How to Effectively Use Twitter for Authors

Reblogged from WordServe Water Cooler:

We all know that as successful authors we’re expected to market ourselves and this includes social media sites. Most find Facebook easy to use, but I’ve seen several authors confused or disheartened by Twitter.

I used to be one of them. For basic Twitter use, including #hashtags and follow back explanations, check out 8 Twitter Tips for Authors at the Blogging Bistro’s site.

Read more… 426 more words

I came across this blog yesterday, and for the first time in a long time - I logged back into Twitter. I must admit - I have been a bad little tweeter. Actually - I have pretty much linked in everything I can to twitter, and have basically ignored it. But it really is an extremely good tool for writers and readers. It's a great place to connect. You can join 'chats' and meeting new people through those is really valuable. I just need to learn to refocus on it, and use it more effectively. So ... to start me off - I found this little blog post, which is an awesome place to start. We shall see how I go!

 

Introducing – Melissa Pearl, author of the Time Spirit Trilogy!

Today, I have the pleasure of introducing to you all – the lovely and very talented author of the Time Spirit Trilogy – Melissa Pearl.

I met Melissa last year through mutual friends, and after a while, discovered that she had written an urban fantasy young adult trilogy. Obviously this piqued my interest in her writing, as I was in the middle of writing a trilogy in the same genre. (Although – we all know that project is currently on hold…)

When Melissa first told me that she was going to self publish her trilogy, I was surprised. I had heard of people self publishing, but I didn’t actually personally know anyone who had done it successfully. However, since November, Melissa’s trilogy has definitely stamped it’s mark on the world of young adult fiction – already! The Time Spirit books are already sitting in the Top 100 of the Very Best Time-Travel Romance books to read as well as the Top 100 of Best YA Romance lists on Goodreads. People all over the place are reading and reviewing these books… and there seems to be quite a bit of chatter about Melissa and her books on the big wide interweb through word of mouth and various interviews.  Now, I think that’s a pretty damn spectacular result for someone who has just released her debut trilogy.

When I picked up my copy of Golden Blood to read, I too was captured into the world of this story. Naturally, I just couldn’t help myself but to start chattering about these books to people. Melissa once blogged that she was inspired to write this trilogy after she had read the Twilight books. But to be honest – I personally think that these books are even better.

Needless to say – Melissa is influenced by many, but defined by none. A fabulous writer, and a fabulous woman. So, without further ado, here is what she had to say to me and my multitude of questions about her and the books of the Time Spirit Trilogy.

What do you do when you are not writing?

I’m a mom to a four year old and a nine month old. My gorgeous boys keep me very busy. I only write in the evenings and during nap times. I try to take at least three evenings off a week to hang out with my hubby and we usually watch movies or TV together. I’m a bit of a movie junkie

When did you first start writing and when did you finish your first book?

I started writing a book when I was ten, but never finished it. I tried again at 16, but my brother’s computer ate it. At 23 I tried one more time and I actually finished the manuscript. I was full-time teaching at the time, so it took me about eight months.

Where is your favourite place to write? 

I have a massive writing desk. It used to be an old post office desk, which my parents bought years ago, sanded down and re-varnished. It is all kinds of beautiful. I am in a very sunny, large room. My desk faces a wall which I’ve covered with photos of friends and family. I also have my goals and a few favourite poems up there. The shelves next to me are jam-packed with writing books and drafts. It’s a little chaotic, but it works for me. I use my laptop for everything, but I always have a notebook and pen next to me as well. It’s amazing how often it comes in handy.

I need quiet when I write too. I can’t listen to music, it pulls me out of the zone

How did you choose the genre you write in?

I actually want to write in a few genres. My first book was a YA drama/romance. My next book was an adult drama/romance then I went back to another YA drama/romance. I love writing about teens. I decided to write the Time Spirit Trilogy after spending hours in the book stores and seeing what was popular. Paranormal was really taking off, so I decided to give it a go. It’s been fun.

I am looking forward to writing other genres over the years, but I’ll stick with YA for a while. My adult stories can wait.

Do you ever experience writer’s block?

