IWSG: Writer Websites

Here we are at February and another post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Learn more about them at their website or Facebook page. 

Our hosts this month are Janet Alcorn, SE White, Victoria Marie Lees, and Cathrina Constantine.

Here's our question for the month: What turns you off when visiting an author's website/blog? Lack of information? A drone of negativity? Little mention of author's books? Constant mention of books?

My least favorite thing about visiting website isn't listed above or unique to author websites. It's a popup that appears as soon as I enter the website. I'm not going to sign up for a newsletter until I've had a chance to view the website and decide if I'm interested, so I'll always remove the popup. To be honest, I don't pay much attention to the newsletters I'm subscribed to. (I'm not good about sending out newsletters anyway; even when I do, they generate more unsubscribes than sales.) As a reader, I mainly want to know when the author's next book is coming out so I can preorder it if I'm interested.

Let's turn the question around: what motivates you to look at author websites in the first place? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

 

 

 

IWSG: Reviews and Kudos

 

It's time for the final Insecure Writer's Support Group post for 2023. You can learn more about the IWSG on their website or Facebook page.

Our hosts this month are C. Lee McKenzie, JQ Rose, Jennifer Lane, and Jacqui Murray.

Here's our question for December: Book reviews are for the readers. When you leave a book review, do you review for the Reader or the Author? Is it about what you liked and enjoyed about your reading experience, or do you critique the author?

As an author, it's hard for me to read as a pure reader, especially since I spent many years reviewing other people's work in an online writing workshop. This is part of the reason I seldom write reviews. I worry any comments might be perceived as critique and might invite retaliation by other authors. I mostly use Goodreads to track what books I read and occasionally to read other people's reviews.

I do make an exception for fan fiction. Fanfic writers write not for profit, but to share their passion with their community. Kudos and comments are a key motivator for fanfic authors, so I do feel obligated to leave them. Any comments I make are about the reading experience; comments aren't the place to critique the author.

Do you review other authors? If so, what's your reviewing approach? Feel free to share more in the comments.

An Author's Afterlife

My husband and I have been working on planning our estate. It's relatively easy to find a lawyer to prepare a will, a trust, and other documents; however, these types of documents don't discuss intellectual property like books and copyrights. Honestly, I'm more worried about what's going to happen to the stories I wrote as opposed to what happens to my book collection. Fortunately, there are some resources out there to help authors, particularly indie authors. In particular, when I searched for resources, I found one author referenced repeatedly: Michael L. Ronn. Here are some discussions with him on various websites:

 https://selfpublishingadvice.org/the-ultimate-guide-to-estate-planning-for-authors-part-1-the-author/

https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2022/08/22/estate-planning-for-authors/

https://authorsguild.org/resource/estate-planning-tips-for-authors/

I've also chosen to order two of his books dealing not just with an author settling her estate, but a guide for an author's heirs. I won't get these books until after this post goes live, so it'll be a while before I can determine how helpful they'll be. I have done some initial steps to deal with my intellectual property by making a list of my published works in a spreadsheet. I've also created folders to gather current editions of my self-published work and the associated cover art. 

Ultimately whatever happens to my stories after I die will depend on how much effort my heirs (which will most likely be my husband and/or son) are willing or able to put into maintaining my work. It's hard to tell if there will be any interest in my work in the long term. Nevertheless, if I'm going to spend hours writing, editing, and promoting my work, I would like to give it as much opportunity to connect with readers as possible.

Have you started thinking about your legacy as an author? If so, and if you have any advice, feel free to share it in the comments.

Patricia A. McKillip: 1948-2022

 It's always a little startling when you're mindlessly scrolling through Facebook and stumble on shocking news. That happened to me yesterday when I found out Patricia A. McKillip, one of my favorite authors, passed away last Friday. She was 74. 

I think the first McKillip book I read was The Sorceress and the Cygnet. I was drawn in by her wondrous prose, which raised every work of hers to the mythopoetic realm. The Cygnet duology remains one of my favorite works of hers, but I also particularly like The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. I met her at WisCon several years ago and have her autograph.You can see it, along with other books of hers, pictured below. 

