Author: Zoë (Page 5 of 7)

Book slump

20th February, 2013 / Zoë / 11 Comments

I have been so involved lately in the process of creating books, talking books, promoting books and so on, that I’ve suddenly began to flounder when it comes to choosing something to read for pure pleasure. With more books than ever flooding the marketplace, I’ve become overwhelmed by choice. There are so many books, being promoted by so many anxious authors trying to get theirs to the top of teetering reading lists, it’s harder than ever to find that gem in the rubble. I’ve been burned a few times lately by disappointing books, and it’s come to the point where it’s now really hard to make a decision to buy something, even after reading the sample. I have relatively little time for pleasure reading these days, and so obviously I want to spend that time reading great books.

So I throw the gauntlet to you, dear readers. Find my next book! I will purchase the book for my Kindle, read it and post my thoughts in a future post.

To help you, here is a selection of books I love, in no particular order:

The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
The Neverending Story – Michael Ende
The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
Lovesong – Nikki Gemmell
Stardust – Neil Gaiman
The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
The Kitchen God’s Wife – Amy Tan

Of course there are millions of others, but this cross-section of my book collection might give you an idea of what I’d enjoy. By all means, if you are an author, recommend your own book. But tell me what it’s about and why I might like it. Leave your recommendations in the comments, and I’ll blog about any books I end up reading from the list, including why I chose them and what I thought of them – I’ll also post a review on Amazon.

Just so you know, I’m really not into horror, and not particularly fond of romance, though I don’t preclude books with these elements – I’m just not overly fond of the formulaic or gratuitous use of either.

Also, this little experiment doesn’t mean I’m going to turn this into a book review blog, I’m simply looking to get out of my current reading slump and will hopefully find something fantastic to entertain myself with, and subsequently tell everyone about. Vær så god, as we say in Norwegian (in this case, meaning off you go):

New year, new book

21st January, 2013 / Zoë / 0 Comments

At the end of 2012 I began the third book in The Eidolon Cycle, and already I know this will be the most challenging of the three. The story spans one hundred years, beginning in the late nineteenth century, and follows the origins, life and death of one of the secondary characters in Amaranth and Sweet Alyssum; Sabine. Titled Bella Donna, the story will explore how Sabine came to be the twisted creature readers will know from the first two stories or, if this is the first title read, it will introduce the saga from its earliest point.

There are always challenges when writing historical fiction, but I have not made even that part of it easy for myself; the principal location – the city of Lennox – will need to have its own believable history, even though no one really knows in which country it lies. Not only that, but the rules of the eidolon world are already set out in the first two books, even though they are set chronologically later than this story, so there are defined rules within which I need to work.

Then Sabine herself is a challenge; she is an unsympathetic character in the other books – dark, moody, callous and twisted – and to write her in the first person without alienating readers will take time and care. Knowing her as well as I do, I have that sympathy already, but can I get it across to my readers? Enough so that if they happen to read this book first, they will remain loyal to her through the other books? That is the goal I have set myself, and I accept it with relish. Why make it easy?

I am already fascinated with the research I have done so far, and it would be easy to get lost in that without writing a word. The history of our treatment of people suffering from neurological and psychological diseases is disturbing, particularly in regards to women. It is this very treatment, or mistreatment, in institutions around the world, still spoken about in whispers, that forms the backdrop for Bella Donna and Sabine.

The Next Big Thing

6th November, 2012 / Zoë / 0 Comments

I was recently tagged in a game of “blog tag” by author Nola Sarina, who writes paranormal, fantasy and science fiction. The idea is to answer a series of questions about my current work in progress, so here goes:

What is the working title of your book?

Sweet Alyssum; it is part of ‘The Eidolon Cycle‘ series.

What genre does your book fall under?

If I’m to use acknowledged literary genres, Sweet Alyssum and the series it is part of is New Adult Paranormal Fiction. However, as I’ve said before, this series is something of a genre-buster. I believe it has wider appeal as far as age is concerned, and the paranormal element, while important, is not the most important part; rather it is a backdrop for what are essentially stories about individual young women facing very human challenges and conflicts.

Give a brief synopsis of your story.

