Spindle’s Publication Day Is Here!

Spindle has been released into the wild!

SPINDLE - 2000Aka, it’s publication day, I’m excited, and EVERYONE SHOULD BE EXCITED. As such, I apologise if my Facebook and/or Twitter accounts become overly repetitive. If you’ve been eagerly waiting to buy Spindle on publication day (and I just know that you have), here are the links:

AmazonKobo, iBooksSmashwords, and Createspace.

Of course, if you sign up to my mailing list, that’s a whole ‘nother rodeo. Those on my mailing list will be able to download Spindle at 50% off from Smashwords. Plus get access to other awesome freebies as they become available, so…what are you waiting for? Sign up here!

And in the meantime, here’s an excerpt from Spindle to whet your appetite!

Excerpt

“Well now,” said a soft, amused voice beside Poly. “Something seems to have annoyed Luck. I wonder what that can be?”

The younger of the two men had strolled away from Luck and was now standing beside her. Poly turned her head in what she hoped was a stately manner and took in the faintly challenging hazel eyes that glinted at her above a thin, sarcastic mouth.

“I can see why Luck likes you so much,” said that sarcastic mouth. It wasn’t said sarcastically, however: unless Poly was very much mistaken, those hazel eyes were looking her over with distinct appreciation.

“I’m Melchior,” he said. “That’s Pettis: he and Luck will talk for hours if left alone. Foolish of him, I think, when he could be whispering in your ear. You do speak, don’t you?”

“You’re very forward, sirrah,” said Poly. She was pleased to hear that her voice sounded thoughtful and quite cool. “Why are you addressing me?”

“Four reasons,” said Melchior. “One, I have a great interest in the Sleeping Princess. You’re something of a hobby of mine. Two, your hair is delightfully unusual. Those are spells, I take it? May I touch your hair?”

“Of course not!” said Poly, ruining her aloof tone of voice with an unfortunate squeak.

Melchior’s eyes lit with wicked amusement. “Three, you’re quite obviously an enchantress of some power; and four, well, I haven’t seen anything quite like this before.”

He was holding her gloved hand in his own, and before Poly quite knew what was happening he had kissed her fingers lightly.

“Stop that!” hissed Poly, her eyes flying to Luck. He hadn’t noticed, still deep in his conversation with Pettis, and Poly wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or relieved.

“Why? Because Luck isn’t intelligent enough to do it?” This time there was certainly a sardonic edge to Melchior’s voice. “You must have so many questions, princess: I’m certain that Luck hasn’t answered them all. Allow me to be of service.”

“He warned me about you,” Poly said bluntly. She was rewarded by a lightning-fast grin from Melchior, and was a little annoyed to find that she felt rewarded.

“Did he so! Clever Luck. Me in particular?”

“Not in particular, no. He did warn me against accepting any gifts, agreeing to any arrangements or allowing people to touch me, though.”

One of Melchior’s hands spread wide, indicating innocence, but the other didn’t release Poly’s gloved hand. Poly saw a brief glint of magic obscure his hazel eyes like the flash of light across glass, and knew that he was studying her antimagic hand. The magic was obsidian black, but it didn’t frighten her.

“No hidden costs, princess. Ask, and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

***

Well, I hope you enjoyed that excerpt of Spindle! Now go out and buy it. Go on. Shoo.

In Appreciation Of The Significant Other

There’s a point at which, as writers, we find ourselves sitting on the floor and sobbing hysterically.

You think I mean metaphorically.

I don’t.

We’re a weird, piebald mix, writers. We’re thin-skinned, delusional, always-hopeful, always-despairing; a quivering, mushy bundle of nerves and irrational fears; more than slightly mad and almost invariably difficult to live with. We ride highs and lows like the worst addicts out there, exulting with each small success and crushed by each small failure or setback.

