My fabulous Samhain editor, Deborah Nemeth, is guest blogging at Anna's Book Blog and talking about why she loves editing fantasy.
Some very interesting comments about the flexibility of the genre plus some featured Samhain titles including.....yes, you guessed it, RITUAL PASSION!
Click here to read.
Other featured authors include, R.F. Long (The Wolf's Mate, The Wolf's Sister, The Scroll Thief, Soul Fire), Julia Knight (Ilfayne's Bane, Love Is My Sin), and Inez Kelley (Myla by Moonlight).
Even if you're not a fantasy fan, it's worth paying a visit to check out the absolutely gorgeous covers.
And if you drop by and comment this morning Australian time, you could win a Samhain book.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Friday, 11 December 2009
Amazon Author Central and other nice things
I promised that, if successful, I’d post how to add covers to Amazon. Well, so much for fretting over how hard it would be and how much it would test my techno-deficient brain. I did it (with a little help from lovely Eric). And it was easy!
So here’s how (written in numpty-speak for people like me who have no idea about this stuff).....
First, join Author Central. Click here for the link. Then sign in or up (depending on if you already have an account or not).
Amazon will then start to create your account but, in the meantime, you can fiddle around and add an author bio and even an author photo. Once your account is activated you can link your blog all sorts of wonderful things.
Anyway, back to loading book covers. Click on the ‘books’ tab. All your books should appear. For the ones that don’t have covers, click on title below the blank bit where your cover should be and when the link is open, browse for your cover file in your computer, then upload. It’s that simple.
Now, if only other computer stuff was this easy....
You can check out Ritual Passion on Amazon by clicking here.
For those of you on Facebook who like to cook, Penguin Books Australia is conducting a 12 days of Christmas promotion and posting recipes from some fantastic cookbooks. There are recipes from My Greek Family Table, Little Vietnam, Vineyard Cookbook and a host of others. You’ll find them on Penguin’s photos page.
And at samhellion.com, Samhain Publishing’s author site, they’re giving away some fantastic short stories. Plus there’s a treasure hunt competition with Kindles and Sony ebook Readers as prizes.
As for me, in between editing a short story which somehow morphed into a very long one, I’m working hard on a new website. Given my lack of talent in the computing area, it’s taking a looooong time but I’m hopeful I’ll have it up next week.
Then I’ll be testing myself with a book trailer. Efforts so far using Windows Movie Maker have been unsuccessful to say the least. So if anyone out there knows of a better, very user friendly and preferably free program I can use, I’d love to hear from you.
Hope you’re all enjoying the party season!
So here’s how (written in numpty-speak for people like me who have no idea about this stuff).....
First, join Author Central. Click here for the link. Then sign in or up (depending on if you already have an account or not).
Amazon will then start to create your account but, in the meantime, you can fiddle around and add an author bio and even an author photo. Once your account is activated you can link your blog all sorts of wonderful things.
Anyway, back to loading book covers. Click on the ‘books’ tab. All your books should appear. For the ones that don’t have covers, click on title below the blank bit where your cover should be and when the link is open, browse for your cover file in your computer, then upload. It’s that simple.
Now, if only other computer stuff was this easy....
You can check out Ritual Passion on Amazon by clicking here.
For those of you on Facebook who like to cook, Penguin Books Australia is conducting a 12 days of Christmas promotion and posting recipes from some fantastic cookbooks. There are recipes from My Greek Family Table, Little Vietnam, Vineyard Cookbook and a host of others. You’ll find them on Penguin’s photos page.
And at samhellion.com, Samhain Publishing’s author site, they’re giving away some fantastic short stories. Plus there’s a treasure hunt competition with Kindles and Sony ebook Readers as prizes.
As for me, in between editing a short story which somehow morphed into a very long one, I’m working hard on a new website. Given my lack of talent in the computing area, it’s taking a looooong time but I’m hopeful I’ll have it up next week.
Then I’ll be testing myself with a book trailer. Efforts so far using Windows Movie Maker have been unsuccessful to say the least. So if anyone out there knows of a better, very user friendly and preferably free program I can use, I’d love to hear from you.
Hope you’re all enjoying the party season!
Friday, 4 December 2009
TOP has left the building!
So much for the new house and suburban silence getting to me! In direct contrast to last week, this week proved a cracker. Not only did I finish the final edit of TOP, I wrote its synopsis and blurb. Then yesterday I hit the send button and jettisoned it off into the ether or, rather, my editor’s inbox. Not unusually, there’ll be a bit of a wait on the result. But that’s okay. It’ll give me plenty of time to promote Ritual Passion and work on Pureheart.