Many authors can write fantasy, but there are few who can consistently infuse their work with a sense of wonder like McKillip did. She will be missed.

IWSG: A Beta Partner of Your Dreams

We made it to September and another post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Learn more about them on their website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed.

Our hosts this month are PJ Colando, J Lenni Dorner, Deniz Bevan, Kim Lajevardi, Natalie Aguirre, and Lousie-Fundy Blue.

 Here's our question for today: If you could choose one author, living or dead, to be your beta partner, who would it be and why?

I would have to pick my favorite author, Patricia A. McKillip. McKillip is a master of evoking a sense of wonder and magic. She excels at description (something I always feel I need to improve in my work), and she's so creative she has multiple stand-alone works. I would learn a lot more from her than she would from me.

I had the honor of meeting Patricia McKillip at WisCon several years ago (It must have been 2004, when she was a Guest of Honor), so I'll share my autograph from that event, even though it's not personalized.

Which author would you pick as a beta partner? Feel free to share your answer in the comments.

 

 

Authors to Support

For the last week of Pride Month, here are a few LGBTQIA authors to support. I know some of them; others I've met at conventions. Many of these were mentioned a few years ago in my SF Authors A-Z series. To keep this short, I'm just going to post Amazon links. (Sorry, Alex; I know you like Apple! I'm not sure if some of the indie authors have wide distribution.)


Aviva Rothschild--the author of two Beatle fanfiction novels: With Strings Attached and The Keys Stand Alone.

Lauren Jankowski--author of The Shape Shifter Chronicles.

Mary Anne Mohanraj--Her work ranges from science fiction to erotica to short story collections. She also ran a Kickstarter for a Sri Lankan recipe book, but that's not yet published.

Catherine Lundoff--I'm still waiting for a sequel to her book Silver Moon, but she also has three short story collections available.

April Daniels--I enjoyed her duology about a transgender teen superheroine.

Ellen Kushner--Best known for her stories of Riverside.

Delia Sherman--Ellen's wife and author of Through a Brazen Mirror and several other books.

Nicola Griffith and Kelly Eskridge are another married pair of authors.

Lyda Morehouse writes award-winning science fiction.

I haven't read Laurie J. Mark's Elemental Logic series, but I hear it's very good.


I'm sure there are many more authors I could list, but I have to end my post here. Are there more LBGTQIA authors you would recommend? If so, please share in the comments.

Maintaining Author Websites

Every time I publish a new work, I try to update my website. I maintain it myself. (I'm switching back and forth between this blog and my website as I write this post.) I'll feature my latest work with the cover, blurb, and buy link on the landing page and update any notes I've shared about work in progress. I'll also add the book or story to the appropriate page. If any of my links are broken, I fix them. Sometimes I also change the background or theme to freshen my website's appearance.

Authors, how often do you update your website, and what do you do to it? Readers, what are you looking for when you visit an author's website? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Who's the Real Parent of Science Fiction?

I normally don't read SF Signal, and I don't expect many of my blog readers do either. However, last week, a controversial post stirred up discussion among some of my Facebook friends and writer groups. This post, called "Staying on the Cutting Edge of Science Fiction," discussed only white male authors. (The author said later in the comments section that he didn't remember reading any women authors. I guess I should send him a free copy of SF Women A-Z.)

What especially caught my attention about this post was that the author credited Kepler with writing the first science fiction story, a piece called Somnium. (You can find it online here.) As a member of Broad Universe, I have always considered Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to be the first science fiction novel, and I do take pride in having her as an role model. (At one point, BU had buttons that had an image of Shelley with the slogan, "Who's Your Mama?") Obviously, however, Kepler predates her considerably. Does the history of science fiction matter today? Well, we can only view the past (and future) through the lens of our own present-day views. If that lens is distorted, we miss a lot of detail and voices that enrich history.

Kepler's work describes a trip to the moon (the traveler is carried by daemons) and what he imagines life on the moon to be like. The story is framed as a dream, perhaps to make it less challenging to authority.

