Tag: Literature

We are the champions, my friends!

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campnano

I did it!  I crossed the 50k line tonight!  Well, I probably actually crossed it sometime this noon, but I typed across the 50k line tonight and validated everything tonight and holy crap, you guys!  Fifty thousand words is a lot of freaking words!

Okay, so that’s my excitement for the night then.  I know I can write another 50k because I’ve done it before (The Lokana Chronicles is roughly 100k) and that it will probably take that many more before my story is all done, but I’m just trying to focus on one thing at a time right now, especially since I was hoping to have this story nearing completion by this point in time.  I can’t believe I’ve been working on it for almost a year now and I’m only half done.  I had hoped to be so much further along than this!  But I suppose that’s just the way it goes, huh?  That that’s all part of being a mother/wife/friend/office drone/writer.  There are only so many hours in the day and I only get one of them, sometimes two, to write.

But I’m greedy – I want more.

Luckily, my work schedule is about to get a lot less hectic, so that should help.  Naptime will once again be writing time!  And with school starting back up in just a few short weeks, perhaps homework time can be writing time, too?  I guess we’ll see.

In the meantime, I’m going to celebrate my Camp Nano win by going to bed early tonight.  I could definitely use the sleep.  How has everyone else done with their Nano goals?  If you haven’t done Nano, why not try it come November?

(c) 2013.  All rights reserved.

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WIP it! WIP it good!

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The wip it good blogfestSo last Friday, I stumbled across a post about the WIP IT GOOD Blogfest.  I found the original detail post here and thought it sounded interesting, so I decided to participate.  There was just one tiny problem: My current pitch kinda sucked.  Like, bad.  So I thought, “Okay, no biggie, I’ll just fix it.”

Yeah, that turned out to be a bigger challenge than I had anticipated.

I finally finished the polishing this morning.  It took me a week of scribbling and thinking and trying not to pull all the hair out of my head (bald isn’t a good look for me), but I finally finished the polishing.  At least for now.  Till someone tells me it could be better.  Because really, in all honesty, it probably could be.  I’m still not convinced about the transitions between paragraphs.  And I’m only halfway through writing the darn thing, never mind revisions, so it could still go in a completely different direction.  But this is the direction in which it’s currently heading, and I think it’s on track to stay that way.  So.  A plan.  I kinda sorta maybe have one.  Possibly.

Anyway, to the deets!

A solid battle plan

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Having a good idea is only half the battle.  Executing that idea into a book takes time, patience, and plenty of caffeine.  -Brian Klems

(c) 2013.  All rights reserved.

Pitch-tastic!

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Yep, that’s right, I’ve been working on my pitch for The Lokana Chronicles again.  Though (as far as I’m aware, having not checked Twitter in the last couple of hours) the Query Kombat picks haven’t yet been announced, I’m not holding my breath that I’ll get in They’ve announced the picks for Query Kombat and I didn’t get in, but I’m not surprised because what I submitted for a query was, well, not very good.  Even I knew it, but I crossed my fingers and hit submit anyway.  Huge congrats to everyone who made it in, though – out of something like 210 kontestants, only 64 made it through to the next round and I think 32 are being eliminated in the first cut.  Pretty brutal, but pretty awesome, too.  Good luck to everybody who made it in!

Anyway, as I was trolling Twitter the other day (and by trolling, I mean more like scrolling through my feeds, not being a troll), I happened across this from the lovely Stacey Trombley:

So I took her up on it! Read all about it behind the cut. Come on, you know you want to. Clicky clicky! 🙂

Progress!

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Yes, that’s right, I’m making progress!  My synopsis-writing project is almost at an end (meaning I hope to be finished with it by tomorrow or the next day) and if you follow me on Facebook, you’ll know that I started a new short story.  I plan to post it here when I’m finished.  I’m really excited about it – it’ll be my first foray into sci-fi, but it’s not hardcore.  At least, I don’t think it will be.

I was inspired by the news I heard over the weekend that a Dutch company plans to launch an expedition to colonize Mars within the next decade.  I started writing late last night and kept at it today.   As I was driving home tonight…

The Banned Underground: The Vampire Mechanic

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vmToday I’m having a look at the third book in The Banned Underground series, cleverly titled The Vampire Mechanic.  In book three, the guys help out new friends Santa’s Little Helpers, who have wrecked the sleigh…

Oh, dear.  Santa’s not-so-little helpers have “borrowed” his sleigh on their way to a Banned Underground concert – and crashed it on the way.  Can the Banned help them before Santa finds out?  But the mechanic who services the sleigh is a vampire, and getting the job done could be a challenge.  If that’s not enough, the Dark Lord’s Mercedes is getting a bit long in the tooth, too, and he fancies the sleigh as a replacement.  And will Grizelda, the off-white witch give back the reindeer after using one to win the local show-jumping competition?

With the vampire mechanic in the clutches of the apprentice Dark Lord and Grizelda’s dreams of blue ribbons, the Banned will have to go like a Bat Out of Hell this time. . .

The vampires in this story definitely don’t sparkle; they’re too depressed.  And at over six feet tall, Santa’s Little Helpers are anything but little.  The satnav makes a hilarious return, with the help of its Prescient Predictive Progression function, or PPP, and naturally Grizelda makes frequent use of her people to frog spell.  The Watches mix it up with some local Druids on their way to stealing Santa’s sleigh, and end up with Notsanta’s Notsleigh instead.  I definitely wouldn’t want to end up on his naughty list. . .

This series gets better with each book I read.  I feel like I’m a broken record saying that I laughed my head off and that I couldn’t put it down, but I wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true.  This book is a must-read.  So go on, already!  Read it!  Then we can discuss our favorite parts at length over a nice cup of tea and maybe a nice slice of cake or ten. 😀

(c) 2013.  All rights reserved.

