Imagine 2200 Climate Fiction Awards

One of my writer friends, Susan Kaye Quinn, recently won third place in Imagine 2200's climate fiction contest. You can read her story, "Seven Sisters," here. It's about a group of women who run a tea farm. Here's the link to the entire collection. Congratulations to all the winners!

Guest Post: The Audio Book Process

When I offered to host other writers on this blog, Alex J Cavanaugh was one of the first to respond. Read below to learn how his popular books became audio books.

Over a year ago, my publisher announced they would be moving into audio books. During the next two years, the most successful titles would convert to audio. I had no idea what to expect. Even scarier – my Cassa trilogy would be first!

Now, I can only tell this story from the viewpoint of an author with a publisher taking care of the audio. Self-published authors will take on a lot more work than I did during the process. But many of the steps will be the same.

Once my first book began receiving auditions, my publisher passed along the best ones. This is where my input mattered. I was warned that the narrator wouldn’t read my book exactly the way I’d envisioned it. I was just to select the best of the lot, the one who not only got the voices right but captured the essence of the story. My favorite was Michael Burnette – and fortunately, he was also my publisher’s favorite.

The narrator selected, my next task was to make a list. Since I write science fiction, the first part was to list all of the potentially challenging words and their pronunciations. I had to search through my manuscript for names, places, and things that might cause confusion. I had to type out the word and its correct pronunciation. (To the best of my ability – Ernx is easy to pronounce but tough to describe how to pronounce.)

I was also asked to list all of the main characters and describe them. What did they sound like? What was their personality like? The narrator would take a lot from what I’d written, but it helped him to know up front a bit about the characters.

After that, the narrator went to work. I received a chapter now and then, just to be sure the narrator was on track with everything. (Michael Burnette narrated all four of my books and put together the Cassa boxed set for audio, and only once during that time did he pronounce something wrong that had to be changed.) There was one instance where he selected a different pronunciation than what I’d envisioned. But you know what? His was better. So I let it go.

And I think that’s the biggest thing with audio books. As authors, we have this vision in our head of how everything looks and sounds. But so do our readers. And every one of those visions is different. Our narrators will also see our story in a different light. We have to accept that. No matter what, as long as the narrator is good, it will be all right.

I’m fortunate that all four of my books – and one boxed set – are available as audio books now. It blows my mind to see them offered in three different formats – print, eBook, and audio. Plus hearing them, especially with all the layers of special effects my narrator added – well, I can hardly believe I wrote those stories. (The last two in particular. Really, I wrote that?)

Even more fun – my publisher has been running a giveaway the past couple months on Twitter for all of their audio books. (And I believe one of mine is the current giveaway!) https://twitter.com/DancingLemurPre

So, if you get the chance to get into audio books, I highly recommend it. Just keep an open mind and work with your narrator. Let that person bring your books to life!

Alex J. Cavanaugh

http://alexjcavanaugh.com/

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

http://twitter.com/AlexJCavanaugh    

Alex J. Cavanaugh has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and works in web design, graphics, and technical editing. A fan of all things science fiction, his interests range from books and movies to music and games. Online he is the Ninja Captain and founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. He’s the author of Amazon Best-Sellers CassaStar, CassaFire, CassaStorm, and Dragon of the Stars. The author lives in the Carolinas with his wife.

Audio Links:

Dragon of the Stars

Amazon

ITunes

Audible 

CassaStar

Amazon

ITunes

Audible 

CassaFire

Amazon

ITunes

Audible 

 

CassaStorm

Amazon

ITunes

Audible 

CassaSeries boxed set

Amazon

ITunes

Audible

Dancing Lemur Press LLC - http://www.dancinglemurpressllc.com/

Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off 2017

The Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off is an annual contest for self-published fantasy novels. (There's also an additional requirement that they be standalones or the first in a series.) Although this is its third year, I haven't heard of it until recently. Nearly three hundred books will be reviewed by ten bloggers. Each blogger picks a favorite from the thirty or so books he or she was assigned, then of the bloggers decide on an overall favorite. The prize for winning? Glory--and a selfie stick. In addition to the main contest, there's also a side cover contest.

I've entered Seasons' Beginnings into this contest, and it's been assigned to The Qwillery. There are a lot of books competing, including some I've already read. Odds are low for any individual book making it to the top ten, but this contest is still good for exposure. If you want to follow along, there's a Facebook group set up for the contest. If you'd like to help spread the word about it, Laura M. Hughes has prepared several banners for the contest, including the one I'm using.

