Castle of Dreams

March 1, 20131 Comment

Today I had the pleasure of guest posting over on my good friend Andrea Baker’s blog. She’s been running a series called Castle of Dreams and I’m delighted to participate in it. My contribution concerns the palace in Lokana, where my book The Lokana Chronicles and my current WIP are set. It was a whole lot of fun to write.

I hope you’ll head on over and check it out. While you’re there, have a look at some of the other entries in the series. Not all are fictitious entries; there are also posts about very real castles, including Kenilworth Castle, which figures prominently in Andrea’s book, Worlds Apart – Leah, recently published by Taylor Street Publishing.

And now, I’m off to bed. It’s been a long and busy day, full of work and good food and good friends and great family and fun and I am exhausted! Happy Friday! 🙂

Castle of Dreams – Week Five (willmacmillanjones.wordpress.com)
Review : Leah – Andrea Baker (thesplendidsiren.wordpress.com)

Killing your darlings

June 29, 2012June 26, 20126 Comments

It’s a bonus post! That’s right, as a special treat from that all-around wonderful author, Lisa McKay, I’ve got another guest post for you! As I’m sure every writer out there can, I totally relate to the pain that comes with the necessity of “killing your darlings.” Sometimes it’s quite easy, but sometimes it really is murder. Today, Lisa shares her thoughts on killing your darlings.

Last week, after a string of awful nights, I decided to write a children’s story. The fun I had writing this little story did not make up for the exhaustion and aggravations of the previous week, but it helped. As I rhymed my way through verses about dogs, roosters, mosquitoes and various other midnight misadventures I even found myself laughing.

My 2nd favorite line was the one about wishing all the roosters would die, but my absolute favorite line of the whole piece came at the end of the stanza about mosquitoes.

Six tips for marketing self-published books

June 26, 20122 Comments

And now, the fabulous guest post by Lisa McKay, author of My Hands Came Away Red and Love at the Speed of Email! Marketing is a tricky beast, whether you’re traditionally published or self-published, and Lisa has knowledge of both realms. To learn more about this wonderful author, you can start by visiting her website at www.lisamckaywriting.com. Don’t forget to pick up a copy of her memoir, Love at the Speed of Email, available here!

Last Wednesday I wrote about the challenge that marketing can be for self-publishing authors. I asked what you would do if you were in charge of marketing my memoir, Love at the Speed of Email, and was flooded with responses.