Rachel Morgan Writes

The Awesomeness of March

2012-03-02T18:54:00.001+02:00

2012 has been quite a year so far for launching fellow bloggers' books:

We had Cherie Reich with DEFYING GRAVITY.
Then came Laura Josephsen with RISING BOOK 1: RESISTANCE.
After that, Jessica Therrien released OPPRESSION, and Alex J Cavanaugh released CASSAFIRE on the same day.

And now that March is here . . .

IT'S MY TURN!

CREEPY HOLLOW is a series of paranormal fantasy novelettes.

And it's almost here!

Starting off the celebrations early we have Michael over at In Time... who posted this gorgeous review , and Kittie Howard who posted this sparkling review. Thanks, Michael and Kittie!

Monday the 5th of March is officially release day for GUARDIAN. I've already got some super-fantastic bloggers who are posting a launch announcement on their blogs on Monday. If you'd like to be one of these splendiferous people who helps me get the word out there about GUARDIAN, you can click here (or on the tab at the top of this blog that says Creepy Hollow Launch Day Announcement) and follow the instructions on that page (and I will be eternally grateful!).

Following the launch on Monday, GUARDIAN and I will be touring the blogosphere on the blog tour of awesomeness. Have you checked out the line-up of blogs taking part?

Book Review: Oppression, by Jessica Therrien

2012-03-01T06:00:00.000+02:00

For Elyse, these things don't make her special. They make life dangerous. After the death of her parents, she's been careful to keep her secret as closely guarded as possible. Now, only one other person in the world knows about her age and ability.

Or so she thinks.

Elyse is not the only one keeping secrets. There are others like her all over the world, descendants of the very people the Greeks considered gods. She is one of them, and they have been waiting for her for a long time.

Among so many of her kind, she should not be very remarkable--except for the prophecy. Some believe she will put an end to traditions, safeguarded by violence, which have oppressed her people for centuries. Others are determined to keep her from doing just that. But for Elyse, the game is just beginning--and she's not entirely willing to play by their rules.

Don't you love it when a book wastes no time getting to the action? By action I mean Something Important Happens. Well, you don't have to wait long for Something To Happen in OPPRESSION. Barely three pages in and the opening scene ends in a chilling moment that, I swear, I could almost hear ringing in my ears! And the Somethings just kept coming!

OPPRESSION involves a unique take on Greek mythology. Confesssion #1: I've always been fascinated by mythology. Confession #2: I love the idea of supernatural abilties! Seriously. I was a major fan of the TV show Heroes. So give me a book full of characters with superhuman talents--like OPPRESSION's descendants of the gods--and I'm happy!

As well as mythology, there's also action, intrigue, humour, aaaaand (one of my faves) romance! And what a refreshing romance it was. In a literary world full of brooding bad boys who spend at least half the novel pushing the heroine away, OPPRESSION stands out with a love story where the guy is honest from the beginning about the fact that he likes the girl. Yay William! *swoon*

I am hooked. And I'm super keen to read the next book!

~ ~ ~

As a special treat, here's a short excerpt from a really sweet scene between Elyse and William, soon after they meet each other:

“If you could sum up your whole life into a single flavor, what would it be? What do you think your life would taste like?”
I laughed. “I don’t know. That’s a strange question.” I thought about it though. It would have to be something bitter, but still sweet in a way, something that looked better than it tasted.
“Maybe . . . semi-sweet chocolate?”
“Only semi-sweet?” he observed.
“I have my reasons,” I defended. “What about you? Something sugary and delicious?”
“Hmm, I have to rethink it. It’s definitely changed since I met you.”
He smiled at me, and I recoiled a little into the cushion seat of the booth, throwing my eyes immediately in a different direction—away from his.
“Peanut butter,” he decided.
“Why peanut butter?”
“I have my reasons,” he mocked.
“It’s not very sweet.”
“No, but it goes well with chocolate.”

Is he not totally swoon-worthy?!

~ ~ ~

$0.99 E-Book

Amazon Kindle Edition (US)
Barnes & Noble NOOK Edition (US)

Amazon Kindle Edition (UK, France, Germany)

$12.99 Paperback

Amazon (US)
Barnes & Noble (US) - on sale for $7.79

Amazon (Canada)

Amazon (UK, France, Germany, Japan)

Virtual Launch Party for Jessica Therrien's Oppression!

2012-02-28T06:00:00.000+02:00

Crack open the champage, people, it's time to partaaaaay!
Jessica said we'd have to imagine her doing her happy dance, but I dared her to post a video today so we can actually see her happy dance. You'll have to check out her blog to see if she was brave enough to do that ;-)

Oppression

(Children of the Gods #1)

There are others like her. Many of them.

And they have been waiting for her

...for a long time.

Elyse knows what it means to keep a secret. She's been keeping secrets her whole life. Two, actually. First, that she ages five times slower than the average person, so that while she looks eighteen years old, she's closer to eighty. Second, that her blood has a mysterious power to heal. For Elyse, these things don't make her special. They make life dangerous. After the death of her parents, she's been careful to keep her secret as closely guarded as possible. Now, only one other person in the world knows about her age and ability. Or so she thinks. Elyse is not the only one keeping secrets. There are others like her all over the world, descendants of the very people the Greeks considered gods. She is one of them, and they have been waiting for her for a long time. Among so many of her kind, she should not be very remarkable--except for the prophecy. Some believe she will put an end to traditions, safeguarded by violence, which have oppressed her people for centuries. Others are determined to keep her from doing just that. But for Elyse, the game is just beginning--and she's not entirely willing to play by their rules.

$0.99 E-Book

Amazon Kindle Edition (US)
Barnes & Noble NOOK Edition (US)

Amazon Kindle Edition (UK, France, Germany)

$12.99 Paperback

Amazon (US)
Barnes & Noble (US) - on sale for $7.79

Amazon (Canada)

Amazon (UK, France, Germany, Japan)

This party has PRIZES!

Here's What You Can Win!

Signed Paperback Edition Lined Paper Notebook Oppression Poster

of Oppression

How Can You Win?

To be entered to win these prizes you can do any of the following:

1. Tweet about the release of Oppression using the hashtag #Book1OPPRESSION.

Example: Celebrate the release of Oppression (Children of the Gods #1) by @jessicatherrien #Book1OPPRESSION #YA Available NOW!

Example: Read #Book1OPPRESSION (Children of the Gods #1) by @jessicatherrien today for only .99 cents! http://amzn.to/wBDtn1

2. Facebook - tag @Jessica Therrien (Author) about the release of Oppression.

Example: Celebrate the launch of Oppression (Children of the Gods #1) by @jessicatherrien! The e-book is on sale now for NOOK & Kindle for only .99 cents!

Example: Spread the word for prizes! Today is the official release of Oppression (Children of the Gods #1) by @jessicatherrien

3. Visit any of the following Virtual Launch Party Host blogs and comment on their Virtual Launch Party posts:

PARTY HOST POSTS

Favorite Book Quotes

2012-02-25T18:08:00.001+02:00

I've been lurking around Goodreads a lot lately. I love seeing what other people are reading, discovering new books, ~~checking how many people have added Guardian to their to-read list~~, finding new people to connect with, and "liking" my favorite quotes.

Then one day I was like, Hey. I have a book on Goodreads. I should add quotes from Guardian too! So I did. And if you're at all interested in checking them out, you can find them here ---> Quotes from Guardian.

Most of my fave quotes from other books are sharp-witted, snarky comebacks from one character to another. Cassandra Clare, especially, is good at those (well, I think so!).

“Is this the part where you start tearing off strips of your shirt to bind my wounds?”

“If you wanted me to rip my clothes off, you should have just asked.”

~ Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

“Have you fallen in love with the wrong person yet?”

“Unfortunately, Lady of the Haven, my one true love remains myself.”

“At least,” she said, “you don't have to worry about rejection, Jace Wayland.”

“Not necessarily. I turn myself down occasionally, just to keep it interesting.”

~ Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

“Don't.” Clary raised a warning hand. “I'm not really in the mood right now.”

“That's got to be the first time a girl's ever said that to me,” Jace mused.

~ Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

“We came to see Jace. Is he alright?"

“I don't know,” Magnus said. “Does he normally just lie on the floor like that without moving?”

~ Cassandra Clare, City of Ashes

“Not everything is about you,” Clary said furiously.

“Possibly,” Jace said, “but you do have to admit that the majority of things are.”

~ Cassandra Clare, City of Glass

“Ah,” said a voice from the doorway, “having your annual ‘everyone thinks Will is a lunatic’ meeting, are you?”

“It’s biannual,” said Jem. “And no, this is not that meeting.”

~ Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince

“It was books that made me feel that perhaps I was not completely alone. They could be honest with me, and I with them. Reading your words, what you wrote, how you were lonely sometimes and afraid, but always brave; the way you saw the world, its colors and textures and sounds, I felt--I felt the way you thought, hoped, felt, dreamt. I felt I was dreaming and thinking and feeling with you. I dreamed what you dreamed, wanted what you wanted--and then I realized that truly I just wanted you.”

~ Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince

“Ladies and Felines,” he stated grandly, grasping the doorknob, “Welcome to Tir Na Nog. Land of endless winter and shitloads of snow.”

~ Julie Kagawa, The Iron King

“Oh, we're playing nice now? Shall we have tea first? Brew up a nice pot of kiss-my-ass?”

~ Julie Kagawa, The Iron King

What are some of your favorite book quotes?

Daymares and a Little Girl Pouting

2012-02-24T19:51:00.000+02:00

Ooh, tagged again! Thanks, this time, to Traci Kenworth.

1. Daymare or Nightmare?
Daymare = a frightening hallucinatory condition experienced while awake (Oxford Dictionaries Online). That sounds super creepy, so I think I'll stick with nightmares!

2. How many books/short stories/poems/songs etc. have you written?
books: 1
unfinished books: several
short stories/novelettes: several
poems: a few
songs/compositions: less than 5

3. What genre is your current wip?
Paranormal fantasy.

4. Do you have someone in your life who keeps you on track with your stories? Give them a shout out!
Kittie Howard :-)

5. Do you write what you know, or stretch your imagination, or both?
Streeeeeeetch my imagination.

6. Who would you like to see on a coin/money?
Doesn't really bother me, since I only look closely enough at money to tell how much it's worth! But apparently the new South African Rand banknotes are going to have Nelson Mandela on them, which I think is pretty cool :-) (though I do like the animals we currently have on our banknotes!)

7. What’s your favorite place to write and why?
On my bed in the evening with stormy weather outside. It just works :-)

8. How would you describe your “voice”? eg. Southern gothic…
Hmm... the only way I can think to sum up my writing voice is YA :-) Think Kiersten White mixed with Stephanie Perkins (not that I would dare to compare myself to two such awesome authors! But that's the kind of "voice" I'm going for at the moment.)

9. Do you mix genres? Which ones?
Fantasy and romance.

10. If you could move anywhere in the world where would it be?
Um... possibly New Zealand. I kinda like it here in Durban, though :-)

11. What book (craft or otherwise) have you learned the most from?
Learned in terms of being a writer? Anything by Cassandra Clare.
Learned in terms of life in general? The Bible.