As I read some more about the history of science fiction on Wikipedia (OK, it's a starting place, not the be-all and end-all of research), I came across another early forerunner of science fiction: The Blazing World, by Margaret Cavendish, who was not just a duchess, but a scientist and writer. Her work is from 1666, a few decades after Kepler's. Her work also describes a trip to another world (the lady traveler is taken from her home and travels by boat to the North Pole, where she crosses into a utopia and becomes its empress).

One odd thing about the history of science fiction is that the Wikipedia article lists a couple of 17th century works and several 19th century works, but only one from the 18th century, when the modern novel started to take shape. Was there less interest in scientific fiction during this period? If so, I'd like to know why.

I'm currently reading The Blazing World, despite the long, rambling sentences and changes in spelling over the centuries. I also plan to read Kepler's Sonmium so I can evaluate how well both books match what I think of as science fiction. Since I'm used to more recent works, my bias may still incline me toward favoring Shelley. Even if her work may not be the first to be based on science, the way she used contemporary scientific knowledge for a novel application is a step beyond what earlier works did. However, even if Shelley may not be the "mother of all science fiction," thanks to the article in SF Signal, I've rediscovered the grandmother of science fiction, and she seems like a very accomplished woman. Let's not forget any of the voices that helped shape this genre.

Guest Post: An Author's Path to Fame and Fortune

I hope you enjoy this guest post written by R. Mac. Wheeler.

I wrote my first short-story in fifth grade. Wrote poetry to girlfriends in high school. Started my first novel in 1992. I finished it around 2002. It was horrible. But I eventually split it into three separate novels, with enormous editing, which I will say humbly, created rich, independent stories.

I wrote fairly regularly from 2002 to 2007, penning another seven novels. I sent out thousands of query letters; never snatched an agent. Transitioned from fantasy to SF to contemporary fiction, while searching for "my voice."

Wrote a couple, what I call 'lite' urban fantasy (ghosts, the unexplained), followed by vampire and werewolf thrillers, and have been hooked on paranormal since. Started self-publishing in 2011.

I love to write. (Now have 26 novels in Amazon and B&N.) Don't so much like the marketing. Have never paid a dime for advertising. Took the advice to create a social network (very hard for me, since I'm a loner), do the blogging thing.

I first targeted the focus of my blogs on other writers, before I asked myself, why? They write, they don't buy (Well, you know what I mean). I had gotten into photography about the time I had that flash of insight. Since, my blog has been all about my photography. Mostly nature. I've branched out a bit.

Every weekend I trek to one of the many wonderful wilderness areas and parks we have here in Florida, and post my photographs in my "Sunday Safaris." But a rare day goes by I don't click on a dozen different things that catch my eye. So my daily "Snapshots" developed.

Every post is about fun, enjoying the beauty around us everywhere. I hope you'll visit my blog, follow me, enjoy the amazing things I discover every day that I used to overlook.

- Cheers, Mac

R. Mac Wheeler is an author of character-driven SF/F/Suspense and Paranormal novels filled with quirky sorts who lug a lot of baggage, in worlds that aren’t that far out. Here are some places you can follow him:

Author Page…Books on Amazon…Barnes&Noble…

Best Photos on flickr…Sunday Safaris…Snapshots

 

Beautiful Words or Wonderful Ideas?

I don't read many mainstream fiction writers regularly. One of the few I do is Sarah Addison Allen, and that's because she writes magical realism. If you're not familiar with the genre, it's similar to old-school urban fantasy (like de Lint), but with the fantasy or magical element made far more subtle. Books like these seek to elevate you above the ordinary with beautiful language. On the other hand, fantasy also wants to transport to a different world, but it takes a more literal approach. Depending on the subgenre, the style may be elevated for high fantasy or straightforward for modern urban fantasy. Patricia McKillip excels at combining a poetic writing style with a sense of wonder, and I would say Bujold does as well.

Do you have a preference for beautiful words or wonderful ideas? I'm sure many people will say they want both, but do you think one is more critical than the other? Which authors do you think do words, ideas, or both well?