Thanks to the organizers and bloggers for doing this, and best of luck to all!

Season Avatars News--Free Book and Cover Wars Contest

A couple pieces of news regarding my fantasy Season Avatars series:


1. I've decided to make Seasons' Beginnings free for August. My goals for doing so are hopefully to gain some more reviews for this book (since it's hard to promote a book without good reviews) and to pique interest in Scattered Seasons. Seasons' Beginnings is currently free on iTunes, Kobo, and now Barnes and Noble. Time to ask Amazon to match them.

2. Scattered Seasons is part of the August Cover Wars for Masquerade Crew. You can vote every day (see the link in the sidebar), and you have up to 25 votes. Obviously I'd appreciate it if you could support Maria Zannini's wonderful cover for Scattered Seasons; however, since you can vote for multiple covers, there are some other great ones there too. (I qualify for additional promotion by the Crew if I feature other covers in this post beside my own, which is why the competition is included here.)

May the Fourth/Force Be With You! (Guess My Costume)

Today the rest of the world catches up to our house, as we have Star Wars Day every day. (That's just how you roll when you have an almost-eight-year-old boy in the house.) Here are a few of the many ways we celebrate a galaxy far, far away....

Twinned Universes isn't the only combination of Shakespeare and science fiction out there. Both trilogies have been rewritten in iambic pentameter by Ian Doescher. (I've only read the Original Trilogy, so I don't know if they've managed to redeem some of the lines from the prequel. I'm waiting for Tragedy of the Sith's Revenge to come out to see if they do a box set of the prequel trilogy.) They make great audiobooks too.

Jeffrey Brown creates comic collections such as Darth Vader and Son, Vader's Little Princess, Good Night Darth Vader, and his latest, Darth Vader and Friends. I've been reading his Jedi Academy graphic novel series with Alex and am looking forward to the final book, which is coming out this summer.

Lego sets. Boy, do we have Lego sets. Here are a couple pictures from the collection, but this isn't complete. Alex has so many Lego Star Wars sets we're planning to turn the playroom into a display area. (Hey, we need some place to put the Death Star when he gets it.) We already have some shelving units picked out, but they're not in stock. We also plan to frame reprints of the movie posters from the Original Trilogy and hang them on the walls.

Here are Alex and me in our Jedi costumes. (My husband has one as well.) Alex will be enrolling in the Galactic Academy (costuming for kids) after his birthday. He could join now, but this way he'll be put in the right age group immediately. My husband would also like us to join the 501st Legion for Imperial Star Wars costumers--not that I have time or skill to make a costume. Eugene isn't sure yet if he would like to be an Imperial officer or a fighter pilot. I know what I would dress up as. It's a little like a Jedi, but you won't be able to see my face. Can you guess what it is? Keep in mind I'm a little short for a stormtrooper. Come back Wednesday when I reveal the answer. Better yet, leave your guess and e-mail in the comments. The first person to guess correctly wins an eBook from me!

More Details About the IWM Flash Fiction Contest

Here's the official announcement for the flash fiction contest I mentioned last week. I will be awarding a copy of either Twinned Universes or Seasons' Beginnings (winner's choice) to my favorite story.

Hey, writers! Want to challenge yourself and win a free book? Indie Writers Monthly is holding a flash fiction contest!

We're going to put out a special issue of horror stories and horror writing just in time for Halloween, and we need YOU to help us, because we do not have enough horror stories to fill out a whole special issue.

So we want your 200-word-or-less horror stories submitted to us by September 30, 2014.  You can submit them via attachment or in the body of the email to litaplaceforstories[at]gmail.com.  Any subject, so long as it's scary -- try to avoid excessive gore or sex, if you can.

The top five stories will each get a free ebook from one of the Indie Writer Monthly authors!  That's a $3.99 value, which is like... how much is that per word?  Where is my calculator?  Somebody get Stephen Hawking on the phone!

Indie Writers Monthly Flash Fiction Challenge

October will arrive before we know it, and with it, the next issue of Indie Writers Monthly. The theme will be horror, and we are thinking of running a flash fiction challenge. Unfortunately, the important details, such as maximum word length and deadline, haven't been decided yet. I'm mentioning it now to let you start thinking about the story. I'll post an update as soon as I have one. The prize will be one (or more; again, this hasn't been determined) of our stories.

Speaking of stories, today's the last day to get Twinned Universes for $0.99. Don't miss the opportunity! You can get it here.