I was rather excited to discover Ritual Passion listed on Amazon as a Kindle download. Yay! Click here for the link. Unfortunately there’s no image available but I think I’ve discovered a way to load one. It’s all a bit complicated and I haven’t tried it yet, and not being much of a techno person it’ll probably take a while to sort out. If it does, I’ll post the method I used here in case anyone else wants to know. Assuming it works, of course.
Early this week during my trundles, I scored a very cheap second hand copy of Hilary Mantel’s Booker Prize winning Wolf Hall (about Thomas Cromwell). Given it’s not only a (fairly) new release but a prestigious prize winner and in pristine condition, I’m not sure if that’s a good sign or not. One thing is certain, it’ll keep me occupied for a while. Wolf Hall runs to a massive 650 pages.
Fingers crossed next week will see me just as productive. I hope so. LOTS to do!
I was rather excited to discover Ritual Passion listed on Amazon as a Kindle download. Yay! Click here for the link. Unfortunately there’s no image available but I think I’ve discovered a way to load one. It’s all a bit complicated and I haven’t tried it yet, and not being much of a techno person it’ll probably take a while to sort out. If it does, I’ll post the method I used here in case anyone else wants to know. Assuming it works, of course.
Early this week during my trundles, I scored a very cheap second hand copy of Hilary Mantel’s Booker Prize winning Wolf Hall (about Thomas Cromwell). Given it’s not only a (fairly) new release but a prestigious prize winner and in pristine condition, I’m not sure if that’s a good sign or not. One thing is certain, it’ll keep me occupied for a while. Wolf Hall runs to a massive 650 pages.
Fingers crossed next week will see me just as productive. I hope so. LOTS to do!
Thursday, 26 November 2009
The Sound of Silence...
As I’m sneaking off to a Xmas party tomorrow (a golfing competition-type party. Heee! What fun!...well, it is if you’re a golfer) I’m bringing my usual Friday post forward to today.
This week has been disappointingly unproductive. I’ve written, but not as much as I wanted and nor am I thrilled with the quality. I recently moved house and now have a spacious, light-filled and organised office yet it’s proving far from inspiring.
Firstly, I don’t have the view I used to (not that the old one was great but at least I saw more than a Colorbond fence) and secondly, it’s quiet. No more honking ship's horns, traffic noise or chatter from people walking past. Just suburban silence and the odd magpie warble.
Funny, but I never thought I’d say that I miss the noise. I’m a country girl, I like quiet. Yet at my old place the sound of all that activity created a background of excitement and I think perhaps it had some sort of subconscious influence.
Nevermind. No doubt I’ll get used to it. When it comes to my writing, I’m very determined. If I want to get words down, I will. And in a couple of weeks I’ll probably be waxing lyrical about the virtues of silence when all I’ve done is regained my focus.
On a positive note, I received some excellent feedback from my STALI judges. Probably the best I’ve ever had in any competition. Useful, meaty stuff I can use to improve the manuscript. It’s feedback like this that makes entering the RWA’s writing contests worthwhile.
This week has been disappointingly unproductive. I’ve written, but not as much as I wanted and nor am I thrilled with the quality. I recently moved house and now have a spacious, light-filled and organised office yet it’s proving far from inspiring.
Firstly, I don’t have the view I used to (not that the old one was great but at least I saw more than a Colorbond fence) and secondly, it’s quiet. No more honking ship's horns, traffic noise or chatter from people walking past. Just suburban silence and the odd magpie warble.
Funny, but I never thought I’d say that I miss the noise. I’m a country girl, I like quiet. Yet at my old place the sound of all that activity created a background of excitement and I think perhaps it had some sort of subconscious influence.
Nevermind. No doubt I’ll get used to it. When it comes to my writing, I’m very determined. If I want to get words down, I will. And in a couple of weeks I’ll probably be waxing lyrical about the virtues of silence when all I’ve done is regained my focus.
On a positive note, I received some excellent feedback from my STALI judges. Probably the best I’ve ever had in any competition. Useful, meaty stuff I can use to improve the manuscript. It’s feedback like this that makes entering the RWA’s writing contests worthwhile.
Friday, 20 November 2009
More success!
Much to my surprise a retitled and slightly tamer version of Pureheart is a finalist in the Romance Writers of Australia Single (Title) and Loving It contest. The partial will now be winging its way to Rose Hilliard of St Martin's Press for final judging.
I can't wait to read the judges' comments. The feedback I have from my fabulous critique partner Sue is that I have the heroine sorted but the hero could do with a bit of work. I think she's right, so it'll be interesting to see if the judges thought the same.
