Kicking Shins Through Time and Space

Posted under A Time-Traveller's Best Friend on August 9th, 2017 by

I LOVE THIS COVER SO MUCH

When I first wrote A Time Traveller’s Best Friend, it was a short story.

It was a short story written for my writers’ group, which gave a series of prompt words that turned out wildly different stories from each of us. I took it back to the writers’ group, still madly writing the last 500 words—have I mentioned that I’m a procrastinator?—while the small talk was going on. It turned out to be reasonably popular, which was nice.

My problem was that I really connected with Kez and Marx. I’d never intended to write scifi (I’ll follow up on that in a blog post next month) but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to keep writing about Kez and Marx. I didn’t like the idea of extending the short story I already had, but I am a fan of scifi tv series (*coff*Star Trek Voyager*coff*) and it occurred to me that I could do something similar with Kez and Marx.

And so the short story became a Book.

However, by the time I was finished the first draft of that book, I was quite certain that I could keep writing this pair of characters into more books.

The book became a Series.

I dithered on the series for a bit—I had another series I was writing, and exciting new ideas for other books, and I wasn’t entirely sure how well Volume One was received. Then it came to my attention (through a bookstore owner who stocks my books) that a certain reader was always coming in and asking when the next book in the Time Traveller’s Best Friend series would be out. I mean, I always wanted to keep writing about Marx and Kez, I’d just got sidetracked. That day, I was again caught up in the excitement of Kez and Marx’s world, ideas fluttering away in my back-brain and plot growing steadily and sturdily behind that.

The upshot of all this is a number of things:

First and foremost, Volume Two of A Time Traveller’s Best Friend, Memento Mori, is on its second edit and will be published next month. Just as excitingly, Jenny at Seedlings Design Studios has designed a new cover for A Time Traveller’s Best Friend, and next week will be hard at work on the cover for Memento Mori. Thirdly, A Time Traveller’s Best Friend has a new blurb! You know, because once you update the cover, you should take a look at the blurb…

Below is the new-and-improved blurb for A Time Traveller’s Best Friend. You can check it out on Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. (There will also be new-cover paperbacks available from late next month! Yay!)

Meet Marx. Meet Kez.

Marx is a small, angry man with a time machine and a chip on his shoulder. Kez is a homicidal little girl with a price on her head and a penchant for kicking people where it hurts the most.

After a narrow escape from the owners of the stolen craft he pilots, the last thing Marx wants is another gun pointed at him. What he wants and what he gets, however, are two very different things.

On the run from killers, shadowy corporations, and one very specific Someone, the last thing Kez wants when she points a gun at yet another apparent killer is a self-appointed protector.

What she wants and what she needs, however, are two very different things…

Cover Reveal: A TIME TRAVELLER’S BEST FRIEND

Posted under A Time-Traveller's Best Friend, accomplishments, Cover Reveal! on July 26th, 2017 by

Guys, I’m so excited! I’ve been wanting to update the cover for A TIME TRAVELLER’S BEST FRIEND for a little while now (I mean, I love the old one, too, but I needed something more commercially viable), but I wanted to make sure that I first a). had an idea of the sort of thing I wanted, and b). had the second volume written and almost ready to go.

Of course I got Jenny to do the cover. I knew how good she was going into this, and the conversations we had about the cover really had me excited, so I had very high expectations of the cover.

Those expectations? They were totally blown out of the water. This cover. I mean, THIS COVER, GUYS.

It’s perfect. It’s amazing. It’s my FAVOURITE COVER SO FAR.

Guys, I can’t even—I just—just WOW

Keep an eye out over the next couple of weeks: I’ll be blogging and talking about A TIME-TRAVELLER’S BEST FRIEND: MEMENTO MORI over the next two months in preparation for publication day in September. Closer to the day there will be another cover reveal, and you can expect excerpts, competitions, and giveaways, etc.

Also, don’t forget to let me know if you’re not on my Awesome Beta Readers list and want to be. I’m signing up Betas over the next week, in particular for this scifi series; so if you love Douglas Adams-esque scifi, message/pm/email me!

Luminous: a Smorgasboard of Noblebright

Posted under Awesome Authors on July 24th, 2017 by

Hi guys! I was going to use this blog post to do a cover reveal for A TIME TRAVELLER’S BEST FRIEND, but I’m doing this instead. (Sorry. But that post will be coming on Wednesday).