Since I've already been tagged before, and tagged 11 other people, and this game of tag has been going for a whiiiiiiiiile now, I'm gonna stop this branch of it here :-) You can all stop running now!

~ ~ ~

I've recently started taking note of the keyword searches that lead people to my blog. I like to occasionally share the most random ones :-)

rachel mcadams ass: yup. Seriously
lazy boy on couch: uh... don't remember doing a post on that specific topic!
y: just y. Nothing else.
little girl pouting: also don't remember ever mentioning a little girl pouting!
candle in darkness on far right side: that's, uh, very specific...
ichtys tetoválás: I understand the "ichtys" part (the fish shape used as a Christian symbol. I have it tattooed on my ankle), but I have no idea what "tetoválás" means. Anyone know?

Happy Weekend!

An Interview With Author Laura Josephsen

2012-02-22T09:00:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was the launch of Laura Josephsen's book, RESISTANCE, and today I've got her over here to answer a few questions :-)

1. What is your favourite time of day to write?
At night; I'm such a night owl.

2. Do you have any weird little writing rituals? (eg. the curtains must be open in just the right place, and a container of green M&M’s must be within reaching distance of your computer)
Nope! I write while doing all sorts of things—in between homeschooling, sitting at my daughter's dance class, stuff like that, so it's kind of wherever, whenever I can. I do like to have coffee while writing, if I can manage it.

3. What's a completely random fact about you that most people don't know?
I have weird fingers. They bend slightly backwards. It grosses some people out.

Rachel: Okay, that IS random!

4. Do you remember when you first decided you were going to one day be a published author?
I really didn't have a "one day I'm going to be a published author" moment. I had someone tell me I should look into publishing Awakenings, the first in a series Faith King and I are writing. (And a publisher did sign it and publish it.) Publishing had always seemed like a distant, far-off dream until it wasn't so distant and far-off, and then I was (and still am) trying to figure out how to navigate the publishing side of things.

5. Are there any songs you’d like to mention that inspired/influenced/are connected in any way to RESISTANCE or its characters?
Oh, where do I start? I usually end up with playlists for each book…sometimes songs that I just happened to be listening to at the time, or sometimes songs I hear and go, "That is perfect for X character!" I think my biggest song for Rising Book 1: Resistance was "Roadside" by Rise Against. The words fit my character Mairwyn perfectly.

6. What was your favourite book as a child?
Can I count the Chronicles of Narnia as one book. ;) If I'd had to pick one as a child, The Silver Chair or The Magician's Nephew was probably my favorite. As I got older, The Horse and His Boy was my fave…but my mom read those to me at bedtime, and then I read them myself so many times as a child.

Rachel: Yes, you have permission to count them as one! I understand, because I loved them all too!

7. If you were stuck in an elevator and had the choice of any writer, living or dead, to be stuck with, who would it be and why?
This will go with my last answer. C.S. Lewis, because I think it would have been really insightful and amazing to have a conversation with him.

Rachel: He certainly has written some incredible stuff that I'm sure has changed MANY people's lives.

8. Out of all the characters you’ve ever created, tell us about the one you’d most like to meet in real life.
Ever created? Ack, this is hard. Hmmm. I'd probably say Sephie (real name Persephone) from Confessions from the Realm of the Underworld (Also Known as High School). That was my oddball book—I typically write speculative fiction, but it was contemporary. I just love her voice and her snark and the way she views the world.

Rachel: Ah, I know Sephie :-) Your 'oddball' book was entertaining!

9. Have you ever based an entire character on a real person you know, and would you tell that person?
I haven't ever based an entire character on a real person. I don't know if I'd be able to even if I wanted to—my characters take on lives of their own and often become unexpected things anyway.

10. Lastly (and most importantly): cake or ice cream?
Cake! But not chocolate cake; I actually don't care for it much (unless it's chocolate cheesecake).

Rachel: Yay, cake! Me too! My fave is carrot cake though. (And you're insane for not liking chocolate cake!)

Thanks, Laura, for some awesome answers!

An excerpt from Resistance (Rising, Book 1)

Bythe time an infant's cries pierced the air, the sun was rising and Alphonse wasready to fall over—whether from exhaustion or relief that it had ended, hewasn't sure.

"Alphonse!"his mother called. "Alphonse, I need that knife!"

Alphonsedragged himself to his feet and ran into the house. He located the sterilizedknife and took it to the bedroom door. When he knocked tentatively, his mothersaid, "You can come in. Meet our new neighbor."

Yes,because he wanted to see Nella for the first time in two years afterhe'd spent half the night listening to her labor pains. "I'd really preferto stay out here."

Thedoor opened and Alphonse's mother held out her hand for the knife. She lookedexhausted, but there was both amusement and happiness on her face. "Verywell. Thank you for staying close. You can—"

"Mrs.Redding?" Nella sounded equally exhausted and there was a sudden fear inher tone that made Alphonse's mother turn quickly, the knife in her handpointed down.

Thiswas the worst thing that she could have done, for it gave Alphonse a wide viewof the bedroom and the bloodied cloths and sheets. He got a glimpse of Nella onthe bed, holding a baby whose umbilical cord had not yet been cut. Coupled withthe sweat and blood smell wafting from the room, Alphonse's nausea anddizziness overwhelmed him and his vision went black. The next thing he knew, hewas opening his eyes from the floor, his glasses pressed uncomfortably againsthis face.

"Alphonse,are you all right?" his mother asked.

"I'm…unnnghh…"Alphonse scooted backwards out of the bedroom. He must have only been out for asecond or two, because the conversation within the bedroom continued as thoughhe had not just fainted like a coward at the sight of blood.

Blood…

Alphonsepressed his face to his knees and decided maybe he should wait a moment beforetrying to stand up again. Though his mother might not know it yet, her chancesof ever having a grandchild had just dropped to zero percent.

"Whatare these?" Nella asked. "These bumps on her back…is something wrongwith her? Is my baby all right?"

Therewas a heavy silence, in which Alphonse imagined his mother to be examining thenewborn. "Oh," his mother breathed. "Oh, Nella…these aren'tbumps."

"Thenwhat are they?" Bryce spoke this time, and he had more dread in his voicethan fear, as though he already knew the answer and was afraid to say it.

Hismother's reply was so quiet Alphonse almost didn't hear it. "They're wingbuds."

~ ~ ~

Laura Josephsen lives with her family in Tennessee. She is a co-author of the Restoration series and the author of Confessions from the Realm of the Underworld (Also Known as High School). She likes music, reading, socks, rainy days, chocolate, coffee, and sci-fi and fantasy tales.

Author Links

Blog | Twitter | Goodreads

Resistance (Rising, Book 1) Links

Amazon (ebook) (paperback) | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Goodreads

Resistance (Rising, #1) by Laura Josephsen is Now Available!

2012-02-21T12:00:00.000+02:00

Today is the launch day for fellow writer/blogger Laura Josephsen's new book, RESISTANCE, from the two-part series, RISING. Woohoo!

All Alphonse wants is a quiet summer at home before his final months at university. What he gets is a half-dead stranger on his doorstep and the task of delivering a package to the leader of his home country. Not long after he boards a train toward the capital, he's attacked by knights, elite soldiers of the neighboring king.

Alphonse is temporarily rescued by Mairwyn, a mechanic with a haunted past and a deep hatred of knights. Together, they attempt to carry out Alphonse's urgent errand, only to learn that if they fail, countless people will die.

And even if they succeed, they may not be able to prevent the war that lurks on the horizon.

Buy it on

Amazon (ebook) | Amazon (paperback) | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

Come back tomorrow for an interview with Laura and to read an excerpt from the book :-)

First Campaigner Challenge: Shadows Crept Across...

2012-02-20T16:22:00.001+02:00

You know who's in the picture, right? ;-)

Beginning: "Shadows crept across the wall" ✔
Ending: "everything faded" ✔
Include the word "orange" ✔
Same genre I normally write: paranormal romance ✔
Exactly 200 words ✔

Shadows crept across the wall. Beastly little things, always thinking they could scare me. “Shoo!” I said. I received nothing but a minuscule snicker in response. Fine. I’d show them. Keeping my injured foot raised, I leaned over and pulled a torch from my handbag. With a snap, I flicked the switch and brandished the torch like a lightsaber. The shadow-beings squealed in terror and scurried back to their antique jar on the mantelpiece.

“Sorry about the Shades,” said Michael, striding back into the lounge. “They’re just curious. You’re the only girl who consistently refuses to be afraid of them.” He knelt beside my chair and wrapped an orange cloth full of ice cubes around my throbbing ankle. “You know, I think that’s the first time a girl has jumped off my veranda when I’ve tried to kiss her.”

“I slipped, okay,” I said, punching his arm. “You took me by surprise.”

He laughed and leaned against the arm of the chair. “What if I warn you this time?” he asked, his voice low and husky.

“I think that would work,” I whispered.

His lips touched mine. I closed my eyes, and the shadows, the pain, the room—everything—faded.

~ ~ ~

I'm number 18 on the list :-)

I figured most people would go for the creepy/suspenseful-type story, so I tried to be different (and perhaps that's what others will try too, and then none of us will have creepiness/suspensefulness! <--- not a word, I know. Don't hate me.)
And I haven't written past tense in so long I feel like I've forgotten how to do it! Had to fix up several tense mix-ups. Hope I got them all!

Six Sentence Sunday (7)

2012-02-19T08:00:00.000+02:00

Click here to see the other Sunday Sixes!

Like last week, my six are from the second installment in the Creepy Hollow series (which will be published in early April).

He looks at the wall of water, then back at me. “But you’re a girl. Can’t you multitask?”

I lean my head back against the rough, stone wall. “I refuse to let you talk me into a make-out session in a dodgy, underground tunnel. I have standards, you know.”

~ ~ ~

In other awesome news, you can WIN BOOKS!

Tahereh Mafi is giving away six different prize packs of books, all of which include a signed copy of her debut YA novel, SHATTER ME. Click here to enter.

Book Review: Clockwork Prince, by Cassandra Clare

2012-02-18T09:53:00.001+02:00

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

Reaction at end of book: Aaaargh!! Why is Cassie Clare so damn good at torturing both her characters and her readers?! But despite the fact that my heart is breaking for two particular characters, I loved this book!

My thoughts after calming down:

My overall impression of CLOCKWORK PRINCE is that I enjoyed it waaay more than its predecessor, CLOCKWORK ANGEL. I mean, please don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed CA. It was a fantastic story. It just didn't... wow me like the MORTAL INSTRUMENTS books did when I first discovered them. But CP? Yeah, it wowed me. It wowed my freaking socks off! (or it would have if it was winter here and I'd been wearing any socks).

CA was all about setting up the story and introducing the characters. And they were awesome, and I loved them (except maybe Will. He crossed the line into complete and total jerkville). But CP went into a lot more depth. There was far more character development. The story was told from just about every character's point of view, and every point of view was interesting! There wasn't a single character's story that I wanted to skip through.

There were a few hot scenes that made me want whip out my fan and cool myself down a little (balcony scene anyone? And Jem's bedroom? Whew!). Loved those! And, in true Casandra-style, there were a lot of squirming, heartaching, how can you do that? moments. But you know you love those ;-)

Bottom line: totally freaking awesome book.

