A ripple of noise

April 16, 2015Leave a comment

The firing had become more general, and without warning the mortars started up. They were pulverizing the wood, raining down so fast that the scream of one merged into the scream of the next, each explosion merely part of a ripple of noise. -War 2.2

I’ve just finished reading War 2.2 by Jim Webster, and…wow. It’s been a while since I’ve had a book hangover like this. I’ve been spending my evenings in various parts of Tsarina for a good month now, and I’m a little sad to have finished my time there, to be honest.

I started with Justice 4.1. It was an excellent book, with plenty of twists and turns, and a fair bit of action as well. By the time I finished the book, I was thirsty for more.

War 2.2 definitely delivered on that front. Of course, with a war going on, I’d expect nothing less. I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more connection between the two books, but they were both very well done (and now I’m hoping for a third book). If I didn’t have a reading list constantly clamoring for attention, I’d be tempted to start War 2.2 over again right away. 🙂

You can pick up your own copies of Justice 4.1 and War 2.2 on Amazon and Amazon UK. I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I did. 🙂

I’m a guest!

April 9, 2015Leave a comment

I hope you’re not getting tired of these, because I’m having lots of fun writing them. Tonight I’ve got a guest post up on Dick Hannah’s awesome blog, Publish or Perish, all about procrastination (with a little advice thrown in for good measure).

I hope you’ll check it out, and while you’re there, have a look at some of his other posts. He’s got some great posts on first and last lines in books, as well as a nice collection of quotes about mornings. You won’t want to miss them!

Photo 365 #236

March 31, 20154 Comments

That’s right, I’m still waxing poetic about the weather. It’s another lovely day out there, and I’ve got a nice, long lunch break ahead of me to fill with stories to my heart’s content.

productive

More of this is definitely in store today. I can’t wait to get out there and enjoy the sunshine of another world for a little while! 🙂

How about you – what do you enjoy doing on beautiful sunny days?

Getting to know Vatren Martoka

March 29, 2015March 27, 20152 Comments

Back in January, my friend and fellow author, Sam Dogra, tagged me in a character development challenge. I started working on my answers before her post went live, but it’s taken me till now to finally finish them. I’ve spent ten years getting to know this character, yet there were things I didn’t know about him till I filled out this questionnaire. It was quite a lot of fun, and I’m thinking about turning this into a series of posts about each of my main characters.

I’ve done this as an interview. I hope you enjoy learning about Vatren as much as I did! 🙂

Vatren
Artwork by Hazel Butler

What position do you sleep in? ( i.e; stomach, side, back, etc.) Why?

I sleep on my back, propped up a bit so that I appear awake from a distance. I used to sleep flat on my back, but these are dangerous times.

Do you have any noteworthy features? Freckles? Dimples? A scar somewhere unusual?

I’m afraid not. I’m perfectly ordinary, except for the prince bit.

Do you have an accent? What does it sound like?

An accent? Of course not. I speak normally. Well, as normally as any other noble Lokani citizen. Accents belong to the poor and uneducated. But not to me.

Do you have any verbal tics? Do you have trouble pronouncing certain words or getting your thoughts across clearly?

Verbal what? Well…

Photo 365 #231: Trials and tribulations

March 26, 2015March 25, 20154 Comments

After months of only creeping, inching progress on my rewrite, I’ve finally managed to stitch together two parts of my book with all-new material. Writing the all-new stuff was like pulling teeth; the words often flat-out refused to come.

I hate when writing is like that.

Nevertheless, I pushed through it. I’m fairly certain that most of what I wrote is rubbish, but that’s what revising is for, right? Polishing up the parts you don’t like?

At long last, I’m back to the polishing part. The writing is going much more smoothly now that I’m in full-on polishing mode. Still, part of me can’t believe how bad some of what I’d written is. There are parts that are positively purple; they remind me of the steady diet of soap operas I consumed as a teenager. There are parts that just don’t read quite right, for some reason; they have me in agony as I can’t quite figure out what’s wrong, never mind how to fix them.

And then there are the parts that just make me cringe, like whole-body, might-possibly-be-mistaken-for-a-seizure-type cringing. People’s Exhibit A: the two-paragraph section where I started four consecutive sentences with the word he. Talk about an epic facepalm moment.

*cringe*

*groans*

*cries*

For the most part, I love writing. I love the act of writing, the sheer physical quality of my pencil scratching out worlds across the paper; I love rewriting and making things shine. But at the moment, I seem mired in the depths of suck, where everything is hard and it’s not looking to improve any time soon. Maybe it’s because I’m exhausted and stressed about things other than writing; maybe it’s because I’ve been working on this story for ten years and I don’t feel any closer to finishing it now than I did when I started it.

Whatever the reason, I’m ready to be overwhelmed by the joy of writing again. It’s been a long while since I’ve experienced the euphoria of having written something that you know in the marrow of your bones is good. It’s addicting, that feeling.