Sci-Fi Month: My Top Ten SF Authors

As part of the Sci-Fi Month hosted by Rinn Reads, I agreed to list my Top Ten SF authors. Even if I limit my selection to the authors I have in my personal library, it's a tough task narrowing the group to ten, let alone ranking them. Nonetheless, I managed to settle on a list.


10. Kim Stanley Robinson--I chose him for his book The Years of Rice and Salt, an alternative history in which Europeans are almost all wiped out by plague, allowing other cultures to dominate history.

9. James Tiptree, Jr. (the pseudonym of Alice Sheldon)--Brightness Falls from the Air was one of those books that kept me up all night.

8. Sheri Tepper--Beauty also kept me up all night. Tepper was Guest of Honor at the first WisCon I attended. Her books are provocative, but they can be a bit strident.

7. John Varley--Steel Beach has been out for a while, but I enjoyed the read.

6. Neil Stephenson--While I can't get into anything post Cryptonomicon, I did like Snow Crash and The Diamond Age.

5.  Lyda Morehouse--I recommend her LINK Angel series, which begins with Archangel Protocol.

4. Anne McCaffrey--I probably have more of her books than I do of all the other authors listed above. While she's most famous for the Pern books, I also like The Tower and the Hive series.

3. Octavia Butler--I read her Xenogenesis trilogy earlier this year and own Wildseed, Parable of the Sower, and Mind of My Mind.

2. Connie Willis--My favorite book of her is To Say Nothing of the Dog, but I also liked Blackout/All Clear and her collection Impossible Things.

1.  Julie E. Czerneda--She develops great aliens. My favorite series of hers is the Species Imperative one, though I also liked the Web Shifters series. Now I have to go through Goodreads and see if I missed any books of hers....

I better stop here before I get into Honorable Mentions, but please feel free to name some of your favorite authors in the comments!

Guest Post:Facebook Fandom: Social Media, Authors and Readers By Gail Z. Martin

Gail Z. Martin will be returning to this blog in two weeks for a Blog Ring of Power interview. Today, please enjoy this special guest post from her on social media, authors, and readers.

Not so very long ago, if you wanted to let an author know how much you enjoyed his/her book, you had to write a letter and mail it to the author in care of his/her publisher, hoping that the author would eventually receive it.  You didn’t really expect to hear back, but if a postcard with a few scribbled lines did come your way, it was a rare treasure worthy of framing.

Back in the day, if you were lucky enough to live near a big city, authors might come to a book signing at a local store.  You’d only know about the signing if you read about it in the newspaper, saw a sign in the store window or happened to be on the store’s mailing list, but if you did find out in time, you might have a few seconds to talk to the author while he/she signed your book.  No one expected more, unless you were a regular at genre conventions, a pastime limited to a very small sub-set of die-hard fans in major cities.

How times have changed!  Today, every author who is at all serious about the craft has a web site, a Facebook page, a Twitter feed, an Amazon author page, a blog, often a podcast, and a presence on sites like Shelfari and Goodreads.  Authors also have email newsletters, video trailers on YouTube, downloadable excerpts and bonus material, even avatars in Second Life that hold virtual readings for an audience of virtual people.

As I’ve gotten ready for the launch of my new book, Ice Forged, I’ve taken nearly all of those components into consideration, making sure that I’m accessible to readers through a variety of channels, and assuring that readers can sample the book in as many places as possible.

What changed, besides technology?  The short answer is: everything. 

Digital publishing, print-on-demand and ebooks made it possible the democratization of publishing.  Social media meant that anyone with a computer and an Internet connection could have a global reach greater than many cable TV networks.  Amazon and other online booksellers made books available to a world-wide audience, and ebooks eliminated the costly issues of advance printings, warehousing and distribution.
The number of new books climbed to approximately one million (counting all forms of publishing) in 2010 by one estimate.  How do readers find the next book to read amid all the titles competing for their attention?

Relationships. 

Social media enables authors to create relationships with readers that last beyond a casual comment at a signing or a fan letter.  Watch a video, and you have an idea of the book that goes beyond the blurb on the back cover.  Read the reviews on Amazon or Goodreads, and you can get a sense for what a cross-section of readers think.  Participate in the forums and community of sites like Goodreads, and you build relationships with other readers while also getting to have a real, ongoing conversation with the authors who are active on those sites.  Read an author’s blog, and not only do you have continuity between book releases, but you also get some insight into the person who creates the works you enjoy, along with the way to comment.  Stay tuned to the author’s Facebook page, Twitter feed and web site, and you no longer have to depend on the book store or news media to keep you informed about new books and appearances.
Social media has transformed what were once two solitary and disconnected activities: writing and reading.  Sure, you could discuss books with your friends, or with a book club, but even the old-fashioned online bulletin boards don’t compare with the quantity of discussion opportunities available through communities like Goodreads, LibraryThing and ReddIt.  Authors who couldn’t afford to do a national tour once had few options for engaging with readers outside of their local area.  Now, authors Skype into book club meetings on the other side of the world to make a personal appearance, upload readings to iTunes and add video greetings to their web sites.

All this technology has also opened up new opportunities for writer and readers.  Some authors have experimented with crowd-sourcing books, where creative collaboration is part of the fun.  Other authors “test drive” ideas and scenes with their Facebook followers.  Certainly it’s become not only possible, but desirable for authors to post short stories, deleted scenes, bonus material and out-of-print books, as well as new books on a schedule that fits the needs of the author/reader, outside of the timetable of publishers.
Comments and forum boards mean that readers can get beyond the opinions of professional reviewers and see what other readers think, add their two-cents, and commune with like-minded others.  Authors can encourage each other, support each other’s launches, share resources, and collaborate, or just stay in touch between conventions.

Personally, I think it’s great—and I hope that you’ll find me and friend me so that we can begin a conversation that becomes a relationship!

Gail Z. Martin’s newest book, Ice Forged: Book One in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books), launched in January 2013.  Gail is also the author of the Chronicles of the Necromancer series (Solaris Books) and The Fallen Kings Cycle (Orbit Books).  For more about Gail’s books and short stories, visit www.AscendantKingdoms.com. Be sure to “like” Gail’s Winter Kingdoms Facebook page, follow her on Twitter @GailZMartin, and join her for frequent discussions on Goodreads.


Read an excerpt from Ice Forged here:

Making the Scene in 2013

I'm posting much more than I usually do this week, but that's because I have a lot to blog about. One of the most exciting topics is this: I've been invited to join a group blog called Scene 13. We're a group of about 25 authors with books coming out this year. Here's the list:

Michelle McLean
Lisa Amowitz
Ellen Booraem
 Lindsay Eland
Toni Kerr
 Kristal Shaff
Jeannie Ruesch
 Kelly Hashway
Jennifer Allis Provost
Kimberly Ann Miller
Lisa Gail Green
PJ Hoover
Rhys A. Jones
Sandra Ulbrich Almazan
Christine Johnson
Rachel Harris
Christine Fonseca
Sherry Ficklin
 Hilari Bell
Ednah Walters
Ali Cross
 Tyler Jolley
Heidi Ayarbe
Lena Goldfinch
Cole Gibsen
Leigh Hershkovich


I'll be posting there once a month, on the 15th. For this month's topic, you'll get to read about characters' New Year's resolutions, including Paul Harrison, the protagonist of Twinned Universes.

In addition to following the group blog, you can also find us on Facebook and Twitter. Please check us out and meet some other great authors!

Broad Spectrum: The 2012 Broad Universe Fiction Sampler

It's hard to believe we're almost halfway through November, isn't it? If you're participating in NaNoWriMo, how's it going?

As you may know, I'm a member of Broad Universe, an organization dedicated to promoting women writers of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. Recently Broad Universe put out an anthology of novel excerpts and short stories written by several of its members. It's called Broad Spectrum: The 2012 Broad Universe Fiction Sampler. It's available for free on Smashwords and for $0.99 on Amazon.  (My understanding is they do want to make it free on Amazon too, so please go ahead and report the price difference.) I don't know if it's on B&N's website or not.