IndieReCon Contests

Have you ever wished there was a convention specifically for indie writers? Apparently, there is one. It's called IndieReCon LIVE!, and it's taking place October 10--October 11 in Sandy, Utah. Even if you can't make it there in person, you can still participate in their contests. Click here for the rules and how to enter for the chance to earn a Howey. (After Hugh Howey, of course. They chose a great person to name their awards after, didn't they?) Most of the contests are free to enter, but some do require a small fee ($15 max) to enter.

I'm personally not sure yet if this is something I want to enter. The rules do allow books published in 2013 to be nominated, so I could enter Twinned Universes. Perhaps if the categories were broken down by genre instead of reader age group, I'd feel that this was a better fit for me. (To me, this con seemed skewed toward YA.) Still, some publicity might come out of it, and you can nominate other authors' works for some of the categories. The deadline for the Total Package contest is June 30th; for all the rest, it's July 31st. I still have time to mull this over.

Does this sound like something that would interest you? Why or why not? Please feel free to comment; it should be much easier to do so now.

Submission Call--First Annual Indie-pendence Day Anthology

This is a repost from Indie Writers Monthly.

Announcing the first ever 

COMING ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, it's the first-ever anthology of stories by indie writers to bear the INDIE WRITERS MONTHLY stamp of approval*, and we want YOU to be a part of it.

The anthology is going to be a collection of stories about Time Travel, and here is HOW YOU CAN GET IN ON THIS:

A. Have a story about time travel, or write one.

2.  Submit that story to us, by June 15, 2014.  (send submissions to litaplaceforstories[at]gmail.com** and label them "IWM TIME TRAVEL ANNUAL" or something like that.)

THIS IS IMPORTANT: paste the story directly into the of the email.  

I'M NOT OPENING ATTACHMENTS.  

III. Make sure you have the rights to the stories and it'd be nice if it hadn't been published somewhere else.  

Word limits? Who do you think you're talking to, here? Because there'll only be a few weeks to read them, shoot for somewhere between 1 and 1,000 words, but if you go longer, by all means, go longer.

Still reading?  Good.  Here is WHY you want to get in on this!

8(a)2.: The stories we like the best will get put into the anthology and you'll be a published writer! 

and

C: There are prizes! Specifically, the story picked as best by the IWM gang will win a $15 Amazon Gift Card and the Runner Up will get a $10 Amazon Gift Card. 

So there you have it!  I look forward to getting those stories.

PSST? Want to read some of my own time-travel stories? Check out 

"the natural order of things is largely determined by what direction we are headed and how fast," or 

HEADLINE: “Time Travel Is Only Possible In One Direction, Scientists Say.” Subhead: “Balderdash,” Tim says.

And here's a link to five 250-word time travel stories (and an essay on another one) 

Vote for the Lady of the Lab!

I'm participating in M. Pax's Realms Faire this week in the Joust. Today through Friday, please cheer me on over at her blog. Up for grabs for me isn't just promotion, but also chocolate--and we all know how important chocolate is! There are daily prizes available for commenters on M. Pax's blog. You can read an excerpt from Twinned Universes on Thursday, but please cheer me on all week long by using one or more of the following words/phrases:

Lady of the Lab
Lyon's Legacy
Tosspot (drunkard)

Here are a couple of sample cheers:

Lady of the Lab, toss the tosspot over the wall!

Long live the Lady of the Lab!

I love Lyon's Legacy!

Of course, feel free to come up with your own cheer. To sweeten the deal, I'll collect the names of everyone who cheers for me during the week and select one at random to receive a free eBook of one of my stories. The winner will be announced this weekend. Thanks for your support, everyone!

Trivia Contest Reminder and Help Fix Thereafter!

Just a reminder that only one question has been answered in my trivia contest from Monday, so four audiobooks of Twinned Universes are still up for grabs. (Alex, you already have your copy. ;) ) You can find the questions here.

If you follow the Blog Ring of Power interviews across the five host blogs, then you've already met one of our hosts, Terri Bruce. She's currently involved with a legal dispute with her publisher over the numerous errors they introduced into her second book. You can learn more about the details here. If you're inclined to help her, please consider helping to defray her legal costs here. I'm sure she'd appreciate it!

Hope your week is going well. Please come back Friday for my weekly science update!

Guest Post--My Take on Magic Systens, by Melissa McPhail

Please enjoy this guest post by Melissa McPhail, author of the spellbinding epic fantasy, Cephrael's Hand. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including a Kindle Fire, $450 in Amazon gift cards, and 5 autographed copies of the book.  