I know I’ll find it again, but when everything else is so gray, too, it’s hard to bear that in mind. In the meantime, thank goodness for things like this:

If you’re worried about not being good enough? Hey, let’s remember, I wasn’t good enough for 17 years. (If you read some of my negative reviews, then ha ha ha, oops, I’m still not good enough.) … Keep at it. Eventually you’ll knock over that brick wall if you commit to the vigorous act of endless headbutting. -Chuck Wendig

Check out the whole article here. It’s well worth the read.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to the vigorous act of endless headbutting.

*grabs economy-size bottle of ibuprofen*

*scampers off to writing cave*

After the Fall cover reveal!

March 23, 20151 Comment

After the Fall Ebook Cover Today I’m happy to share in the cover reveal festivities for Abby Cavenaugh’s newest book, After the Fall! A follow-up to her debut, Going Home Again, this book follows Tina as she adjusts to life after divorce:

It’s been six months since her high-profile divorce, and Tina is desperate to get her life in order beyond the spotlight of her ex-husband, pop singer Michael Day. But when she meets a sexy bartender who happens to be ten years her junior, Tina’s first fling after her divorce might become something more. Tina can’t resist Josh’s charms, but she needs something more in her life than another wannabe singer. Tina wants to focus on herself, to finally find a place in the world that didn’t come from marrying a celebrity. If Tina ends her fling and focuses on a career, she might lose her heart in the process. However, her second chance at love might also be her first chance to live.

After the Fall will be published by Swoon Romance this May.

Abby Cavenaugh is a writer of romantic women’s fiction for Swoon Romance, with her debut novel, GOING HOME AGAIN, out now. She is also currently seeking representation for her YA paranormal manuscript, DEAD TALKER. She lives in North Carolina with her twin sister, Amy, also a writer, her niece, Adeline, and their cat, Gus. She loves chocolate, Diet Coke, the beach, New Kids on the Block, and most of all, writing.

You can connect with Abby on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Photo 365 #214

March 9, 20152 Comments

It’s not much, but it took me all weekend:

Of course, that’s probably because we cleaned all day Saturday in advance of my in-laws visiting, and then it was off to a neighboring town for the Army Field Band concert, and then there was volleyball practice and a trip to the doctor and general recovery from the lack of sleep inflicted by Daylight Savings Time.

I’m ready to fall back now. No need to wait till October – let’s do it tonight! Who’s with me? 😀

War!

March 6, 2015March 22, 20151 Comment

Well, I’m feeling rather terrible at the moment. A couple of weeks ago, the lovely Jim Webster asked me to join in a blog tour for the release of his new book, and I happily agreed to it. But then life happened, and the post I meant to share on Sunday (or Monday) didn’t go up…

*sigh*

I hate messing up.

So here’s that post, with my profound apologies for not sharing it sooner.

An action packed investigation, from Delta mud to the palaces of Merchant princes, Haldar is back in War 2.2

Haldar Drom is starting to worry. The long running insurgency in the Zala Delta suddenly starts to spiral further out of control. Who is arming the insurgents? How and why? Then a leading local politician who is using his influence to try and keep things calm is threatened with assassination. It’s obvious that things are moving to a climax.

All Haldar has immediately available is a third year university student who gets given a dissertation project she’ll never forget; young journalist who he convinces to investigate the situation of the ground; and a retired marine librarian whose job is to keep the politician alive. As the investigation proceeds, from the mud of the Delta to the luxurious surroundings of the Drake Islands, Haldar comes to realise that he may be facing Wayland Strang’s counter-attack. Faced with a coup d’état spearheaded by off-world mercenaries Haldar has to react quickly to stop a major war.

Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Wanna sneak a peek? Then read on!

Photo 365 #191

February 14, 2015February 12, 20154 Comments

Revisions continue, and I’m happy to report that I think I’ve crossed that hump I was stuck on.

2015-02-12 12.13.52

I scan my handwritten pages so that I can type them up later, and as I was trying to open the scanner app on my phone, I accidentally activated my camera instead. When it opened, it showed the image above. For whatever reason, it spoke to me, and I wanted to share. I really hope the rest of this revision goes as swimmingly as today’s writing session; I’d love to be done with this revision so that I can polish it up and send it out!

Sun vs. Snow Critique Workshop

February 13, 201528 Comments

The Sun vs. Snow Contest just ended, and now the ever-lovely Michelle Hauck is running a Sun vs. Snow critique workshop ahead of upcoming contests! Isn’t she just the best?

Since I’m still revising, I didn’t enter Sun vs. Snow, or any of the other contests that have come and gone over the last few months, even though I reeeally wanted to enter a couple. But I’m two-thirds of the way through the revision (I think), so I thought, why not? It’ll soon be time to start polishing, so why not get a little feedback on the beginning?

You can find Michelle’s post and all the details on the workshop here. It’s open till the 21st, so there’s still time to enter if you’ve got something you’d like feedback on. In the meantime, here’s my entry: