Cephalopod & Goals - OCTOBER!

Once again it's time for those "end of month" blog hops I like to participate in. I already posted for Write ... Edit ... Publish, and if you want to check that out, click HERE. But I also need to post for the Cephalopod Coffeehouse Book Club, and the monthly Do You Have Goals? hop.

So here goes.

This month I read more than one great book, and while I was tempted to choose If I Stay as my "book of the month", I opted for this one instead:

I can finally say, "I've read this book!" ... and it's about time! I first read an Isobelle Carmody book after my mum bought me book #1 of the Legendsong back in the late '90s. I LOVED it, and I know I'm not here to talk about Legendsong, but the point I'm making is that Legendsong #1 came out in 1998 or so, and yet it's taken until October 2014 for me to finally pick up my first Obernewtyn book. 

Now that we've got that intro out of the way, I will say that the writing in Obernewtyn #1 did strike me as quite 'young', likely because Carmody was in high school when she wrote the book. I'm interested in finding out how her writing did or did not change across later books, as she grew into an adult. I already know they got increasingly fatter, because while book #1 is very slender, some of the later books are literal tomes.

Despite the 'young'ness of this first episode, I greatly enjoyed it. It's an intriguing world I've entered into, a post-apocalyptic world in which magic is feared, and those in charge try their very best to stamp it out. Those figures of authority are fighting a losing battle, though, because more and more people are being born as "mutant" magic users, rather than the population of freaks getting less as they'd hoped would happen. And some of those 'freaks' are getting sick of living under the oppression their kind has endured for centuries. 

I look forward to learning more about the world of Obernewtyn as I read on with this series.

Last month I shared a picture of my beautiful temp foster kitty George, who is still with me. He's still pretty naughty, and very exasperating, but he's just as cute as he was a month ago. So he's lucky about that. ;) Still, he's one of the reasons I'm still a slacker.

So, yeah, goals? Ummm, I've done a tiny bit of revision work since last month, but nothing much to write home about. And guess what? Tomorrow, NaNoWriMo starts!

In sort of related news that isn't really related, I've almost finished reading Stephen King's On Writing, which has made me realise that there's no need to entirely abandon my pantser ways. ;) Being a pantser is no crime, my friends. If it's good enough for Stephen King, it's good enough for me. Ha!

Seriously though, I suck at editing this year.

Better luck next year, perhaps!

(I think On Writing gave me some thoughts there as well about how better to approach my editing tasks in future. But I'll talk about that some other day)

For now, I'm going to sign off on this note:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! :)

Write ... Edit ... Publish ~ GHOST STORY

First off, HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I hope you all a fun day. And I hope the world is kind to all the beautiful black kitties out there.

Secondly, it's time for the WEP, which I missed last month. WEP is hosted by my awesome fellow Aussie, Denise Covey. This month's theme is, fittingly for the time of year, "Ghost Story".

My story is actually from a novel I never ended up finishing, despite working on it across 2 years of NaNo (2004 and 2005, I believe). It's technically part of a greater epic fantasy work, but is currently a little bit disconnected from the "whole". Anyway, this is the scene as it stands after a few revisions done today. MS Word tells me it's 523 words long.

Somana stared at the ghost. She knew what it must see as it looked back at her—a face haggard and sagging, red-rimmed eyes with heavy shadows underneath. No doubt it also saw a withered, worn-out body, all planes, angles and shadows.

That was how Somana felt. Desiccated.

Soft orange-red light flickered all around, filtering through the ghost, playing tricks. The ghost stood silent, its power unspoken, undefinable…inescapable. It held Somana in its thrall, a trembling prisoner barely able to draw breath.

This had been one of the bad nights—the ones that always seemed to age Somana so dramatically. And it was far from over yet.

“Why are you here?” Somana’s voice shook. “You torment me!”

The ghost did not need her accusation. It knew.

It knew all her names: Zeille. Ereta. Joenne. Somana. It even knew the name she’d gone by as a child, a name all but forgotten now even by its owner. Best forgotten. Perish the thought of anyone speaking it aloud nowadays—such an act would surely seal Somana’s doom.

In her mind, she saw the ghost’s mouth open; saw the word, the name, slip out.

Her heart seized, stuttered. Her lungs constricted, and she was convinced they would explode at any moment.

