ms is being shopped next week to the big 6:-) Editing is my pet peeve and I was horrified by the formatting errors. Yes, the formatting nightmare was awful - here's my blog post: http://www.melissafoster.com/blog/megans-way-2-help "

So I apologize to Melissa and Kathy and want you to know I appreciate all your efforts in behalf of indies even if you don't agree on methods.

Readers, please tell me what you think, and then pop on over to Rach's latest post, the first of a series in self and digital publishing. It includes an agent comment concerning the stigma of self-publishing to writers who may want to switch to traditional publishing some day. You may be pleasantly surprised. And while you're there, if you haven't already done it, follow Rach and prepare for her next Platform Building Campaign. You'll be glad you did!

Market Yourself: Social Media for Writers

2012-05-08T21:49:00.001-05:00

Social Media: Marketing your Writing

Note: This is a talking paper for a lesson I teach to Emerald Coast Writers. Don't expect it to talk by itself. I do that in person. But the links below speak for themselves.

Social Media can help you build your writer's platform.

What’s a platform? See my post on building your platform for an easy mnemonic.

The hard road to sales without publisher support: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203554104577002230413747366.html

Get a GFC, FB or Twitter ID, your passport to Blogger land because nobody pays attention to anonymous: http://www.blogger.com/profile/03067955594103356768

Important blogs to follow (and comment, because lurking gets you zero supporters):

         Author Nathan Bransford: http://blog.nathanbransford.com
         Platform Building Campaign Author Rachael Harrie: http://rachaelharrie.blogspot.com

         Reader/Reviewer’s blog: http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com
         Writer’s Digest Editor blogs: http://www.writersdigest.com

Should you blog? If so, what about?

Self-pub or traditional, fiction or non, find answers here http://annerallen.blogspot.com/2011/10/dueling-agent-advice-on-blogging-who-do.html http://annerallen.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-gatekeepers-how-to-query-book.htm http://wendylyoung.wordpress.com/2011/10/19/guest-post-how-to-double-your-sales/ http://www.rachellegardner.com/2011/10/novelists-stop-trying-to-brand-yourself/ http://jamee-rae-the-writer.newsvine.com/_news/2011/02/17/6074543-why-start-a-blog

Other platform venues: FB, Google+, Linkedin, Tumblr, Goodreads, etc.

Be positive, polite in posting and handling comments.

Is Twitter only for twits and social butterflies?

Power of organization: Use lists to create groups, #hashtags to search

Power of cross-promotion in 140 characters (proof is on line below the tweet):

When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

#OPENMINDS @susankayequinn #SF #YA avail NOW http://bit.ly/SKQOpenMinds
http://www.susankayequinn.com/2011/11/in-which-blogosphere-rocks-my-world.html

INDIE CHICKS is out and I'm in it! #IndieChicksAnthology http://amzn.to/uMKVMT

Proceeds go to #Charity
http://www.worldliterarycafe.com/

Power of timely news and warnings (things you wouldn't know to ask): http://www.epublishabook.com/2011/11/02/the-dangers-of-royalties-on-net/http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/author-loses-royalties-from-5104-books

Power in @followers? Either go for numbers: http://biozarre.com or try to build a quality following: http://www.derekhaines.ch

Twitter basics: Use mention vs. DM to welcome followers, block & report spammers

Tools: Tweetdeck, Hootesuite, ManageFlitter

Social media lifecycle humor: avoid getting recycled before you turn into gold:

http://fictiongroupie.blogspot.com/2011/11/life-cycle-of-blogger-ten-stages.html

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/208153/20110903/john-locke-author-secrets

Feel free to ask questions and leave comments because I know everything isn't self-explanatory. I learned too many things the hard way and I would rather share my knowledge than let the same things happen to you. Thanks for visiting!

I see ghost writers!

2012-05-04T16:35:00.000-05:00

Do you have a book you've always wanted to write but don't have the skill? Or maybe you don't have enough time. Well, I have great news for you in the form of a ghost writer. Karen Cole is the same editor who guest posted for me two weeks ago about the various types of editing, and she agreed to do another post on ghost writing. So get your trick-or-treat sack ready for another treat.

So - What’s a Ghost Writer?

By Karen Cole

BOOOOOOOOOOOOO…I’m a ghost…LOL I’m kidding you! What I am is a ghost writer, not a dead person nor a creepy Halloween spook. And by now you’ve probably heard about ghost writing, due to the popular movie and the TV show as well.

A ghost writer is a professional writer, usually a freelancer, who creates copy for other people for which the ghost writer receives either no credit or limited credit. When ghost writing a book, a ghost writer may receive a cover credit such as an “As told to…” or even coauthor status, in which case the ghost writer’s name is usually below the client’s name. And sometimes a ghost writer receives a credit on the acknowledgments page of a book, often being listed only as the book’s “Editor” by the client.

With screenplays, the ghost writer may receive a simple screen credit near the client’s name. But credits do not usually replace pay for a ghost writer. The whole point behind ghost writing is to make money directly from the client, often through advance payments during the course of the ghost writer working on the client’s project. This is how I and most other ghost writers operate.

I have been writing off and on over the past thirty years or so, and I know a lot about what my clients need and what their expectations are. A lot of people seem to think they have the next bestselling book or idea for a screenplay for the next million dollar blockbuster, and although I hate to burst their bubbles, I generally have to. I can’t take only a percentage payment to work on a book manuscript, movie script or screenplay in 99% of all cases. There is just no guarantee of sales. Everyone has a dream, but you have to keep your expectations realistic in the overcrowded book and film markets. Basically, I almost never take a percentage to work on a project.

But I am willing to work on almost any type of book, and I send out screenplay work to talented, optioned screenwriters on our team. You see, ghost writing can be a quite lucrative profession, as it entails receiving your pay upfront as you create your client’s project. The amounts you get for your work can range from $2,000 to beyond $100,000, depending on many factors, so it’s a good money making field.

In order to become a ghost writer, you need to have some already published work, and it helps to set up a writer’s website - with a posted resume and a portfolio displaying your best work. Of course, you will need to basically be a good writer as well. It also helps to have a degree in English of some kind, and it helps to have previously published books under your own name and to have optioned scripts and possibly even received awards for your scripts and screenplays.

Being a ghost writer is fun, profitable, and above all else - you get to scare people! Just kidding, but the amount of income you can stand to make from ghost writing is indubitably scary, all by itself.

*****

Thanks, Karen! I would love to have more of this kind of problem. I've had a few people suggest I become an editor, but for now I would rather exchange critiques with others as I write my own books. I've had two meetings with the local SCBWI group I started, and I'm starting to make better progress. But for anybody who wants to publish a book but has no desire to learn how to write, hiring a ghost writer sounds like a good choice. The same goes for anybody who lacks enough time to tackle such a big project. Just remember it's going to take some money. Start saving now, because if you wait too long, you'll end up publishing posthumously! Alas, poor Yorick!

Click this link to reach Karen's Ghost Writer Information page. You'll find a contact form to submit your project and get matched with a ghost writer today. If you desire other editing services, read all about the different types Karen's firm provides here.

I'd love to hear what you think about this post. And I wouldn't want anyone to miss the chance to help me choose my own book's hook for a chance at winning two prizes, one for best comment (chosen by me) to win a $10 Amazon book or ebooks prize, and another chosen by Rafflecopter to win my 600 follower contest, a whole box of books and chocolate including my ARC of Julie Kagawa's The Immortal Rules! Happy commenting and thanks for visiting!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Turn your book into a script and get $200000?

2012-05-02T22:58:00.000-05:00

Turn your book into a script and get $200 000? (via ePublish a Book)

Amazon Studios has a program inviting script submissions for a chance to earn either $10 000 or $200 000 with a script. Here is how it works. By submitting a script to the program, the writer grants Amazon Studios a free 45 days option on the script (down from 18 months, a steep reduction). If the…

Fight Elven Prejudice with The Man in the Cinder Clouds Giveaway

2012-04-29T00:43:00.000-05:00

Today I'm finishing my interview with author R. J. Daley, the only person who knows the true origin of Santa Clause because he wrote the book, The Man in the Cinder Clouds!

The Man in the Cinder Clouds is not cartoonish, although the book is very funny in places. It's a story within a story of how Kris Kringle proves to a prejudiced Elven council that goodness exists in humans, including himself. There's a lot at stake. If Kris fails, he'll lose friends, a girlfriend, his standing in the Elven community, his home, the lives of children who may be relatives, and his own life. Oh yeah, Christmas too. All this is written in an elf's journal found by researchers in an ice core sample taken at the North Pole. Should they publish their findings or keep the secret? What will happen if the location of Kris's home becomes public knowledge?

As an adult, I totally enjoyed The Man in the Cinder Clouds, and my sister's young grandchildren were so entranced when I visited, I bought a copy to leave with them. You can read my full review here to find out some other fun things you'll discover about Santa. But don't wait for the holiday season to read it. This story is about fighting for the things you believe in. Besides, learning how to be unselfish shouldn't wait until Christmas, especially not when it's such a fun read that children and teens won't know they're being taught.

Okay, Rick, on with the interview. As an indie author, you have to do your own marketing. Since I may go the same route, I'd like to know if you started your author platform before publishing and how/where? Specifically, what did you do first, second, on down the list (Blog, website, twitter, etc.)?

I didn’t try any platform building until I had finished the first draft of my first novel, a 120,000-word paranormal thriller. Google led me to Nathan Bransford’s blog, and after following him for a while I started my own blog. I picked up followers by commenting on Nathan’s blog, and the blogs of other commenters who I thought posted thoughtful or funny comments.