I don’t get it very often to be honest. I think it’s because I spend so long mulling the story over in my head before actually starting to write it. I’m sure it will hit me at some point, but the few mini blocks I’ve had have been easily remedied with a shower or a long walk.

 Do you work with an outline, or just write? 

I used to just write, but I find I actually work much better with an outline. I can’t hold that much information in my head. I have to write it down. I now do very thorough outlines. I don’t always stick to them, but I think my stories have been stronger since outlining. It also cuts my number of drafts down substantially.

Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

Francine Rivers and Dee Henderson were two authors I read in my late teens that I loved. I devoured their books and still re-read them every few years. I wanted to write stuff with the emotion of Francine Rivers and the tense action of Dee Henderson. I like a story that gives me both elements.

I have read a plethora of other amazing authors, but those were the first two that jumped to mind.

Is anything in your trilogy based on real life experiences or is it purely all imagination?

I have visited St Augustine, Florida. I loved that little town, which is one of the reasons I chose it for my setting. The storyline is all imagination, but some of the emotion is not. I really drew on personal experience when I was trying to capture some of Gemma’s heartache in Black Blood.

What was your favourite chapter or part to write and why?

There are so many scenes I loved writing. I really enjoyed all the kissing scenes – especially Gemma and Harrison’s first kiss. I could picture the scene so clearly and I felt everything Gemma went through. The way Gemma thinks and feels is similar to me, so it was really easy to fall in love with Harrison.

I also loved writing all the action scenes and for some reason, I adore writing arguments. Maybe it’s because I am useless with arguing in real life. I really enjoyed coming up with the argument between Gemma and her mother in Black Blood and there are a few little spats between Harrison and Gemma in Pure Blood that were quite fun to write too.

Are there certain characters you would like to go back to in the future, or is there a theme or idea you’d love to work with? 

I have actually come up with three more stories for Gemma and Harrison. I can’t decide if I’ll write them or not. If people are really keen for more, then maybe. The stories take quite a different turn and I would really love to venture down that road and see where they end up, but we’ll see.

I really love writing time travel and I actually have a couple of time travel stories that I would like to do, so I might revisit that theme again… but not for a while. I have some other things I’d like to write first.

What project are you working on now?

I have two projects on the go at the moment.

The first one is a new YA series that I am co-writing with my friend, Brenda Howson. We are hoping to produce one book a year and these stories will each stand on their own. It’s called the Mica & Lexy series and is about two kiwi girls who have grown up together. These best friends have an uncanny ability to get themselves in the worst situations. The first book, Forbidden Territory, will be coming out later this year and follows them into the bush where they stumble across some unwanted treasure and then have to race blindly through the forest, eluding the treasure owners and rescuing the guys they are with. It is going to be a fun series with lots of humour, action and of course, kissing

My other project is a YA paranormal entitled Betwixt. It is about a young girl who is hit by a car. Lost and alone in the woods, she is stuck between life and death. In her ghostly form the only person who can hear her is a guy at school that happens to despise her. With the clock ticking she must convince him to help her then do whatever she can to find out where she is, so he can save her life. 

Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?

Write because you love it. Study the craft, learn from all the amazing literature out there and refine your skills so that the work you are producing is really good stuff. Find really honest critique partners and beta readers. Never be offended by their feedback, but use it to make your work awesome.

You need a thick skin in this industry. I always remind myself that writing is subjective. Everyone likes different stuff, so target your work to a specific audience and write what they love.

Is there anything that you would like to say to your readers and fans?

A great big thank you. So far, I have only had awesome feedback about this trilogy and it has been such a joy to hear that you guys are loving the books. You pour so much of your heart and soul into your characters, so to have other people feel the same way about them is a treat.

Thank you for taking the time to tell me what you think, rate my books and leave reviews. Word of mouth is the best way to introduce someone to a book, so everyone who’s mentioned the Time Spirit Trilogy to their friends – THANK YOU

Click on image to buy from Smashwords

Golden Blood – Book One

Gemma Hart never knows when her father is going to whisk her back in time. Her toes start tingling and she has a few minutes to find a secret haven where she can disintegrate and appear in another time and place. While “across the line,” her training and skills are put to the test as she completes a mission that will change history for the lucky few her father has selected. 