We sit on the floor sobbing over something that a night’s rest would show us is not the end of the world. We’re convinced at every review that doesn’t positively praise our book to the skies that we’re the worst excuse for writers that ever lived. Five minutes later we’re at it again, writing furiously and certain that we’re gonna be famous soon, because this book is THE BEST BOOK EVER. Then when editing time comes around again we know we can’t write for peanuts, and the whole cycle starts again.

Part of this is good. If we weren’t so thin-skinned we wouldn’t be much good at writing: there’s a necessity to feel and anguish and exult, to know what it feels like, what it tastes like, what it is to be all these things. In one form or another, it all goes into our writing; and if we’re VERY good, our readers feel those things with us.

But it doesn’t make us terribly easy to live with. If we’re not crashing, we’re exulting. We’re usually talking about ourselves, or our books. We’re often self-centered and self-absorbed.

(Or, yanno, that could just be me).

So cheers to all the Significant Others out there. (Or, in my case, Significant Mother, who throws food at me through the door and leaves me to wallow for a while). We love you. We’re thankful for you, even when we forget to say so.

Summer/Winter Reading Recommendations

I had an email from Booklikes a day or two ago, asking for a couple of book recommendations for a summer reading list. Well, it’s winter here, but I have lots of books to recommend anyway. So I guess you’re all just lucky.

I’m going to stick with just two for a couple of reasons. Reason #1 is that I’ve been pretty sick the last few days and I literally do not have the energy required for a huge blog post. Reason #2 is that I have too much proof-reading that should have been done yesterday and is still not done. Fortunately enough, I now have 5 consecutive days off to rest, recuperate, and proof-read.

So without more ado, here are my summer/winter (heck, read ’em all year round!) reading recommendations!

#1) The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey

The Franchise AffairThe Franchise Affair is the story of Marion Sharpe and her mother, and at first indirectly, that of Robert Blair. Robert Blair is a local solicitor, who is called in when Marion and her mother are rudely knocked out of their quiet country lives by the accusations of Betty Kane, who claims that the women kidnapped her, beat her, and treated her as a maid. She has intimate details of the house and the bruises and cuts to prove her story.

I first read this book when I was about 15- I found it in an opshop as I did most of my books in those days. It was the first of Josephine Tey’s books that I read to boot, and I’m so glad I started with this one (the others are all awesome, too, but The Franchise Affair holds a special place in my heart). It’s quiet, thoughtful, and entirely addictive. Trust me on this: The Franchise Affair is a book you’ll be thinking about long after you finish it.

#2) The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie PopeThe Perilous Gard

For lovers of the Tam Lin/True Thomas/Fairy Queen stories, The Perilous Gard is the story of Kate Sutton, who through her sister’s mistakes (read ‘treason through stupidity) is exiled by Mary Tudor to a remote castle known as Perilous Gard. There she meets Christopher Heron, and there she is swept up in an underground world peopled by the Fairy Folk- whose customs are even older than the Druids’, and involve human sacrifice…

I honestly don’t have enough good things to say about this hidden gem. Again, it was a book I only discovered because I found it in an opshop. The characters are wonderful, the adventure eerie and atmospheric, and the conclusion utterly satisfying. The whole world is immersive, and the main antagonist is at the same time thoroughly chilling and delightfully compelling. GO OUT AND BUY THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW.

That’s it for me. I’m off to watch more of the A-Team and bully the much-to-be-pitied Hubby into making me more tea. What recommendations do you guys have for me? Share and share alike, guys!

A Week Of Ups And Downs

WARNING!! THIS POST CONTAINS MULTIPLE GRATUITOUS LINKS.

Last week was a bit of a wild week. Wolfskin was on blog tour, I started a new WIP (Blackfoot), and Spindle started a month-long stint in Netgalley (not, it has to be said, with particularly glowing reviews). Then, toward the end of the week, Angst! and Drama! But more about that later.