And one more thing: After reading CA I thought I'd never be Team Willl. He was just over the top rude and downright cruel. I was always and forever Team Jace. But after reading CP, after seeing the world through Will's eyes and discovering the motivations behind everything he does... I've done a 180. It's a close call, but I think I can say I'd pick Will over Jace!

Defying Gravity: Book Review & Author Interview

2012-02-16T12:00:00.000+02:00

Book Summary:
Homesick upon the SS Perseid, Linia, a young linguist, thinks she signed up for a mission of peace, but her crew members have another plan: attack the planet Medusa.Bored with his dying planet, Alezandros, a space cruiser pilot, joins the Medusan Army in his quest for adventure.When the SS Perseid clashes with the Medusans’ space cruisers, Alezandros and Linia’s lives intertwine. Sucked through a wormhole, they crash upon a post-apocalyptic Earth and are captured by cannibals. In adjacent cells, Alezandros and Linia cast their differences aside for a common bond: escape. But when romantic feelings emerge between them, they might do the unthinkable, because for a Medusan and a Persean to fall in love, it would defy gravity.

Goodreads | Amazon

My Thoughts

Confession: I'm scared of aliens. I'm kinda scared of space too. So I've never been much of a sci-fi fan. BUT I made an exception for Defying Gravity, and I'm glad I did :-)

Things to enjoy:

The alternating points of view: It adds another dimension to a story when you can see it from more than one perspective. And I always enjoy it when I'm allowed to know what the characters think of each other! The author switches from one POV to the other at just the right time, building tension and keeping readers' interest.
The world-building: It makes sense that on another planet they wouldn't use the same language and words we do. Planet-specific words add to the believability of this story. I like "pairing up" for dating and (my fave) "pegasifly" for some kind of insect :-)
The characters: Linia is sweet and Alezandros is kind-hearted and understanding. If the situation were slightly different they could have hated each other, but with a prison wall separating them and only a tiny hole to speak through, they get to know each other for who they really are.
The cool powers! I won't say what they are (duh, spoilers), but they're not your average mind reading/super strength/super speed etc. They're pretty darn awesome.

Lines to enjoy:

She couldn't place Mixi's age, since her white-blond hair was pulled back in a bun so tight it gave her a face lift.

"Well, I was thinking--"

"That's dangerous for you, and the answer is no."

She tumbled and fell into the infinite darkness of unconsciousness.

AND NOW.... we are fortunate enough to have the author herself here to answer a few questions!

About the Story

1. How did you come up with the title, Defying Gravity?
Ah, that’s easy. I was trying to think of a title, and then the song “Defying Gravity” from Wicked popped into my head. It seemed to fit the main characters, what they were doing, and sounded a bit sci-fi to me.

2. Are there any songs you’d like to mention that inspired/influenced/are connected in any way to Defying Gravity?
Well, “Defying Gravity” from Wicked, but in name only. I also liked listening to Katy Perry’s “E.T.” as well because it always got me into a forbidden alien mood.

Rachel: LOVE that song!

3. Do you plan to write any more stories set on the same planet/s mentioned in this novelette?
Originally, Defying Gravity was a stand-alone book. Then, I got the idea of making it a series of novelettes. I debated on whether to continue Linia and Alezandros’s stories or to use the universe and focus on new couples. The latter is what I’ve decided to do. Right now I’m working on Fighting Gravity, which involves Phoebus (an Aresian) and Marissa’s (an Earthling) story set on the post-apocalyptic Earth as in Defying Gravity. The third and most likely final story of the Gravity series will be Pull of Gravity involving the Earthling Nike and the Cupidian Edonys on the planet Cupidis.

Rachel: I like the gravity theme you've got going there.

About the Author

1. What's a completely random fact about you that most people don't know?
When I’m thinking on what to type next, I often tilt my head to the side. Usually it is to the left if I’m trying to think of a word or phrase. Then, I’ll tilt it to the right, if I’m trying to be more creative. I’ve found I do that when I took exams too in school.

2. What is your favourite time of day to write?
I would have to say morning. By nighttime, I’m usually too tired, or if I do write, it makes me awake and that’s not good for bedtime and work the next morning.

3. Do you have any weird little writing rituals? (eg. coffee in a specific mug that must stand on the left side of your computer)
I do most of my writing at the day job, so I’m limited on my quirks, but at home, I do love a cup of hot tea. I have noticed I sometimes make facial expressions like my characters when I write too.

Rachel: Must be entertaining for someone to watch you write ;-)

4. If you were stuck in an elevator and had the choice of any writer, living or dead, to be stuck with, who would it be and why?
Good question! I would have to say Michael Crichton. I loved his books, particularly Jurassic Park, and he’s one of the authors I’ve regretted not meeting before he died. His passing still makes me sad to this day.

5. Out of all the characters you’ve ever created, tell us about the one you’d most like to meet in real life.
That’s easy. I would want to meet Apenth. He’s the god of prophecy, wisdom, and a few other things in my Phoenix trilogy. He’s also my muse.

6. Who would you say is the fictional book character that resembles you the most?
Of Defying Gravity, it would be Linia. Of all my works, it would be Rose from my novel Starred. From all the books out there, it would be Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series.

Rachel: Hermione = good choice!

7. Lastly (and most importantly): cake or ice cream?
Cake or ice cream? Are you really going to make a girl choose? Hm, I guess I would have to go with ice cream.

Rachel: Yay! That leaves all the cake for me!

~ ~ ~

Cherie Reich is a writer, freelance editor and library assistant. She enjoys writing horror, fantasy, and mysteries, but she doesn’t let that stop her from trying other genres. Her short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies, and her e-books include Once Upon a December Nightmare, The Best of Raven and the Writing Desk, and Defying Gravity. She is a member of the Virginia Writers Club and Valley Writers and placed third in Roanoke Valley’s BIG READ writing contest.

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Is It Getting HOT In Here?!

2012-02-14T07:15:00.000+02:00

This awesome blogfest is hosted by Hope Roberson of Writing With Hope and Cassie Mae of Reading, Writing and Lovin' it.

The gist of it:

Those kissy scenes are challenging to write, but I love reading one when it's crafted so well it feels like I'm standing beside the characters, watching with inflamed cheeks as sparks fly between the two lovebirds.

Please share one of your favorite kissing scenes from a book you've read, from your own WiP, make one up, or write about one of your own memorable kisses. Then hop around to feel how sweet, romantic, or downright steamy other characters are getting smooched!

I look up and find him staring at me. His gaze makes me feel hot all over. I lift my hand and run my finger over the almost invisible scar on his chest. He shivers at my touch. Gently, he reaches out and cups my face in his hand, brushing his thumb over my cheekbone. I lean forward to meet his kiss. My hands slide down over his jacket and slip beneath the hem of his T-shirt. His skin is warm, smooth. I skim my fingers across his back, feeling the ridges of his spine and—

—that's where I have to stop, I'm afraid! The remainder of that sentence contains a spoiler - bonus points if you can guess what it is ;-)

To see the other entries, click on either of the two blogs at the top of this post.

Six Sentence Sunday (6)

2012-02-12T08:00:00.000+02:00

Hop on over to the Six Sentence Sunday website to check out the other participants' "sixes".

My six are from Creepy Hollow #2 (which has a name, but I have not yet shared it ;-) ).

Flint stands in the doorway.

“Have you been roped in as part of the cheering up committee?” I ask him.

Tora’s blonde and green head appears over her brother’s shoulder. “I thought I’d need extra help pulling you from the depths of despair.” She looks me up and down. “But, surprisingly, you seem fine.”

Outer Space Scares Me... and Other Random Facts

2012-02-10T18:07:00.001+02:00

Thank you, Kathleen, for tagging me to answer 11 random questions about myself! It's good timing, too, what with all the new campaign members coming around and not having a clue who I am. I'm sure once they know about my weird habits (questions 2) and my hoarding tendencies (question 6) they'll definitely come by to visit again...

Um...

Wait! Stop! Where are you going?!

Okay, so here's the deal: I answer 11 questions from Kathleen, then I tag 11 people and ask them my own 11 questions. Here we go...

1. On average, how often do you look in a mirror (practicing faces for your writing does count!)?
Wait, so when I'm putting cream/makeup on my face, every time I look away and then back in the mirror, does that count as a separate occasion? How about checking out my hair in the ancient blank computer screen that sits on my desk at school?
Answer: no freakin' idea!

2. What is your weirdest/strangest/most interesting habit? Be honest!
Um... When I'm thinking I often hook the underside of my tongue ring over my bottom teeth. I try not to do that when standing in front of a class full of students, though!

3. If you could go anywhere in the UNIVERSE, where would it be and why? (Fictional places are totally part of the universe.)
There is one thing I want to see before I die and that is the Northern Lights. Sorry, I know that's still on this planet, but outer space kinda scares me!

4. What fictional character do you hate with a passion?
Hmm... President Snow from The Hunger Games books.

5. Upon landing on a deserted tropical island, you realize you have only one thing to help you survive! What is it?
My Kindle! And it would have a magical everlasting battery.

6. What do you hoard collect?
I don't think I technically hoard anything, but the closest thing would be books. There's nothing else I have in such vast quantities!

7. You’ve just landed on a brand new, never-before-discovered planet. What do you name it?
Rachel's Planet of Awesomeness?
No?
Okay... The One With The Purple Rings.

8. Fill in the blank: I am proud of myself for _______________.
... reaching the final word on that 120 000 word novel! (which I have yet to inflict upon the reading world)

9. You have half an hour to cook a meal for your family/friends/people. What do you make?
Half an hour? Seriously?! Probably pasta mixed in with whatever bottled pasta sauce I can find in the cupboard! Plus fresh herbs from the garden.

10. You’ve just been asked to give an impromptu speech on any subject. What do you talk about?
Um... social media? High school mathematics? I feel I know quite a lot about those two subjects at the moment!

11. Is there life beyond our planet?
Like I said before, outer space (and in particular, aliens) kinda scares me. So I'm sort of hoping there's no other life out there!

~ ~ ~

All right, I shall be tagging 11 people I have recently followed through the Writers' Platform-Building Campagin:

And here are your 11 questions:

1. Describe yourself in one word.
2. What was your favourite book as a child?
3. eBooks or paper books?
4. If you could go back in time and change one thing in your life, what would it be?
5. What song is currently stuck in your head?
6. What fictional character do you most resemble?
7. If you could have any super power, what would you choose?
8. What is your favourite quote?
9. Are you a full-time writer or do you have some other day job?
10. Which book would you pick up first: awesome cover or super cool title?
11. Cream or ice-cream?

Looking forward to seeing your answers!

Teaser Tuesday (21): Oppression

2012-02-07T15:49:00.001+02:00

Title: Oppression
Author: Jessica Therrien

"How do you find these kinds of secret places?" I asked.

"People with secrets need places to keep them."

Oooh! Secrets! And that's why they call it a teaser ;-)

It gives me great pleasure to post a teaser written by someone whose blog and publication journey I've been following for a while now. OPPRESSION is released later this month!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!
Share the title and author too so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

Fourth Writers' Platform-Building Campaign!