A little while ago (last year some time) I agreed to be part of a boxed set of Noblebright stories with CJ Brightley, a lovely person and awesome author who has among her books a Labyrinth-inspired tale. That boxed set, LUMINOUS, is now a reality, and is on preorder for August 1st. I haven’t yet finished reading all the books in it, but the ones I have read are awesome. My WOLFSKIN is included, as in Intisar Khanani’s SUNBOLT, which should give you a general idea of the kind of feel to this particular Noblebright set.

Also, the preorder price is $2.99 USD. I mean, $2.99, guys. It has ten books in it. So excuse me while I get to reading.

Below is the (gorgeous) cover by Jenny at Seedlings Designs, and a blurb and general run-down of the books in LUMINOUS. You can preorder LUMINOUS at Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes.

 

Dare to step into lands of myths, magic, and monsters, because there is light to be found in even the darkest of places.

Now, ten fantasy authors have come together to offer this epic boxed set of noblebright fantasy! Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to explore ten unique worlds, fall in love with gallant heroes and heroines, and discover the chinks in the darkness where the light shines through.

What is Noblebright fantasy?
Set apart by a sense of hope, noblebright fantasy includes at least one character who, although flawed, still deliberately pursues goodness. And that goodness has the power to make a difference. In a noblebright story, even villains are not without hope. Their redemption isn’t guaranteed, of course, but it is a possibility.

This boxed set includes:
The Lord of Dreams by C. J. Brightley
When a fairy king grants a human wish, there’s more at stake than dreams.

A Threat of Shadows by JA Andrews
Haunted by his past and surrounded by companions carrying their own dark secrets, Alaric grasps at one last chance to save his dying wife.

Heir of Iron by J.S. Bangs
Family secrets. Forbidden Love. An empire on the brink of collapse.

The Hawk and His Boy by Christopher Bunn
You can run as far as you can, but you can never escape the Dark.

Chronicles of Steele: Raven: The Complete Story by Pauline Creeden
Just when Raven tries to leave the life of a Reaper, she’s pulled right back in.

The Firethorn Crown by Lea Doué
After discovering a secret underground kingdom and a mysterious sorcerer-prince, Princess Lily must free herself and her sisters from a dangerous curse or face a lifetime of darkness.

Wolfskin by W.R. Gingell
Sometimes the little girl in the red hood doesn’t get eaten, and sometimes the wolf isn’t the most frightening thing in the forest…

Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani
A street thief with a dangerous secret, Hitomi finds herself betrayed to the dark mage who killed her father.

Rachel and the Many-Splendored Dreamland by L. Jagi Lamplighter
Magic school can be a lot more dangerous—and wondrous—than expected.

The Pygmy Dragon by Marc Secchia
Now, the courage of the smallest will be tested to the utmost. For Pip is the Pygmy Dragon, and this is her tale.

Sympatico

Posted under A Writer's Life, Growing as a writer on July 12th, 2017 by

For the last couple of days I’ve been watching Wanted (yeah, it’s a KDrama—what of it?). Mostly by the end it was a hot mess (flyaway story threads that were never quite resolved, inconsistent characterisation, inconsistant and shifting morals/application of those morals) but it had so many good things about it and was so riveting to watch that it wasn’t until the end that I found too much annoyance to ignore.

But the one thing that really jumped out at me as being exceedingly excellent was the single characteristic that I want to discuss today. The two MCs in Wanted are Hye-In—a mother trying to find her kidnapped son—and Seung-In—the police officer who is helping her. These characters don’t meet until the second episode, but as soon as they do…

Let me describe it this way.

In one of their first scenes together, Hye-In and Seung-In are both at the bedside of a kidnapped child who has been rescued. The mother and father arrive on the scene; mother first, then father. The child clings to his mother fervently and she to him…and then the father walks in. At first you don’t notice too much difference. Then you slowly notice that the child, still clinging to his mother, has begun to move just a little bit…then a little bit more, until he is almost behind her.

Hye-In, watching, looks instinctively at Seung-In to confirm her first thought. He, sharp-eyed, catches her gaze and holds it. There’s a moment of unspoken communication—honestly, one of the greatest highlights of this entire drama—and each of them from this point on knows that there’s something they have to do before all the main players leave the room.