Wolfskin got some really lovely reviews from C.J. Anaya, Jax of Bea’s Book Nook, Sage of Coffee & All Things Random, Maghon of Happy Tails & Tales, Mariela of Just Us Books, and Ashley of Book Nerd’s Paradise. I was given more than a few delightful comments upon the beautiful cover (thanks Joleene!) and overall Wolfskin‘s reception was very positive.WOLFSKIN - 2000

Meanwhile, over on Goodreads and Netgalley, I was discovering just how tough of a crowd Netgalley reviewers are. From them, I learned that a reviewer can love a book and its characters, and want to read the others in the series, and still rate the book at three stars. Whew! That’s when I knew I was in for it 😀 From them I also received my first one-star review! I’m not quite sure whether to be happy I’ve got it now and don’t need to be always dreading it, or whether to be shattered that it’s on my newest book, Spindle. Regardless, the not-so-wonderful reviews have somehow managed to rid me of (most of) my fear of the review process. Some people are just not going to like my book. Some people will rate low. It’s something I don’t need to be afraid of. And the reviews have my no means been all bad: the three-star reviews have been thoughtful and well-written, and there were four stars in there as well.

Back at Wolfskin‘s blog tour, I was being interviewed on not one, not two, but four blogs! Basically, if there is anything you want to know about me and my books (from favourite books to thoughts on fairytales to preference for chocolate or icecream) you can find it out on any of these lovely websites: A.F.E. Smith’s Reflections of Reality, Sandra Fairbrother’s Blog, Kimber Leigh Writes, and Jess Watkins’ A Book Addict’s Bookshelves.

I was also fortunate enough to have a guest post on Mythical Books (From Fantasy to Fairytales) and another on Bookwyrming Thoughts (Villains I’d like to know more about).

Over on Netgalley, Spindle was still jostling for position with Terry Pratchett’s World of Poo on page 11 of Most Requested in Science Fiction/Fantasy.

And then #Plot Twist I got An Email.

It said something like: “Hi. I thought you might like to know that someone is suggesting that you buy reviews” and included a link to an author’s Goodreads blog.

Well. Naturally, I followed the link. And found that the author of the blog had posted a letter they received after doing what I had done earlier- approaching some of Amazon’s Top 100 Reviewers for reviews. This letter purported to be from one of the same reviewers I had approached, and in the plainest of terms, it told the author that he would be glad to review his/her work- for a price. Namely 1 review for $XX, 2 for $XXX, etc. All apparently for his charity of choice.

Cue me feeling physically sick to my stomach. You see, the email I received from the same reviewer had said that he would be glad to review me. It was only after that, that he said he had a charity he would love donations for, and would I mind checking it out. He stated in no uncertain terms that it would not affect his review. I checked out the charity, found it to be for a good cause (library for kids) and trusting that Amazon wouldn’t allow dodgy business under their aegis, I donated (as I do to many other causes).

It was VERY different from the email this other author had received. And that’s when things became rather nasty. This other author then listed ALL THE AUTHORS who had been reviewed by the Top 100 reviewer (myself included) with the very broad suggestion that we had all paid for our reviews, and that the Top 100 reviewer had a reason to make sure we all succeeded.

Cue me throwing up in the bathroom.

One author, playing judge, jury, and executioner with my writing career. Thanks for that, mate. I appreciate it.

I don’t know whether this reviewer is taking money for reviews. I know I didn’t pay for any of my reviews. I left a message on the blog post, but by morning the whole thing had vanished from Goodreads. I still don’t know whether this reviewer was running a scam (it looks AWFULLY like it) but I do know that I was left feeling as though I’d been made a fool of. More, that I’d been tarred with a brush that I didn’t deserve, and that could kill my career before it even started.

I can’t even get the reviews removed, which means I’ll always be connected to it. Please, please guys- be careful what you say about your fellow authors. You don’t know that it’s true, and you don’t know the damage you can do.

It makes me appreciate all the wonderful authors out there that support and help one another (and me!) Toward the end of the week I had the lovely surprise of finding that the talented and much-celebrated A.F.E. Smith had been so kind as to mention my murder-mystery fairytale Masque in her list of Top 5 books containing Fantasy & Murder. A.F.E. has been on her own blog tour with her newly-released Fantasy Novel Darkhaven, and has been busily promoting other SFF authors in her blog tour like the delightful lady she is. Cheers, A.F.E!