Gemma’s parents are adamant that secrecy is paramount to her family’s safety. If people knew what they were capable of, they could be “used and abused”, as her mother always says. Afraid she might accidentally utter the truth and break the ancient oath of her people, Gemma spends her school days as a loner. Only one thing can throw her sheltered life askew… Harrison Granger.

Harrison never expected to talk to the strange Hart girl, but after a brief encounter he can’t stop thinking about her. He begins a campaign to chisel away her icy veneer and is met with unexpected consequences. As he slowly wins this girl over, he enters a surreal world that has him fighting to keep his newfound love and his life.

Black Blood – Book Two

Click on image to buy from Smashwords

Gemma’s parents have put enough rules around her relationship with Harrison that she feels like she’s living on parole. But she wins one battle—a summer job working for Harrison’s step-father. It is the perfect chance to spend the steamy, hot Florida days with her boyfriend. It’s also a great distraction from the cellphone hiding in her underwear drawer—her only contact with Gabe, the mystery man who’s stalking her. 

When she confronts Gabe, he tells her that her parents are not who she thinks they are, and Harrison has the gall to believe him. Surrounded by conflict, Gemma doesn’t know what to believe, and it takes a trip back in time for her to glimpse the sickening truth. 

Thanks to her parents, she returns to the present to find the love of her life no longer exists. His family line was broken and now, so is she.

This betrayal forces her to seek out Gabe. Setting aside her fear of the truth, she must trust this man and learn what he can teach her… otherwise, she’ll never get her boyfriend back.

Pure Blood – Book Three

Click on image to buy from Smashwords

It is only a matter of time before Gemma’s parents find out she traveled through time to bring Harrison back into existence. The fear of being found out is a heavy weight on her shoulders, but she refuses to give up on everything she’s fought for. Harrison is worth the risk.

The couple draws closer together as they battle opposing forces from all sides. They stay strong until Gemma’s parents welcome an exchange student into their home. Simeon, a gorgeous Californian, is as smooth as coffee and, supposedly, a fellow time spirit. Gemma’s parents expect her to take him everywhere and, of course, fall in love with him. After all, he is the boy they have chosen for her. 

No longer able to sneak off alone, Gemma must watch every step as she waits for the inevitable nightmare to catch up to her. Her parents ultimate goal is to get that last necklace and open the box hidden in their safe. If they do, Gemma knows her entire world will unravel.

As the danger mounts, Gemma must decide if she has the courage to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the ones she loves and stop to her parents’ destructive plans.