2012-02-06T08:22:00.003+02:00

Bring on the FOURTH campaign! It doesn't feel like all that long ago that we were writing our challenge entries for the first campaign... (known as a "crusade" back then...)

Anyway, just a quick post to remind you all that you can sign up from today until Wed 15 Feb for Rach Harrie's newest Writers' Platform-Building Campaign! Woohoooo! If you've taken part before, then you know how super fun it is and how many new writers you get to know. If you haven't taken part before, well what are you waiting for?!

Click the link above to go to Rach's blog where she explains aaaaall the details :-) Thanks, Rach!

A tip for newbie bloggers: It can get a little overwhelming trying to follow so many new blogs. Have you tried using Google Reader? At the top of the page you can click "Feed Settings" and then "New Folder..." For example, I've created one folder called Campaign Group - YA and another called Campaign Group - Paranormal Romance. Then every time I subscribe to a new blog I click on "Feed Settings" and select the folder I want to put that blog in.

Six Sentence Sunday (5)

2012-02-05T08:00:00.000+02:00

You can find all the other participants at the Six Sentence Sunday website. And I actually remembered to get my name on the list in time this week!

These six sentences come from GUARDIAN, my novelette that launches at the beginning of March.

Then I think of what I’m about to lose because of him. I could be expelled, or, at the very least, suspended. All my training could be for nothing. All the blood, the bruises, the pain. The nightmares that come after having to kill someone. I may have gone through that for nothing—all because this boy couldn’t just stay in his damn bedroom.

Those Moments That Make It All Worth It

2012-02-04T09:56:00.001+02:00

Many of you know that I am a teacher in my non-writing time. You may also know that teaching is a highly time-consuming / life-consuming job! I am fortunate enough to have a part-time teaching position, which means that teaching isn't all-consuming (well, most of the time!). But it does take a lot of energy and dedication to be a teacher, whether for a full day or part of a day, which is what makes moments like these so special...

Earlier this week my matric class came in like they always do: almost late, greeted in a hurry, sat down immediately to do the "do now" (a quick question we have at the beginning of most lessons to help focus them on the subject). After we went over the answer and I was walking back to my desk, the entire class stood up. This doesn't ever happen, so I wondered if someone had given them a "talking-to" about being polite and standing to greet teachers at the beginning of a lesson, or something... But then they all started singing/clapping this vibey little happy birthday song! It was gorgeous!

And then one of them came up to me with this mug. (If you've forgotten all your maths, then you may be confused by the "pies we shared" (as in the number pi) and "all the irrational moments" (as in irrational numbers).

A note on the "Mah" in "Thank you Mah and happy birthday": I teach at a private girls' boarding school in South Africa where most of the girls are Zulu home-language speakers. Because all the girls have to board, and a number of the teachers stay on campus too, there is a "family-like" feel to the place. So traditionally (and this is a tradition that's been around for many years - the school is 143 years old this year!) all the women teachers are called Mah (as in mother) and the students are called members (as in members of a family).

2012-01-31T13:47:00.001+02:00

Title: The Iron King
Author: Julie Kagawa

We were born of the dreams and fears of mortals, and if we are remembered, even in some small way, we will always exist.

"What in Pan's privates is this?" the goblin chief snorted.

So there you have it: one line of magical beauty, and another of, uh, less beauty! (But it sure did make me laugh!)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Follow the link for instructions!

~ ~ ~

Last week on Teaser Tuesday I had just got GUARDIAN onto Goodreads and added it to a few listopia lists. Thank you to all of you for adding GUARDIAN to you to-read lists, and for voting on the listopia lists! GUARDIAN has reached:

#3 out of 65 in New Series (2012) (It actually got to #1 for a little bit! Thanks, guys!)

#58 out of 199 in Indie Books - Paranormal Cover Love

#120 out of 270 in Amazing Covers of 2012

Six Sentence Sunday (4)

2012-01-29T13:45:00.000+02:00

I always seem to be too late to officially add my name to the linky list for Six Sentence Sunday! Probably because I only ever think of it once it's already Sunday, and names are supposed to be added to the list before Sunday...

Ah, well. No worries!

I snap the book shut and look up to see Nate standing in the doorway. He pulls the door closed behind him and walks over to the bed. “You know, normal people would use the front door,” he says.
“Normal people wouldn’t even be able to see that I’m here,” I tell him.Nate pushes the textbook out of the way and climbs onto the bed. “I guess neither of us is normal then.”

This picture has nothing to do with these six sentences.
I just picked it 'cos I needed a picture... and it looked
interesting... and I couldn't think of anything else.

Elana Johnson's Book Covers Get A Makeover!

2012-01-26T22:06:00.002+02:00

Elana Johnson's POSSESSION series just got a makeover! What do you guys think? Are you feeling the cover love? I think... pretty, pretty!! I mean, I love the pearly white (autographed!) version I have, but I must say, I've always been a fan of colour, so I'm in favour of the blues (not those kinda blues) :-) I like the new typeface as well. It's very... clean and modern-looking, nothing pretentious or showy about it.

And the bird in the jar! Awesome! Though if I had to compare the two, I still think the butterfly wins. I mean, it's trapped in an ICE-BLOCK! How freaking cool is that?! (Like, literally, icey-cool...) <--- Sorry, terrible pun. It actually wasn't intentional!

I can't wait to read SURRENDER. POSSESSION finished on an AAAARGH-NO-are-you-SERIOUS-you-can't-do-that-to-your-characters kinda cliffhanger, and I'm super keen to find out what happens next!

Teaser Tuesday (19): Clockwork Prince

2012-01-24T15:35:00.001+02:00

Title: Clockwork Prince
Author: Cassandra Clare

"I promise to charm the dickens out of him," said Will, sitting up and readjusting his crushed hat. "I shall charm him with such force that when I am done, he will be left lying limply on the ground, trying to remember his own name."

"The man's eighty-nine," muttered Jem. "He may well have that problem anyway."

I almost laughed out loud when I read those lines ;-)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Follow the link for instructions!

~ ~ ~

GUARDIAN is now on Goodreads! And while I was having fun playing around on the Goodreads site, I added my darling baby to three lists:

Indie Books - Paranormal Cover Love (#108 out of 199)
Amazing Covers of 2012 (#162 out of 255)
New Series 2012 (#12 out of 45)

It would be awesome (read as: pleasepleaseplease!) if you could vote for one (or, you know, all!) of those lists! Especially the New Series 2012 one. Since it's short I have a good chance of actually getting somewhere on it!

I also have a countdown widget now. Pretty cool (and a little scary!) to see the time ticking away until GUARDIAN is officially available to all... If you're interested in adding the countdown widget to your sidebar, copy and past the following purple text into an HTML gadget under the Layout tab on your blog. Thank you!!

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://cdn.widgetserver.com/syndication/subscriber/InsertWidget.js"></script><script type="text/javascript">if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget('7644e9df-bec2-4159-b829-ff2d7b7d7361');</script>
<noscript>Get the <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com/i/7644e9df-bec2-4159-b829-ff2d7b7d7361">Countdown Creator Pro</a> widget and many other <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com/">great free widgets</a> at <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com">Widgetbox</a>! Not seeing a widget? (<a href="http://support.widgetbox.com/">More info</a>)</noscript>

The Impatient Writer

2012-01-22T20:18:00.002+02:00

Does this ever happen to you?

You have this trilogy (or pick any number) planned out, and you're writing number 1, which is cool and interesting and stuff (at least you hope it is), but what you ACTUALLY want to be writing is number 3, because that's where things gets really juicy/heat up, and it has all the awesome scenes that were the first ones that popped into your head and gave you this whole idea, but you CAN'T write that now because 1 comes before 3 (yes, it does. I'm a maths teacher, I know this stuff) and so you need to finish 1 FIRST. And then 2, obviously, so it's seeming like a looooong time until you can get your hands on 3, and will the passion you once felt for 3 still be there when you finally get together?

I'm trying to deal with this at the mo... Just thought I'd share :-)

~ ~ ~

In other radically-more-exciting news...

I got the idea from Colene Murphy to check the search terms that lead to my blog and post about the most ridiculous ones. This week they were mostly boring-ish. The most entertaining one there is:

"how to make your school uniform look hot if your fat" ~ Okay, the your/you're mixup aside (which SUPREMELY ticks me off!!!), I'm thinking it's kinda hard to make a school uniform look hot regardless of what size you are. I mean, come on. It's SCHOOL! And shouldn't you be doing your HOMEWORK instead of Googling stuff like that? <-- sorry, that would be the teacher in me coming out...

To see some far more entertaining search terms (eg. "sweet boobs". Yes. For real.) visit Colene's blog.

Parcel in the Post: Switched & The Iron King

2012-01-19T22:40:00.000+02:00

It's the end of my first week back at school and I'm already feeling close to having a nervous breakdown! (picture a headless flapping chicken trying to teach maths to teenagers and organise a book blog tour at the same time) 2012 is going to be an awesome year, but an awesomely PACKED year too. Busybusybusybusybusybusy!!!

Anyway, today I got those things in the post box that make me happy: those little slips of paper that tell me there's a parcel waiting to be collected! So off I went to fetch the two newest additions to my library.

SWITCHED by Amanda Hocking ~ Yeah, okay, I've been meaning to read this for quite some time, but when I saw the beautiful new covers, I knew I had to wait until I could get a paperback version of it!

THE IRON KING by Julie Kagawa ~ Isn't it awesome when you start reading a series and all the books in it are already published?! I've been seeing good things about this series for a while, but now that I'm writing my own faerie stories, I thought it was definitely about time I read these ones!

P.S. Thank you so much to everyone for your awesome cover love for GUARDIAN! Vi can't stop blushing ;-)

Cover Reveal for GUARDIAN, Creepy Hollow #1

2012-01-16T05:35:00.001+02:00

[Note: this post may contain an excess of exclamation marks.]

Alrighty. Here it is!!!!

So... What do you think?! You're allowed to be honest ;-) Though if you want to say that you hate it, it might be nicer to keep that to yourself! I -- obviously -- am super excited about it!!

Yes, she's meant to have purple eyes and purple in her hair, which I think is super cool. I once died my hair "blackcurrent" (according to the box) but if I was really brave I'd go real purple, like Vi up there (though hers in natural. Yup, you heard me. Natural).

(Something I've never noticed until recently is that not all computer screens are made equal in terms of colour. Yeah, okay, so maybe that's obvious to some of you, I just never had a reason to think about it before! Anyway, on my one screen she looks awesomely brightly purple, and on my other she looks kinda meh-purple-blue :-( )

~ ~ ~

Summary for GUARDIAN:

1. Receive assignment.

2. Save a life.

3. Sleep.

4. Repeat.

Protecting humans from dangerous magical creatures is all in a day’s work for a faerie training to be a guardian. Seventeen-year-old Violet Fairdale knows this better than anyone—she’s about to become the best guardian the Guild has seen in years. That is, until one of her assignments—a human boy who shouldn’t even be able to see her—follows her into the fae realm. Now she’s broken Guild Law, a crime that could lead to her expulsion.