A big thanks to all the others out there who have encouraged and shared and cheered, too. Thanks especially to: Kate Stradling, Ingrid Seymour, CJ Anaya, J. Ellen Ross, J.J. Sherwood, and Karataratacus. You guys have been fun and encouraging and so generous with your shares! I appreciate you all!

And thanks to everyone who shared this week of ups and downs with me (especially Sis and the Hubby, who put up with all the whining and pouting and upchuck). It’s been a somehow wonderful week. Also thanks for putting up with a 1000 word blog post 😀

A Brief Reminder

Just a brief reminder, gentle readers, that those of you who join my mailing list from now until August 1st will receive a Smashwords Coupon for 100% off my first book, Masque. The coupon expires August 4th, so you have until then to sign up and download your free copy!

Join W.R. Gingell’s Mailing List!

To those already signed and (hopefully!) enjoying Masque– you’re fantastic! This is just the first of many freebies, sneak-peaks, and/or brilliant stuff from my brilliant (and oh-so-modest) mind. I look forward to sending that monthly newsletter to each and every one of you!

* * *

Beauty met the Beast, and there was . . . bloody murder?

It’s the Annual Ambassadorial Ball in Glause, and Lady Isabella Farrah, the daughter of New Civet’s Ambassador, is feeling pleasantly scintillated.

MASQUE - 2000In the library is Lord Pecus, a charming gentleman whose double mask hides a beastly face, and who has decided that Isabella is the very person to break the Pecus curse.

In the ball-room is young Lord Topher, who is rapidly falling in love with an older woman.

And in the card-room, lying in a pool of his own blood, is the body of one of Isabella’s oldest friends: Raoul, Civet’s Head Guardsman. The papers sewn into his sash seem to suggest espionage gone wrong, but Isabella is not so certain. Lord Pecus, as Commander of the Watch, is of the opinion that Isabella should keep out of the investigation and out of danger.  Isabella is of the opinion that it is her murder to investigate, and that what a certain Beast-Lord doesn’t know won’t hurt him. . .

Will Isabella find the murderer before Lord Pecus does, or will she end her investigation as a bloody spatter on the parlour floor?

Obsessive-Compulsive, Thin-Skinned and Delusional (Aka, Writer)

It’s been a whirlwind week. One one hand, I’ve been madly prepping for Wolfskins book blog tour next week (sending off completed interviews and guest posts, making sure my Upcoming Tours/Event Page is updated sufficiently). On the other, I’ve been madly sending out review copies of Spindle and obsessively clicking on the refresh button at Netgalley to see where it sits in the ‘most requested’ Sci-Fi/Fantasy group. (It’s slowly climbing from page to page, FYI. This does nothing to help my compulsion to keep checking). Also Netgalley has little ‘thumbs up’ and little ‘thumbs down’ icons for the cover. At last peek there were 26 ‘thumbs up’, and 3 ‘thumbs down’. You know what I thought?

WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE WHY WOULD YOU THUMBS DOWN MY BOOK COVER IT IS A WORK OF ART AND COMPLETELY GLORIOUS AND YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE NO TASTE.

C'mmon, it's GORGEOUS!

C’mmon, it’s GORGEOUS!

Really, it just showcased what my first 3-star review showcased. I’m thin-skinned. Which is bad, because who can make it as an author with a skin that thin? So I’m trying to be more TUFF. Well, I’ve got to be. I’ve heard that the Netgalley people pull no punches. And that’s okay, because the reviews aren’t for me. I may not even read them. (I’m lying, I’ll definitely read them all, probably weeping).

I’ve also been involved in A.F.E. Smith’s Darkhaven Release Day party, which is still going on here, (with lots of giveaways and interviews and fun stuff!). And tonight at 11pm (if you’re in Australia)/1pm(British Summer Time)/8amish(American time) I’ll be one of the authors being interviewed! So that’s been fun and frantic and a little bit terrifying.