For Hye-In, the reason for helping this abused mother and her child is divided and skewed mainly toward her son. For Seung-In, the reason is whole and unbroken. But they each know they have each other’s backs, and they trust each other to do what needs to be done.

From that point onward, if Hye-In needs him for anything, Seung-In is already there. If Seung-In comes to a conclusion about the case, there Hye-In is, right beside him, having come to the same conclusion. They work like a well-oiled, well-connected whole. Sympatico, pure and simple, adding a layer of emotional depth that the drama might not otherwise have had, since it lacked a romantic plot-line.

Sympatico is one of the things I look for most in characters; one of the things that will cause me to irrevocably love or hate a book/tv show/movie. It doesn’t have to be romantic—though it can be, and is one of my favourite ways to grow romance—and it’s just as effective in building lasting friendships that I LOVE. And there are so many ways you can express it! Visual cues taken up flawlessly, verbal cues followed without a blink; even the simple support of a hand when it’s most needed.

So simple, yet so difficult to produce, so beautiful when done right, sympatico between characters is one of my favourite things. Hye-In and Seung-In are two of my favourites; tell me some of yours!

Audiobooks, Ho!

Posted under A Writer's Life on July 4th, 2017 by

Some of you might have seen the tweets and fb statuses that I’ve been making about trying to decide which book of mine should go audio first. After much thought and input, I’ve decided to go with the first Two Monarchies book, Spindle.

Right?

Not so much. Because now I have to find the perfect narrator. Which is something rather difficult for me, given that I don’t actually listen to audiobooks, don’t like listening to audiobooks, and don’t really know what I’m looking for.

So if you guys have a favourite narrator, a personal recommendation, or anything similar—chuck it at me. Over the next month or two I’ll be gathering samples and auditions, and at the end of that time, I’ll post ’em here on the blog and through my newsletter for you guys to pick which one you like the best.

I’m really excited about this, even if I’m not an audiobook person, and I can’t wait to see how Spindle comes out!

Treat Yo Self!

Posted under A Writer's Life on June 14th, 2017 by

Right. Today, I’m gonna talk about something that is both very important and very applicable.

Wait, that’s the wrong pic.

I want to talk about looking after myself—yourselves, ourselves, etc. In that vein, here, have the correct gif:

As some context for this seemingly out-of-the-blue post, here’s a look at the last two weeks of my life…

I’ve always had back trouble. Lower back, upper back, shoulders, neck, hips, regular sciatica—basically, you name it, I get it. Sometimes it’s a murmur in the background, sometimes a sharp stab when I least expect it. There aren’t many days that go by without some form of pain, but for the most part it’s not crippling, overwhelming, or unbearable. Every now and then things change drastically, and I get constant, high levels of pain (usually neck or hips).

Two weeks ago, it changed.  Suddenly, I had constant, mid-to-high level pain at the top of my neck and the bases of my ears; pain bad enough and constant enough to make every shift at the day job an exercise in endurance and mental strength. I kept going for a week, because that’s what I do. I just keep going, because one day it will be better again. I get used to the new level of pain, prepare myself for it, and just keep working.

That particular method didn’t work this time.

I knew after the first week that I’d have to do something about it. The pain was so bad that I had to leave early from my last shift of the week at the day job, and I had become so mentally weary from the pain that I was finding it hard to do more than 1k words on my WiP. It occurred to me, vaguely, that a massage might be a good idea, but I wasn’t sure it was affordable or worthwhile, and it sounded kinda…you know, extravagant. And what if it didn’t help?

By the start of the next week I was in too much pain to do anything but try to find somewhere to get a massage. Monday was a public holiday, so no joy. Tuesday, there were no female massagers available (and one masseuse completely booked out until July). Wednesday—today—I went to the appointment I was able to make for myself yesterday. I wasn’t particularly hopeful; in my limited experience, there isn’t much that takes away that kind of back pain.

I’m so happy I was wrong. I walked in stiff and sore, and walked out with about half the amount of pain. Half. The massage therapist told me that it had been bad for so long that it would take more than one session to fix it all, which means I have another two hour-long sessions over the next couple of weeks.