The last thing Vi wants to do is spend any more time with the boy who got her into this mess, but the Guild requires that she return Nate to his home and make him forget everything he’s discovered of the fae realm. Easy, right? But Nate and Vi are about to land themselves in even bigger trouble—and it’ll take all Vi’s training to get them out alive.

Watch the book trailer for the series.

The Curse of the Kindle

2012-01-14T16:29:00.005+02:00

There are so many things that are awesome about the Kindle, and, to be honest, this "curse" I'm thinking of isn't actually a bad thing...

Here it is: It is so easy to buy ebooks that you will keep accumulating more and more, faster than the rate at which you can read, and you'll never get through your "to be read" list!

Yeah, okay, things could be worse. But it just bugs me that there are all these awesome stories waiting there for me and I haven't yet got to reading them!

Currently, this is the list of ebooks chilling on my Kindle that I've either started and not yet finished, or haven't even started yet:

Blood Faerie ~ India Drummond
Crime Stories ~ J.A. Konrath
Descended by Blood ~ Angeline Kace
Destined ~ Jessie Harrell
Hollowland ~ Amanda Hocking
Little Wild Flower ~ Samantha Jillian Bayarr
Megan's Way ~ Melissa Foster
Origin ~ J.A. Konrath
Ravenmarked ~ Amy Rose Davis
Saving Elizabeth ~ Amy Machelle
Shapeshifters Anonymous ~ J.A. Konrath
The Arrival ~ Nicola MacDonald
The Hating Game ~ Talli Roland

Okay, so the list doesn't look that long now that I write it out, but I do NOT read that fast, and I only get to read at the end of the day just before I fall asleep, and I WANT TO READ THEM ALL NOW!

Do you have this problem? Is your "to be read" list of ebooks on your Kindle/ereader like ten times longer than this and you're laughing at me right now?

~ ~ ~

P.S. Come back on Monday to see the cover reveal for GUARDIAN, the first book in the Creepy Hollow series!

And here's the book trailer if you haven't seen that yet.

A Book Trailer for Creepy Hollow!

2012-01-10T20:30:00.006+02:00

Yay, yay, yay, a book trailer! Okay, so it doesn't have a whole cast of actors, in fact it's really quite simple (I had limited software, okay). But I like it that way :-)

It's a general trailer for the series as a whole, so it doesn't give any specific story detail. However, if you scroll down, you'll find a blurb for the first story in the series, GUARDIAN.

1. Receive assignment.

2. Save a life.

3. Sleep.

4. Repeat.

Punctuation Help, Please!

2012-01-06T13:07:00.007+02:00

Dearest writer bloggers,

I'd love to hear your expert (or not so expert!) opinion on whether I should put a capital letter after a colon, and whether I should put a comma before the word "too".

The Colon
So, it seems as though sometimes you put a capital letter after a colon, and sometimes you don't. The Online Oxford Dictionary has examples that all have small letters after the colon, but Wikipedia seems to think that this is generally the case with British English, whereas with American English, there is more likely to be a capital letter after a colon.
My gut feel is that if there's a whole new sentence coming after the colon, then I should capitalize it, but if it's just a list, or a sentence that wouldn't normally stand on its own, then I shouldn't capitalize.
What do you think of the following sentences?

#1) I hear Tora’s voice in my head: Bend your knees, arch your back, thrust your opponent right off.

#2) Their colors shift rapidly in protest, cycling through an endless palette: lavender—magenta—burgundy—sienna.

#3) And then I notice something else: a solitary figure standing on the other side of the ravine.

The comma before (or not?) the word "too"
I've read several English forums and it seems that, these days, with a comma or without a comma are both correct (though people seem to think that in more formal writing a comma should be used). I searched the word "too" on the Online Oxford Dictionary and found this sentence as two of their examples: is he coming too? and she is a grown woman, and a strong one too. So, no comma there...
I am more inclined not to put a comma before "too", because it feels to me as though it interrupts the flow of a sentence. So what do you think of the following examples? Would you include a comma?

#1) I toss my bow away and dive toward him too, knocking his sleeping form to the floor.

#2) ... and I look down. Nate looks down too. "Actually, I think..."

#3) Yes, they get scared too. Anyway, the really evil ones...

#4) I have to admit I'd like to know the answers to those questions too.

Thank you in advance for your comments!

Insecure Writer's Support Group: Being Brave

2012-01-04T15:37:00.001+02:00

This year I am joining the Insecure Writer's Support Group! Thanks, Alex J. Cavanaugh, for getting it started. Now I just have to remember when it's the first Wednesday of each month...

Here's the thing I'm most insecure about right now (and have been for some time, and will be for some more time to come!): putting my writing out there for the world to see.

A few months ago, I decided to publish a series of stories entitled Creepy Hollow, and those of you who hang around this blog sometime may have seen my announcement in December. Now, I'm enjoying writing these stories, I think they're kind of fun, and I'm really excited for the release of the first one in a few months' time. BUT, in those moments when excitement subsides, I can find many things to be afraid of.

Here is what haunts me in my darkest moments (okay, so it's not that bad, but you know what I mean!):

No one will buy my book.
People will buy it, but they'll think it's kind of crap.
People will buy it, they'll enjoy it, but not enough to be interested in reading any more of my work.

Aaarruuuargh! <--- that's me wrestling with the insecurity demon ---> Down, you demon, down!

So. How have I gotten over these insecurities? ~~I beat them down with a stick~~ Uh, I haven't really. But I'm being brave anyway, and I'm going to go ahead and click that "Publish" button. After I've done everything humanly possible to polish my stories, of course!

~ ~ ~

Don't forget to support other insecure writers!

Bring it on, 2012!

2012-01-02T05:25:00.004+02:00

This is the year I see my name in print! Ahem, digital print, at least. Which, as anyone owning a Kindle/[insert your e-reader name here] knows, is an awesome kind of print :-)

Creepy Hollow begins in March this year.

I'm also looking forward to Rachael Harrie's Fourth Writers' Platform-Building Campaign, which runs from February 6th to April 31st.

And, of course, the great Blogging from A to Z Challenge, which runs during the month of April.

And many other things to look forward to this year, I'm sure. For now, I leave you with a quote by Minnie Louise Haskins:

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, "Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown." And he replied, "Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way." So I went faithfully, finding the hand of God, and trod boldly into the dark night, and he led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

Bite Size Book Reviews (1)

2011-12-27T19:55:00.005+02:00

Title: Watching Willow Watts
Author: Talli Roland

This may sound weird, but the first thing I enjoyed about this story was the fact that it was written in British English (same as South African)! Silly, I know, but I read so much American English, that it was refreshing to read the British version of words :-)

What I remember most from reading THE STORY BOOK, by David Baboulene, is knowledge gaps - and Talli does this excellently. She jumps from one character's perspective to another, so that you, the reader, usually know what's going on, but the characters may not always have a clue. Which ramps up the tension!

WATCHING WILLOW WATTS (and I like the alliteration!) was a fun read :-)

Title: Open Minds
Author: Susan Kaye Quinn

Sometimes you can tell when a book is self-published. In this case, you can't.

OPEN MINDS is a unique story with wonderful world building. I love (really love!) that Susan made up new words and slang to go with this imaginary futuristic world. She also surprised me in a few places when the story took unexpected turns - gotta love a story that's not predictable!

I'll definitely be reading the sequel, CLOSED HEARTS, when it comes out in 2012.

Title: Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins

Oh my freaking FREAKOUT!
There. Are. No. Words.
So I won't even try.
(And everyone who knows what's good for them has read this already anyway!)

Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Author: Laini Taylor

What incredible writing! And the story - the story! I could not have dreamed up something like this. No way. I have been completely captivated by Karou and the world(s) she inhabits.

It was like eating a fine handmade chocolate, dark and rich, after months of eating the cheap stuff. My literary appetite says, "Thank you, Laini, for an absolute delicacy of a novel!"

Definitely one of the best books I've read in 2011.

Swaziland Summer Holiday

2011-12-26T16:24:00.005+02:00

The week before Christmas, I went to Swaziland with my family. We stayed at the Ezulwini Sun, which did well in living up to its name - the sun shone brightly and perfectly every single day :-)

Here are some of the more, ah, quirky photos!

Found inside a rather strange art gallery.

Multiple choice... Can I pick the time then?

One of the local hair salons.

Anyone read The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency?!

Is it normal to put your second-hand clothing and your herbal chemist in one shop?

Monkey with sunnglasses and necklace: one of the more interesting "crafts" I came across...

Yup, that's a mini-bus sticking out of the wall.

And we shall call it "babber" (not "barber")...

How has your Christmas holiday been?

Introducing... Creepy Hollow

2011-12-12T21:32:00.010+02:00

I'm Going Indie!

As in independent. On my own.
After much reading around, thinking, and internal debate, I've decided to self-publish a series of novelette-length stories entitled Creepy Hollow.

The Details

the series name is Creepy Hollow (duh. Guess you figured that out by now!)
the genre is young adult paranormal fantasy (with some romance, of course!)
each story will be a novelette in length (I like that word ;-) )
there is an as yet undetermined number of stories
they will be published in ebook form
they will be published at the beginning of each month, starting in March 2012
here is the Creepy Hollow website, which still needs some content added to it
here is the Creepy Hollow Facebook page

Something Interesting

When I started blogging a year and a half (approximately) ago, I Googled my name. It was then that I discovered that author Kim Harrison had a paranormal series revolving around a character named Rachel Morgan. I was a little bummed that someone pinched my name (my real, parents-gave-it-to-me-at-birth name) before I could use it! But whatever.

I haven’t yet read the series, so I didn’t realise the following until this week, after I created the Creepy Hollow website. To check that the website is “discoverable”, I Googled it. Amongst the hits I noticed that Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan series is also called the Hollows Series.
Bummer! So now we have the Hollows Series about character Rachel Morgan, and the Creepy Hollow series written by author Rachel Morgan! Hmm...

What do you think about that? Is it a good or a bad thing for me? Am I likely to get in any “trouble” over this? I gather from the Goodreads blurb that the series is about witches and vampires (and werewolves?), none of which appear in my series.

Blog Tour

I'm planning a blog tour for the release of the first story (I couldn't do it for every one, of course. That's like a continual blog tour. People would get so sick of me!), but I'll email people individually to ask if they want to be involved in that.

So, there you have it! Watch this space.

The Hunger Games Movie

2011-12-08T11:29:00.004+02:00

Drool fest!

I can't wait for this movie. I seriously can't. I will be SO bummed if it somehow doesn't turn out well and "ruins" the story. But, looking at the actors/actresses involved, could it really be anything but brilliant? If you're an avid fan like me, you've probably seen all these pictures already. But where's the harm in drooling a little bit more? ;-)

And may the odds be ever in your favor!

What did you think of this series?

Did you love it as much as I did? (If you didn't, I don't want to know about it!) Were you satisfied with the way the series ended? *Try to avoid spoilers in the comments for those (insane) few who may not have read the books yet*

PS. Come back tomorrow for an announcement of awesomeness!

Teaser Tuesday (18): Open Minds

2011-12-06T07:29:00.002+02:00

Title: Open Minds
Author: Susan Kaye Quinn

"Code of silence?"
"That's just what I call it. The vow of perpetual silence. Trust me; you don't want people to know what you can do."