And while all this has been happening, my Meniere’s Disease has been acting up, which means I’ve been woefully chuck-uppy and have lost about 25% of my hearing for the week. Most of my conversation, in fact, has consisted of ‘What?’ and ‘Huh?’ Hopefully my hearing will go back to normal when I get better. In the meantime, I’ve been learning a lot about lip-reading (just call me Sue Thomas, FBEye).

Oh, and my power just fizzled.

So all in all, things are starting to get interesting. If I manage not to end up as a quivering heap on my livingroom floor, I think I’ll be doing quite well, thank you.

Catch up with me tonight/tomorrow/midday on Facebook, and don’t forget to check out Wolfskin’s Tour Schedule (posted below for your convenience). I’ll see ya on the road!

Wolfskin Tour Dates/Locations (Will be updated with post links as they come):

July 6th

A British Bookworm’s Blog>> Excerpt

-Books and Ashes>> Review

Girls With Books>> Excerpt

Author & Book Spotlights>> Review

July 7th

Book Nerd’s Paradise>> Review

A Book Addict’s Bookshelves>> Interview

Happy Tails and Tales>> Review

July 8th

Coffee & All Things Random>> Review

CBY Book Club>> Excerpt

Bea’s Book Nook>> Review

July 9th

Reflections Of Reality, A.F.E. Smith>> Interview

Bookwyrming Thoughts>> Guest Post

Kimber Leigh Writes>> Interview

Archaeolibrarian – I Dig Good Books>> Review

Sandra Fairbrother’s Blog>> Interview

July 10th

-Mandy’s Books & Beauty>> Review

Blog for readers, writers and bloggers by Daniela Ark>> Excerpt

Just Us Book Blog>> Review

Mythical Books>> Guest Post

Guest Post & Excerpt From A.F.E. Smith, Author Of Darkhaven

Blog_tour_banner_DARKHAVEN_AFE_Smith

This week it’s my pleasure to introduce you all to A.F.E Smith! No doubt you’ve already heard of her: her fantasy novel Darkhaven is being released July 2nd, and is already receiving some very impressive reviews. Not only that, it has one of the loveliest covers I’ve seen in a while. So without further ado, here is A.F.E. Smith with an excerpt from Darkhaven and some accompanying murderous thoughts…

Darkhaven Excerpt, and Accompanying Murderous Thoughts…

When W.R. agreed to let me loose on her blog, I asked her what kind of post she’d like. An excerpt? An article?

Either would be great, she replied (thus demonstrating a touching but misplaced faith in my abilities). It’s totally up to you.

And so, since everyone knows I’m hopeless at making decisions, I present to you my one and only excerpt-article of the tour. Here’s the start of chapter 2 of Darkhaven, followed by a few relevant thoughts. Murderous ones, obviously.

***

The first thing they must have seen when they broke down Florentyn Nightshade’s door was the blood. Spattered across the walls, pooling on the polished wooden floorboards, dyeing the sheets to deep crimson: it didn’t seem possible for all that blood to have come from a single man. Not that there was much left in him. He lay sprawled on his back, bleached to bone white like driftwood left too long in the sun. The only colour in him was the night-dark hair that proclaimed his lineage, and the gaping hole where his throat had been.

Myrren stopped just inside the door, pressing the back of one hand to his mouth in a vain attempt to suppress the bile rising in his throat. The thick, metallic odour in the room was horribly familiar, but for a moment he couldn’t place it – and then when he did, he wished he hadn’t. It was the smell of the slaughterhouse.

He turned his head, searching the faces of the three or four Helmsmen crowding the doorway behind him.

‘Where is Captain Travers?’ he asked stupidly, as if that were the most important question. But he wanted Travers to be there. Travers was in charge of the Helm, and the Helm had clearly failed in their duty.