Her life hung in the balance. Cradled in a ghost’s hands.

Empty bottles lay scattered about the room—at the foot of Somana’s chair, on every windowsill, and peeking out from beneath the thick, velvet curtains. Those glass receptacles glimmered in the firelight, mesmerising representations of the depths to which their owner had sunk. Usually a visitor wouldn’t see them, for no visitors came on bad nights like these. But the ghost saw them always, and drew them out.

Somana hated this ghost. She also loved and grieved, as she had done across all these bereaved years. The sickly feeling swelled in her breast, sweeping through her entire being, threatening to obliterate her the way endless bottles of elixir could never do. Why are you being so cruel? she wanted to ask, but her mouth no longer worked. And besides, she would never ask that question. Never could. The ghost was not being cruel on purpose. It was only fulfilling its purpose.

But she couldn’t help but wonder what sort of life this was. Could she really go on this way forever?

Her limbs had grown stiff to the point of cramping. She sweated, twitched, grimaced, whimpered, but did not move from her seat, huddled as she was against the great cushions. Sometimes she leaned forward, and always her eyes remained fixed on the spectre of her fascination. She wanted to run and hide, but she also wanted to spring forward and enfold the apparition in her embrace.

A motherly embrace...

The sun crept above the horizon but the light inside Somana’s room never changed. Only when the ghost departed would the shadows relinquish their hold on her. For now, the ghost held sway, and gained some measure of vindication. No comfort. Never that. No one could ever feel comfort here.

But when vindication was all there was to gain, it would have to do.

Too lazy to post anything but a cat video

Because I don't really have much to write about at the moment, because it's a Sunday and I'm feeling extremely lazy today, I thought I'd share this video instead. It's of my temporary foster cat George:



Suffice to say, George loves chasing his tail, attacking his own reflection in the shiny floor tiles, and generally being a bit of a wacko. ;) He's definitely one of the more vocal cats I've ever met, and he has big boofy paws and is very cute. Even if he isn't quite sure how to be gentle when playing.

I hope you guys are having a great weekend. :)

NaNoWriMo 2014 ... I'm in! Are you?

It's that time of year again when lots of us are gearing up for November, and NaNoWriMo. This year I'm writing yet again about rock stars, only not the same lot I've written 5 novels about in the past. This year's novel is tentatively titled "LOST & FOUND", and here is my little rough draft blurb as it stands:

Ginna and Benedict grew up together, best friends and confidants. As they enter high school, Ben finds his calling - writing & playing music - and forms his first band. Ginna, an opinionated music connoisseur, is his strongest supporter, but he rehearses in secret with his band, refusing to let her in. At their debut gig, Ben's band isn't very good, but Ginna is convinced this is the start of something huge, at least for Ben.

She's right. Ben is destined for stardom. And as his career takes off, he leaves Ginna far behind. Soon he is caught up in living the high life, travelling the world & hanging out with other famous people. But when disaster strikes his personal life, he realises he's made a series of huge mistakes. And it may be too late for him to go back & fix what he's broken.

As usual, I have that excited feeling in the lead-up to November. But I'm still trying hard to get as much editing of SQUEAKY done before November 1st begins. I'm currently on one of those pesky chapters that needed more actual story added to it, rather than to just be edited.

But back on point... Are you participating in NaNo this November?

P.S. I have now listed all my previous NaNo novels in there as well.

Jessica Bell ~ WHITE LADY book tour [WIN a copy!]

GUESS THE TRUE STATEMENT & WIN JESSICA BELL'S THRILLER, WHITE LADY! (Statement #83)

To celebrate the release of Jessica Bell's latest novel, WHITE LADY, she is giving away an e-copy (mobi, ePub, or PDF) to the first person to correctly guess the one true statement in the three statements below. To clarify, two statements are lies, and one is true:

In White Lady, Mick, Sonia’s son ...
a. dislikes Sonia’s lover, Nash, so much so that he tries to convince her to kill him.
b. was emotionally and physically abused by his father as a child.
c. is expected to be a witness at his father’s forthcoming murder trial.

What do you think? Which one is true? Write your guess in the comments, along with your email address. Comments will close in 48 hours. If no-one guesses correctly within 48 hours, comments will stay open until someone does.