I started another blog, The Public Query Slushpile, but I don’t really count that as part of my platform. I posted an announcement when I released my book, but the followers of that blog are more interested in critiquing queries than in getting slammed with promos; I don’t want to abuse that platform.

I set up a Cinder Clouds page on Facebook, but I’m not very active there. My personal Facebook profile is mainly close friends (past and present) and family…I’m not the “friend everyone” kind of Facebook user. I’ve only recently started to accumulate Twitter followers, but I rarely Tweet. Honestly, I don’t really get Twitter. When I visit my homepage there’s rarely anything that interests me. The most fun I’ve had with Twitter was being bored at the airport and killing time making fun of the news programs on the various airport TVs.

Did you seek reviews before publishing or after?

I sought reviews after publishing. I didn’t have a big coordinated book launch. My plan was for a soft launch in the summer of 2011 so I could start accumulating reviews, so my more concerted marketing efforts closer to the Christmas season would have a nice foundation.

Did you do a blog tour, and if so, through what organization or by seeking out individual authors?

I sought out individual bloggers, and had several recommended to me from other writers. I didn’t do a major blog tour, but I did have recommendations, interviews, and guest posts at various blogs in September-December last year, with December being the month with the most visibility.

I put your purchase links in the last post, but I still wonder if you tried KDP on Amazon?

Yes, I’m selling through KDP but not KDP Select. I’m not a big fan of exclusivity

A final note: Most of my sales came from blogs that posted interviews and/or reviews…that is, my book sold best when someone other than me said, “You should read this book.” Guest posting did very little. I even had a guest post on Nathan Bransford’s blog, which had almost 6,000 followers at the time, and the feedback on the post itself was great but it didn’t translate to book sales.

I also did several give-aways on Goodreads, but I don’t think I’ll do that again. I think I gave away 25 books, but only 5 or 6 people gave it a rating / review (although those that did rate / review it really liked it).

I hope every reader pays close attention to that last comment. If you want indie authors to keep doing giveaways, you must realize they have to pay off. If the book doesn't sell, the author can't keep writing. It's very important to an indie author that you leave a good review for a book you enjoyed because they don't get the benefit of a publisher's publicity campaign. Readers ARE the publicity for indies.

So please, whoever wins this book, if you like it, make sure to leave a good review as many places as you can: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Facebook, twitter, your blog if you have one, etc. You can also "like" the book at places that won't allow a review unless you bought it there, and you can click here to open Goodreads in another tab and put The Man in the Cinder Clouds on your "To be read" list so you won't forget to read and review it.

Now I'm going to spill the beans (snicker/juvenile humor) about Rick's next book, Rudy Toot-Toot, about a gas-powered boy who was born on a bean farm and, after a gassy accident, has to use his special power save the farm! There, I tooted Rick's horn.

Last but not least, I'd like to thank I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & vvb32reads for hosting this Fairy Tale Giveaway Hop. After you leave your comment below (say what country you live in and why you want to win Rick's book) you can find the Rafflecopter form in my last post right after the first half of Rick's interview. If you don't see it below, please click here. Thanks!

The Man in the Cinder Clouds Author Interview & Giveaway

2012-04-25T19:23:00.000-05:00

As part of my series on editing, to include marketing in today's environment, I'm interviewing author Rick J. Daley who wrote The Man in the Cinder Clouds and published as an indie author. His book is more than a great fairy tale about the origins of Santa Clause--it's one of very few indie books that passed my "good editing" test. So I asked Rick if he'd answer some questions to help other indie authors. You're in for a treat. He agreed!

Since Rick has a few copies on hand, one lucky entrant of the Fairy Tale blog hop will get to see why I'm excited about interviewing Rick. You can win a signed copy of his book if you have a valid shipping address, US or international. Whoever wins, I hope you will leave a review on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and your blog if you have one.

Here's the blurb: A young boy and his scientist father make an incredible discovery at the North Pole—an ancient book embedded deep within an ice core. Even more incredible is the story the book tells: the long-lost history of Santa Claus you never knew…and will never forget. This origins-of-Santa story is a great holiday read for the whole family. Its mix of action, humor, and Christmas spirit keeps younger readers turning the pages, but The Man in the Cinder Clouds is not just a kids’ Christmas book. This story-within-a-story reveals the origins of our most familiar Christmas traditions: from Christmas trees, stockings, and lumps of coal to jingle bells, the North Pole, and flying reindeer. Highly original and thoroughly entertaining, The Man in the Cinder Clouds will show you how Kris Kringle came to be known as Santa Claus. It wasn’t easy.

Unless you're Scrooge, you'll love The Man in the Cinder Clouds, no matter what your age or the season. Please read my review here. I give very few books 5 stars like I did Rick's.

The Fairy Tale Hop specifies 2-5 interview questions, so today I'm asking about editing, and my next post will focus on marketing. Now for the questions, which I put in plain type, with Rick's answers in icy blue. First, I'd like to know how long the editing process took.

It took me about 6 weeks to write the first draft of the book. After that, editing and revisions took close to a year. Keep in mind that a year of editing involves vast spans of time thinking about the story and the characters, but not actually re-writing or revising. There’s also time spent waiting for feedback from critique partners, which ranged from 48 hours to 8 weeks. I didn’t touch the manuscript until all the feedback was in.

If you used a professional editor, who did you use and how did you find that person? (Your book is the best edited indie book I've read so far.)

I didn’t use a professional editor. I had five primary critique partners, and several beta readers. The critique partners were writers, and they ranged from YA and romance authors to Very Sophisticated Literary authors. My beta readers were friends and family, ranging in age from 5th grade to septuagenarians.

My critique partners did catch several typos, mostly misused words (e.g. ice flow changed to ice floe, an uncomfortable yolk changed to yoke…things like that); however, most of the feedback I received was in regard to characterization and the story. I’ve always had a pretty good grasp on grammar and syntax.

I did the final line edits and interior design myself. I have re-read it and have about 7 typos marked to fix in a future edition, the most common one being a missing line break, resulting in two paragraphs bleeding together, and the word “stange” instead of “strange.” It’s amazing how these mistakes can survive the multiple rounds of critiques!

If you readers and writers think you can do without a professional editor because Rick did, think again. He's been writing professionally for over 15 years. His experience includes marketing copy for print and web, press releases, business proposals, training and technical manuals, and whitepapers. His essays, ranging from family life during the holidays to his first skydiving experience, have been featured in The Columbus Dispatch. In other words, he's a pro, so I'll give you the warning you've heard on TV, "Don't try this at home," meaning "Don't skip out on hiring a professional editor. If you're not Rick, you need one."

Now back to my questions. Rick, I'd like to know the same details for your cover artist/illustrator if you're happy with the person.

I published through CreateSpace, and used their cover design services. I gave them two ideas for a cover concept, and pointed them to about a dozen iStockphoto images that I thought represented my ideas. They did a great job coming up with something unique that was clearly inspired by my direction. I’ve received compliments on the cover from teachers, librarians, and (most importantly) kids, and I’m very happy with the work they did and my decision to invest in a professional cover (I spent about $900 on the cover).

That's a good example of "You get what you pay for." With that in mind, I hope the readers who read my review are anxious to buy your book. The kindle edition is only $1.99, well worth the money, so where can readers purchase The Man in the Cinder Clouds?

“The Man in the Cinder Clouds” is available through Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com, and it can also be purchased from many other online book retailers, such as AbeBooks and EBSCO. I haven’t uploaded it to Smashwords or the Apple iBook store; I avoided Smashwords because I don’t like the quality of their EPUB conversion tool, and I tried to upload to iBooks but their special iTunes software for uploading only works on Macs, and I don’t have a Mac.

Thanks, Rick! Here are the first two links to purchase The Man in the Cinder Clouds:

Amazon.com (print and Kindle)
http://www.amazon.com/Man-Cinder-Clouds-Rick-Daley/dp/1461091683

BarnesandNobel.com (print and Nook)
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-man-in-the-cinder-clouds-rick-daley/1104308458?ean=2940013648524&itm=1&usri=the%2bman%2bin%2bthe%2bcinder%2bclouds

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-man-in-the-cinder-clouds-rick-daley/1032034659?ean=9781461091684&itm=1&usri=the%252bman%252bin%252bthe%252bcinder%252bclouds

If you ask him nicely, Rick can arrange to autograph your book, even the kindle version!
An experienced public speaker with a background in music and theater, Rick has also authored and delivered numerous training seminars and workshops. He lives in Lewis Center, Ohio with his wife and two sons (and a neurotic schnauzer). Here's where you can find him to ask about that autograph.

Website: www.cinderclouds.com
Blog: http://mydaleyrant.blogspot.com
Twitter: @rjdaley101071
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cinder-Clouds/247006975311225

Now it's your turn to enter the contest for The Man in the Cinder Clouds and find out why an elf's journal was found miles below the surface at The North Pole! You don't have to be my follower to enter this contest, but you do to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Before you go, you can win a separate $10 Amazon book prize by helping me choose which of five book hooks to use in my own book by commenting on my last post. If you don't see it below this post, click here. My 600 follower box of books and chocolate contest is on the same post, with my ARC of Julie Kagawa's The Immortal Rules included.

All done? Then it's time to check out all the other fairy tale giveaways on this blog hop hosted by Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & vvb32reads. Enjoy!

Choose my book hook and win a $10 Amazon book!

2012-04-24T01:06:00.000-05:00

"Follow my heart," an editor said, not knowing how wild my imagination is. She never saw the critical comments that led to my latest rewrite. I don't trust my heart anymore, so I'm asking my blog readers' opinions. It seems young teens prefer action first. At least the majority of the 7th grade class I visited last year said so. But parents buy the books for most twelve to fourteen-year-old teens. Please take the time to tell me how you would begin my book, an upper middle grade fantasy.