‘Called away to the cells, my lord,’ one of the men said – which reminded Myrren all over again of Ayla. No doubt Travers was currently learning of her escape. Yet now all Myrren’s anguish over that seemed trivial and irrelevant.

‘Then you tell me, please,’ he said. ‘W-what happened?’

‘We don’t know, my lord.’ Myrren couldn’t put a name to the speaker; the watching Helmsmen were all alike with fear. ‘A maidservant tried to deliver his breakfast, but found the door locked. She knocked and got no answer. And then …’ He swallowed. ‘And then she noticed the smell.’

Myrren nodded. ‘So she sent for you. I see.’

His gaze settled briefly on his father’s body, then shied away again. It was a good thing he hadn’t eaten this morning; as it was, the scant contents of his stomach were rapidly congealing into something cold and nauseous.

‘Did – did anyone try to revive him?’ It was another stupid question, given the state of the body, but it had to be asked.

‘I checked his pulse,’ a different man said. His striped sleeve was stained with a rust-dark smear, as though he had wiped his bloody hand on it. ‘But there was nothing …’

‘No. Indeed.’ Myrren could hear his own voice becoming ever more clipped and precise, a counterbalance for the tumult of emotion inside him. ‘So, then – so –’

‘We’ve had the physician to him, my lord.’ One of the Helm came to his aid. ‘He thinks it happened between seventh and eighth bell yesterday.’

Seventh bell A presentiment formed at the edge of Myrren’s thoughts, but he pushed it away.

‘So someone broke into Darkhaven last night,’ he said. ‘Crept to my father’s room, picked the lock, then relocked the door behind him after doing his murderous business – all without being seen by any of you?’

‘No, my lord,’ the Helmsman said. ‘He couldn’t have left through the door. Not with it locked from the inside.’

***

And so the investigation begins! But why murder?

When I first started writing fantasy, I was – quite naturally – influenced by the things I’d read and seen. And the things I’d read and seen tended to be of the classic good vs evil kind: Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia. Of course, the problem with good vs evil narratives is that they present one side of a conflict as entirely disposable. It doesn’t matter how many stormtroopers or orcs get killed. They’re bad guys. They’re faceless.

So when I first started writing fantasy, I would have my hero get into fights and kill a bunch of people, because those people didn’t matter. They were just the opposition. (Strangely enough, this attitude characterises pretty much every political debate I’ve ever read on the internet.)Scavenger_day09

Yet as I grew older, and perhaps a little wiser, I became increasingly aware of the price of a life – human or otherwise. Writing fantasy in which the hero mowed down row after row of interchangeable bad guys didn’t seem quite so appealing. And it’s probably because of that shift in attitude that I turned to murder.

That might sound counterintuitive, but I think it’s because when murder is made the focus of a narrative, death immediately becomes a weighty, significant thing: a thing that has consequences and requires answers. A man investigating a murder is perhaps the opposite of those trigger-happy heroes of my early writing. He is taking a single death and resolving to bring the person responsible for it to justice.

Of course, when the murder victim is his father and the chief suspect is his sister, that makes things a little more complicated …

Darkhaven BlurbCover_image_DARKHAVEN_AFE_Smith

Ayla Nightshade never wanted to rule Darkhaven. But her half-brother Myrren – true heir to the throne – hasn’t inherited their family gift, forcing her to take his place.

When this gift leads to Ayla being accused of killing her father, Myrren is the only one to believe her innocent. Does something more sinister than the power to shapeshift lie at the heart of the Nightshade family line?

Now on the run, Ayla must fight to clear her name if she is ever to wear the crown she never wanted and be allowed to return to the home she has always loved.

Get Darkhaven at:

HarperCollins
Amazon (global link)
Barnes & Noble
Google play
iBooks
Kobo

Win Darkhaven! Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway!