This is the 3rd year running I've made the final of the STALI. Last year, SOG made it through and ended up finishing third, while the year before, both The Galloper and Faithless were finalists with Faithless finishing second. While it'd be nice to gain another placing I won't be getting too excited about the prospect. One thing I've learnt since I started entering contests is that high scores aren't always an indicator of editorial appeal.
As for entering again next year, well, that remains to be seen. Hopefully not, because I'm planning on being ineligbile!
I'm currently reading the most extraordinary book - The Chalk Circle Man by the French writer Fred Vargas. It's the first in a series revolving around Commissaire Adamsberg, a somewhat eccentric French detective. Talk about quirky! I can't wait to read the remainder in the series.
But first I need to work my way through the massive pile of unreads I've accumulated....
I can't wait to read the judges' comments. The feedback I have from my fabulous critique partner Sue is that I have the heroine sorted but the hero could do with a bit of work. I think she's right, so it'll be interesting to see if the judges thought the same.
This is the 3rd year running I've made the final of the STALI. Last year, SOG made it through and ended up finishing third, while the year before, both The Galloper and Faithless were finalists with Faithless finishing second. While it'd be nice to gain another placing I won't be getting too excited about the prospect. One thing I've learnt since I started entering contests is that high scores aren't always an indicator of editorial appeal.
As for entering again next year, well, that remains to be seen. Hopefully not, because I'm planning on being ineligbile!
I'm currently reading the most extraordinary book - The Chalk Circle Man by the French writer Fred Vargas. It's the first in a series revolving around Commissaire Adamsberg, a somewhat eccentric French detective. Talk about quirky! I can't wait to read the remainder in the series.
But first I need to work my way through the massive pile of unreads I've accumulated....
Friday, 13 November 2009
A little bit of success...
I had a little bit of short story success this week. Valentines Day achieved a Most Highly Commended in the Port Stephens Examiner Literature Awards while The Race rated a Commended in the open story section of the Bauhinia Literary Awards.
Not bad for a couple of little romances.
And here's a link I discovered on Writer's Digest via Twitter. 24-agents-who-want-your-work-2009. There's some good information listed. Well worth a look.
Not bad for a couple of little romances.
And here's a link I discovered on Writer's Digest via Twitter. 24-agents-who-want-your-work-2009. There's some good information listed. Well worth a look.
Friday, 6 November 2009
A mish-mash of news
Urgh! I’ve been so flat out writing and editing TOP I haven’t had time to think of a blog post. All I can offer is a report on how it’s going and a mish-mash of other news. So how is TOP going? Fantastically! I’m really pleased with this book and I’m excited about submitting it. But that won’t be for a while yet. It still has a rest period and then at least another edit to get through before that happens.
Though I don’t tweet much, I’m a bit of a Twitter fan. A surprising amount of useful information is passed via this medium. But what’s caught my eye lately are a series of hashtag topics. If you’re a writer, search for #allaboutagents, #AgentPeeves and #askagent and you’ll find a stack of really useful tweets.
Ooh, and I’d better not forget. A lovely big box of books arrived for me the other day from Chapter Books. Yup, I finally spent my RWNZ Short Story Contest winnings. So now I have an even more tottery to-be-read pile. In the end I chose a combination of romance and other books I’d had trouble getting hold of. Which means that after more than a year of coveting a copy, I finally possess a copy of the Italian sensation, Imprimatur.
And you might have noticed I’m reading Anna Campbell’s Tempt the Devil which I won during Eleni-fest. What a book! I’m wallowing in the vivid language and amazingly deep emotion. Honestly, I can’t recommend this enough. It’s a fantastic read.
And my wrist and forearm seem to be on the mend. Yay!
Pity my golf game isn't....
Though I don’t tweet much, I’m a bit of a Twitter fan. A surprising amount of useful information is passed via this medium. But what’s caught my eye lately are a series of hashtag topics. If you’re a writer, search for #allaboutagents, #AgentPeeves and #askagent and you’ll find a stack of really useful tweets.
Ooh, and I’d better not forget. A lovely big box of books arrived for me the other day from Chapter Books. Yup, I finally spent my RWNZ Short Story Contest winnings. So now I have an even more tottery to-be-read pile. In the end I chose a combination of romance and other books I’d had trouble getting hold of. Which means that after more than a year of coveting a copy, I finally possess a copy of the Italian sensation, Imprimatur.
And you might have noticed I’m reading Anna Campbell’s Tempt the Devil which I won during Eleni-fest. What a book! I’m wallowing in the vivid language and amazingly deep emotion. Honestly, I can’t recommend this enough. It’s a fantastic read.
And my wrist and forearm seem to be on the mend. Yay!
Pity my golf game isn't....
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