My Take on Magic Systems

A guest post by Melissa McPhail

  One of the most enticing aspects of writing fantasy is developing a magic system. The author’s magic system is inextricably woven into their world and contributes greatly to the reader’s vision of the world overall. The way a system is created either makes the world seem real or unreal, depending on how well the author has grounded the system with laws and limitations. For example, scientists in our own world have defined laws—inertia, gravity, the periodic table—that describe the physical limitations and properties of energy. We don’t expect a stone to rise upwards when we throw it, but we might believe it could float if it were somehow made of helium. Likewise in a fantasy world, it’s important to codify the system with laws and rules (and to stick to those rules once established), to set boundaries for what the magician can and cannot do with magic, and to establish consequences for and ramifications of magical misuse.

This all shows that magic systems require significant thought and research on the author’s part to develop realistically. Yet for all of this, the manner in which one might design and describe the magical process is potentially limitless—there are as many magical systems as there are fantasy novels, and equally as many readers eager to pontificate on their pros and cons and/or to organize the systems into categories and types. The one thing most magic systems have in common, however, is that they all handle energy. Whether that energy is spiritual, omnipotent, corporeal, or derives from physical objects or living things, the working of arcane arts surrounds the manipulation of energy.

I designed the magic in Cephrael’s Hand based on scientists’ existing understanding of electrical fields. The process of thought has been scientifically proven to produce energy, and human bodies are known to generate electrical fields. For the magic in Alorin, I proposed that all living things produce a metaphysical energy which is formless but which flows across the world in natural currents. This energy is called elae. This is the energy a magician of Alorin uses to produce arcane workings. How he does this is the creative part.

In Cephrael’s Hand, all things are formed of patterns. A single leaf derives its pattern from the larger pattern of its motherly oak. The snowflake harbors the pattern of a storm. Rivers form patterns that mimic the pattern of the world, and a living man harbors within him the pattern of his immortality. These inherent patterns collect and compel energy (elae) toward a certain purpose—growth, action, states of change. To compel energy, a magician of Alorin (called a wielder) must learn to first identify and then usurp control over the pattern of a thing in order to command it. This is a laborious process requiring a lifetime of study.

Unlike wielders, the Adepts in Cephrael’s Hand are born with the ability to manipulate certain patterns. Adept Healers can see creation patterns (life patterns) and mend them where they’ve become frayed. Truthreaders can hear certain thoughts and read minds to see what a man saw versus what he says he saw. Nodefinders have the ability to move long distances with a single step by traveling on the pattern of the world. And Wildlings tap into a variant aspect of the lifeforce called elae to shapeshift or even skip through time, among other intriguing talents. The last type of Adept can sense the patterns of nonliving things—stone, air, water, fire, etc.—and use those patterns to compel the elements themselves.

Adepts are limited by nature of their birth—they can only inherently work one category of patterns. They are limited by their training, their inherent intelligence, talent and ability. And of course, like us in real life, they are limited by their own vision of their capabilities. Above all of these limitations, we find Adepts limited by “Balance.” The concept of Balance draws from my studies of Eastern philosophies. It is the high governing force, the yen and yang, karma, cause and effect, fate. It’s as esoteric and arcane as these concepts imply. How far can the Balance be pushed in one direction without lashing back at the wielder? Which actions stretch it and which ones defy it? Balance is a complex and complicated subject—as difficult to define as our own world’s myriad competing religions. The only real agreement on the subject of Balance is that all magical workings stretch the Balance to some degree.

Understanding how far they can be stretched without snapping is central to survival in the arcane arts. The concept of Balance provides, well, the “balancing” force to all magical workings in Cephrael’s Hand and is central to its plot. You see, the entire realm of Alorin is out of Balance and magic is dying—and the Adept race dies along with it.  

As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Cephrael's Hand eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include a Kindle Fire, $450 in Amazon gift cards, and 5 autographed copies of the book. All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment--easy to enter; easy to win! To win the prizes:

1. Purchase your copy of Cephrael's Hand for just 99 cents
2. Enter the Rafflecopter contest on Novel Publicity
3. Visit today’s featured social media event

About Cephrael's Hand: Two brothers find themselves on opposite sides of a great battle, neither knowing the other is alive... A traitor works in exile while preparing for the disaster only he knows is coming... A race of beings from beyond the fringe of the universe begin unmaking the world from within... And all across the land, magic is dying. Cephrael's Hand is the first novel in the award-winning series A Pattern of Shadow and Light. Get it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. About the author: Melissa McPhail is a classically trained pianist, violinist and composer, a Vinyasa yoga instructor, and an avid Fantasy reader. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, their twin daughters and two very large cats. Visit Melissa on her website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.