So. Quick recap for those of you following at home: I just spent nearly two weeks in constant pain because it didn’t occur to me that it was worthwhile trying to do something about it.

I got used to the pain. I got used to the limitations. There is stuff that has been literally fixable for years, and I haven’t gone to get it fixed because—what? I thought it was extravagant. I thought a massage was a luxury, not a treatment. And even if it was a luxury—so what? Sometimes that’s what you need. There are enough health problems that come with being a writer without adding constant pain and stress to that pile.

Don’t be like me. Treat Yo Self. Maybe you’ll find it was something you should have done years ago.

These Are a Few of My Favourite Things: Meredith Allady

Posted under Awesome Authors, Favourite Authors, These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things on May 27th, 2017 by

Technically, Meredith Allady doesn’t qualify as a Favourite Thing; being, as she is, a person. So this blog post is more in the way of a review of her latest book, A SUMMER IN BATH, and a general fan flail about what an awesome writer she is.

For a start, Meredith Allady has the distinction of being one of only TWO authors I know of who, when compared to Jane Austen, actually bear out that comparison. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve read that this or that author is JUST LIKE reading Jane Austen. RUBBISH. They’re not. They’re like a very bad version of Georgette Heyer. (If they were a GOOD version of Georgette Heyer, I’d have no complaints, but even so, weigh your comparisons, people!) Meredith Allady, on the other hand, is about the closest thing I’ve read to Jane Austen, while at the same time having her own style and voice. She writes the period as if IN the period, which is as big of a compliment as I can pay a historical writer. It’s not just the knowledge of the period, it’s the style of writing: the gorgeously Georgian comma usage and sentence structure, the conversational humour, the attitudes and considerations. And as a Christian, I SO MUCH LOVE that her characters talk and live God, Christ, and scripture. However, be not alarmed, non-Christian readers; the usage is natural and just, and you’re unlikely to feel preached at unless you’re of the most delicately minded atheists who can’t stand to see the names of God or Christ in print (in which case, your life is already hard enough: skip this book).

Add A SUMMER IN BATH on Goodreads by clicking through the pic…

Having flailed a little, let me proceed to the book in question, A SUMMER IN BATH.

First and foremost I should mention that I think this is the best of Meredith Allady’s books so far, despite the fact that, as warned, it was almost entirely sans Ann (my favourite character from the Merriweather Chronicles). It zipped along at a pace that was, contradictorily, both satisfyingly speedy and Regency-fashion sedate: I never found it too slow (in fact, it was very difficult to stop reading for run-of-the-mill things like eating and sleeping) but neither did I find that it was missing the particularly sedate perambulatory style that I love so much about both Allady’s and Austen’s work.

We meet Sibyl, Sibyl’s sister Jane, the Earl, a mysterious young man (or not so mysterious, if you’ve already read the previous two books), and several other characters, some of them known only as recipients of Sibyl’s and the Earl’s letters (until the end of the book, anyway). This book is written in the epistolatory style, but there is absolutely no lack of dimension to the characters, which is a huge testament to the writing of Meredith Allady. Each of them is fully-fleshed, fully human, and capable of making mistakes. We’re mostly in Sibyl’s head, but we get a wide range of sight and character, and occasionally, we get a letter in the Earl’s P.O.V. (delightful excerpts, but more of that later…)

First of all, I LOVE BEING IN SIBYL’S HEAD. She’s at the same time so young and naive, yet so mature. So learned and clever, yet so inclined to run aground when it comes to knowledge of people. SO. FLAMIN’. ADORABLE. So inclined to reflect on her own behaviour and correct wrong things. Even if other people in the situation do the wrong thing, if Sibyl does the wrong thing too, she acknowledges it and makes it right. I love right-hearted characters. And Sibyl never comes across as stuffy for doing so—just thoughtful. She’s a beautifully well-drawn character. It’s a constant delight seeing the world through her eyes, and even if I don’t agree with her assessment of novels(! :D), I love that she’s a complete, unapologetic, distinct character. I found myself very much at home in her head.

Unusually enough for me nowadays, I utterly fell in love with the hero of the piece, the Earl. Some of this falling in love has to do with his AMAZING way with words and the fact that for the first time in years, I had to seriously think about the provenance of a word to decipher its meaning, not having come across it before. Not just once, but about three times. Having done so, I could work out from root words and context what the word meant, but it was something I’ve not had to do for years. Not to mention the usage of older, WONDERFUL words that I almost never see in fiction any more.