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!
Share the title and author too so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

Mindmap your Novel with MindMeister

2011-12-05T20:42:00.001+02:00

Do any of you use mind maps during the planning stages of your novel? I used to, but these days I don't do much in the way of planning/plotting (*cough*... *pantser* ...). But I recently discovered MindMeister, which looks kind of fun.

Have you used this tool before? Is it easy?
(Cos I haven't actually tried it yet!)

What method of plotting (if any) do you use?
(If it works for you, please share it :-) I need to learn to plot properly!)

Why Self-Publishing Appeals to Me

2011-11-28T20:20:00.001+02:00

I've always been a DIY type of person. Not the drilling-holes-and-hammering-nails-and-building-cupboards kind of DIY, but more "craft project" DIY.

For example...

I see a necklace I like and think, I can make that for half the price (beads + fastening bits + really cute little tools + minimal creative skills = whatever necklace you want)

I needed an armband for my iPod and after Googling them online I thought, I can totally do that myself (material shop + super cheap piece of faux leather + amateur sewing skills = DIY iPod armband)

When I was little I made a mini "hardcover" book (as in, the cover was made of thick cardboard and the pages were paper) and actually sewed it together along the spine!

Then I decided I wanted to try to make a book cover so I offered to help out Kittie Howard and, voila (look to the left. Duh) (non-fancy camera + free-for-commercial-use fonts + PowerPoint = clothes for Remy)

So I've come to the conclusion that my DIY nature is the reason self-publishing has been growing on me over the past few months (that and my super-control-freak nature).

Confession: I used to kinda turn my nose up at the idea of self-publishing. I mean, that's what "loser" writers do, right? The ones who aren't able to get the stamp of approval from a "real" publisher.

WRONG! (well, in my humble, control-freak opinion)

More and more people are doing it - and doing it well! Joe Konrath, Amanda Hocking, John Locke... <other names I can't remember right now and don't feel like looking up>... Did you know that THE SHACK was self-published? Did you know that ERAGON was originally self-published? I'm not saying that you're going to end up like these authors. I'm just saying IT'S POSSIBLE to be a respectable self-published author! And the more I think about it, from just about every angle, being in control of my own stories seems like a smart move...

Thoughts? Opinions? Rotten tomatoes you want to throw?

Girls are like apples on trees...

2011-11-27T19:26:00.004+02:00

I was supervising an exam on Friday (a time I usually use to brainstorm writing ideas - it's just too mind-numbingly boring otherwise) and this was stuck on the wall of the classroom I was in:

Girls are like
apples on trees. The best
ones are at the top of the tree.
The boys don’t want to reach for
the good ones because they are afraid
of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they
just get the rotten apples from the ground
that aren’t as good, but easy. So the apples
at the top think something is wrong with
them, when in reality, they’re amazing.
They just have to wait for the right
boy to come along, the one
who’s brave enough
to climb
all the way
to the top
of the tree.

Author unknown

I love it. I really do :-)

Just for Laughs (12): Funny T-Shirts

2011-11-21T21:22:00.004+02:00

Earlier this year I did a "Just for Laughs" post on T-shirts that I came across on the web and thought were kinda cool... Here are some more for all you geeks out there :-)

These can all be found at ThinkGeek.

I think my fav is "resistance is futile"!

Amazon eBook Prices: What Do You See?

2011-11-15T15:30:00.003+02:00

Image source

*Skip to the end of the post to see the answer that has since been found.*

It has come to my attention that the prices of self-published ebooks on Amazon are not the same outside the US as they are inside the US.

I used to look at authors' ebooks on Smashwords and Amazon and I'd think to myself, why are they pricing their books higher on Amazon than they are on Smashwords? Is it because more work goes into formatting for Amazon? Surely anyone with half a brain cell will choose to buy from the cheaper site then?

BUT after a conversation with a friend recently, and having looked at a few more author websites and then at their books on Amazon, I suddenly twigged: the authors are NOT pricing their books differently on different platforms, it's Amazon that keeps showing me a price that's $2 higher than the price the author set.

What??

I contacted Amazon to ask them why this happens and they couldn't answer my question. They told me that they're unable to offer a price match with a different online retailer. Okay, I get that, but that isn't what I asked! I asked ONLY about Amazon: if I click on the exact same link that my friend in the US does, why do I (in South Africa) see a price that is $2 higher than the price she sees?

No response.

So, if you're not currently in the US (or even if you are, just so we can make sure about this), I'd like to ask you a question. When you click on the following Amazon links, what price do you see?

Book	The author says	I see
Remy Broussard’s Christmas	$3.99	$5.99
Open Minds	$2.99	$4.99
In The Mirror	$3.99	$5.99
Campaigner Challenges 2011	$2.99	$4.99

And another important question for authors: if you've priced your book at $0.99, but I pay $2.99, do you still only get 35% royalites (and not 70%, as you should on a $2.99 book)? Does Amazon take the rest even though someone has paid more for your book?

~ ~ ~

UPDATE (22 Nov 2011)
The answer can be found on the KDP Sales and Royalites FAQ page:

1-6. Why is the price of my book higher in other countries than in my own?
There are a number of reasons why prices for Kindle titles may vary from region to region, including taxes, delivery costs, and other operating costs. We understand your concern about prices and we share that concern - we will continue our efforts to reduce costs and offer the best possible prices to customers in every region.

I guess I should have searched harder for the answer before posting about this, but I'm still glad I posted, as it seems that many people are unaware of the price difference.

String Bridge Amazon Chart Rush!

2011-11-11T08:00:00.011+02:00

Today is THE day to help Jessica Bell's debut, STRING BRIDGE, hit the bestseller list on Amazon, and receive the all-original soundtrack, Melody Hill: On the Other Side, written and performed by the author herself, for free!

All you have to do is purchase the book today (paperback, or eBook), November 11th, and then email the receipt to:

jessica.carmen.bell(at)gmail(dot)com

She will then email you a link to download the album at no extra cost!

To purchase the paperback:

Amazon USA

To purchase the eBook:

Amazon USA

Amazon UK

To listen to samples of the soundtrack:
visit iTunes.

If you are
not familiar with String Bridge,
check out the book trailer:

Rave Reviews for String Bridge:

“Jessica Bell’s STRING BRIDGE strummed the fret of my veins, thrummed my blood into a mad rush, played me taut until the final page, yet with echoes still reverberating. A rhythmic debut with metrical tones of heavied dark, fleeting prisms of light, and finally, a burst of joy—just as with any good song, my hopeful heartbeat kept tempo with Bell’s narrative.” ~ Kathryn Magendie, author of Sweetie and Publishing Editor of Rose & Thorn Journal

“Poet and musician Jessica Bell's debut novel String Bridge is a rich exploration of desire, guilt, and the difficult balancing act of the modern woman. The writing is lyrical throughout, seamlessly integrating setting, character and plot in a musical structure that allows the reader to identify with Melody's growing insecurity as her world begins to unravel … String Bridge is a powerful debut from a promising writer, full of music, metaphor, and just a hint of magic.” ~ Magdalena Ball, author of Repulsion Thrust and Sleep Before Evening

“Jessica Bell is a brilliant writer of great skill and depth. She doesn't pull back from the difficult
scenes, from conflict, pain, intensity. She puts it all out there, no holds barred, no holding back. She knows how to craft a scene, how to develop character, how to create suspense. This is an absolutely brilliant debut novel. I look forward to reading her next novel, and next and next.” ~ Karen Jones Gowen, author of Farm Girl, Uncut Diamonds and House of Diamonds

Connect with Jessica:
String Bridge: http://www.stringbridge.com/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/jessica_bell
Website: http://www.jessicacbell.com/
Blog: http://thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/author.jessica.bell
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MsBessieBell
Publisher: http://www.luckypress.com

Please TWEET and/or FACEBOOK this post using #StringBridge!

Book Review: Exiled, by RaShelle Workman

2011-11-10T10:21:00.001+02:00

Tomorrow, on the magical 11-11-11, the Dark C.A.R.M.A ladies (C. K. Bryant, Ali Cross and RaShelle Workman) officially release their novels! And today I get to share the good, the bad and the ~~ugly~~ pretty about EXILED, RaShelle's sci-fi romance.

Stubborn, sixteen-year-old Princess Venus of Kelari wants one thing, to become immortal, that is, until someone exiles her to Earth, kills her irrihunter and takes her family.

Now she wants revenge.

First she’s got to get home. But before she can return to Kelari, the Gods have commanded her to help an arrogant boy named Michael find his soul mate.

Only she doesn't know the first thing about love.

Rather quickly, her inexperience with human emotion is obscured by other matters—alien-controlled psychotic teens that are out to kill her, and a government group that is set on capturing and dissecting her.

Worst of all, Venus will suffer a painful death-by-poisoning, thanks to Earth’s atmosphere, if she remains on the planet longer than one week.

Still, Venus is a Princess and she's got a plan. Surely, with her help, Michael will fall in love with a human.

But time is running out and Michael is falling for the wrong girl—her.

THE GOOD: Amidst all the vampire, werewolf and fallen angel novels out there, EXILED is a refreshing and unique read. Little details brought Venus’s world, Kelari, to life: everyone's features are the same (silver and white) until they become immortal, Kelari's atmosphere is different, they have unique swear words (because why should someone on a different planet use the same swear words we do?) and, of course, the Kelvieri's Boots.

These boots fascinated me. "They were black as a starless night, soft as feathers, yet stronger than any metal ever discovered. Thrantum. That’s what the Gods called the material." Within the heels of these boots, the Gods capture symbols of a person’s imperfections. The idea almost gives me shivers!

RaShelle didn't waste time in getting the plot moving, meaning I had no problem turning the electronic pages on my Kindle. It was also great to see the story unfold from different characters' perspectives (Venus; her personal guard, Zaren; the human, Michael; the bad guy, Dervinias...). No character is present by accident, and almost everyone with more than a passing role turns out to be related to the conflict in some way. I love a book where the details fit together like pieces in a puzzle, and although this picture isn't complete yet, I can look forward to more pieces falling into place in the next book in this series, BEGUILED.

THE BAD: My enjoyment of this book was somewhat hampered by the numerous missing apostrophes, occasional clumsy sentence structure, one or two tense mix-ups and an accidental extra word here and there. BUT I am happy to tell you that I just went back to Smashwords and saw that a second version of EXILED was uploaded two days after I downloaded the first version. I haven't looked at the second version, but I'm sure the author has fixed up all those little errors I came across.

THE PRETTY: Do I really have to elaborate? I mean, look at that cover! Gorgeous!

And, for the record, TEAM ZAREN! (Yup, I have a thing for Venus's sexy guard...)

~ ~ ~

RASHELLE WORKMAN lives with her husband, three children and three dogs. When she gets a quiet moment alone, she enjoys reading about faraway places. And, in case you were wondering, yes, she does believe there is other life out in the Universe.

Facebook: RaShelle Workman author

Twitter: RaShelleWorkman

Goodreads
Blog

Remy Broussard's Christmas, by Kittie Howard

2011-11-07T07:25:00.000+02:00

When a classmate physically and mentally bullies Remy, the third-grader withdraws from friends and imagines the worst about his parents. Staring at the Christmas tree in the classroom enables the sharecropper's son to escape his poverty-stricken life and dream about opening a present on Christmas morning and having turkey for Christmas dinner, neither of which has ever occurred.