These books are also available at http://www.amazon.com/author/melissapearl

~~~

You can connect with Melissa at the following places:

Twitter: @MelissaPearlG

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Melissa-Pearl-Author/230335437021600

And on her blogs - http://melissapearl.blogspot.co.nz/ and http://yalicious.blogspot.co.nz/ 

 

Dreamers dream… Writers write.

Earlier today I was visiting a friend, and she was saying about how one day she wanted to be a writer just like me. She seems to think that now that I am on maternity leave, all I am doing is writing my life away until Bump is born. (I wish!) But I’m flattered that I have inspired her dream of writing… and as this post is titled – dreamers dream. My friend is a ‘dreamer’ until she picks up that pen and puts her creativity to paper. Then she will be a writer. Right now – she just aspires to write one day. (I’m actually quite surprised, considering she lived with me for years and saw how ratty I can get if I can’t get my words out on paper!)

I think that first and foremost – I am a dreamer. Then I am a writer. I say this because of the way that I process and dream up new story ideas, plots, twists, and characters. I often dream about my work, literally! Often I am day dreaming, and often I am asleep and dreaming. There are times that I wake and everything is so vivid that I have to write it down into my notebook, so that I can develop it later.

I dream of writing too. I dream of writerly success… of writing thrillers that some movie director will one day pick up and turn into a block buster movie. This is where I am being a complete dreamer, because until I get my backside into gear and get my bigger work actually published, that dream is what it is. A dream. But it’s nice dream to dream.

Then I have the other side of me who is trying to write thrillers that will appeal to a wide range of people out there, so that I am not limiting my marketability.

So there you have it. I dream of one day selling my work for someone to make a movie out of it. I think that this is a dream that many writers share. We all know that once your work is made into a movie and is reaching a much much wider audience, the rest of your books usually snowball out of control with sales. We all want that. We all want the money. Some even want the publicity. (Strangely – I’m not too keen on the publicity stuff… perhaps that is my inner recluse showing itself!) But this is why we have PR people out there in the world. I’m pretty sure JK Rowling wasn’t too keen on it at the start either!

In the meantime though, I’ll just keep writing. Because that is what I am – a writer – and writers write.

 

Waiting… with bated breath

I am due to have this baby any day now, and to be honest – I need to. It’s too hot, uncomfortable, and I just think it would be better to carry this child in my arms now, rather than in my body. I am completely over the fact that I can no longer move properly, my muscles don’t seem to work the way I want them too, and the fact that I need to use the step ladder just to shave my legs at the moment. And while pregnancy and I haven’t agreed much with each other… I probably wouldn’t have it any other way.

I guess this is a little like waiting to open a Christmas present, (only you know what it is.) The major difference is that you don’t know what it will be like. You don’t know how it will eat, sleep, cry, or even what features and traits it will inherit from us. This is not like designing a character. It’s predetermined by mother nature. And not knowing these things is just like unwrapping a present at Christmas – although – you don’t know when the present will arrive.

Anyway, while it’s kind of exciting, because little Bump could arrive in any day at the moment, it’s also nerve racking for both of us because this is a new adventure for us as parents. Neither of us have had children before, so it’s going to be an awesome journey that we’ll be sharing with little Bump. When it decides to make its long anticipated appearance – that is!

Every little twinge or pain makes me wonder if it’s Bump coming or not. This is only to be expected at this stage though, considering Bump was ready for hatching a couple of weeks back. The days seem longer now that I am not working, but my husband seems to be rather pleased with himself now that he has a dedicated housewife. Haha. (Dreams are free, dear husband, because when Bump arrives on the scene I highly doubt the house will be nearly as spotless, or that dinner will be on time each night.)

So here I sit in this little house, writing away, and waiting with bated breath for our child to arrive on the scene.  One day soon, Bump will embark on its journey.

 

Tijuana Nights

Since I am currently writing this new thriller… I thought that I would share a little bit about my main character with you. Firstly – I love my new main character, McKenna. She is useless! Well. She’s just not very talented at her chosen careers. There are parts of McKenna that are so naive.

She’s a qualified Historian, and she has been pottering about in that field unsuccessfully for a number of years. But she loves history, and looking deeper into things, so being a historian has always sated her curiosity for the unknown.

McKenna is attracted to idiots. Yes, I know. We all have our moments… however – these guys really do need a bullet. One – she managed to stay in an eight year relationship with, and now he is taking her for all he can, thus forcing McKenna to try a few new career options.

McKenna tried to be a hooker, but never actually managed to sleep with anyone. Now she is trying to be an assassin and still hasn’t managed to kill anyone yet.