Want more chances to win? You have until October 31 to visit all the blogs where Jessica will share a different set of true and false statements on each one. Remember, each blog is open to comments for 48 hours only from the time of posting.

If you win, you will be notified by email with instructions on how to download the book.

Click HERE to see the list of blogs.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

*This novel contains coarse language, violence, and sexual themes.

Sonia yearns for sharp objects and blood. But now that she's rehabilitating herself as a "normal" mother and mathematics teacher, it's time to stop dreaming about slicing people's throats.

While being the wife of Melbourne's leading drug lord and simultaneously dating his best mate is not ideal, she's determined to make it work.

It does work. Until Mia, her lover's daughter, starts exchanging saliva with her son, Mick. They plan to commit a crime behind Sonia's back. It isn't long before she finds out and gets involved to protect them.

But is protecting the kids really Sonia's motive?

Click HERE to view the book trailer.
Click HERE for purchase links.

Jessica Bell, a thirty-something Australian-native contemporary fiction author, poet and singer/songwriter/guitarist, is the Publishing Editor of Vine Leaves Literary Journal and the director of the Homeric Writers' Retreat & Workshop on the Greek island of Ithaca. She makes a living as a writer/editor for English Language Teaching Publishers worldwide, such as Pearson Education, HarperCollins, MacMillan Education, Education First and Cengage Learning.

Connect with Jessica online:

Website | Retreat & workshop | Blog | Vine Leaves Literary Journal | Facebook | Twitter

Hello, 600th post

I started this blog in December, 2010 after hearing, as many of us do before starting out blogging, that aspiring authors should probably have some sort of online "platform". I think the general idea is to establish your online presence and 'brand'. I definitely started out with the 'online presence' thing in mind, but I never had a particular brand in mind, and I still don't.

Now in October, 2014, I'm still putting up posts about whatever I feel like on a particular day. I do participate in blogfests, book launches, tours, etc., so when it comes to those, my posts are a little bit - or a lot - pre-determined. But the only rule I really try to stick to with blogging in general is to post at least once a week. Previously I aimed for every 3 days, but I find having a general goal of one post per week works better.

It's a little way off my 4-year blogiversary, but 600 posts is a fun milestone to celebrate anyway! I'm so glad to be part of this community. You guys are awesome and I love reading your blogs & seeing what you have to say. And I really enjoy reading your books, too. ;) Particularly when I get awesome print copies of them. GO PRINT BOOKS, GO!

P.S. I'm not far off achieving my (admittedly quite modest) annual reading goal:

2014 Reading Challenge

Trisha has read 37 books toward her goal of 40 books.

hide

37 of 40 (92%)

view books

P.P.S. I am starting to think about what I want to write for NaNo, 2014. I have two ideas that are way ahead of all the rest. Haven't picked one yet, though.

Kyra Lennon's NOBODY KNOWS ~ cover reveal

Title: Nobody Knows

Author: Kyra Lennon

Genre: NA Romance

Type: First in Series (Razes Hell Book 1)

Cover Design: Najila Qamber Design

Photographer: Lindee Robinson Photography

Release Date: November 3rd 2014

 

It's not easy being friends with rising rock stars - especially when you're the glue that holds them together.

Razes Hell has taken off in the charts, and Ellie can't believe her childhood friends, Drew and Jason Brooks, are on TV and drawing crowds after years spent playing in dodgy bars. From obscurity to overnight success, Ellie soon realises life in the public eye isn’t all it’s cracked up to be as dark secrets become headline news and old conflicts are re-ignited. When a fake feud meant to boost the band’s popularity threatens to rip the boys apart for real, Ellie finds herself torn – a position which only gets more uncomfortable when her loyalty to Jason collides with her blossoming relationship with Drew.

Nobody knows how deep their issues run; nobody but Ellie. With friendship, a music career and a new love on the line, can Ellie keep their tangled pasts from ruining their futures?

AmazonUS | AmazonUK

 

Kyra is a self-confessed book-a-holic, and has been since she first learned to read. When she's not reading, you'll usually find her hanging out in coffee shops with her trusty laptop and/or her friends, or girling it up at the nearest shopping mall.