It's more than the dilemma of whether to start with action or characterization that's driving me crazy. Once I got those critiques mentioned above, it was obvious the tone of the Earth chapters differed too much from those on the other planet where my character travels in chapter 5. How do I marry the serious stuff with the more lighthearted world where a turkey-size bluebird named Bea Beaking sings the blues and a gummy bear becomes a Cub Scout? I decided I needed to change my readers expectations from the outset. Now my book starts with three paragraphs of my character talking from a point later in the book:

1. In Media Res:

If I’m the first person ever to die from man-eating sweets, I’ll have my mom to thank. She’s the one who gave me the Talents that got me in this mess. On the Monday before spring break, my pointy ears, just like hers, heard something no one else did. Being a hero sounded cool at the age of fourteen—until another Talent I got from Mom sent me to a place where ordinary sugar could be turned into a lethal trap. It’s no comfort that I might have created the trap. I wish I'd never found this strange land where sweets aren’t the only thing to die for—where other evil things crave human flesh.

I can’t go home unless I finish my mission, but I hope to live long enough to teach Earthspeak to others. Then if I fail, someone else can take over my job. See, as my three older brothers and I grew up, Mom taught us all to speak in rhyme. But she became obsessed with verse after my oldest brother Brand died almost two years ago, as if she thought her poems could bring him back. He didn’t come back, but I wonder if she knows the real power of words. I’m sure my brothers don’t know, and I can’t tell them from here. So I hope you to keep reading long enough to learn Earthspeak because I need your help. Just be careful what you say because your words really might come back to bite you in the end.

This is a revision of a shorter opening that got complaints from people who want to see the man-eating sweets right away, and the next 4 chapters happen on Earth with only a few brief glimpses into the other place. But how else do I prevent shock when readers land in something more like James and the Giant Peach than Harry Potter? The Earth chapters deal with bullies, loss of a brother, a mother obsessed with rhyme, and a mental takeover. These things cause my main character to do the things he does, including traveling elsewhere, and they all affect the plot to the extent I can't skip any. So I added the second and third paragraph to focus the interest more on what happens next. But I'm worried that I revealed too much, taking away the mystery.

So, would you keep the In Media Res opening as is, or leave out certain elements (please say which ones), or not at all? If not at all, do you like to get to know the character before something bad happens in order to care about him, or do you want something to happen first and get to know him afterward? A couple months ago, the following paragraph was my book opening. It's still my second favorite.

2. Original opening, action first:
Light flashed down onto the snowy canyon trail, shining straight through my glasses into my brain. Looking up, I pinpointed the source before it disappeared from between two boulders far up the southern mountainside. The urge to investigate—alone—was so strong I couldn’t resist turning uphill, away from the other Boy Scouts hiking down towards the trailhead.

With very little conversation with his best friend, my character goes uphill and finds something that changes his life. He has a lot of problems which, along with the thing he finds, lead to his traveling to another planet in the 5th chapter. But other critiques said they didn't care what happened to my character unless they got to know him first. Those led to this opening.

3. Characterization first:

Saturday, one week before spring break, my best friend Loa and I were following the other Boy Scouts in our troop down the snowy canyon trail towards the trailhead. I have most of the outdoor survival skills down, but it's not like I can quit Scouts if I get bored. Dad said I can’t get my driver’s license until I make Eagle Scout. I’m Star rank now, close to Life. I guess that makes Loa my lifesaver since he's the biggest reason I still enjoy Scouts. And I mean huge. Loa is a Polynesian, larger at fourteen than most men.

For the next two pages, the friends talk about Morgan's problems: his mom, his dead brother Brand, bullies, and his plan to beat the bullies in a race through the woods which will earn Morgan his Orienteering merit badge. Maybe that's too much getting to know him before the bad thing below happens. After working a month to add all the characterization before the action, most of my new local critique group thinks the characterization is info-dump and the next paragraph is where the story should start. If you agree, this could become my action opening (with a sentence or two to clarify the setting before it happens):

4. Possible Action first:

As I stepped over a patch of ice, the old familiar nightmare filled my mind. Petals of fire bloomed before my eyes in a slow motion explosion. Fire devoured an army vehicle carrying my oldest brother Brand, who died almost two years ago. Blinded, I slipped and then felt Loa's hand grab my elbow.

A conversation with Loa explains that Morgan has this same nightmare almost every night, and he wasn't even there when his brother died. To make choices harder, I thought of combining two scenes into a mix, sandwiching characterization and conversation between action scenes:

5. Possible mix. Here are the first two paragraphs (edited 5/8 because of comments from peope who like #2.)

Monday after school, a blinding light flashed from dark clouds above the woods east of Utah’s Air Force Base. Waiting for thunder to follow, I kept my head low as I rode my bike through the slush. All I heard was a whistle, so high-pitched only I or a dog could hear it. The closer I got, the more I felt the need to hurry. I didn't want anything to ruin my plans to combine earning my Boy Scout Orienteering Merit Badge with beating the jock bullies. I had challenged them to a race though these woods using only a map and compass.

My heart thumped when I saw my chosen entry-point across a snowy field. Slewing to a halt, I felt slush splash my pants, but that didn’t bother me compared to the woods. I pushed up my new glasses to see better. Deep inside the treeline, I saw a glow. Fire! My fear broke out as sweat, but it seemed a life or death matter for me to get in there. I dropped my bike and ran towards it.

My character's friend arrives and stops him. They talk over the problem until the storm breaks and puts out the fire. Then they joke a bit to relieve the tension before they go in the woods to investigate and set up the course. Smoke causes my character's waking nightmare of his brother's death before he discovers the thing that changes his life. I could use this right after the In Media Res part if most of you choose to keep it.

Keeping in mind the nature of the other planet, in your comments please tell me your age group (young teen, older teen, or adult) and which works better as a book hook for you and why? If you want me to keep number one, please say how much, and which other should follow. Even if you don't want me to keep number one, please give at least your first two choices in order of preference, or list all of them in order. If you don't like any of my ideas, please give me a better one. Who knows? You might be the one whose suggestion ends up in my final copy.

The most convincing comment will win a book or e-books of his or her choice up to $10 from Amazon. I'll give it until the end of my 600 follower contest before I decide. That contest is still open on my "win chocolate and books" page where you can see about half of the books available, but I'm also placing the form here. Ignore the part where it says to comment on any other post. That's if you enter from the contest page. If you enter here, please comment here with your book hook choice and reason. Thanks!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

All done entering? Then enjoy all the other book giveaways in the Got Great Giveaways blog hop hosted by Kathy at I am a Reader, Not a Writer, where you can find new contests every Wednesday!

Editing in Style with Karen Cole

2012-04-20T14:46:00.000-05:00

Since I believe writers should give each other a hand up, I decided to write a series of posts on editing. I've spent too much time informing indie authors of problems with their books, and even more starting books I didn't finish, so I posted "Mistakes that make me put a book down" first. That post has editing links for each mistake I mentioned, plus you need to read the comments to discover which mistakes other readers hate seeing.

Next I posted, "Editing on the cheap: Step 1," followed by "Editing on the cheap: Step 2," both with links for improving writing and editing skills, including the use of critique groups and where to find partners. But no matter how much your writing and editing skills improve as you use the links and techniques I mentioned, if you want your books to sell well, you need an editor before publishing. And the level of editing you will need will depend on your skill level. Today I have a guest, Karen Cole, who provides all levels of editing through her firm, Ghost Writer, Inc., so take a look and see which type of editing you might need.

***

A Somewhat Brief Description of the Many Styles of Editing
By Karen Cole

Well, what can I say about copy editing, usually just called editing, as a field? I have been at the process of becoming an editor for well over the past 30 years, so I should have something worthwhile to say about it by now, I should think. But I won’t cover APA style or the use of the Chicago Manual or other such style manuals – I’ll just do a basic overview of the most common editing forms here.

Foundationally, editing is a much discredited but mostly honorable profession for writers and would-be writers who have a degree in English and enough experience generating copy to know what to look for in the spelling, grammar and syntax departments. That kind of editing is primarily called line editing, and it doesn’t entail much more than heavily proofreading and correcting copy so that it reads well, taking out redundancies and otherwise improving the “flow” while maintaining the original author’s “voice” throughout (vital to most ghost writing, which I will discuss later.)

Line editing is just one step down from color editing, which includes everything in line editing and then some – you want to now edit for how the content reads as a whole, but not in a generalized way as you would with content or developmental editing. You just need to “pep up” or otherwise alter the flavor, spicing (I use recipe references a lot), sophistication and overall tone of the piece you are color editing. The idea with this kind of editing is to enhance the reader’s enjoyment of the experience, as well as to make the copy read in a more professional or sophisticated (sometimes, depending on the desired “voice,” in a less sophisticated or more typically familiar) tone.

The next step up in editing is a big one, and is in fact more rewriting than editing – content editing. This also includes developmental editing, although some think of them as two separate editing styles. Me, I tend to blend all of my editing styles with writing and ghost writing styles, although I try hard to maintain the original author’s voice every time. Anyway, content editing means reworking or sometimes only adding some content to the piece, while making sure it “fits in” to the original or desired writing style.

Reworking may mean a thorough rewrite of everything, or it may only mean some rearrangement, such as shuffling chapters around in order to improve things. The idea behind both content and developmental editing is to enhance and improve the piece, so that its overall structure is more sound, making it read from beginning to end in a better and improved manner. But content editing may not be quite as thorough as its “big brother,” developmental editing, which is the most thorough style of editing. Content editing is to developmental editing what re-frosting an already baked cake is to actually making a new cake with similar batter and completely baking it all over again.

