Photo 365 #322

June 25, 2015Leave a comment

One of the many things we did on vacation was cruise the Wildlife Loop at Custer State Park. We saw a bunch of neat animals (buffalo!) and just generally had a great time.

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This is one of my favorite pictures from that part of our trip. I just love the way the road curves into the distance. I could have stayed here and stared at this scene all day. 🙂

Unfortunately, the boys needed a nap after drinking in all this glorious nature, so I had to content myself with this picture.

Photo 365 #321

June 24, 2015Leave a comment

Even on vacation, I found gorgeous flowers to photograph:

This beauty lives at Reptile Gardens in Rapid City, SD, and has many pretty friends there. I love the way this image turned out, don’t you?

Darkhaven, the movie!

June 24, 2015June 21, 20151 Comment

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Today I’ve got a real treat: A movie cast for Darkhaven, handpicked by the author herself! This would book would make a wonderful movie, so I hope Hollywood is paying attention. Also, if anyone knows where to get hold of a time machine, let us know – it would make casting so much easier! 😀

Stay tuned afterward, because I’ve got all the deets on a great Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of the post!

I always have difficulty with casting my characters, because no one in real life looks quite like the people in my head. I always say that if my books were going to be translated into visual media, I’d like them to be either anime or graphic novels. Nevertheless, I’ve given it a go.

Darkhaven is set in a capital city, Arkannen, into which people from many different countries have migrated over the years. Most people’s heritage is a mixture of cultures/influences; they tend to think of themselves as Arkannenites before anything else (much as Londoners are Londoners before they are British). So although Mirrorvale and its surrounding countries don’t have exact real-world analogues, I’ve chosen actors who have quite a diverse mixture of backgrounds…

And now, an interview!

June 23, 2015June 21, 20157 Comments

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Today I’m interviewing A.F.E. Smith, author of Darkhaven and illustrious spymaster for the Alliance of Worldbuilders. After all, no one ever suspects the robin…

Stay tuned afterward, because I’ve got all the deets on a great Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of the post!

KK: To take a page from your book, tell us a bit about yourself – any illogical fears, unusual birthmarks, whether you’d rather wrestle a bear or punch a shark, that kind of thing. 🙂

80115-afe_smith_author_photo A.F.E: I’m a professional editor, a whenever-I-can writer and a mother of two young children. I’m also an occasional robin.

Illogical fears I have aplenty, including moths, spiders and other assorted invertebrates. Then there’s drowning … I hate the idea of drowning … and blood and heights and being buried alive. Oh, and mould. I hate mould. But other than all that, I would make a perfectly good fantasy hero.

Rather than a lightning-shaped scar on my forehead, I have a large orbicular birthmark on my knee. In other words, I have a great big freckle. Still, that’s got to mean I have a Destiny, right?

I would never wrestle a bear, or punch a shark. I am a vegetarian and therefore coexist peacefully with all living creatures, except those that have a tendency to crawl around on my walls.

KK: What about Darkhaven? What’s it all about?

Cover_image_DARKHAVEN_AFE_Smith A.F.E.: The short answer: shapeshifters and murder.

The slightly longer answer?

Photo 365 #320

June 23, 2015Leave a comment

I spent a little time this morning shooting various things in my yard. I started with the thistles near the mouth of my driveway before moving on to the daisies and clover further back. The daisies have seen better days, it’s true, but I was messing about with my macro lens again, so it didn’t really matter.

And then I found a surprise.

This little guy blended in so well that I didn’t even see him till I got the flower focused. Naturally, I had a heck of a time catching him – the little guy wouldn’t sit still for longer than a second. I’m good, but I’m not that good.

At least, not yet. 🙂

Fantasy and murder: A guest post by A.F.E. Smith

June 22, 2015June 21, 2015Leave a comment

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To kick off this fun-filled week of fantasy goodness, I’ve got a guest post for you about fantasy and murder from A.F.E. Smith. Stay tuned afterward, because I’ve got all the deets on a great Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of the post!

Fantasy and murder: what’s the appeal?

It’s no secret that fantasy is, and always has been, my favourite genre. There are many reasons for that, but one very good one is that the sheer number of possibilities it opens up to a writer is breathtaking. Fantasy has no limitations except for your own imagination and your ability to convince your reader to suspend disbelief.

Yet for that reason, writing fantasy can feel like being handed a bottomless bucket, pointed in the direction of an infinitely wide pick’n’mix stand, and told to take as much as you want. And if you’re me, that might result in something like this.

I like birds. And unicorns. And shapeshifters. So let’s have a flying unicorn shapeshifter! Duels to the death, always good. Add them to the bloody murder and general mayhem. Airships, sure, why not? Bit of romance. Bit of mistaken identity. Swords, yes, gotta have plenty of swords … oooh, guns! Hmm, swords or guns … what? Swords AND guns? Don’t mind if I do. And a walled city. No, a double-walled city. No, a SEVEN-walled city.

Scavenger_day02 I’m not kidding…

Photo 365 #319

June 22, 2015June 5, 20152 Comments

Bored am I. How to tell, do you know?

psfun

Playing with Photoshop I’ve been. Practicing with selfies, too. Happy Monday! 🙂

Gearing up for a great week!

June 21, 2015June 21, 20153 Comments

So, how am I celebrating my return from the land of the pine forests? By gearing up for a week full of fantastic fun with my friend A.F.E. Smith! Her debut novel, Darkhaven, hits virtual bookshelves on July 2 (the paperback is due out January 14, 2016) and I’m ecstatic to be taking part in her blog tour to celebrate the event.

80115-afe_smith_author_photo 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…