Nicky Bailey witnessed her parents kill each other when she was only seven years old. Now, eleven years later, the imaginary friends she invented to help her through her trauma have reemerged and are insisting they are real. And dead. Nicky has never believed herself to be normal, but now she thinks she’s having a complete mental breakdown. It’s only when she finds an old photograph of one of these eidolons, as they call themselves, in a history book – a man who died in the 1920s – she has no choice but to accept their story, and her own family’s history.

When the eidolons tell her that she and what’s left of her family are in danger of attack from a woman Nicky only truly remembers from her nightmares, she must decide whether to stand strong and face her deepest fears, or run. But she soon discovers that her childhood home, her mother’s last words, and an old book of fairy tales may hold the secret to her strange visions, and maybe the key to her family’s survival.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Originally, this was to be a sequel to Amaranth. But when I began to explore the life of Nicky Bailey, who was eight years old in Amaranth, there was so much more going on that had nothing to do with Eva Hamilton (Amaranth’s protagonist). So I decided to write it as a standalone story which would incorporate elements and characters from the eidolon world, but would serve to enrich the cycle, rather than be part of the same storyline.

Part of the story is based on plans I originally had for Amaranth, but had to leave out as the book took on a life of its own, and the rest is inspired by Nicky herself. She’s a wonderful character to write, and I hope she is as lovable in her own story as she was as a small child in Amaranth.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Many writers build imaginary Hollywood casts from their characters, but this has never been something I’ve been very willing to do. The characters are so clear in my mind, putting someone else’s face, voice or mannerisms to them is almost impossible. I suppose I could see Nicky as a young Sandra Bullock, and Bridget, her therapist, something like a cross between Diane Weist and Julie Andrews. As for Andrew… perhaps Chris Hemsworth? Though that might have more to do with Joss Whedon’s cheeky writing for him in The Avengers than anything.

Tag!

To continue with the game, I’m tagging Sammy H.K Smith, Paige Daniels, Chelsea Ranger, Gisèle Le Chevallier and Audrey Camp. Over to you, ladies!

Strange Tales from the Scriptorian Vaults

6th November, 2012 / Zoë / 0 Comments

I’ve been published! My story, Grace of Women, appears in Strange Tales from the Scriptorian Vaults, newly published on Kindle and other ebook readers by Kristell Ink. The book begins when newly appointed Sergeant Crystal Lewis is sent to the parallel world, Earth 267, where she and her team discover a London different to those their agency has investigated before. Steam powered ships fill the sky, metal creatures scurry through the streets, and The Great Library is now nothing more than a burnt-out shell. Crystal’s investigations discover the records of the Scriptorians: elite explorers, scientists and chroniclers, chosen for their wordsmith abilities, their tenacious belief in uncovering the truth, their passion for the bizarre and baffling.

The stories that follow are those Sergeant Lewis discovers, the stories of the Scriptorians themselves.

Strange Tales from the Scriptorian Vaults is available now on Kindle from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk and in epub and other formats from Smashwords. Print versions are soon to follow.

All profits from sales of the book go to First Story, a UK based charity which promotes literacy and creativity to young people by holding workshops, which are often run by renowned authors.

Sweet, complete

24th October, 2012 / Zoë / 0 Comments

Last week I finished the first draft of my second novel, Sweet Alyssum. It was quite an exciting achievement, not least because I had been aiming to get to this point by the end of October and actually reached by goal two weeks ahead of schedule. On my final day of writing, I wrote 9500 words earning a lot of self-congratulation, followed by a painful bout of tendonitis. But it was so satisfying to be done, especially since the series is now two thirds complete (unless I decide to go for that fourth book that’s been niggling around in my head lately, insisting that it should exist).

Sweet Alyssum is the second book I have written for my series The Eidolon Cycle, but it is not the second book in the series. Why? Because there is no second book. There is no first book and no last book. The Eidolon Cycle is a non-sequential series telling the individual stories of three different young women whose lives are inexorably intertwined, even though each book is set in a different time period.

My hope for the series is that readers will be able to start with whichever of the books appeals to them most. From that point, each additional book enriches the others until the reader eventually has the whole picture. Additionally, readers will get a different experience of the world and its characters depending on the order in which the books are read. Loyalties may arise for some readers where others are firmly opposed to certain characters, depending on how much they know about each of them before their story arcs are complete.

I will now let the draft rest for a couple of weeks before rolling up my sleeves and getting down to tightening and polishing it up before sending it to my agent. In the meantime I’m working on two short stories for the Oslo International Writers’ Group anthology, and I will then begin work on the third, and perhaps final, Eidolon book, aiming to have it complete by April 2013.