When you developmentally edit, you work over a manuscript, rewriting nearly everything or at least what the client or publisher has requested as needed. If it’s your own manuscript, you are in effect rewriting your whole book to suit you or a publisher’s desires. You add some fresh material, but in greater amounts than in content editing, sometimes putting in new characters, whole chapters, new plot devices and scenes, reformatting the manuscript or screenplay, etc.

When you developmentally edit a screenplay or script (which is probably the most common work done on other people’s scripts), you are taking the whole thing in hand and doing it all over again, maybe in a whole new voice or angle of view. The same thing applies to any book manuscript or short story that requires serious developmental editing – working it over in a whole new image – while the ideas of the client still need to be paramount as you go about the editing process.

All in all, these many different styles of editing can be rearranged or blended into writing and rewriting as needed. Just remember that editing always entails more than mere proofreading – which involves checking for grammatical and syntactic errors and correcting them. Line editing is the first step above proofreading; all editing inherently includes basic proofreading, although the latter can be performed separately by someone else, such as when professional proofreading is requested and a “second set of eyes” is needed to check over the final piece before publication.

The most important thing to remember when copy editing other people’s work is to keep to their voices as much as possible, or at least as much as desired by the client. Editing is a practical process that almost anyone can do, if they know spelling, grammar and syntax rules, but it takes a real professional to proficiently rework and manage an entire manuscript or screenplay expertly and with a touch of true style.

GHOST WRITER, INC. - We do affordable freelance writing, ghost writing and editing of books, memoirs and screenplays. We also do inexpensive marketing, promotions, sales, and help with publishing and optioning as well. We are currently at www.rainbowriting.com - please drop by and see what we have to offer you!

***

I'd like to thank Karen (@karencole37 on twitter) for visiting and for all the information about the different types of editing available. I don't know about you, but I'm sold on the idea. I want all the color to shine through in my book and lead me to that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. All I have to do now is finish rewriting. Towards that end, I'm happy to report a successful first meeting of the SCBWI Florida Chapter critique group in Okaloosa County. If that's a mouthful, at least it's a tasty one. Woot!

I hope you leave a comment, and before you go, click on the "Win chocolate and books" tab at the top right of my blog. There's a box of books and chocolate waiting for the lucky winner of my 600 follower contest, including my ARC of The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa. Extra commas aside (which should be gone from the final copy), she can write!

Artemis Fowl Book Review & 600 Follower Box of Books & Chocolate Contest

2012-04-18T11:41:00.000-05:00

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this book last year and remembered liking the creativity but not the main character or message. I took time to refresh my memory so I could write a better review. Here we have a book meant for young teens in which a twelve-year-old criminal genius decides to extort the fairies and succeeds. Artemis doesn't fit the mold of protagonist for a middle grade book and doesn't change enough by the end to make this book a good choice for young teens. He's a great role model for budding criminals-cold and calculating. However, for teens who read the other books in the series, I wouldn't worry about the criminal influence because the sequels change that.

With that said, I enjoyed the female fairy character, Holly, with whom I could identify in spite of her anti-human prejudice. That viewpoint seemed natural for a race confined to the underground because of xenophobia, and part of the fun of reading fantasy is getting into the heads of other races. I liked Butler as the bodyguard/servant, and his loyalty and concern.

I also enjoyed most of the humor, not including the dwarf mechanism of tunneling. But that was meant for teens, so it's not a negative for the genre. What I liked most was the author's creativity, reinventing leprechauns, for example. Look at the names, and you'll see how they fit the characters. Foley is a centaur. Get it? The fairy technology was interesting, along with using vents to travel to the surface. The different fairy talents entertained me, and how about the language and pot prophecy?

What I can't understand is why the author made fairies, supposedly so much better than humans, have a prejudice against female fairy public servants. It didn't add anything more to the story than a conflict of personalities or misplaced blame for an accident would in keeping Holly from advancing in the police force. Considering the fact that both the latter occurred, fairy prejudice against their own women worked against the author's message of fairy superiority over the Mud Men--humans.

Then there were writing problems. The author's persistent human bashing became a big distraction. It wasn't just over the top, it was an intrusive author opinion. I hope this changes in future books, along with another distracting habit--head-hopping, a huge no-no in good storytelling unless the author serves as a narrator so familiar with the characters as to know their thoughts. Don't tell me what Foley thinks in a scene written from Holly's POV and vice-versa, especially after claiming to have written a story from information gathered after the actual events happened, not from acquaintance with characters or even interviews.

I can say I'll read on because I already did. There were enough good points to outweigh the bad. The effects of prejudice, all the good in the human race, and caring for the environment should be discussed with teens whether they read this book in the classroom or elsewhere. Come back next week to see my review of The Arctic Incident.

View all my reviews

As for my 600 follower contest, click the "Win chocolate and books" tab at the top right of my blog to enter. Come back here to comment or leave one on any other blog post except the contest page. Thanks!

Magic Writing Formula

2012-04-14T01:58:00.003-05:00

In line with my series of writing and editing posts, today I'd like to present my online critique partner, Ken Rahmoeller, who writes fan fiction in the universe of - well, you'll see.

After cutting so much of my book, I became a word miser and Ken's been helping me flesh out my story again. He's also been a great help to me in getting my story structure in shape. Naturally I became curious about what made him decide to write. So I asked him to explain. Read on, and see if this might happen to you.

Okay, Ken, you're on!

***

Based on the stories I’ve found on the blogosphere, most writers knew they wanted to be writers at an early age. Sometimes, apparently, even before they were out of diapers. As someone who is struggling to write their first book, I find this a tad disheartening. Why?

Because I spent most of my life hating the very thought of writing.

I disliked my English composition class. I felt having to write a thesis as a requirement to my Ph.D. was a cruel form of torture. And writing papers for publication in scientific journals is like pulling teeth. It’s not that I hate words, mind you. It’s just that even when I know exactly what I want to say when I sit down to write, grabbing hold of those ideas whirling around in my brain and slapping them down onto paper just doesn’t come naturally to me.

But two and a half years ago I discovered how much fun it is to write fiction. And that has made all the difference.

So what was my path to becoming a writer? Here’s a quick synopsis:

1. Several years ago, depressed at the thought there would be no more Harry Potter books, I ponder how Rowling might go about writing another series of books based on her magical universe.

2. Ideas for this imaginary book pile up inside my head. It’s nothing more than a thought exercise at this point, but soon I have so many ideas, I’m forced to write them down or risk losing them. To my surprise, I find putting the ideas onto paper makes them feel more real.

3. I start arranging these ideas so as to form a coherent short story. The idea of writing a book is the farthest thing from my mind.

4. I discover that plotting story lines, inventing subplots, and developing characters are all incredibly addictive activities. I now have too many ideas for a short story and the WIP evolves into a full length book. Despite all this progress, I still have trouble finding words that adequately describe what I see in my mind’s eye. I wonder if I can pay someone to take my first draft and write this book for me.

5. I learn everything I can about writing. Follow every writing blog I find (well over 100 at present). Buy books on the craft of writing. Learn about concepts like story structure, showing versus telling, dialogue tags, passive versus active, etc. My writing improves by leaps and bounds. My enthusiasm rises exponentially. I still search desperately for that one magical book that will reveal the secret of how to convert the ideas I have into publishable prose.

6. Fearful my wife is going to think I’m crazy, I finally tell her I’ve decided to write a book. A book I can’t sell because it’s fan fiction. She is amazingly supportive. Probably secretly thinks I’m crazy.

7. I still haven’t finished the first draft of my book, but ideas for new books begin to present themselves. I make lists so I can start on them as soon as my current WIP is finished. Begin googling “life extending drugs” so that I will have time to write all these books.

8. I find some critique partners, thanks to Rachel Harrie’s Platform Building Crusade. This is how I meet Sheryl. Because of my new CPs, the book continues to improve.

9. I finally come to grips with the realization that there is no magic bullet to putting words on paper. Just lots of time and hard work. And lots and lots of rewriting.

The moral of the story is that there is no single path to becoming a writer. Everyone has their own path. Just keep plugging away at it and never give up. If I can get there, then so can you.

I promise.

Thanks to Sheryl for allowing me to post on her blog today.

*****

Okay, now that Ken spilled the magic beans, I wonder if you're as surprised as I was that he had no more intention of writing than I did six years ago. Is there some weird chemical formula that only reacts with chemists? (Chemistry wasn't my major, but I did minor in it.) Is it a magic spell cast by J. K. Rowling that makes everyone want to write? Or is wanting to write something children will love peculiar to parents?

If you're a book lover, and you probably are or you wouldn't be here, have you ever wanted to try writing? If so, is it a secret wish or have you told anyone? Now that you know you're not alone, will you take action on your wish and work hard to make it happen? If so, don't wait. I didn't expect my children to grow so fast that by the time I get published my youngest would be too old to read my books. He already is, but I hope other children will enjoy them. You get my point, right? If you think you might like writing even a little, do it now.

If you're hesitating, why not try to come up with some ideas for fan fiction like Ken did? Go on, check out the castle on his blog. It's awesome! While you're there, you might at well follow his blog to show your support. I've read the first of Ken's book, and I don't think you'll be disappointed when he publishes his first fantasy.

Now how about writing your own fantasy? You don't need a fancy computer or any expensive writing program to start. Look what J. K. Rowling used.

You guessed it, a paper and pen, but even a pencil will do. Time's a wasting!

It's time now to try my Magic writing formula:

1. Think up an idea.
2. Write it down before you forget.
3. Practice writing daily.

If you can count to three, you can do this. So, what you waiting for?

Now I want to tell you about my 600 follower contest. I'm giving away an ARC of Julie Kagawa's latest book, The Immortal Rules, along with chocolate and more books from my collection. Just click the "Win chocolate and books" tab at the top of my blog. Good luck! Before you go, please take a minute to comment and tell us what you think. Thanks!