More than than, it’s his affectionate view of Sibyl that made me love him. And, in the cleverest way imaginable, this view of the Earl is given not just in letter fragments from his P.O.V., but in the letters from Sibyl. Through her largely ignorant eyes, we see exactly how the Earl views Sibyl, and if Sibyl has no idea of his feelings for her, the reader is left in no doubt. It’s beautifully, BEAUTIFULLY drawn.

There are side-stories, side-threads, and things left to be told in later books. They’re things that you can guess if you’re a little more inclined to noticing things than Sibyl is, but if not, on a re-reading you’ll see that they’re gently led from early on.

All in all: BUY THIS BOOK. I LOVE THIS BOOK. Read it again and again, and enjoy the excerpts from writings of the day that Meredith Allady has cleverly pieced in between the letters. They’re there for a reason, and most of them are humorous (though if you’re like me, you’ll have an aw moment or two, as well).

(SIDE NOTE: I can’t say how much I LOVED seeing Clive. He’s a character I simultaneously love and hate. Well, not hate; but I would love to smack him upside the head every so often. Please don’t think I don’t love him. I do. But I think he would greatly benefit from the occasional smack upside the head throughout the course of his life.)

I got my hot little hands on a paperback copy of A SUMMER IN BATH (and at the same time purchased paperbacks of the first two in the Merriweather Chronicles) because if I love a book I always want the paperback of it and I was certain in advance that I’d love the book. So just a small note to add that I ADORE the bigger print in the paperback version, because I’m getting old and my eyes are starting to prefer larger print…

Five utterly-well-earned stars for A SUMMER IN BATH.

The Perils of Learning a Second Language

Posted under A Writer's Life, Adventures in Korean on May 19th, 2017 by

Okay, that’s a bit sensationalist.

It’s not perilous, exactly—unless you consider feeling like an idiot roughly 2-5 times per lesson a peril, that is—but there is a steep learning curve associated with it, and certain pitfalls that come with that. At the moment, I study at home, go to a lesson with the lovely Kara, and on the same day spend an hour or two speaking an English/Korean hybrid with another girl who is learning English as I’m learning Korean.

This week, I went to my English conversation appointment feeling buoyed and eager.

Why, you ask? Well, Ko-Eun (the girl I am speaking English with) had suggested we each write a series of sentences in the language we were trying to learn. She would write hers in English, and I would write mine in Korean. I had put in about three hour’s work on my sentences, and I was feeling pretty good about them.

I mean, I even checked ’em in Word! (Did you blokes know you can get Hangul grammar and spelling checked in Word? You do now!) No squiggly lines, and it all looked correct.

Then Ko-Eun looked at them.

I was expecting some notes and changes—minor spelling issues or slight grammar fixes, yanno, nothing dramatic. So when she assured me that my sentences were very cute, that was my first warning sign that my sentences were not as solid as I’d assumed.

You can see the picture below if you want to snicker at the distinctly imperfect sentences I had actually turned in.

And I thought having my English language writing edited was bad…

The bright side of all this—aka, my cheerful feeling of competency that I’d made good sentences being dashed by an equally cheerful Ko-Eun wielding a pencil—is that I learned a huge amount during the slashing of my hard-won sentences.

Also, I have a really cute drawing of a crab, which is a pun about 게 (it both denotes place, and is the noun ‘crab’: if used in the wrong place, there are seven crabs in my house and not seven places for books). So there’s that.

Obviously, my next sentences will achieve the perfection at which I have, this time, failed.

아! 실패다! 아쉽다!

다음 번에….

English Version below, for those who care/can compare/want to laugh, mock, or generally giggle at my Korean translation.

I live in a house with a green door. Some of the walls are yellow, and some are blue. The curtains are colourful, too. At first, I didn’t like it.

In my house there are seven bookcases. I like to read a lot. But I like writing better than reading, so there is a special place where I can write, too.

When I write, I drink tea from a blue teacup with a yellow sunflower on the side. I like bright teacups. My house is as colourful as my teacups.

I live in a house with a green door. Some of the walls are yellow, and some are blue. At first, I didn’t like it.

Now, I like it a lot.

 

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