And in the meantime – the baddies are running a muck, McKenna is running for her life, and she really has no one left to turn to.

Here is the draft blurb for you guys to have a read over:

McKenna has always been sensible in her life. The only thing she wasn’t sensible with was who she fell in love with. When Luke leaves her after an eight year relationship, he threatens to take half of her assets with him, unless she pays him out. Not something that is easily achieved on the low wage she has been earning as a part time historian. 

This forces McKenna to turn to the darker side of society to try and earn the money to not only save her family home, but also keep her aging aunt in the medical care that she requires.

When a contract Assassin approaches McKenna to be a ‘distraction’ on an operation in Mexico, she readily agrees – thinking only of the money that has been promised in return. With the money she could earn from one job, it would pay off a good proportion of what Luke is asking for.

However, when McKenna completes the ‘distraction’ job, and is on her way home to England, she misses her flight out of Tijuana. The plane explodes not long after take off, and that is when McKenna realises that she is in deeper than she ever imagined.

Thanks to her ‘distraction’ skills, McKenna is now the target interest of a major Mexican operation.

And the only people she can turn to in a foreign country are the same people who put her in danger in the first place.

This is now not a simple game of distraction. It’s now a game of survival.

 

 

My happy place – a parallel reality

I think that most creative people need to enter a special headspace in order to get those creative juices flowing happily away. To the ‘uncreative’ person, this can seem like an eccentric trait that creative people carry. I like to think of it as a different parallel reality.

After all, we are all living and sharing the same Earth, it’s just that some of us have tapped into an alternative universe. For many years, I refused to believe that there were actually people out there that didn’t have an imagination. I have a friend who claims she doesn’t have a creative bone in her body, but yet every now and then she come out with the most profound innovative idea that she should really start selling them, and retaining the rights. I can’t tell you what any of these amazing ideas are, or else she would kill me – but let’s just say that they would make everyday life a little easier. But other than these innovative ideas, she is very much straight up and down with no lateral thinking sideways movements.

Amazingly, in a sense I tend to agree with people who believe they don’t have an imagination. They don’t have an ‘active’ imagination that they tap into and draw ideas from. These people are sort of like droids in a sense. They do what they are told, they work within their boundaries, and they never ever ‘think’ beyond their sense of control. (E.g. wake up at 7am, have shower, get dressed, catch the same train to work every day, walk in through the office door at 8.29am, sit down at their desk all day, eat their pre-packed lunch, leaving office at 5pm, catching the same train home again, sit down and watch the news while their prepacked dinner is cooking in the microwave, and go to bed by 9pm. On Friday nights they deviate from the daily plan and have a beer after work. If they are feeling really rebellious, they may have a few more, pick up some drunk chick for a one night stand, and then relive those moment of life deviation for the next week.) Seriously. I actually know people like that. I’m not joking.

Then there are people like me and my creative peers who don’t mind pottering about at home, delving into one’s own mind. They don’t mind reading books, or watching movies. Good sociable occasions provide amazing fodder for our imaginations, so socially it’s good to be with people who make us laugh and tell us their own life stories. We build layers upon layers of information. We re-weave new stories with old ones to create unique situations.

For me, there is nothing quite as invigorating as a really good writing session. I feel as though I have just done a load of exercise, and I have endorphins streaming through me, electrifying every sense within me. I’m not kidding. When I get on a roll, this is my happy place. No one can interrupt it.

Once upon a time, I used to catch the train for an hour to and from work. Within that hour long stretch, amongst all the vibrations, rocking, constant stopping, and people movement – I could crank out 1200-1500 words.  I would plug in my headphones and play my book’s soundtrack that I had put together, and just write. Some days the writing would be rubbish, but other days it was golden. But the consistency of the train helped me sync into my writing groove.

Another place that I loved to write was in Cafés. Yes, I took a leaf out of JK Rowling’s ‘how to’ manual with that idea.  I thought, ‘If she can do it, then I want to try’. And so I did. And amazingly – it works for me. There are those writers out there who can only write in a deathly silent room, and be absolutely alone with their thoughts. There are others like me, who need constant noise – whether it’s just background noise, or soundtrack music directly relating to your manuscript. The sound of a coffee shop is strangely comforting to me. It has something to do with the sound of the coffee machine going, the smell of freshly brewed coffee, and the scent of muffins straight out of the oven. Then there are the people. They sit around chattering amongst themselves, or perhaps they are reading a book or the daily paper. As I watch these people, I often wonder where they are from, their lives, and what they are feeling. Essentially, I start to character profile them.  This exercise of people watching seriously gets my active little imagination going. After all… how can we write about people and their emotions if we haven’t delved into the psyche a little?