Editing on the cheap: Step 2

2012-04-10T20:00:00.000-05:00

It's time for my next editing post, but in case you didn't read the first two, please do so to bookmark the links that can help you edit your book to professional standards. First was "Mistakes that make me put a book down." That post has editing links for each mistake I mentioned, plus you need to read the comments to discover which mistakes other readers hate seeing. Next, I posted, "Editing on the cheap, Step 1." Besides more editing links, that post introduced critique groups and their importance in teaching both writing and editing skills. Emerald Coast Writers is the local group I joined, an excellent group that had great ideas and taught me more than I ever learned in college, but it didn't have other children's writers.

By the time I finished my YA boo, it had 114000 words. Since it came in under the 120000 words of Piers Anthony's average Xanth book, I felt great--until I went to a writers' conference and got rejected by one agent based on word-count. The same agent told me my YA book had to be middle-grade based on a gummy bear character and Boy Scout characters. She didn't even care how old the MC was. I think she pictured all Boy Scouts at the Cub Scout stage. Needless to say, I was devastated. The only bright spot was winning first place for my short story. ECW's president, Lee Thomas, is on the left and I'm between the other winners. We're blurry, but look at the beach where we live!

Of course I realized how much cutting I would have to do to come within the range of middle grade books, which the agent said should be a maximum of 50000 words. It's gone up a bit, at least for upper middle grade. But half the battle to minimize editing is knowing the rules before you start writing. What a lot of time and trouble I'd have saved if I'd known that the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) included writers of books meant for readers up through age 18. I had assumed the group was for picture-book writers and maybe chapter book writers for elementary school age children, tops. I was wrong.

Lucky for me, another ECW member posted a link to an online writers conference, WriteOnCon. I was too late to enter the contests, but the FREE conference was a great resource for agent and editor advice. Seeing the importance of SCBWI for writers of MG and YA, I gritted my teeth at the cost (over three times the fees for ECW) and joined. Now WriteOnCon is gearing up for this year's conference in August. I already signed up for the newsletter so I don't miss it again. As I recall, there were beta reader offers in WriteOnCon's forums. Beta readers can be a great editing resource. They want to read--writers want someone to point out problems--it's a match made in writer heaven.

I didn't find my match at WriteOnCon though, and there were still no children's critique groups in my area either. I had the genre specific info I needed, but what else could I do to edit my book on a shoestring? On the advice of other SCBWI members, I volunteered to start a critique group of my own. I got no responses, so I worked while I waited. That spring and early summer I cut my book using editing advice I Googled. Rick Riordan mentioned eliminating dialog tags. I also moved whole scenes into another book. After hitting a standstill at 85000 words, I realized I would have to chop my story in two. I invented a midpoint crisis, cut my book in half, took book two's ending for the first book, and eventually came up just under 50000 words. Boy, was that hard without hiring an editor.

That was just the beginning. In the fall I went to school, not to take a class, but as a volunteer. The ECW critique group chairperson, Mary Brown, arranged for my book to be read in a middle school English class. Just before Christmas, I received a call from the 7th grade teacher asking me to visit and tell her class about being a writer. I loved it and they must have too because I came back about every two weeks the rest of the school year. I didn't only read; I taught story writing and what to look for in a good story. For each chapter of mine that we read, I provided the students with a one page questionnaire. By the end of the year, I had a full book critique, made tons of changes due to student suggestions, and even ran a student story writing contest for ECW.

Next step was another round of adult critiques, but I was still stuck without any local children's writers. That's when I decided to get serious about building my platform. I started blogging regularly and posted my first follower contest. Almost nobody came. Then I found and joined Rachael Harrie's Platform Building Campaign. I still remember how it felt to reach 10 followers. So awesome! I still want to cheer for each new follower, but that's another subject.

Guess what? Rachael posted a beta reader and critique partner match-up. I did find a female partner and we worked for a while, but I really needed a male critique partner for a male main character. So I posted on my blog and twitter. I got a few bites but nothing that lasted. The best move I made by far was reviewing other indie author books and sending a list of errors to the authors. I couldn't have done this without the solid skills I learned in ECW's critique group. My requests for beta reads in return got me two detailed critiques that pointed out some serious problems. Yea for fresh eyes; whaah for the problems. It turns out middle graders take things in stride that are too wild for adults. The picture below doesn't show the half of it, but it shows the feeling.

I went back to Rachael Harrie's beta reader and critique partner matchup. Here's the current link to meet your match and exchange editing for FREE. I found a great male partner who agreed to do a guest post later this week. Woot for Ken Rahmoeller! He even has kids to test-read my writing. So far he's helped me make my writing smoother and my story structure better.

That's not all. A year after posting my SCBWI critique group ad, I finally got a request from one other local children's writer and met with her once before two others contacted me. At last, a local genre specific group! But I had to be the one to make it happen. So if you're having trouble finding beta readers and/or critique partners to help you hone your book, don't give up! Volunteer to start your own group. Remember, it doesn't have to be local to be effective. Every step a you take along the way to perfecting your writing and editing skills is a step in the right direction. When you finish your book, your writing and editing skills should help you obtain better rates from a professional editor. Yes, you still need one.

I'd love you to leave a comment. What mistake(s) did you find in this post? I know there are at least two, but are there others? Please let me know what and where in case you find ones I don't know about.

By the way, if you stop by before April 11th, you can enter the last of my monthly follower contests that include chocolate. Click the "win chocolate and books" tab at the top of my blog. Thanks!

Editing on the cheap: Step 1

2012-04-06T13:51:00.000-05:00

I put off this post twice, not because I didn't want to do it, but because other things got in the way. I forgot I had a contest for which I needed to post the winners along with the end of the story I asked them to guess. Everybody guessed it had a sad ending and they were wrong. Today I want to help authors whose books might have a sad ending if they're not edited to professional standards. By a sad ending, I mean bad reviews and poor sales for a book that leaves people as excited at these students.

Have you ever felt this way about reading a book? My guess is yes. So I hope to correct attitudes about editing, not just inform about the rules. If you haven't read my post titled "Mistakes that make me put a book down," please read it now and then come back. In addition to the mistakes I listed, other readers left their most hated mistakes in the comments. That should give you an idea of the things that drive readers crazy or drive them away, along with some important editing links to fix most of the language mistakes I listed. These links include an editor, Jane Smith, who reviews indie books on her blog. With most indie authors doing such a bad job of editing, Jane rarely reads more than 10 pages. Her reviews point out what professional editors look for. This includes way more than typos. So if your book sales are terrible, you might as well find out why. Yes, it will hurt. But it's a free review! So suck it up. Rewrite your book, rename it, and try again until your book flies off the virtual bookshelves.

Google is free too, except for the internet provider costs. Most of my language mistakes have been solved by me Googling the solution. Wait, what's wrong with that last sentence? It's passive voice, worse than just using a passive verb, another common problem. In passive voice, the noun gets acted upon instead of doing the acting. "I solved most of my language mistakes..." changes passive to active. Passive verbs are more common but still boring. Is it critical that your character still be doing something? If not, change "she was running" to "she ran" to make the action pass faster and to save on word count. And don't forget to add the scenery.

Even if an author knows every rule of grammar and punctuation, he or she will leave out words or type a word or phrase that means something other than what the author meant. I'm very serious when I say no author should depend on their own eyes to catch their mistakes. I know from experience. All language rules aside, there's story structure, plot, characterization, setting, theme, dialog, etc. to worry about. These are things professional editors look for, but I promised help for authors who think they can't afford to hire an editor. Before I do that, I still want to convince you that you can't afford not to. Read this article, especially if you think you can do with just a proofreader: The Red Pen of Doom: The evil secret to all writing--editing is everything. Besides, the professional editor the author recommends isn't as costly as a kindle fire. Theresa Stevens will even answer your questions on her blog! That should make your hard-earned money run farther.

Now for an almost free editing choice, not completely free because there's gas money involved and maybe some dues. Let me clarify that this is on the way to, not instead of, professional editing. The best thing I ever did (in relation to both writing a good book and editing) was to join a critique group. I found a local group by Googling (city name) writers' group. I found Emerald Coast Writers (ECW), a great organization with two different critique groups, one during the day and one at night. After I conquered my fear that somebody would steal my book (they didn't), I read my first 5 pages aloud at a meeting. Looking back at them, they were terrible, full of passive verbs, no dialog and little characterization.

Expect that some people won't like your work or won't like anybody's work but their own. Develop a thick skin. Take everyone's criticism and do your best to provide a good critique in return. But most people will do like they did for me, give enough praise and constructive criticism to encourage you to improve your work and keep attending. If you check online for answers to questions brought up at previous meetings, your skills and popularity will improve fast. Most groups don't have a negative Nellie, but if yours does, you can counteract by being positive. This does not require dishonesty, just pointing out the good parts of everyone's work along with the bad.

I learned a lot from ECW's group. It included a college English professor, a newspaper professional, and one man who I swear memorized the Chicago Manuel of Style. But finding a group that fits your genre is important too. It's easier said than done in some areas. Three years after joining ECW's group, I had no idea my book was twice the word count limit for YA, let alone middle-grade. I found out by accident, and since I didn't expect this post to be so long, next time I'm going to tell you how that accident led to me finding the help I needed to hone my work for the right age group.

In the meantime, happy writing and editing!

Filling in the Blanks. Did you Guess?

2012-04-02T11:50:00.001-05:00

One more delay before I post more helps for authors who can't afford to hire a professional editor. I should have that posted by Thursday. Today I'm announcing winners for my guessing contest for Rachael Harrie's Platform Building Campaign Second Challenge. See my last post to read the entries if you want to take a whack at guessing before you read the answers below.