The author list includes several authors who've been interviewed as part of the Blog Ring of Power, including Karina Fabian, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, and Sue Burke. Although I haven't read the sampler yet, I have read some of the books that were excerpted here, including Silver Moon by Catherine Lundoff and Threaded Through Time by Sarah Ettritch. I enjoyed both of these books, and I hope you'll enjoy the sampler and discover some new authors. Go check it out!

Blog Ring of Power Interview: Heidi Garrett

As a long-time member of the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror (more commonly known as OWW), I've developed relationships with several steady crit partners. I'm privileged and excited today to bring to you the first part of an interview with one of my OWW crit partners, Heidi Garrett. She recently published her first novel, Nandana's Mark, which she workshopped on OWW. (
Edited to add: Heidi is giving away a copy of her book! Go to the end of the post for the link.) Let's learn more about Heidi and her work:

How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing since I was about 13 years old.

When and why did you begin writing?

The first thing I wrote was poetry. I kept a lot of emotions bottled up inside of me. Writing was a natural, private, and comfortable form of self-expression. I was always drawn to free verse, and that’s how I wrote. Perfect rhyme has never appealed to me as a writer.

      Although I’d been telling stories all my life, I didn’t begin writing them until after I graduated from college with a business degree.

      Before completing my first novel, I also experimented with journaling, songwriting, and blogging. I do feel like writing in all these different styles has helped me to continue to grow as a writer. However, writing a novel requires specific craft. Learning that craft has been both challenging and rewarding. 

When did you first consider yourself a professional writer?

Recently. When I published my first book.

What books have most influenced your life?

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA had a tremendous impact on my young mind. The final book in the series, THE LAST BATTLE, had me thinking for years: What might the afterlife really be like? I found the idea that it might be what you believe it will be intriguing.

      This influence is clear in my debut novel NANDANA’S MARK. The metaphysics of the Realm of Faerie and the Mortal World are driven by mortal birth and death. The afterlife--and what happens when mortals die--is a key element in the world of NANDANA’S MARK and THE QUEEN OF THE REALM OF FAERIE series. Umbra, the antagonist, has formed in the Void from ‘psychic ash’ released upon mortal death. 

What genre do you write?

Fantasy.

Here's Heidi's interview schedule for the rest of the week:

Tuesday: Part Two, Dean

Wednesday: Part Three, Terri

Thursday: Part Four, Theresa

Friday: Part Five, Emily

Melia has always wanted to fly, away.

From her two sisters, who’ve found their place in the Enchanted World, despite being half-faeries with no wings.

From her mother, the full blooded faerie who practices black magic, and weeps every night when she thinks her daughters aren’t listening.

But mostly from her father, the mortal druid who broke his faerie troth, and lives to reunite with Melia’s mother. He believes incarnating Umbra—the one entity everyone in the Enchanted World fears—will give him the power to return to the Realm of Faerie.

But Melia comprehends the horror of Umbra far better than her father ever will.

Umbra seduces.
Umbra corrupts.
And Umbra destroys.

When her best friend—a pixie named Tatou—urges Melia to turn to the mysterious Illustrator for help, she gives Melia the courage to challenge her father.

As secrets are revealed and a family’s dark legacy spins out of control, Melia’s wish to fly comes true.

It’s just not quite what she expected.

Blog: www.heidigwrites.blogspot.com

Facebook page: Coming Soon

Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/Heidi_g

Twitter: www.twitter.com/heidgwrites

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nandanas-Queen-Realm-Faerie-ebook/dp/B008WVVIEQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1345786365&sr=1-1&keywords=nandana%27s+mark

Barnes and Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nandanas-mark-heidi-garrett/1112474235?ean=2940014866026

Apple: Search the iTunes store

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Nandanas-Mark/book-gvAcD6Y6V0a2OuRv7WAgzQ/page1.html?s=3C4-xbj280SyZzDPwwQ0Ig&r=1

Is your book in print, ebook or both?