The other place that I write in is in my library at home. (Really, it’s probably my spare room… but anyway.) This place is so special to me. I am surrounded by all the material things that I love. Books, music, sculptures, paintings, and a bunch of other things that I would probably prefer not to be in there. But however, nothing is ever totally perfect. But the space for me is perfect. I can very quickly get into the writing zone when I am working in there. I set it up for me to be able to do this. I have just managed to get this room back to the way I want it after six months. For the past six months it has been a storage area for all of Bump’s stuff. And if Bump’s stuff wasn’t in there, then people were staying, and therefore I couldn’t work in there. It’s amazing how much my writing feng shui gets out of sync when other people are here. Perhaps that is the introvert coming out in me? Anyway – after not having full use of my library for the past six months, I have now officially been back in it for the past week and a half. And my-oh-my how the creative juices are once again flowing. The music pounds around this room as I sit down and open my latest manuscript that I am working on. The door is closed. And somehow, I can just feel the balance of this room centring my creative soul.

In essence, my library is the place that I write in effectively when I am at home. There is no other room like it. In this room new worlds of my alternative reality are dreamt up and turned into a form of reality amongst the pages I write. In this room characters are born, and characters die. In this room, my mind extends beyond itself into other parallel realities.

I think that we all have a space like this somewhere in the world, where nothing can deter us from our focus. (Apart from the internet…) I think that it is seriously important for us to have this space… whether it is a mental or physical space. It’s our own little happy place, and that’s what matters the most.

 

Parchment Place Celebrations!

I have been meaning to post this post for THREE WHOLE days… however, life just kept getting in the way. This is what happens when you are heavily pregnant and wrapping up your professional work life (EDJ)… and just trying to generally keep everything together. However… Today is my first day on Maternity leave, so I have a few spare minutes to think clearly.

First of all – I would like to say:

Yes – Parchment Place has officially turned 1.

It has been a hell of a year for Parchment Place. I have never run a blog before, so this has been a completely new experience. There have been times when it has been slow… and then even more times when it has been like driving a fast car. I have loved meeting people through this blog, and getting to know them. I have loved hearing everyone’s feedback. And it has spurred me into a different type of creativity… more of an entertaining ‘snippet’ type of writing, which uses a completely different set of writing skills. Some days I ramble on about writing (go figure…)… some days I ramble on about my work… some days I’m musing over Mondays… some days the posts are about me and my life or journey… but all in all – some form of it has to be entertaining.

Not only are we celebrating Parchment Place’s first birthday – but this celebration post is the 100^th post for this blog. So it’s a double celebration! And had I been a little more organised, I would have sorted something like a giveaway or presents for readers or something equally cool. But maybe that’s something to organise for another day.

And finally… there has been a lot of readership of this blog. Some days it has had larger than life hits on it.. other days it has been nice and quiet. But overall – this blog had more than 20,000 hits on it in its first year. I have absolutely no idea if that is good or bad – but it works for me. That’s 20,000 more clicks to a site related to me and my writing – so I’m quite chuffed with that result. Who knows what year two will be like!

So I guess this post is a triple celebration for this blog. 1^st Birthday, 100^th Post, and a 20k hit rate in the first year.

Cheers everyone …. I raise my Mocktail to you! *clink* I wouldn’t be encouraged to write this blog if it weren’t for the encouragement and love from all you readers and subscribers out there. You guys are the ones that keep Parchment Place alive.

 

Why I am not an International Spy

When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a spy, or something along that line of work.

I am working on a new book at the moment, and I have been thinking a lot about the backstories of our characters, and what motivates them into action. They are the same questions that we all ask of ourselves. Often I pause in the middle of something and question why I am actually doing it. Often I have no idea why, but it always seems like a pretty good idea at the time.

Many of those moments have happened over my 31 years, particularly during my raucous teenage years when I would do many a stupid thing without even thinking about it. Usually it was because my peers were all doing the same thing as well, and the peer pressure or influence was strong on my young mind. And so during those years I took up smoking cigarettes, developing my taste for alcohol, experimenting with drugs, and testing the waters with the opposite sex.