Congratulations to Irika S., chosen by Rafflecopter as the $5 random voter entry. I want to make it clear that I did not require voting for my entry to enter or win the contest. I just provided the link and asked people to vote for any contest entry. Rafflecopter did the rest.

The first and only person to guess my post theme was Dovile P. She guessed my theme was "Light in Darkness" and she was right. No need for Rafflecopter to choose her as winner, so her name is the only one of the three winners not displayed on the entry form.

My flash fiction didn't end well. The thumping in the second half of the story was CPR, in case you didn't guess that. And since I intentionally chose the names of the characters from the movie Meet Joe Black (You can read the wikipedia synopsis here) for both my flash fiction and my book pitch, I managed to fool everybody about my book pitch ending. Rather than declaring a tie between endings all the opposite of mine, I let Rafflecopter choose a winner, and it picked Amy S. Here's the movie poster. It speaks volumes.

And now you get to read the whole book pitch for Meet Joe White, sequel to Meet Joe Black, with the previously missing words now underlined:

Susan leans against the rusty support of some bridge remains. Crying, she wipes Joe White’s leg with her wet hair. They talk, their lives presented in flashbacks as his consciousness fades in and out.

At her father’s party, Joe’s photos preserve fireworks as streaks. Later, they marry and travel as he photographs everything from starving children to water art—until their son chases a ball into the ocean. Distraught, they also attempt drowning, except Joe gets cut.

In vision, they see their son embrace the starving children's photo. "Adopt," he whispers.

The ambulance arrives.

So you see, Susan and Joe not only get to see their son, but they both live to feel the love and joy of another child by adopting. Although I loved reading the sad endings you supplied, I felt that finding a new purpose in life, starting again from the depths of sorrow, was very much in keeping with the end of the movie. What do you think?

3 days to win $25 in prizes

2012-03-30T12:25:00.002-05:00

My post on ways to obtain editing help for those who can't afford a professional editor will be delayed until after I return home from vacation. Today I'm reposting Rachael Harrie's Second Challenge for her fourth Platform Building Campaign because I realized there were only two days left to guess the end of my book pitch and the few previous guesses missed by miles. It's up in the air, literally. Since I'll be flying home on April 1st, I extended the contest through that day. You now 3 days to win $20 in guessing prizes for one contest, with a $5 random Rafflecopter prize to one entry just for voting, and another 12 days to enter for a random drawing for a whole mailer of books to US or a $10 Amazon international prize.

First, you only have to guess a measly 8 words to end my book pitch because I added over half of the original 17 missing words last week. You don't even have to guess the exact words. You can win a $10 Amazon prize for being the closest guesser. There's another $10 prize for guessing my overall three word theme for all 3 of my contest entries.

I'm also posting my chocolate contest form on this page so you don't want to guess, you can still win a large mailer of books and chocolate (or just books if you choose) for US entries or another $10 Amazon prize for international. This contest goes through April 10 and you can see most of the books by clicking the "Win Chocolate and Books"tab at the top of this blog.

If you like my 3 contest entries, please click the link after the last one and vote for number 57. Here are the rules I had to follow in writing my poem, flash fiction, and book pitch:

Do one or more of the following:

Write a pitch/logline for a book based on the prompts (less than 100 words)
Write a short story/flash fiction piece of less than 200 words based on the prompts
Write a poem with a twist using the prompts as inspiration (in less than 200 words)
Write a story/poem in five sentences, each sentence based on one of the prompts
Write a poem/flash fiction piece (in less than 200 words) about the water pear *without* using the words “pear”, “spoon”, or “droplet”.

For added difficulty/challenge:

Complete at least three of the above activities and tie them all together with a common theme (feel free to either state the theme in your post or leave us to guess what it might be)
Write in a genre that is not your own
Ask Challenge entrants to critique your writing. After the Challenge closes, you may wish to re-post your revised piece(s), and I’ll include a Linky List at the bottom of this post for those wishing more feedback on their revisions (note: revised entries will not be judged, so please label clearly your original post and your revisions. Please do not offer critique unless someone asks for it, as per the usual blogging conventions. If you do ask for critique, make sure you ask for it clearly so people know you want it, and please be prepared to receive feedback that may not be 100% glowing. If you are a critiquer, please be tactful and courteous, and remember to provide positives as well as negatives.)

Since I chose to do all of the added difficulty elements, none of my three pieces are in my middle grade fantasy or SF genres. If you want to guess my overall theme, here's a hint: It's sort of a cross between two opposite genres. There's a prize for the closest answer if you put your guess for my theme into my Rafflecopter form. Just don't put in my blog comments, please.

As for critiques, I've received some very tough ones, and the only comments that are hard to take are criticisms with no suggestions for a better way to achieve the right impact. So please tell me how to fix whatever you think I did wrong. Do that in my blog comments area.

Here are the writing prompts I must use:

Prompt 1:

Two people are sitting together under the remains of a concrete bridge. Their backs are against a rusted bridge support. One person’s leg is cut. The other person has wet hair.

Prompt 2:

(Source)

Prompt 3

(Source)

Prompt 4

(Source)

Prompt 5

(Source)

Now here are my responses. This poem is for challenges 3 and 4, combined in one five sentence poem with a twist:

Under the bridge, two homeless men sprawl.
A well-dressed child above kicks a ball.
Rich photographer shoots water's fall,
Blind to the waifs with nothing at all.
Who sees the light when darkness may call?*

*If you don't see the twist, read again, deeper. Or should I say higher?

***

This is challenge 2, flash-fiction at 199 words:

White knuckled, Joe gripped a foot-long bolt he’d pulled from the water after it cut him. Shoddy bridge workmanship—he ought to sue. Feeling the cold metal against his back, he glanced at the last whole concrete span above. “What’s that awful thumping?”

Susan shifted beside him. “Some kid playing with a ball.” Bending over, she wiped blood from the gash on his thigh.

He gritted his teeth as her wet hair dripped. Through his tears, the drops coalesced into a pear shape, the art of never-ending pain. He slid down onto the sand, for the rusted bridge support was anchored near the water’s edge.

When thumping awoke him again, fog had rolled in. He wondered how long he’d slept.

Where was Susan?

Childish voices floated through the fog—along with the incessant thumping. As Joe glimpsed street urchins squatting in the storm drain garbage nearby, his bile rose from the stench.

He closed his eyes, remembering. One leg useless, he’d fought the riptide, swimming through inky blackness lit by wispy multi-hued—jellyfish?

The thumping stopped. Though surprised, Joe couldn’t open his eyes. The light strands, brighter now, drew him upward while paramedics put his body into a bag.

***

Did you see that coming? Last but not least, here's another opportunity to guess. I intentionally used the same character names, but you can decide whether these are the same characters or not.

Last, I present challenge 1, a pitch/logline for a book, 99 total words. I emailed the last 17 words to Rachael Harrie because I have my own small contest to see who comes closest to my concept in the same number or fewer words.

Sequel to Meet Joe Black:

Susan leans against the rusty support of some bridge remains. Crying, she wipes Joe White’s leg with her wet hair. They talk, their lives presented in flashbacks as his consciousness fades in and out.

At her father’s party, Joe’s photos preserve fireworks as streaks. Later, they marry and travel as he photographs everything from starving children to water art—until their son chases a ball into the ocean. Distraught, they also attempt drowning, except Joe gets cut.

In ____________, they see their _______ ____________ the _______________ ______________ photo. "___________," he whispers.

_____ ____________ arrives.*

*edit. You can find the real ending in my April 2 post.

***

I'll let you decide if these are the same characters I used for my flash fiction story. Do you think they live? You can write that in my comments, but put your guess for my pitch ending, up to *8 words in my Rafflecopter form where only I and another judge can see them. *edit I came back and supplied over half of the original 17 missing words.

If you liked my entries, please vote "like" for #57, here. Whoever you vote for, it counts as an entry for a book prize if you fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Here's the form!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Note that this contest closes April 2, so there's not much time to guess my challenge theme and the end of my pitch. But you can guess once every day through April 1st!

I sent the real pitch ending to Rachael so the challenge judges have it. By April 3, I will post the real ending here along with the winners so everyone can see this wasn't an April Fool's joke. Thanks!

Now here's the entry form for the large mailer of books and chocolate for a US winner or $10 Amazon prize for international winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now you can go hopping to other book giveaways featured by Kathy at I am a Reader, Not a Writer.

Mistakes that make me put a book down.

2012-03-28T02:56:00.000-05:00

There's a plague going around, one that's hurting indie authors chances of getting enough good reviews to sell their books well. I'm not talking about reaching best-seller status, just decent sales. I don't want to keep you in suspense. The plague is writing mistakes, including, but not limited to, grammar and punctuation. Many indie books also having missing words and misused words. You can find the difference between might vs. may, for example, at Grammar Girl . There's a whole host of other mistakes a good editor would point out if given the chance. It's too bad so many indie authors think they can't afford an editor. I don't think most authors can afford not to hire one.

By far the most common mistake I see is punctuation. Extra commas abound. Add a comma wherever you want a pause, right? Wrong. Commas do NOT go between an independent clause (a sentence containing both a noun and a verb) joined by a conjunction (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet) to a dependent clause (can't stand alone as a sentence). I'm guilty of this too, but I try to edit out my extra commas. Check your comma sense at Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL). Use an m-dash if you want a pause for effect where a comma would be improper. In novels, the m-dash is also preferred over a semi-colon and colon to join two related independent clauses.

Pronoun confusion is rampant in dialog between characters of the same sex. Every writer needs to know that "he" or "she" refers to the character who was most recently named. That name is an antecedent (the noun to which the pronoun refers or which it replaces). Putting quotes around another character's dialog in the next paragraph doesn't change that rule. Here's a short article where you can see an example of what I mean using three characters, although it only takes two to cause confusion: Pronoun Confusion-Who's Who Here?

