Card Caper Monday, series 3, begins!

First: to refresh your memories…

Card Caper Monday is an event that happens over the course of a month (or two), where I handwrite an original short story on one of the many artistic blank cards with which my living space is proliferated. Each Monday I post a challenge–come up with a fantastic first line, tell me your favourite colour, suggest an underused mythological creature to feature, etc–and from among those I pick a winner.

That winner receives the handwritten card, and the story is posted to my FB page, under the Notes tab (usually on a Thursday).

Simple, right?

We’re now up to series three (!!) of Card Caper Monday. I’ve posted this week’s challenge (Come up with a Fantastic First Line) in the pinned post on my FB page, and I’ll be picking a winner next Monday. The story should be up by Thursday next week, but you’ve only got until the Monday to put forward your fantastic first lines, so have at it! You can comment your suggestions here, or on the FB post.

Below is a peep at the card that will be up for grabs!

The first line doesn’t need to relate to the card, just go wild!

Usually I would say “Happy Reading!” to sign off, but in this case, Happy Writing!!

How I Study Korean These Days…

If you’ve been reading my books for any length of time (or have been active on my Facebook page), you’ll know that I’m learning Korean. I’ve been learning for a couple years now to indifferent success, and it has, predictably, bled through into my writing.

I have what I call my “kdrama series”, where I mess with kdrama tropes with as much glee as I mess with fairytale tropes in my retold fairytales, and in my UF I have a Korean character who refuses to speak English.

This means I always have to keep my Korean fresh, and keep getting better, to boot.

So at this point, you’re probably asking–how do you study Korean these days?

Honestly, it involves a lot of mumbling to myself.

Oh, you mean apart from that.

Well, these days I have a teacher. It’s going to sound really stupid to say so, but having a teacher makes a world of difference. You guys probably already knew that, but apparently I’m slow in the uptake. When I first began to learn Korean, I didn’t have the extra cash to pay for a tutor: things are different now, and I’m so glad I took the plunge!

I’m with Preply for lessons at the moment: you can buy bulk lots of lessons and get a reasonable discount, which I’ll be doing now that I know I learn effectively this way. I was looking for a male teacher in particular, since although female voices are pretty easy to understand, I struggle to understand male Korean voices. I also knew that I would want to select a tutor based on when they could tutor me, as well as the cost of the lesson. It was easy to refine my choices by all of those considerations on the Preply website.

With those criteria in mind, I narrowed down my choices to about three tutors. Each of the tutors also has a short video introducing themselves, so that you get an idea of how well they speak English, what their qualifications are, and how they propose to teach.

Out of those three, I found one had a voice I would find difficult to listen to for more than a few minutes, and another didn’t have enough of a grasp of English to effectively teach me.

And that’s how I ended up with Dylan. He’s an extremely patient and thoughtful teacher (he has to be, to teach me!), and he speaks at a really comfortable speed for me to be able to understand him during the lesson. So apart from recommending Preply as a good platform in general, I would specifically recommend Dylan as a teacher if you’re trying to learn Korean. You can check out his profile in the link above, or check out Preply to see what other languages you can learn through the link above that.

Finally, I’m writing what basically amounts to a diary entry every day in Korean, talking to the dogs in Korean, studying with the Sogang Korean books (also highly recommend them!), and still watching a lot of KDrama. Not to mention, of course, that one of my favourite bands is Day6, which basically means I get great music and Korean language exposure in one delightful package…

All of those things are great, and good–but the thing that has made me jump up a level in my learning has definitely been getting a proper lesson each week. The prices are not at all steep, and the accountability is A++

If you have any questions about my study habits or my experience with Preply (this is not a sponsored post, btw, I just love their service so far 😀 ) comment below and I’ll answer them.

Until next time, happy reading, everyone!

Playing Hearts Repackaged and Bound

Well, it’s kinda true. I was looking for a suitable, inexpensive premade cover for Cloudy With a Chance of Dropbears so I could finally publish that novellette.

And as often happens when I do that, I first found a suitable cover for another book. Luckily for me, it was Playing Hearts for which I found a suitable new cover.

It’s lucky for you guys, too, since the previous cover was the dreadful product of my own endeavours (hey, I’m a writer, not an artist).

And the blog post title says “bound” because the paperback is finally redone and prettied up with the new cover!

If you guys are new to the blog and/or new to me, Playing Hearts is my Alice in Wonderland novella riff featuring Australian girl Mabel, who grows up slipping between the “real” world and “Underland”.

Blurb is below the new cover for your perusal, along with all the links should you wish to purchase! Enjoy!

It begins the way it has always begun: with a card on Mabel’s pillow. But Mabel has been in Underland before, and she’s not so anxious to go back. No matter what name it takes, Underland is always bizarre, always mad, always dangerous.

There’s the Queen of Hearts, terrifying, powerful, and possibly insane. There’s Hatter, purple-eyed and undoubtedly mad. March Hare has always been one sandwich short of a picnic, and Sir Blanc is missing his wits.

And then there’s Jack. Jack the aristocratic son of the Queen. Not quite mad, but not far off. Disinclined to help anyone but himself. A liar. And, thanks to an ancient ceremony performed by the Queen, Mabel’s fiancé.

Fall into the rabbit hole with Mabel as she climbs through tea-pots, battles the Jabberwock, and attempts to overthrow the Queen of Hearts herself. 

Don’t lose your head.

And whatever you do, don’t be late…

Get Playing Hearts at Amazon(Kindle/Paperback) Kobo, Smashwords, B & N(Nook/Paperback), iBooks, and Google Play.

Join us!

Excerpts, memes, theories, and ship-names…

If you’re not already following my FB author page, come on over! Along with the discussions and excerpts, there are also some (very) short stories in the Notes section, hilarious fan-made ship-names, and other delightful reader contributions 😉

Also, City Between fans–please enjoy this hilarious run down of prospective City Between Book Titles and Synopses that the Sisters Isert came up with…

…um, hi…?

Yes, I am a VERY BAD BLOGGER.

In my defence, I am a Very Bad Blogger because I’m trying to be a Very Good Author: I’m hard at work on CLOCKWORK MAGICIAN and the next City Between book, as well as trying to wrap up LADY OF WEEDS in some suitably bow-like fashion…

And in case some of you guys aren’t on my email list, I’ve also been busy signing a contract with Tantor for the audiobooks of BETWEEN FLOORS and BETWEEN FRAMES, so keep an eye out for those in the near future!

Exciting times! And hopefully I’ll manage to get back into the swing of blogging some time soon…

Suddenly, a Blog Post!

Hi guys! I know, it’s been more than a month since I wrote a blog post…

But it’s in a good cause! I’ve been preparing for my holiday, and I’ve also been prepping to put out the preorder of the next City Between book, BETWEEN FRAMES.

The preorder isn’t quite ready yet, but I’ve got a blurb and a cover (by the always amazing Jenny at Seedlings Design Studio!) for you guys to look at in the meantime (or you can start on book one, BETWEEN JOBS, here).

Burb:

Two fae is company, but a company of fae is trouble.

Which is exactly what we’ve got. Trouble, I mean. Well, and fae. Lots of fae.

Something or someone is stalking and killing high-level fae around Hobart—tearing out hearts and leaving a trail of bloody bodies behind. Fae don’t like it when they’re the ones getting killed, so of course they came to hire my owners.

Owners, you ask?

Hi. I’m Pet. No, that’s not my name. I am a pet.

My owners? They’re fae. Well, two fae and one stroppy vampire.

Welcome to the world Between.

And now…for the cover!

I’ll make another post with the preorder link when it goes up! I’m looking forward to sharing this one with you guys!

Between Floors gets a facelift!

Hi guys! Just updating you all with some very exciting news–BETWEEN FLOORS has had an upgrade to match it with the other books in the series!

Now that I’ve finally got my ducks in a row with regards to my poor, overworked cover designer, feast your eyes!

Awk! So AMAZING! The teacup!

I’m not supposed to push through the boundaries of reality without supervision. I’m definitely not meant to drag a cop Between with me.

But stuff happens, you know?

Hi. I’m Pet. Well, not Pet, exactly. I am a pet.

Nothing too hard; I just cook and clean for the Behindkind who took over my house. Easy. But now one of my owners has gone missing. He’s fae, so it shouldn’t worry me, but if there’s something out there that can kidnap fae, I don’t wanna meet it.

Good thing I’ve got another two owners and a spare cop up my sleeve…

Audiophiles, Rejoice!

This is it! Audiobooks lovers–City Between lovers–rejoice! Between Jobs is available on audio [Audible|Amazon|Storytel|, with Between Shifts swiftly to follow!

It’s read by Zehra Jane Naqvi, and you can listen to a sample on the audio page. Enjoy!

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