And it was through that experimentation that I wisened up. Not only was I a bright young spark of a thing, but I also became ‘street wise’. I stopped the whole drug-taking thing almost as soon as I started. There was something about not being in full control of myself that I didn’t particularly like very much. If only I had discovered the same with alcohol at the time. The difference with alcohol was that my mind was still my own, and I still had control over it. Sort of. And thanks to the experience of ending up in hospital with a broken nose and alcohol poisoning once, I will never ever again be completely and utterly reckless with it. (I am incredibly lucky my nose healed without even a kink in it!)

I actually discovered that teenage boys were idiots. I am not kidding. The more I got to know them, the more I couldn’t understand why all my friends were falling about themselves trying to get their attention. And because I wasn’t even remotely ‘interested’ in them at the time, some of those teenage boys that hung out with our crowd became my best friends. Even as adults we are all still very close. I still see those young teenagers that they used to be resting beneath the surface. There are hilarious stories that come out when we are all together and chattering about our reckless past.

I eventually got to the point of realising that whenever I did anything even remotely sneaky, I would always get caught. I would try and skip out on school – only for my Mum to walk past me on the street. I would try and sneak cigarettes from my Dad’s packet, and they would always catch me. And at one point (when I hadn’t quite discovered how ridiculous teenage boys were) I even tried to sneak a teenage ‘friend’ into the house at night. Well – it all crashed and burned. And that was when I realised that I would make a pretty crap spy. Spying and being sneaky just wasn’t in my nature. Besides, there was really no point once I realised that I would always get caught!

So I found my direction again. I started surfing, got back to the books, and I put my head down, with my bum up. And without the constant distraction of drugs, booze, and boys – I excelled. I focused on achieving, and started studying Design at the sweet young age of seventeen. All that above? It was all before I was seventeen years old. The only thing I never really wisened up about at the time, was smoking cigarettes. The rest of it? I had loads of will power and stubbornness to protect me – especially for a young female on the surfing and university student scene where drugs, sex, and rock’n'roll (dance parties) are prevalent.

And so, this brings me to character development. I wouldn’t have the character that I have without having gone through what I have experienced. Experiences have shaped me, and the way that I think. They have shaped the way that I will raise my own children. They have shaped the reasoning of why I do things, and why I don’t. Our characters are the same. In order to make them believable, they must have the same steady motivations and reasoning behind them in their backstories.

I would have made a bad international spy anyway. My characters on the other hand… can be whatever they want to be. They just have to have a reason for it.

 

Sexy designer covers

Did I capture your attention from the title of this post? I hope so… because it’s a simple example of how you title your work that captures the attention of your readers.

Never judge a book by its cover…

Whoever said that quote obviously had a cover that either didn’t capture their readers attention, or it wasn’t even comparable to the quality of work written within its pages.

Everyone around me seems to be designing or redesigning their covers of their novels at the moment, and I thought that since I have a design background - I would have a wee chat about this process.

Whether you are designing a cover, marketing, or even self-promoting. You are selling something, and it needs to be targeted at your audience.  David Carson is one of the worlds most renowned graphic designers. In an interview, he said something that all of us need to remember during this design process… “You have a general direction of where you think you’re going, but you also have to be able to do things the way that maybe you weren’t expecting.”

This is about having an open mind. This is about being analytical and critical. This is also about looking at the covers you are creating with a completely objective view as to what your target audience would be drawn to, and what they would pick up and buy.

After all… It’s about making money. That is usually the main objective of publishing a book. (Other than the glory of seeing your name and work in gorgeous black font against crisp white pages, for all the world to read.)

But back to this ‘making money’ notion… the publishing world is a selling game. It’s about the numbers, it’s about the audience, it’s about the stories, it’s about the rave reviews, and it’s about readership and potential future readership. You need all of these main things to ‘make it big’ in a relatively small publishing world. There are millions of writers out there. There are hundreds of millions of books. And on top of that – there are even more manuscripts that are either drafted, or in the making. And writers all around the world are playing the ‘publishing game’. They all want a slice of the publishing pie, whether it is ‘self publishing, or traditional publishing’.

So why on earth would you put together a crap cover with a crap title, that is not targeted at your main audience, and still believe that people don’t judge books by their covers? The cover may have everything to do with the book you have written… or it may not. E.g. I don’t ever remember a vampire holding an apple within the pages of Twilight… but it was a catchy cover, and readers around the world thought so too.