There's also head-hopping, good old-fashioned omniscient point of view. Perhaps it went out of fashion for a reason. Pick the person you know better than anyone else (besides yourself) and tell me how often you read his or her mind. Would it make relationships easier if you knew what everyone else thought? Let me answer that. Yes. So why would any writer want to make it easier to guess the outcome of a relationship? Yeah, let's ruin the suspense, tension, and mystery by telling what every character thinks. Head-hopping also makes the reader bounce around between characters instead of identifying with one. Need I point out that losing interest in the main character and lack of tension both lead to a reader falling asleep?

Too often, mistakes like these overpower the story to the point where I stop reading what could have been a very good book. If I had finished that book, I would have left the author a nice review. There are some books I do finish because the story itself is interesting, but I wouldn't give that kind of book more than three stars. I have an inkling most indie authors wouldn't be happy with an "I liked it" rating when they could have achieved a four or five star rating by careful editing. Wouldn't you rather your book keep me up late reading instead of annoying me or worse, putting me to sleep?

So how does your writing stack up? You might (notice I didn't say may because I'm not certain) get an idea by checking the book reviews on editor Jane Smith's blog: The Self-Publishing Review. If you've already published your book, send it to her to review if you dare.

If you haven't yet published your book, I would recommend you save up enough money to hire an editor. I have a few in my twitter lists. Otherwise, don't complain when your sales are poor. For anyone so cash-strapped that not even a year's worth of savings would be enough to hire an editor, come back next time for some tips on writing to meet professional standards by other means.

Now a shameless plug for my own writing. I put up a contest for $10 each to the best guesses on a post theme and the ending of a book pitch I wrote for Rachael Harrie's Platform Building Campaign. So far, only two people have tried to guess the pitch ending, and neither came anywhere close. Even if you already guessed, you can guess again. I've added over half of the original 17 missing words, so you should have a good chance. The contest is open through the end of March, so please humor me and guess what happens at the end of my book pitch. It doesn't have to be exact to win, but I'd like the winning guess to be somewhere in the ball park. Click here to read the post and enter your guess. Even if your guess is wrong, Rafflecopter might choose your entry for a $5 "I tried" prize. Thanks!

Whether you're a writer or a reader, I'd love to hear your most hated writing mistakes.

Julie Kagawa Q and A for The Immortal Rules

2012-03-25T15:59:00.002-05:00

Today I have a special treat for those of you who are anxious to get your hands on a copy of The Immortal Rules, Julie Kagawa's latest book, a question and answer session with some insight for why Julie decided to go vampire. I'd also like to thank her publisher for providing this interview.

A Q&A with

New York Times Best Selling Author Julie Kagawa

After writing the Iron Fey series for so many years, how difficult was it to immerse yourself in a futuristic world filled with vampires, rabids and an enslaved human race?

It was...very different. I think the hardest thing for me was the fact that this story does take place in the real world -- a futuristic, vampire-infested world, but the real world nonetheless. Things had to make sense, for example: how far can a large group walk in a single day if there were no roads, they were going through thick woods, and there were children in the group? I had to have logical reasons for everything; I couldn't just make something work "because of faery magic," lol.

Just like Meghan Chase in the Iron Fey series, the main character in The Immortal Rules, Allison Sekemoto, is a “take charge and kick butt” kind of girl. Is this intentional? What woman – real or fictional, alive or deceased – do you look up to or admire?

Yes, Allison comes from a very different world than Meghan Chase. Meghan's upbringing was pretty normal; Allison grew up among vampires and monsters, where every day was a fight to live, so she couldn't afford to be weak. While Meghan had to learn to "take charge and kick butt," Allison's first impulse is stab first, talk later.

As for female role models, the first that comes to mind--when it comes to kicking vampire butt, anyway -- is Buffy Summers. Thank you, Joss Whedon, for making me love feisty, snarky, heroines who can dust all sorts of nasties but who also look good in a cheerleading outfit. ;)

You mention in your acknowledgements in The Immortal Rules that at the beginning of your writing career you promised yourself you wouldn’t write a vampire book. What changed your mind?

Well, there were already so many really good books about our favorite bloodsuckers, so many stories and ideas, I thought I didn't have anything new to add to the masses. I was actually toying with a post-apocalyptic YA novel when my agent mentioned I might want to try writing a vampire series. I wasn't intrigued with the idea at first, but then I thought about combining vampires with the post-apocalyptic novel and then rest sort of fell into place.

Allison claims she hates vampires and believes they are monsters yet when faced with a choice of die or become one, she becomes a vampire. Would you have made that same decision?

Me personally? No. I'm like Zeke in the belief that there is something better waiting for me beyond this life, and I just have to do my best until it’s time for me to go. Besides, I love pizza and Mountain Dew too much to give it up.

Who do you think the most complex character is in The Immortal Rules?

Probably Kanin, Allie's sire. He's a vampire who has made his peace about being a monster, yet chooses to live by his own set of moral rules. He warns Allison about getting too close to humans, yet he does not kill unless he absolutely has to. He is tormented about something in his past that he refuses to share with anyone. He is certainly the most mysterious of all the characters, if not the most complex.

How many books will be in the Blood of Eden series? When will the next book be coming out?

At the moment, there are three books planned, with the second coming out sometime next spring, after the release of the new Iron Fey series this fall.

Before you starting writing full time you were a professional dog trainer. Do the professions share any similarities?

Lol, well you have to think on your feet a lot. And some of the small dogs could be compared to tiny snapping goblins, but writing requires less dodging skills, though perhaps the same amount of creativity and problem solving.

When starting a new series, like Blood of Eden, do you have the entire series mapped out in detail or do you let the story develop book by book?

I have a high point that I write toward in each story; I know this and this has to happen, but getting from point A to point B usually develops as I go along.

And for the speed round:

What book have you read and re-read, and read yet again?

Any of the Harry Potter books.

Favorite song to play when writing a fight scene?

My "favorites" change daily. Right now its "Awake and Alive" by Skillet.

Worst job?

Working a kiosk in the mall during Christmas. It sold glass figurines, and the maneuvering space around the hundreds of very breakable merchandise was quite small. I was like a bull in a china shop.

Best vacation spot?

Walt Disney World

Sweets or salty?

Sweet.

One thing most people don’t know about you – and would never guess!

I used to play the flute when I was a kid. I was really good at it too, but my instructor stopped teaching to have a family, and I never went back to it.

Thanks, Julie. Now before I send people to my previous post with The Imortal Rules book review and giveaway, I'd like to give the purchase links for your book in case anyone wants to pre-order. This way readers will be guaranteed a copy of your book before it flies off the shelves. Here you go:

Amazon.com = http://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Rules-Blood-Eden/dp/0373210515/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330543728&sr=1-1

Barnes & Noble = http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-immortal-rules-julie-kagawa/1106936600?ean=9780373210510&itm=1&usri=immortal+rules

Harlequin = http://www.harlequin.com/store.html?cid=2357

Indiebound = http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780373210510

I'd like to thank Kathy and Good Choice Reading for hosting this Kick-butt hop!This is the post you should comment under. Then, if you don't see the interview and giveaway right below, click here. Thanks!

The Immortal Rules Book Review and Giveaway

2012-03-22T21:14:00.000-05:00

I was excited to receive an ARC (advanced reader copy) of The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa. Needless to say, I devoured the book, but not all in one sitting. It's a big book. Harlequin Teen was kind enough to provide a giveaway hardback copy for shipment after publication on April 24th. That's only a tad over a month away, and since this is the best matching book giveaway hop between now and then, I decided to whet your appetites.

I'd like to thank Kathy and Good Choice Reading for hosting this Kick-butt hop! Now on with the book review:

This is the first book I've read by Julie Kagawa, and it’s very thick. Since I got bored reading another famous vampire novel, I thought this one would bore me too. Not so. That's not to say the whole book was too exciting to put down. Kagawa paced her story well. Besides all the action, she gave readers stopping places by making small books within her big book. Smart strategy for a story this length. All the thrills of a horrific roller coaster ride where the operator will let you off if you need a break. I guarantee you’ll get back on as soon as you take care of life’s little necessities.

The main character, Allison, starts as a human hardened from living as an unregistered member of a street gang to avoid having to give blood to her city’s vampire Lord. The author does a good job creating a bleak picture of the city where Allison and her gang are starving in the fringe. The search for food outside the city in rabid territory is what sets the plot in motion. If you didn’t know Allison ends up as a vampire early on, check the blurb. Let’s just say there’s a lot of grief and death before Allison chooses to live as the undead.

It turns out her vampire sire has much to hide, including enemies. No sooner does Allison learn the vampire rules, how to survive, than she’s forced to leave him and flee the only home she’s ever known. Without resorting to filler, the author gives Allison a good dose of un-living alone when she escapes into the wilderness. There she faces starvation. Kagawa doesn’t believe in vegetarian vampires, so Allison’s biggest challenge is to find humans to feed on often enough to keep from losing control and tearing them apart. Meeting bad guys doesn’t make it any easier for Allison to blend in with good humans once she does find them.

I’m still not giving any spoilers by mentioning that one human male turns out to be hard for Allie to resist. Zeke’s in the blurb too. There are a whole bunch of complications to any sort of relationship developing, from a hostile female to a leader that shows little compassion for his dwindling group. He’s on a Quest, capital Q, for a fabled cure. And those are just the minor complications. Guess what? While Allison tries to hang on to the last shreds of her humanity, there’s a lot more fleeing, fighting, and yes—more death. Kagawa does a masterful job on the emotions.

