Hybrid: Isn’t that some sort of car…?

Posted under A Writer's Life, Publishing on March 17th, 2017 by

I’m not actually going to talk about cars. I mean, this is a writing blog, not a car blog, and what do I know about cars anyway?

So when I say hybrid, I am, of course, referring to hybrid authors: those who both self-publish, and traditonally-publish.

Or, more specifically, myself.

That’s right. As of today, I am a hybrid author.

Which is a very roundabout way of telling you guys that I got The Email today, informing me that Lady of Dreams had been chosen for a publication contract with Kindle Press.

Eeek! Such excite!

Stop the presses!

No, wait, don’t.

I’m a bit confused. Also, I’m still in the death throes of Blackfoot, so I’m not making much sense either way. Next week, when I’ve finished Blackfoot, collected my thoughts, and started making sure LoD is as pretty as it can possibly be, I’ll write a proper blog post.

But in the meantime, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR NOMINATING LADY OF DREAMS!

A Weekend of Firsts

Posted under A Writer's Life on March 6th, 2017 by

It was a busy weekend for me.

Actually, it was a busy week for me, last week. It all just sorta coalesced toward the end of the week and became more busy.

I attended AICon in Hobart for the 2nd time (though this was the first time I properly dressed up for it). I was attending in the function of a handmaiden for a friend of mine who was gorgeously and intricately dressed as Lady Loki–thus the need for a handmaiden. I was there to re-lace her boots, fix her horned head-dress, and re-affix wandering pauldrons. No to mention supplying food and drink as required.

Of course, I wasn’t doing that the whole time. I also managed to wander around quite a lot, visit some interesting panels, some hilarious ones, and eat vegetarian sushi for the first time (it was delicious, by the way). When I got too peopled-out (guys, there were SO MANY people there), I would just sneak into one of the darkened panel rooms and write for an hour or so.

I managed to get 2.5k words done over the course of the 10am-6pm day.

AND she had a ‘communicator’ that basically squawked chicken noises at the MC when the MC questioned her 😀

Highlights of the day included seeing Jacket the chicken very nearly win crowd favourite for her awesome costume (seriously, this girl had my favourite costume of the entire day. And she took a selfie with me!) catching sight of a Ladybug cosplay right next to a Marinette one, and having an artist sign the two prints I bought from him.

Another first for me: it was the first time I’d word a corset. Because it was made with plastic boning instead of steel, and because I bend a lot, my poor corset was shaped to me rather than me shaped to it by the end of the day, but I was still very pleased with the result. Unfortunately there was only one half-decent photo of me, but that’s hardly surprising, since I do not photograph well.

JACKET AND ME SELFIE!

A gift-baggie at the entrance brought in another first for me: all of the bags included a sampler of manga. I found one out of the ten samples to be compelling, leading me to purchase and read my first manga ever–Shuriken to Pleats.

Who knows, maybe I’ll check out more of the artist’s work?

That was it, my weekend of firsts!  What about you guys? How did your weekend go?

Oh! And, final reminder: LADY OF DREAMS is on the last day of nominations in its Kindle Scout Campaign. If you haven’t already done so, pop on over to the Campaign page and check out the sample. If you love it, press that Nominate Button!

(Don’t forget that everyone who nominated LADY OF DREAMS will get a free Advance Copy if it’s chosen for publication).

Korean-Based Fantasy and Glossaries

Posted under A Writer's Life on February 20th, 2017 by

You guys know me by now.

You know that I love to chuck you in the deep end, and–like one of those particularly terrifying parents–leave you either to sink or swim. I don’t do too many explanations in my novels: I let things reveal themselves as time goes by, and I prefer not to say something outright if I can leave the reader to infer it.

Nominate me! I could be published through Kindle Scout, and you could get a free ARC!

However, when it comes to Korean-based fantasy that uses some of the words I’ve been learning in my Korean language lessons, I’m at something of a standstill. In keeping with the cultural forms of address and respect pertaining thereto, I’ve used quite a few romanised Korean words (don’t worry, I don’t expect you to read them in 한글) in Lady of Dreams. This means that there’s a lot more for people to have to learn as they read.

On the one hand, I still love the idea of leaving you guys to sink or swim (cos I’m diabolical like that). On the other hand, there’s the usual amount to learn without telling: slightly steampunkish stuff, Dreaming stuff, several romantic entanglements, etc. I mean, I don’t want to break you guys.

It’s also a question I’ve been asked by more than one or two readers, and when more than one or two of my beta readers mention something, it’s usually time to sit up and listen.

So. Lady of Dreams: a glossary of romanised Korean words? Yea or nay?

Let me know!

(Also, if you haven’t already done so, head on over to Lady of Dreams‘ Kindle Scout Nomination Page, and if you like the sample, please nominate me to receive a Kindle Scout contract. If I’m published with Kindle Scout, anyone who nominated Lady of Dreams will get a free copy!)

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