As a little good news aside, I won the Bookkus Water, Danger, Humour short story competition last week. My story was chosen as the winner by voters visiting the site, who scored the stories out of ten on a star-rating chart. Overall, my story, Rocks in his Socks, scored an average of 9 out of 10. I couldn’t be happier with the result, and am looking forward to seeing the result in print early in 2013.

Bookkus short story contest

30th September, 2012 / Zoë / 0 Comments

Update: I won! Thank you to everyone who voted. Rocks In His Socks came in first and will be published in Bookkus’s short story anthology in early 2013.

Playing both sides

28th September, 2012 / Zoë / 0 Comments

I read a great post on Rachelle Gardner’s blog by Aimee L. Salter about indie authors versus the traditionally published. Actually it is essentially about writers versus other writers, but it got me thinking.

Recently, two big things happened for me in the publishing industry: the first, as you may know, was that I signed with an agent who has just sent my first book out to publishers for consideration. The second is that I started up an indie publishing imprint, called Tenebris Books, under Holland House Books.

Aimee’s post reminded me of something I’ve thought about a few times since these events occurred – I’m playing both sides of the fence. Although I agree with Aimee in that I don’t think there should be such a divide between indie published-authors and traditionally published authors, I wonder whether those who see the divide as an Us vs Them situation would think my decision to start this imprint is somewhat hypocritical. After all, the authors I hope to publish would be on the opposite side of the writing fence to me, as I currently seek a legacy publisher for my own work.

However, I don’t think any author who seeks or has a traditional publishing contract has any right to put themselves above an indie published author. The choice to go independent is no longer a sign of a writer who has given up and is now slumming it. There are many legitimate reasons why someone might go independent, not least because they hope to make a career and a living out of writing, and independent royalties are often much higher than traditional ones. It might also be for for more individual attention from their editor, or for more say in content, cover art, marketing strategy or any number of decisions often taken out of the writer’s hands by a legacy publisher. And it’s a mistake to assume that independent publishers take on any old manuscript thrown their way; I know of books which have been rejected by independent publishers only to go on to success with agents and traditional publishers.

For my own part, what I am looking for with my imprint is something that may not find a home with a mainstream publishing house, and I may have the opportunity to give a home to books that might not find a place anywhere else. That doesn’t mean I’m planning to fill my catalogue with rejects, it means I’m seeking something that is not so much outside the box, but more that it has little bits of paper in many different boxes. I researched long and hard to see if I could find a name for what I’m looking for, and the closest thing I found was Weird Fiction, which hasn’t existed as an acknowledged literary genre since early last century. And why do I want this? Because I want to read it, and know others who do, too. All those people who watch and love films like Pan’s Labyrinth, Coraline, The Others, The Orphanage and love classic folk and fairy tales, they read books too, they just might not know where to find them. I want to help.

On the other side of the literary fence, which is simply a different shade of green, I’m hoping to land a publishing contract that will send my book(s) on a journey around the world. I’m starting out in the US, but Amaranth is actually not set in any specific country; the entire Eidolon Cycle is set in the fictitious city of Lennox, which could be anywhere that has big cities, a coastline, and where it snows in winter. I wanted to write something that any reader could feel close to, like it might be happening right where they live, or somewhere they once visited. Like Springfield on The Simpsons, only on an international scale. Part of why I wanted a traditional publisher is the international reach; they can get my book into hands that might not have found it without them. I won’t pretend there isn’t a little bit of validation involved, if I’m honest, but really the best and most important validation comes when people are reading and enjoying what you’ve written, no matter who got the book from writer to shelf.

Brought to you by…

27th August, 2012 / Zoë / 0 Comments

I am very pleased and excited to announce that Amaranth and I are now represented by Michelle Johnson of The Corvisiero Agency. Michelle is a published author, professional editor and is now working under Marisa Corvisiero who launched her own agency earlier this year. They’re a great team and I’m really looking forward to working with them.

The next part of the journey is likely to be slow and, at times, painful, but I’ve been so motivated by Michelle’s enthusiasm for and confidence in Amaranth’s potential, that I’m feeling positive about the road ahead. Of course it helps that I’m busy working on the next book in the series, Sweet Alyssum, and have mapped out the plot for the third and final book, Bella Donna.