There are problems with originality though. The book’s premise reminds me of the movie Daybreakers. In the movie, Alison is the daughter of a drug company’s president. A plague caused most of the population to turn into vampires who farm the few humans remaining, hooked to machines. Although Kagawa’s humans are more numerous and free to roam within limits like cattle on a ranch, combined with other similarities, it’s still too close for my taste, enough to take my rating from 5 stars to 4.

Still, those 4 are solid because of Kagawa’s unique twist on other ideas. In Daybreakers, vampires who don’t drink enough human blood become deranged subsiders the same as Kagawa’s starved vampires do. Deprived long enough, subsiders devolve into ugly bat-like creatures. Kagawa's idea of twisting subsiders into rabids—zombie vampires—is very cool. In her book, the Red Lung Virus attacked and killed humans, and medical experiments mutated the virus so vampires became rabids. They’re a big danger to vampires as well as humans and Kagawa uses them to create some powerful scenes.

More on the plus side, the actual events in The Immortal Rules are far different from Daybreakers. The quest for a cure is inevitable for any post-apocalyptic novel where a disease has ravaged the population, yet Kawaga makes it interesting not just by the hardships and dangers, but by making us care for her characters. She inches Allison closer to empathy for others until, at the end, she seems more human than when she lived. And Kagawa wrapped up the story in a satisfying way, although not a happy ending, that makes me anxious for the next installment. Maybe next time, we’ll get to see the female on the cover depicted as a katana wielding Asian. That would be awesome. Kick-butt Kagawa!

If you're not drooling by now, you should be. Please come back later this week to read a fun Q and A with the author.

Now it's time to enter the contest via the Rafflecopter form below. You must follow my blog to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'll tell you a secret, if I go over 600 GFC followers during this giveaway, I'm going to draw another name to receive my ARC copy of The Immortal Rules. Shipping on this one will be limited to the US, but you won't have to wait until the publication date. So if you have friends who read fantasy or SF, invite them too.

And last, I have a ton of older used books available through my Win Chocolate and Books tab at the top of my blog. Each month on the 11th I draw a winner to receive a large mailer of books and chocolate, or just books, winners choice, from my stock. Few people enter this contest so the odds are great. Odds are even better if you put my badge on your sidebar to help you remember to share the contest often. If you don't win this month, you can try again the next.

Now it's time to put on your bouncy shoes and start hopping to all the other great book giveaways!

Moon Called by Andre Norton: Book Review

2012-03-18T23:30:00.000-05:00

Moon Called by Andre Norton

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It had been so many years since I read an Andre Norton book that I decided to read one I had somehow missed. I thought it would be a Witch World book but it was more a mix of SF and fantasy.

After raiders invade her home in the Craigs, Thora, the Chosen One, wanders west through strange territory and finds a wounded child size bipedal creature covered in fur. As they search for the furred one's human partner, they travel through ruins from the Before Time and find evidence of the Dark moving across the land.

My book may be an earlier edition than the one I'm reviewing, but mine isn't on Goodreads. The girl on the cover of my book doesn't look capable of traveling through rough territory like Thora does, but the illustrations inside the book depict her much better. Besides, my book is oversize, not trade, and it still has quite a few errors. I had to laugh then the travelers sulked instead of skulked through enemy territory. The book actually fell apart as I was reading, maybe a sign that some other important things fell apart in the story telling.

Andre Norton was one of my favorite writers, but whether by design or not, she failed to present Thora as a sympathetic main character. While admitting she never finished her Chosen training, Thora is arrogant and judgmental of other cultures. She keeps her distance in another way too: Norton made an unfortunate choice to call Thora "the girl" too much of the time. It's hard to identify with a character it seems even the author doesn't care about.

For someone who lives in a post-apocalyptic world, too many of Thora's decisions don't make sense in terms of survival and don't hold up to close scrutiny of the mythology either. Although Thora doesn't call herself a witch, she's been called to serve The Lady (in the form of the moon), and she comes from a small village where others must have had children to keep the Lady supplied with servants. Rejecting a possible mate to serve the Lady might make sense for a nun in a large city where the lack of offspring won't affect the group's survival, but would not be considered acceptable for a white witch in a post apocalyptic world with so few people remaining to fight the Dark.

I don't know if I didn't see Norton's weaknesses before because I hadn't started writing the last time I read one of her books or if this one wasn't up to her usual standards. I can say this book took me weeks to read because it started slow. I didn't have trouble putting it down until once in the middle and not again until near the end.

Mild Spoiler alert!

And then, smack, I ran into one of those stupid plot devices where the author chose to ignore the logical solution to the problem. Norton made the characters ignore their huge technological advantage and go against the Dark man to man when they literally could have rolled over the competition.

Was there character growth in a book meant for a YA audience? Well,let's see. Given the choice of sticking around with a guy who serves essentially the same role she does for The Lady, Thora decides to skulk away. Or maybe sulk away. Yeah, let's spurn the possibility of love so we never have to share with or answer to anybody. It makes me wonder if this book was written during the height of women's lib.

Given the otherwise interesting mix of SF/fantasy, technology fighting alongside magic, I might consider a higher rating if not for the unlikable main character not showing any character growth by the end. That factor is too important in my book, YA or not.

I usually make books I've read available for giveaway, but this one is now a bunch of separate pages stuffed into the cover. Sorry about that. I have plenty of other books up for grabs in my chocolate and books contest. Just click the tab at the top of my blog. Happy reading!

View all my reviews

Troll Bridge: Past to Future

2012-03-14T20:07:00.001-05:00

I came across Siv Maria's one year blog anniversary a while ago. She's having a Trollfest!

I confess to a fondness for trolls since I played with them instead of Barbies as a child. In her post, Siv asked us to link to our first blog post, but mine was gone, missing from my old Weebly website blog. Instead I linked from my oldest remaining post, March of 2010.

The post below at least shows why I blogged so infrequently. It didn't seem important compared to mining for gold. Not the glittery kind, and not fools gold either--I was mining for writer's gold. For those of you children's writers looking for the best way to get feedback, look no further. I copied and pasted my entire post. Here you go:

Has it been that long since I blogged? I haven't been lazy-- I've been busy reading and writing. In fact, I've been reading to 7th graders almost every week. There's nothing better than working with this age group, as far as I'm concerned. They are my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, so I don't really have to dig for gold. All I have to do is aim for the sky and shoot my best words. And if I hit my target age group right in their interest zone, they'll smile so big all I will see is braces and gold fillings. Okay, so I don't have a clue if their fillings are gold. It doesn't matter because their opinions are gold. I expect great things from these students in the future, because they're becoming skillful reviewers. Critical thinking ought to improve their writing even if I never give them another thing in return.

However, anyone who knows me should know I will try to give better than I received. It wouldn't be fair if I took the students' valuable opinions without giving something in return. Yeah, I know life isn't supposed to be fair. But I try to follow the golden rule. I've been teaching the students how to get ideas and develop them to write their own stories. Good writing skills will make their resumes and scholarship applications more valuable than others. Earlier this year, I asked Emerald Coast Writers about having a writing contest and they agreed. The contest will be run in conjunction with our ECW conference April 8th-9th at the Ramada Plaza Beach Resort on Okaloosa Island.

Maybe I tricked my husband into thinking this blog would be about his treasure hunting. He's now on his second metal detector and so far, hasn't paid for the first. But he has found more than chump change. Gold or not, he's found enough traceable items to make the people who lost them very happy.

For me, the gold in writing--my happiness--has always been making young teenagers love to read as much as I loved reading Asimov and Tolkien at their age. There was real gold in their writing. How could I not share?

That's all of my earliest remaining post. Now I ask any of you who blog to follow Siv Maria's blog and join her Trollfest. If she reaches 500 followers before April 1st, she's sending a troll prize to one lucky blogger, along with Norwegian chocolate. YUM!
You can sign up below, as well as get to each of the blogs from the linky list. Happy first post hopping!

Counting Time or Making Time Count?

2012-03-11T16:36:00.000-05:00

Urgh! It's been one of those weeks when I had so many things to do I forgot half of them, including my blog post. Some of those things to do are good news. Others, not so much.

First, I won second place in the judged category for the first challenge of Rachael Harrie's Fourth Platform Building Campaign. I still can't quite believe that my poem prequel to my book was good enough to place at all among such talented competitors. There were 210 entries!

Since one of the prizes is a 20 page critique, I've been editing like crazy, rewriting my book from third person to first person. That's the biggest reason I'm late posting.The next is exchanging critiques with other writers, a sometimes painful process necessary to improving my writing, along with reading books for book reviews and arranging other cross-promotional events like author interviews.

Time adds up, so I'm doing my best to make each minute count towards my goal of publishing my book and giving it a successful launch. Some of my proceeds will go towards charitable causes like the Boy Scouts of America and a Christian mission for myself and my hubby. Charity is a big part of my life and always will be. In fact, making my writing time count for causes I consider important is one of the reasons I started this blog.

This week I came across a huge threat to one of the most basic needs in anyone's life: safety. This threat is a man, and his name is Joseph Kony. I consider it my duty to help make him infamous. I hope you will also spread the word until everyone knows his name and does whatever he or she can to bring him to justice. The video below takes time to watch, but I guarantee every minute you take out of your schedule to watch it will be worth it. You can make a difference to the children he targets.

KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

After I watched this video, I knew I had to share it. My husband was first to check out the organization behind the publicity and found out they have an abysmal percentage of money that actually goes towards the cause. If you want to help some other way than by donating to them, you can still get the contact info from their website. You can still post and share the video. But whatever you do, I hope you will make your time count to save the invisible children or some other worthy cause. If you don't devote at last some of your time to helping others, you're just counting time.