Friends blame the changes in Remy's behavior on Leonard's bullying and encourage Remy to talk to his parents, his teacher or his priest. Remy refuses, often with open hostility. As Christmas Day approaches, Remy's struggle to understand why he has so little and others have so much deepens. He concludes that Jesus is punishing him for hating Leonard and his bullying.

A bayou-laced, South Louisiana community comes together in 1952 to stop Leonard's bullying in a compassionate manner and open Remy's heart to the meaning of Christmas through love and forgiveness.

This is a delightful story of hope, perfectly timed for Christmas, from a fellow writer and blogger, Kittie Howard. Though the setting is a little before my time, Kittie's words transported me back to a time when I sat in a little classroom in a small village, at an ancient desk with an inkwell (that students found ingenious uses for) doing worksheets of sums. Ah, the smell of freshly sharpened pencils... (come on, I'm not the only one who loves that smell!).

What I enjoyed as well were the Author's Notes at the end of the +/- 14 000 word story, where Kittie shares a little about her life and the way things were back in 1952 that lead to the writing of Remy Broussard's Christmas.

In the spirit of #authorlove, it would be fantasitc if you would head over to Amazon to take a look at Remy and support a wonderful writer-blogger with a genuine and sincere heart.

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Formatting your eBook for Kindle

2011-11-06T10:43:00.001+02:00

I've recently been helping a friend out with formatting her manuscript for conversion to Kindle ebook form. I was very excited to do this, as I've been curious for a while as to how the process works, and from everything I'd read it honestly didn't look too difficult.

I have to admit, though, that it was a little more of a mission than I anticipated. NOT because it is difficult in any way, but because I am finicky about tiny details, and every time I'd done the conversion process and put the file onto my Kindle to check, I'd think something like... actually, that heading right there would look better in caps, or that word between the title name and author name might look more attractive in italics.

So I lost count of the number of times I did the whole save as html / import into Mobipocket Creator / add cover / click Build / plug in Kindle / copy file onto Kindle / open and check ebook process. It was all good though, because I could do it in my sleep now :-) (though why I'd ever need to do that, I can't imagine...)

Formatting a document for Kindle is not that difficult.

The instructions provided on KDP's Simplified Formatting Guide page are pretty easy to follow:
(specific for MS Word 2007)

DON'T manually indent the first line of each paragraph, but rather use the Home > Paragraph > Indentation > First Line function, so that it's automatic.
DON'T manually insert page breaks but using multiple returns (the Enter key), but rather use the Insert > Page Break function at the end of each chapter, before you begin a new chapter.
DON'T copy and paste images into your document, but rather use the Insert > Picture function.
Save your Word document as a .htm file.
Open Mobipocket Creator (the software is available for download. Follow the link on the Simplified Formatting Guide page) and follow the last few instructions on the Simplified Formatting Guide page.

There was only one thing I found frustrating: Whenever I had blank lines between lines of writing, for example:

CHAPTER ONE

My First Chapter's Name

My first chapter begins with these lovely words: We all went out for a blah, blah, blah. It was delicious. But just as we were leaving, a great, big blah, blah, blah appeared and we were all, like, terrified!

Those blank lines DID show up when I put the file onto my Kindle device to check it, but they DIDN'T show up on the Kindle Previewer software or the Kindle for PC software. Freakin' annoying! But I eventually figured out the following solution:

Put the cursor in front of My in My First Chapter's Name and go to Page Layout > Breaks > Section Breaks > Continuous. Do the same in front of the My in My first chapter begins with... And, of course, anywhere else you'd like there to be a blank line.

So. Anyone else done any formatting for ebooks lately? Have you formatted for different platforms? Are some of them more complicated than others? (For example, are Smashwords guidelines more complicated than KDP guidelines?)

Interview with Jessica Bell, author of String Bridge

2011-11-02T14:46:00.000+02:00

Jessica Bell has organized a jam-packed blog tour to promote the release of her gorgeous (I'm telling the truth. I've read it) book, String Bridge, and today I am pleased to be hosting her here on my blog :-)

1. What is your favourite time of day to write?

I tend to write better at night. For some reason I become really alert when it gets dark. I think it’s ingrained from my days as a bartender and waitress.

2. Are you a plotter or a pantzer?

A bit of both. I plot enough to know my protagonist’s goals and where the story has to end up, but not in detail. I like the element of surprise.

(I do the same...)

3. What's a completely random fact about you that most people don't know?

Um … any clothing that is body fitted, I can’t wear twice in a row. Even if I’ve only worn it for a couple of hours it has to go in the washing machine.

(Hmm... I don't have that problem!)

4. What was your favourite book as a child?

Enid Blyton’s The Faraway Tree.

(Oh my gosh! I loved The Faraway Tree! I loved all Enid Blyton's stories actually...)

5. If you were stuck in an elevator and had the choice of any writer, living or dead, to be stuck with, who would it be and why?

This is a tough question. I’d actually prefer to be stuck in an elevator with a musician. Can I do that? They’re bound to have some sort of instrument on them. Live entertainment in a time of need. Er … musical instrument, folks, get your minds out of the gutter. :-)

6. Out of all the characters you’ve ever created, tell us about the one you’d most like to meet in real life.

Well, I’d have to say I’d like to meet the character I’ve recently conjured up for my third novel. Her name is Concetta. An Italian a cappella singer from Milan, who moves to Arles, France to be close to the spirit of Vincent Van Gogh, whose art inspires her music. But this woman moved there right in the middle of a political change which limits people’s ability to have unique identities. It's illegal to wear clothes. In some streets, it's also illegal to sing without accompanying instruments. Concetta breaks these laws in protest. As punishment, her vocal chords are brutally slashed and her eardrums surgically perforated. Unable to cope living a life without song, she resolves to drown herself in the river clothed in a dress stained with performance memories. But her suicide attempt is cut short as someone grabs her by the throat and pulls her to the surface.

(Wow. Intense.)

7. Have you ever based a character on a real person you know, and would you tell that person?

All my characters have various traits of various people I know and/or have met. I think all writers do that. Aren’t we all constantly observing behaviour? I think we do it without even being aware sometimes. Having said that, though, none of my characters are one person in entirety. For example, Alex, in String Bridge, has the same occupation as my partner, the temper of an ex-boyfriend, and the past of someone completely fictional. Would I tell them? Well, I don’t really think it’s necessary in cases like this. And I think I’d steer clear of writing about a real person anyway, unless I was writing non-fiction.

8. If for some reason you couldn’t be a writer, what would you be?

Haha. Are you kidding? A rock star of course. :-)

9. Lastly (and most importantly): chocolate or ice cream?

Ice cream. No doubt about it! And I don’t even care what flavor.

~ ~ ~

Jessica Bell is a literary women's fiction author, poet and singer/songwriter who grew up in Melbourne, Australia, to two gothic rock musicians who had successful independent careers during the '80s and early '90s. She spent much of her childhood travelling to and from Australia to Europe, experiencing two entirely different worlds, yet feeling equally at home in both environments. She currently lives in Athens, Greece and works as a freelance writer/editor for English Language Teaching publishers worldwide, such as HarperCollins, Pearson Education and Macmillan Education. In addition to String Bridge, Jessica has published a book of poetry called Twisted Velvet Chains. A full list of poems and short stories published in various anthologies and literary magazines can be found under Published Works & Awards, on her website. From September 2012 Jessica will be hosting the Homeric Writers' Retreat & Workshop on the Greek island of Ithaca, home of Odysseus.

Purchase String Bridge:

eBook

Paperback:

Soundtrack:

Where you can find Jessica:

String Bridge Website
Goodreads
String Bridge Book Trailer
String Bridge Merchandise
Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Retreat & Workshop site

NaNoWriMo Kicks Off! (Without me. Sort of)

2011-11-01T19:40:00.003+02:00

And off they go! I'm imagining a scene kind of like the Comrades Marathon, but with laptops and thousands of fingers typing...

I'm not participating - not properly anyway. Too many school things happen in November. The school year finishes in early December so there's lots to get done this month (including marking of exams, collecting of textbooks, tidying of classrooms, end-of-year meetings, planning for next year...).
BUT I have decided to participate in my own small made-up way so that I have a daily goal just like the rest of you (and I can hopefully get far more words on a page than I otherwise would have!)

500 words a day!

I know, I know. It seems kind of piddly compared to the 1667 all the real NaNoWriMo-ers will be aiming for every day. But it's better than zero :-)

Modifier Mayhem

2011-10-27T19:46:00.001+02:00

A few days ago I printed out some of my writing to begin the task of editing (~~ugh~~ yay!). The first thing I did was take two different coloured highlighters and highlight all the adjectives and adverbs.

After its presentation, the quickest and easiest way to reject a manuscript is to look for the overuse, or misuse, of adjectives and adverbs. (The First Five Pages, by Noah Lukeman)

I now seem to have green and orange everywhere!

shadowed corner
steady breathing
cool evening breeze
prickly warmth
sleeping form
stinging pain
scaly skin
move quickly
lift gently
tightly
casually
internally
clumsily

To remedy these I can try to
a) find more unusual adjectives and adverbs
b) strengthen my nouns and verbs so that I don't need to add adjectives and adverbs
c) use comparisons

But not all of these adjectives and adverbs are "bad", right? I mean, come on. Sometimes you have to describe a noun with another word. And sometimes the only way to clarify how something is done, is with one of those pesky -ly words.

Am I right? Wrong? Banished to writers' purgatory?

My New Kindle (and Other Distractions)

2011-10-16T22:07:00.001+02:00

So... I haven't been posting much lately, and I can't even blame it on school work this time!

This time my non-writing, non-blogging activity has been due to the fact that my sister is home and we were organising her High Tea 21st Party...

... and the fact that I have a brand new Kindle to play on (I love it!) ... and I also accidently found a picture of marbled nails last night, googled a tutorial and then decided to try it out myself. I'm sure my students will think it's an excellent use of my time!

Teaser Tuesday (17): Exiled

2011-10-11T19:40:00.000+02:00

Title: Exiled
Author: RaShelle Workman

Through weighty eyelids, she peered at herself in the glass and noticed a line of thick, blue liquid streaming from the charm around her neck. She reached up and touched the substance.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!
Share the title and author too so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

Six Sentence Sunday (3)

2011-10-09T07:50:00.000+02:00

There are numerous other entries for Six Sentence Sunday, if you'd like to read them.

Image from featurepics.com

"I'll make sure Tora knows about this," he says as he steps through the doorway. "You know, just in case you forget to mention it to her." The air closes up behind him.
Great, great, great. I wish I was still at the age where having a tantrum would be acceptable. I've never known anyone to mess up an assignment this badly and I'm pretty sure it's not even my fault.

Setting Yourself a Daily Writing Goal

2011-10-07T07:22:00.004+02:00

So it's clear I wasn't going to reach 16000 words in five days, but that kinda doesn't matter since my actual goal this week was to finish a certain writing project, and since I did that on Wednesday, all writing I did/do yesterday and today I view as a bonus :-)

Anyhoo... I've been pondering the idea of setting yourself a specific number of words to be written each day...