Kyra grew up on the South Coast of England and refuses to move away from the seaside which provides massive inspiration for her novels. Her debut novel, Game On (New Adult Contemporary Romance), was released in July 2012, and she scored her first Amazon Top 20 listing with her New Adult novella, If I Let You Go in November.

Facebook | Twitter | Website | Amazon | Goodreads

Image by Cool Text: Free Graphics Generator - Edit Image

Shelfie Blog Hop - last-minute appearance! :)

It's October 6th over here, and I'm just sneaking in my Shelfie post at the last minute! What's this whole Shelfie Blog Hop thing about? Well, I got the info from VikLit's blog, HERE. But the gist is:

Take a picture of you and your book(s) - your faves or your own novels. Or you can just arrange the books in a special way and take the picture - but you do get extra points for being in the photo.Formats: Tweet, Facebook, Blog - just make sure to include a link(s) to each.You have until October 6th!

It's true I haven't published any of my books yet, but I do have 2 proof copies of novels, one each of SUNDOWN and FIRE. You can see those (only a bit of FIRE) in the photo below. The book in the middle is, of course, the Vine Leaves Anthology I had my little poem published in. Unfortunately I don't yet have a physical copy of the other anthology I was published in, but I hope to get one someday soon.

The other thing you can see in this photo (other than me) is a tiny glimpse of my beloved built-in bookshelves. I have wall to wall books and DVDs and CDs in my hallway, on one side anyway. Would be a bit overkill if I had it on both sides. I think that'd make me a bit claustrophobic. ;) So yeah, I love my bookshelves.

Here is a better view of my shelves ... with a glimpse of a grey cat's back at the bottom. ;)

IWSG #9 ~ My thoughts on "writing"

It's the first Wednesday of October, and therefore it's time to post for the IWSG. Today is a special occasion for a couple of reasons:

1. We are celebrating 2 years of the IWSG website!
2. Many participants are posting entries for the IWSG anthology.

Here are the details:

The purpose of the book is to assist other writers on the journey, so we are looking for tips and instructions in the areas of writing, publishing, and marketing. It can be inspirational in nature as long as you provide a solid benefit. We’ve already received a lot of great entries–mostly in the area of writing–so looking for some good tips on publishing and marketing. Be sure to state which category, add a one line by-line, and permission for us to use it in the book.

Once you have posted on October 1, go to this page at the IWSG site and enter your link - http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-guide-to-publishing-and-beyond.html The deadline for submissions is October 2.

Now, I hear that many entries have already been submitted which focus on writing, rather than marketing or publishing. Unfortunately I can't really give any "advice" on the latter 2, since I haven't published anything except a little poem and a little flash fiction piece. But it occurred to me that I have actually published a "full length work" ... of music. So I thought I could write about that.

I did submit a piece about that via email, as it was slightly over 300 words. But in case it's not what they're seeking, I thought I'd just quickly blurgh out something about writing, as an alternate option. ;) So here it is:

Title: The "Creation" Stage
Topic: Writing
Bio: Trisha writes, reads, draws, blogs (at WORD+STUFF), sings, travels, and sometimes does other stuff too.
Permission: yes, use it!

When talking about "writing", some may be talking about the whole process from initial lightning strike idea to completing that final polishing edit. But for me, the actual "writing" part is the initial "blurgh" where you spew out words and end up with a draft. A very, very rough draft.

In recent times I've become something of a plotter, I'll admit, but I'm still a pantser at heart. I may get an idea, and then I may or may not sit down and jot down a few notes. If I don't jot down notes, it's because I'm getting straight to the writing part. Notes do tend to help me keep the flow going. They also help me to not go too wildly off track. But they have never been necessary, not for me.

I am pretty sure I've never suffered from writer's block. At least not for any amount of time longer than five or ten minutes. This is because I have a special knack for knowing that what I'm writing is probably absolute crap, but not caring.

I start to care later, when it's revision time. And as evidenced in recent times, I can sometimes really struggle during revisions. Not always, but sometimes. For me, though, actually writing is just the easiest thing in the world.

The advice I always give is to "just write". We've all heard that before, but it's just so simple and so true. And it always works for me. When starting a new story, or continuing an unfinished one, don't worry about whether it's crap or not. Just write. Because at least when you're done, you'll have something to work on, instead of just a blank screen.

-283 words