As we progress, I will post news and developments here and on my Facebook Page.

For those authors who are on the hunt for an agent, you have my sympathy and good wishes; it’s not an easy process and there were times I almost gave up. Indeed, I had a plan to publish under a small, indie imprint by the end of the year if I found no success in the big leagues. However, persistence pays (as well as having a strong product to sell and a very strong query letter). By the time I signed with Michelle, I had submitted over 50 queries in both the UK and United States and received something like four requests for the full or partial manuscript.

It’s a tough time in the industry and you do need to have a thick skin to get through the process unscathed. I read that something like 3% of all queried books are taken up by agents, and still only half or less than those go on to get a publishing contract, then of that tiny percentage, many will sell less than 100 copies. Sobering statistics for the aspiring author. But, as most writers will tell you, very few people are in this line of work for money. Most of us do it for the joy of writing – and I’m definitely one of those.

Adaptation

30th July, 2012 / Zoë / 0 Comments

Talking to writer friends online about a year ago, I realised how much I was missing being able to talk to other writers face-to-face. When I met Brian, a fellow writer and Oslo resident on a writers’ website, I got to thinking how great it would be to have a local network, especially of international writers. So I decided to start the Oslo International Writers’ Group. It began as a Facebook group, but a few of us quickly agreed to have regular meetings to talk about writing and critique each other’s work.

We’ve now been meeting regularly for more than six months, each month focusing on one writer’s submitted piece, which has been of great value both to the writer and the critics. We’ve read some great work so far, as well as talked about our own work and experiences in relation to the discussed pieces.

Now we’re venturing into new territory by putting together an anthology of short stories, both fiction and non-fiction, with the theme “Adaptation”. The theme will be interpreted by each individual writer in their own way, and each story will be written to showcase the writer’s personal style.

Many of us are ex-pats, so the theme of Adaptation is close to our hearts. First drafts will be presented and discussed at our next meeting after the summer break, and I’m really looking forward to reading what each of our talented members comes up with.

Watch this space for more details and news of a release date!

The Oslo International Writers’ Group is open to any writer living in or around Oslo, Norway. You are welcome to join the Facebook group without attending the meetings – join here. We exist to discuss writing generally as well as our individual writing projects, to support and promote each other and to add a social element to the oftentimes lonely life of a professional (or amateur) writer.

Historical Sci-Fi – Steampunk

23rd July, 2012 / Zoë / 0 Comments

A brand new publishing imprint, Kristell Ink, recently approached me to write a short story for their upcoming Steampunk anthology called Scriptorian Tales. I’m delighted to be a part of this project, even though this is a step into new territory for me, genre-wise. Steampunk is a fascinating genre, blending historical fiction with the science that might have been. It’s not for the faint-hearted and there is quite a bit of research to be done to make the stories authentic. Nevertheless, I am excited about my idea and am well into writing my first draft.

Here’s the brief from Kristell Ink:

The loopers, agents employed by the quorum on Tellus Primus, travel to parallel worlds to gather intelligence and weapons for the impending Chromerican invasion.

Tellus, Gaia, Earth, they all seem the same; until one day, Looper Team C from the Beta site (the colonies of British occupied America) land on a planet they name Earth 267 – where technology has taken a slightly different turn. Giant steam-powered machines (airships, scuttle-creatures, hot air balloons) all work diligently alongside the traditionally fossil-fuelled contraptions (cars, lorries, trucks), and society remains firmly in the grasp of Victorian ideals and etiquette.

During the loopers’ undercover search of what they come to realise is London, they stumble upon a locked room, full of the weird, the wonderful and the frankly insane. Inside that room lays a huge book bound in some unknown material.

Inside that book are the strange tales recorded by the Scriptorians, who created the Great Library of London that was tragically lost in some long ago fire.

The Scriptorians were elite explorers, scientists and chroniclers, chosen for their wordsmith abilities, their tenacious belief in uncovering the truth, their passion for the bizarre and baffling. There is some evidence that these mysterious adventurers, fighters and writers also discovered the technology to loop and visit other parallel worlds.

These are those tales…

I will take on the role of honorary Scriptorian, and will pen one such tale. I’m very excited to be part of it, and can’t wait to read the stories that will feature alongside my own. I’ll post again when my draft is complete (it’s due by the end of August) and tell you more then.