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Presenting Will Macmillan Jones, Comedy Goon and Author Extraordinaire!

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Will's PhotographWith me today is Will Macmillan Jones, author of The Banned Underground series (and the Alliance of Worldbuilders’ resident Comedy Goon, as noted above).  He was kind enough to answer a few questions for me, though without the aid of the Spanish Inquisition (and I’d so been looking forward to calling them up – no one expects the Spanish Inquisition! :D).

Tell us about yourself.
My bio will tell you that I’m a fifty-something lover of blues, rock, and jazz, and have (sadly) spent much of my time working as an accountant.  Some of my friends suspect that I’m a covert adrenaline junkie as well, having crashed hang gliders, done a little sailing (didn’t like capsizing), fallen over on the way up several hills and crashed the odd motorbike, and put various cars into ditches.  Er, there seems to be a bit of a pattern forming there. . .

Have you always been interested in writing, or is it a recently developed passion?
I’ve always loved reading, ever since I was a small child.  My father was a primary school teacher and read to me every night from a young age, something I’ve done with my own kids, too.  It’s brilliant fun!  So when at grammar school I was encouraged to write, I loved it.  But then it took a back seat for many years, until I discovered you could get a minor flesh wound from a pen instead of crashing into things, and I haven’t looked back since.

Can you tell us a little about some of your other writing projects?  Are they all fantasy, or do you write in more than one genre?
As well as the fantasy, I also write some paranormal books, on the edge of horror.  The first of these has been very well received indeed, and so I’ve a sequel in the works.  There’s also a children’s fantasy and a YA fantasy coming along.  I think I stay pretty much round worlds of pure imagination, because it’s so satisfying to create something that can be made to feel real.

Wanna know what inspired the series, why the baddies are accountants, or where the Banned will head next? The conversation continues behind the cut!

The Banned Underground: The Mystic Accountants

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MAAnd now, Day Two!  Next up on the hit list, we’ve got The Mystic Accountants, the second book in The Banned Underground series.  The Banned’s hilarious adventures continue in this book as they set out to obtain a new throne for Lakin, Archlord of the Helvyndelve:

In the mist-haunted Dwarf Mansion, the Banned Underground has played another gig.  But this time the feedback has blown the Throne of the Mountain King apart, and the Banned must find a replacement on pain of, well, pain.  The junior dark lord is out for revenge, if his satnav doesn’t keep him from following the band.  Grizelda, the off-white witch and occasional aunt to the teenagers, is busy with some mad monks who want to conquer the world, starting with Wales.

Maybe Dai, the drunken dragon, can help?  Will the Tuatha stay out of the pub long enough to render assistance?  If not, Jailhouse Rock looms for the Banned Underground…

Once again, the jokes fly fast and furious.  There’s a lot going on in this book, between the Ben Buddhists who are trying to take over the world, Grizelda and the teenagers who are trying to stop them, the dwarves in search of a throne, and the Watches out to stop them.  But it never feels bogged down in details.  The pace is lively and keeps right on moving.  As with the first book, I couldn’t put it down.

But wait, there’s more!

The Banned Underground: The Amulet of Kings

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tbuWell, it’s Day One of Banned Underground Week here in my little corner of the interwebs, and today I’m going to review The Amulet of Kings, the first book in The Banned Underground series by Will Macmillan Jones.  What’s it about, you ask?  Fix your peepers on this then and find out:

What could be worse?  Having to take a holiday in the (rainy) Lake District in the North West of England with an aunt who turns people into frogs for a hobby?  Or battling the local dark lord, whose attempt at world domination starts with the nearby underground dwarf mansion and its enormous collection of used pizza boxes?  Or getting involved with a jazz-loving bog troll and his dwarfish R&B band?  Or is it being miles from a McDonald’s?  Join the teenagers and find out in this comical adventure where jazz and magic make a tongue-in-cheek laugh riot!

In the first book of the series, we meet the goodies (Chris and Linda, Ben and Grizelda, Fungus and the Banned), the baddies (Ned and the Watches, the Grey Mage, Caer Surdin), and an assortment of other characters (the Edern, the Tuatha, the Bodgandor, and various dwarves and trolls) who all take part in a war to seize the Helvyndelve, home of the dwarves, and the Amulet of Kings, the power source for the whole place.  Naturally, chaos ensues and, just as naturally, the results are hilarious.

Full of jokes both good and bad (which makes them all the better, in my opinion), as well as a whole slew of rockin’ tunes, this book has it all: good food, good friends, good fun, and a good baddie in need of defeat (unless, of course, you ask him).  I first encountered this book – and its brilliant author – when it was up on authonomy, so I was beyond excited to find out that it had been picked up for publication.  I read it in only a few days – I couldn’t put it down.

Tomorrow, I’ll be reviewing the second book in the series, The Mystic Accountants.  It’s another goodie. 🙂

(c) 2013.  All rights reserved.

The bus stops here!

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WMJ-Tour-Banner

This is a big week for me, blog-wise.  See, I love to help out a fellow author when and where I can and this week, I’ll be running a series of posts as part of a blog tour for my good friend, Will Macmillan Jones as he debuts his latest book, Bass Instinct.  It’s the fourth book in The Banned Underground series, which I absolutely adore, and I hope you all will, too.

So what’s in store?  Why, a little bit of everything!  I’ll be sharing reviews of the first four books, which are all hilariously funny comic fantasies set in the UK.  I’ve got an interview with the man himself, so if you want to learn a bit more about a great author, then be sure to drop in for that.  And on Sunday, he’ll be sharing a bit about some of the musical influences behind his work.  Now that’s a post you won’t want to miss!

(c) 2013.  All rights reserved.