Cons

I started caring less about the story I was writing and more about the word count in the bottom left corner of my screen.
I felt bummed about not reaching my desired word count, even if the number of words I managed to write was still pretty impressive for me.

Pros

Knowing I was aiming for a certain number kept me more focused and disciplined than I would have been otherwise.
Keeping track of the numbers means I can look back on the past few days and see exactly how much I've achieved.

Things I've Discovered

Writing that much in a condensed period of time (which I haven't done before) is more mentally tiring than I expected.
If I were to do this full time, every day, with no other work to distract me (something I've wished for for a while) I think I might go insane! A long gym break in the middle of the day would definitely be required!
I would also have far more frequent back ache - I'm just not used to sitting for so many hours a day!
And I'm kind of grateful that I'm a teacher (though I still wish it took less time!) - a job that gets me out of the house, interacting with young people and on my feet for several hours a day.

Have you discovered anything recently about your writing process?

Holiday Goals: Day Three

2011-10-05T22:45:00.001+02:00

Goal word count: 3200 (I gave up on the idea of adding the previous day's missed words. That was never gonna happen!)

Actual word count: 2700

Comments: So. Once again I've missed my daily quota. BUT the awesome news is that I miscalculated how many words I'd need to get to the end of my current project and so... I'm finished already! And I did several hundred words of a new project! And I had a wonderful dinner out to celebrate my four year dating-anniversary! (Okay, the exclamation marks shall stop now...)

Holiday Goals: Day Two

2011-10-04T23:19:00.000+02:00

Goal word count: 3400

Actual word count: 2600

Comments: Oops... So, um, there's this book called LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR that I kind of read about HALF of while I was meant to be writing today. BAD ME! But the 2600 words were fun... and LOLA is awesome. So the day was great :-)

Teaser Tuesday (16): Speak

2011-10-04T12:41:00.000+02:00

Title: Speak
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

I'm saved by a Centro bus. It coughs and rumbles and spits out two old women in front of the grocery store.

I know, I know, I should have read this book already, but better late than never!

I really like the way this book is written, like a whole bunch of small scenes stuck together to make Melinda's story. It is fascinating to read about how she sees the world and labels the things around her. I am really enjoying (is that the right word to use with this kind of story? Well you know what I mean) it, especially as this is a character I find myself relating very strongly to.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!
Share the title and author too so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

Holiday Goals: Day One

2011-10-03T22:59:00.000+02:00

Goal word count: 3200

Actual word count: 3000

Comments: Not bad considering boyfriend decided we needed to spend some together (quite right) and so part of the day went to movies and the mall. So I should totally reach tomorrow's quota :-)

Holiday Goals

2011-10-02T14:48:00.003+02:00

It's the end of term 3 and we have a week off before the final school term of the year begins. I have big plans for this week, plans that begin (and end) with writing 16000 words in 5 days. This works out to 3200 words a day. Now you may be thinking, that's easy, you'll totally manage that, but I am unfortunately one of those writers who mulls things over in my head far too much before putting them down onto a page/screen. Thus, the most I've written in a day is just over 2000 words.
*Sigh*
Setting myself an unrealistic goal here? Probably!

PS. Sorry, second campaigner challenge, it's just not gonna happen!

Amazon's New Kindle Devices

2011-09-29T19:17:00.006+02:00

I've been absent from the blogosphere for the past few days - it's EXAM WEEK at school! Yippee! (Note sarcasm.) I may have missed a few things (like the 162 entries that have so far been written for the 2nd Campaigner Challenge) but I did NOT miss the fact that Amazon released several new devices yesterday!

Kindle

Kindle Touch

Kindle Fire

I was pretty excited about the Kindle Fire. I mean, I've always liked the iPad, but it's a little pricey. The Kindle Fire is more affordable. Yay!

BUT

Does Amazon ship the Kindle Fire to South Africa? No. Does it ship to anywhere other than the US? No. I take back the "yay". And it appears that the Kindle Touch doesn't ship outside of the US either. Anyway, at the end of the day all I actually want to do is read books, so a basic Kindle would be fine for me.

So I bought one! Yay!

(To all of you who already own a Kindle, now would be a good time to tell me how fabulous you think it is so that I know I've made a good decision!)

What I did on my Summer Vacation Blogfest

2011-09-23T17:14:00.001+02:00

Michael over at In Time... is hosting the What I did on my Summer Vacation Blogfest! Remember that essay you always had to write when you returned to school after the summer holidays? Well, this is it! (Except now it's not homework, it's something we want to do because we like writing!).

My Essay

This year I get a double summer holiday! That’s because while it was winter here I went off to England where it was summer, and now that I’ve been back a little while, we’re entering South African summer (which, just so you know, is far more of a summer than the English summer!).

I don’t handle sleep deprivation very well, so by the time I reached my friend’s home in London I was an exhausted, dizzy, smelly wreck. Fortunately, seeing sister + seeing friend + having a shower = a near cure for exhaustion.

We spent three days dashing around London seeing things like Big Ben, the London Eye, the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, The Tate Modern and Oxford Street (shopping! The window kind, mainly, considering that the Rand to the Pound was over eleven to one!).

After that I stayed a few nights in Oakley (Hampshire) with my grandparents, who unfortunately only have one spare room – inconveniently occupied by my parents at the time. So my sister and I shared a blow-up mattress in a study so small that the mattress filled the entire room... Imagine climbing off your bed and already being out of the door!

After the cramped mattress experience we spent some wonderfully restful time in Haytor (Devon) at my aunt’s large and comfortable country home. Here I visited a craftsmen’s guild, the Eden Project (amazing. You should go.), the Riverford Field Kitchen and even the beach!

And even though it was a wonderful holiday, by the time the plane coasted onto the runway in Durban I was thinking, It’s good to be home (and then we got to passport control and there was only ONE desk open for all of us South Africans to go through, and all I could think was, Typical...).

~ ~ ~

Sun 25 Sept: A photo on someone else's blog reminded me of something that happened just as we arrived at the Eden Project...

The Art of the Idea

2011-09-22T20:43:00.004+02:00

The principal at my school recently attended an amazing conference, and this afternoon she spoke to us about one of the sessions she attended - The Art of the Idea, by John Hunt. I've since googled this guy (I hadn't heard of him before) and have discovered his website, The Art of the Idea, and his book, The Art of the Idea.

The reason I'm posting about this is that I wanted to share a few of the points my principal mentioned - the ones that I think apply the most to us writerly types :-)

Image available from iStockphoto

Logic (facts) kills creativity. Those of us who write fiction (especially fantasy) don't have a problem here - why bother with silly things like logic and facts when you can just make stuff up?!
Trust your instincts or they will go away. If your gut feel is that that passage/scene/chapter/idea isn't working - then change it! Don't ignore your instincts, or it's likely that your critique partner/beta reader/agent/editor will pick up on that exact part that your instinct told you to change in the first place.
It is not plagiarism if you copy ideas. My favourite point! Of course, if your entire novel has the same idea as someone else's, well... I'd say that's not a good way to go. But I'm happy to admit that I've "borrowed" ideas from all over the place and pieced them together to create my own work.
We don't know what we don't know until we do what we normally don't do. (Feel free to read that sentence again if it doesn't make sense yet!) So... if you're following the same writing routine every single day and inspiration just isn't coming your way, mix it up a little. Do something completely different. Break away from the mundane, the habits.

And that's it for now :-)
Do you have any pointers for nurturing creativity and the growth of ideas?

Teaser Tuesday (15): String Bridge

2011-09-20T19:01:00.003+02:00

Title: String Bridge
Author: Jessica Bell

Moonlight pelts down on my face like a torch. I roll over and face the wall where darkness paints shadows I can sleep in.

I could have opened to any page in this book and found a beautifully constructed line to "tease" you with. It is full of wonderful imagery, and Jessica makes it seem effortless...

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!
Share the title and author too so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

If I Could Be Anyone I'd Be...

2011-09-14T08:28:00.000+02:00

At the end of the day (figuritively speaking, since it's the beginning of the day here...) I'm happy to say that I like being me :-) Sure, it sucks at times, but that's the case for everyone, right? This is who God made me and I'm happy with that :-)

BUT! In the spirit of Talli Roland's Watching Willow Watts launch day celebrations, I've looked at some of the book characters I love and admire and have picked one that stands out the most for me. So. If I could be any book character I'd be...

Lyra from The Golden Compass.
(the book version, not the movie version, since the book was aeons better than the movie)

I am still in awe of the incredible world(s) Philip Pullman created in His Dark Materials series. While I don't agree with every message he portrays, I will always admire his incredible imagination and storytelling ability.
If only those worlds truly existed and I could see the things Lyra saw... How fantastical!
There are many things about this character that I admire: she is open, trusting, brave, forgiving, loyal and loving.

This post is in celebration of the launch of Talli Roland's second novel, Watching Willow Watts!

For Willow Watts, life has settled into a predictably dull routine: days behind the counter at her father's antique shop and nights watching telly, as the pension-aged residents of Britain's Ugliest Village bed down for yet another early night. But everything changes when a YouTube video of Willow's epically embarrassing Marilyn Monroe impersonation gets millions of hits after a viewer spots Marilyn's ghostly image in a frame.

Instantly, Willow's town is overrun with fans flocking to see the 'new Marilyn'. Egged on by the villagers -- whose shops and businesses are cashing in -- Willow embraces her new identity, dying her hair platinum and ramming herself full of cakes to achieve Marilyn's legendary curves.

But when a former flame returns seeking the old Willow, Willow must decide: can she risk her stardom and her village's newfound fortune on love, or is being Marilyn her ticket to happiness?

Learning to Play with Photoshop

2011-09-12T20:22:00.000+02:00

I recently downloaded the trial version of Adobe CS5 Master Collection (because the real deal costs, like, several months' salary!). It's kind of difficult to use. In fact, the majority of the time I didn't know what I was doing! I just Googled* "How to xyz..." and then followed the instructions. Sort of.

I now give you... my new hair :-)

Some time after I posted the orange one on Facebook I received a text from my boyfriend that said something like, "I can't believe you dyed your hair orange and didn't tell me! I had to find out from someone at home!"
Oops. I guess not everyone reads the captions beneath photos!

~ ~ ~

*Which reminds me: I saw this T-shirt on the weekend that said "I don't need Google, my wife knows everything". Teeheeee! You know when you see something that is just the perfect gift for someone you know? Yeah...

K.T. Hanna	Jessica Wentz	Tasha Seegmiller
Melanie Fowler	Jenny S. Morris	Liliana Espinoza
Rebekah Loper	Rachel Morgan	Mark Koopmans
Rachele Alpine	Carrie Butler	Cherie Colyer
Holly Kammier	Miranda Hardy	Kim Chavez
J.C Martin	Wendy	Juliana Brandt
Tia Bach	Bethany Lopez	Magan Bagan
Precious Emily Trunko Susan Francino Ainsley Shay	Jaime Morrow Avery Marsh Marisa Corvisiero	Claire Frith Sarah O'Scalaidhe Jessica Salyer