Author_photo_DARKHAVEN_AFE_SmithAuthor biography

A.F.E. Smith is an editor of academic texts by day and a fantasy writer by night. So far, she hasn’t mixed up the two. She lives with her husband and their two young children in a house that someone built to be as creaky as possible – getting to bed without waking the baby is like crossing a nightingale floor. Though she doesn’t have much spare time, she makes space for reading, mainly by not getting enough sleep (she’s powered by chocolate). Her physical bookshelves were stacked two deep long ago, so now she’s busy filling up her e-reader.

What A.F.E. stands for is a closely guarded secret, but you might get it out of her if you offer her enough snacks.

Author social media links:

Website
Facebook
Twitter
DARKHAVEN on Goodreads

Actors I Would Choose To Play My Favourite Book Characters

My mind works in odd ways- quite often particularly in comparisons and matching pairs. Mostly this involves spouting movie and book quotes at inappropriate moments because they’re so very, VERY applicable to the situation. But sometimes it involves watching movies and tv shows and scaring the dog by shouting: “Ha! S/he’d be perfect for [John/Jill Character] in [AwesomeBook]!”

One of my favourites is Benton Fraser from the Candian Show Due South. He’s a mountie (obviously) who thinks that the reason young street thugs are criminals is because they have “never been shown the rewards of a honest day’s work”.

DueSouthCaptainCarrot

When I started watching this show (and you should watch it, too, it is fantastic) the only thing I could think for several episodes was: “It’s Captain Carrot! It’s the quintessential Captain Carrot!” For those of you who aren’t (yet) fans of the late and great Sir Terry Pratchett, Captain Carrot is one of AnkMorpork’s City Watch, under the command of Sam Vimes. He is upright and kind and good and perhaps just a little bit stupid. But not as stupid as all that, and certainly no pushover. He believes so utterly in people that sometimes the sheer force of his belief causes them to act in the right way. He’s a wonderful character. He and Benton are brothers in arms, and if I could pick an actor to play Captain Carrot, I would pick Paul Gross. Canadian accent and all.

And speaking of Terry Pratchett’s characters, I’ve always been a bit annoyed at the actor they chose to play Rhincewind in film/tv. Because I would have chosen this guy: balfour

He’s got the long, weird face and big nose that I’ve always pictured Rhincewind with, not to mention the long, gangly limbs I’ve always thought necessary to the part. I’ve never thought of Rhincewind as being old. Long hair, scrubby mustache, robes, hat with ‘wizzard’ on it- yes. Old, no. So Vote #1 Eric Balfour For Rhincewind!

Of course, any list of actors I would choose to play favourite book characters wouldn’t be complete without one of Diana Wynne Jones’ characters in it.michael-fassbender-s-prometheus-robot-continues-his-alien-streak-f1

This particular one is from her A Tale Of Time City: an android called Elio. He is smooth and quiet and mostly emotionless, but he has a kind heart and a sneaking fondness for Vivian, Time City‘s young heroine. And there is a lot more going on under Elio’s smooth, pale surface than at first appears. He, of course, could only be played by Michael Fassbender.

I’ve even had this happen with characters in the books I write. I’ve had it happen for a few of them, but the most important one was when I first started writing Spindle, which is now on preorder for publication August 10th. The two main characters are Polyhemia – or Poly – a girl who is certainly not a princess, but who has been cursed to enchanted sleep just the same; and Luck, an absent-minded and long-lived enchanter, who has woken Poly.

Luck

At about the same time I wrote the First Ever Draft of Spindle, I was watching Supernatural (before it went all grand and huge and annoying). And at some stage through the series, Castiel came upon the scene.

I froze. Looked at the screen. Blinked. Did a double take. Stared at the screen again. But wait! That’s Luck! That’s him, to the very life! Even some of the mannerisms were right on. I knew right then that if Spindle ever became a movie (why yes, I do like my delusions thank you very much) I’d want Misha Collins to play Luck. Of course, he’d have to get rid of that pesky American accent, but he’s an actor, right?

What about you guys? Who are some of your favourite book characters, and who would you choose to play them if they were made into movies? And if you’re an author, who would you choose to play your characters?

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