I said to a friend yesterday… ‘You don’t want your main title to drown out your main imaging. You want them to blend and compliment each other.’ Within the same day, I said to another friend, ‘The blurb and cover art should make enough of a statement – so you don’t really need to be theme all your fonts as well.’

What I mean with both these statements, is this: Dare to be different, but make sure it works. You have this huge idea in your head of how it should look, but you seriously need to ask whether or not it’s readable, eye catching and sexy, and whether or not it works with the rest of the cover. Most of all… you need to ask whether or not the fonts and titles will appeal to your target audience.

So… on that note – let’s have a look at some pretty amazing covers that seriously work with the story, as well as with the target audiences.

AIREL: Wow. I know. That’s one amazing cover. Yes, it does look similar to other covers in its field – like Fallen by Kate Lauren. But in reality, it is so much more beautiful and eye capturing. The covergirl has darkness, and light. It is formidable because she is kneeling in a darkened forest. And yet she is holding a white feather, usually known as a symbol of hope and life (the white dove feather). Some people may believe that this book cover is riding on the coat tails of Fallen, but in reality, this is what we all do. We are influenced by the success before us, and by mimicing it at the ‘right’ time, we will also succeed and capture the same target audiences. (This is yet another marketing strategy to look out for – if you can pull it off, it can work well!)

MATCHED: Gorgeous, simple, vibrant. What eye wouldn’t be drawn to a girl in a brilliant green dress, held within an orb? I cannot tell you exactly how appropriate this is to the opening pages of this book – but it’s incredibly accurate to how the main character is, in every possible way. Innocence, trapped within a bubble.  A simple design, yet effective. This cover forces the reader to read the blurb on the back cover to discover what is contained within the pages. A friend told me that she liked the cover of Matched because the colours are quite different from other YA novels, and therefore it stands out. I tend to agree with her sharp observation. I guess that the same could be said about the second book in the series – CROSSED

WITHER: I am going to admit, that when it comes to this particular cover design, I don’t know what it is about it that I love. Perhaps it’s the combination of complete randomness that captures my attention. Regardless of what it is, it is visually stimulating, and is also a playground for the curious mind.

There is a fabulous collection of book designs that are rated highly in terms of excellent design from 2011, which can be found at Hensher Creative. Well worth a look, especially for new and innovative ideas.

Dare to be different. Think outside the box.

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A quick update

I know that it has been a couple of weeks since I last posted, but life has been busy!

I am nesting, and trying to get this house in order before Bumpkin arrives on the scene… which isn’t that far away now, and believe me when I say this – getting the house into tip top shape is a very big job. I am also still working my Evil Day Job… and trying to make it through that each day during the week, even though I am working from home one day a week from now till I go on maternity leave. I’m the size of a large baby elephant, incredibly tired a lot of the time… mentally unstable during other times… I can’t sleep properly… and I’m pretty much living on the edge. And… just to top it all off, I have started writing a new book.

Oh my god. Yes, I know. I’m nuts to think that I can do all this at once… and this is possibly another reason why I haven’t blogged in a while.

But, the world hasn’t stopped rotating just because I’m about to have a baby, and have a lot on. No… the creative mind is a strong one, and I best be using it to its full potential while I can.

Writing Tijuana Nights was always on my agenda for 2012. I didn’t quite expect it to happen this quickly into the year… as I thought that I would still be doing research at this early stage of the concept. But after thinking about this book for the past 18 months or so, I figured that a lot of the research and plot development, I had already done. There was really no need to delve hard into research when I knew how to start, I knew my characters already, and I knew how I wanted this book to end.

This will be the first book in a long time that I am not going to completely plot out. I have a lot of it already… except in the ‘inbetween bits’. So… I’m going to wing it. I’m already writing chapter three, so the ‘winging it’ seems to be working for me right this moment.

On the other side of life, I have been painting our unborn child little animal pictures, and just today, we have been painting its room. It’s going to look really good once this room is sorted out, and everything is in there. And to think that it will all be done and dusted by the end of next weekend. Scary stuff!

I’ll make sure I post photos of it once we have completed it for you all to see. And on that note – I better get cracking. I have skirting and doorframes to paint before dinner, and then a second coat to paint after dinner. Where on earth do I find the energy?

Insanity. I’m telling you.

As an end note – I found quite a good article on Writing while Pregnant, that some of you may find interesting. Au revoir!