Blog Ring of Power Interview--Suzanne Lilly

I hope you enjoyed your weekend, everyone! I have a full week planned here on the blog. In addition to today's Blog Ring of Power Interview with Suzanne Lilly, I have a bonus interview  tomorrow with a character from Jaleta Clegg's new book, Priestess of the Eggstone. I have a special guest post over on Tossing it Out  on Wednesday--with luck, I may be able to make an exciting announcement here to tie in with that post. Finally, ChiCon starts on Thursday, so I may pre-empt my Science of the Week post on Friday to report on the convention.

Let's get started with Suzanne's interview. This is Part Four; you can check out the previous parts on Terri's, Theresa's, and Emily's blogs. The interview will wrap up tomorrow with Dean. Suzanne will be giving away a pair of designer sunglasses to one random commenter during her blog tour, so be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win! In addition, 10% of the royalties from the sale of this book will go to an animal rescue organization.

About Your Current Work

Tell us about your new book and when it is out? Where can people purchase it?

Shades of the Future is my debut novel. It’s available now in print and digital from retailers all over the Internet. It’s in Kindle, Nook, ePub, and other digital formats.

What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

My favorite chapter is the one in which Mariah and her friends go to the summer festival in Honey Creek. It’s very emotional and it even surprised me as I wrote it.

Did you learn anything from writing this book and what was it?

Never give up. No matter how bleak things look, keep on trying.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in this book?

I think there are always things a writer can change. The key is knowing when to stop making changes and just say it’s done.

Tell us about your book’s cover – where did the design come from and what was the design process like?

Kim Jacobs designed the cover, and I think she did a marvelous job. I looked online for pictures until I found a model that fit my vision of Mariah Davis, and the Honey Creek atmosphere. Kim pulled it altogether and made it rock with her own personal talent and style.

 
What would you give to see the future? Would you make your dreams come true? Would you change the things you didn’t like?
Mariah Davis loves animals, running, and her hunk of a boyfriend, Kevin Creamer. Everything looks bright for her until the day she finds a pair of sunglasses that allow her to see the future.
When she glimpses a disaster looming, she tries to avoid it but fails. She has a car accident that lands her in a wheelchair, smashing her hopes for a running scholarship to the veterinary program at Ohio State University. She pushes Kevin away, thinking he’ll want to end their relationship now that she can’t walk.
Will she ever learn to trust and love again? She could search for an answer in the sunglasses. But she’s afraid what they reveal might destroy her.

Author Bio:
Suzanne Lilly writes lighthearted young adult stories with a splash of suspense, a flash of the unexplained, a dash of romance, and always a happy ending. Her short stories have appeared in numerous places online and in print, and she has placed and received honorable mentions in writing contests. Her debut novel is Shades of the Future, (July 2012, Turquoise Morning Press) followed by Untellable, (February 2013.) She lives in Northern California where she reads, writes, cooks, swims, and teaches elementary students.

Website: http://www.suzannelilly.com
Blog: http://www.teacherwriter.net
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/SuzanneLillyauthor
Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5258804.Suzanne_Lilly
Twitter: @suzannelilly http://twitter.com/suzannelilly
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Suzanne-Lilly/e/B006HY79IY
Google +: https://plus.google.com/u/0/115758832631616324955/posts

What format is your book(s) available in (print, e-book, audio book, etc.)
It’s available in print and digital formats.

I Picked a Number....

between 1 and 15, and I came up with 1. Guess it's not the loneliest number after all. Congratulations, Marsha A. Moore! Your copy of "The Book of Beasts" has been sent to you; please let me know if you don't receive it.

Indie Tag Party--and a Giveaway!

Thanks to Romancing the Blog for hosting this blogfest! It's a chance for indie authors like myself to get their books tagged to make them rank higher on Amazon searches.

I currently have two works up on Amazon:


Lyon's Legacy
(please ignore all romance tags for this one)

The Book of Beasts
(please agree with all tags)

If you wish to just tag one of my stories, that's fine. However, if you do tag both, please come back here and leave a comment with your name and e-mail address. I'll draw a random name on Monday for a free Kindle copy of "The Book of Beasts." (Don't worry; I'm not planning to spam you. I figure if I have the e-mail address when I pick the winner, I can award the prize right away instead of waiting to hear back from him or her.)

Please let me know if you have any questions, and enjoy your weekend!