Ebook.

 

Do you love faeries and pixies?

Do you love faerie tales, fantasy and magic?

Then enter to win a copy of the new adult novel NANDANA'S MARK, book one in the Queen of the Realm of Faerie series and the debut novel by author HEIDI GARRETT.

What do you have to do?

Just fill out the rafflecopter form below for your chance to win. The giveaway is open Oct. 8 through Oct. 12, and the winner will be announced on Monday, Oct. 15, via the participating blogs, Facebook and Twitter.

About the Book

Melia has always wanted to fly away.

From her two sisters, who’ve found their place in the Enchanted World, despite being half-faeries with no wings.

From her mother, the full blooded faerie who practices black magic, and weeps every night when she thinks her daughters aren’t listening.

But mostly from her father, the mortal druid who broke his faerie troth, and lives to reunite with Melia’s mother. He believes incarnating Umbra—the one entity everyone in the Enchanted World fears—will give him the power to return to the Realm of Faerie.

But Melia comprehends the horror of Umbra far better than her father ever will.

Umbra seduces.

Umbra corrupts.

And Umbra destroys.

When her best friend—a pixie named Tatou—urges Melia to turn to the mysterious Illustrator for help, she gives Melia the courage to challenge her father.

As secrets are revealed and a family’s dark legacy spins out of control, Melia’s wish to fly comes true.

It’s just not quite what she expected.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Few Random Notes From ChiCon 7

I've attended lots of panels, but sometimes it's hard to hear what the panelists are saying. More thoughts on panels later.

So far I've attended a panel moderated by Ben Bova. I've also seen Hugh Howey, Connie Willis, and Naomi Kitzmer (not sure of spelling) in passing. Gotta love a WorldCon.

I just bought a long-sleeved shirt since the hotel is over-air-conditioned. I also hear a pair of owl earrings calling me, so I'll have to go back to the dealer's room for them. I've tried looking for the third book in Lynn Viehl's StarDoc series but haven't found it yet. I did see the fourth book but didn't get it. I'll probably regret it later.

I haven't been to any parties (yeah, I'm a party pooper), but I did attend the masquerade last night. Pictures will come later, as will a more thorough writeup. Back to the con....

BRoP Interview with Rebecca Hamilton

If it's Monday, it must be time for another "progressive interview" with the Blog Ring of Power, or BRoP. Today's guest is Rebecca Hamilton, and she's going to share her writing life with us.

What is your writing process? Do you follow a regular routine? Do you use pen and paper or computer? Work at home or at the library/Starbucks, etc.

I work at home. I write at night and edit during the day. I am not always writing, but only because I don’t have the time, otherwise I would write every night.

How do you balance writing with other aspects of your life?

I actually have a schedule, which I suck at keeping because I’m not the schedule type (though I’m the type to wish I was!). But without a schedule, I’d never get almost everything done. (I will never get everything done.)

What has been the most surprising reaction to something you’ve written?

When people compare me to famous authors, tell me my book is their favorite, and most especially when people say that they love the romance in my book. I wonder if they read the same book I wrote or are just trying to be nice, even if they are sometimes complete strangers.

What is the strongest criticism you’ve ever received as an author? The best compliment?

This is hard to say. Everything is just opinion, so I take it all as that. I don’t agree with most compliments and I find that most criticism comes from a difference in tastes. I definitely get more criticism from other writers than readers themselves, and I know I’m guilty of the same. I have a theory about that….

Other than your family, what has been your greatest source of support?

RP KRAUL.

How do you deal with rejection and/or negative reviews?

Depends on what the review says. If it says something useful, I learn from it. If I don’t think it’s useful, I get a second opinion (in private) from someone I trust to be honest with me. I might be missing something that I SHOULD pay attention to. Or I might be worrying about something that I don’t need to. I think in the end we have to accept that our books won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. And that sometimes people will read and review our books when out books really weren’t there cup of tea to begin with. It’d be like me reviewing sci-fi. I have my right to an opinion, but likely my review wouldn’t be fair to the author or to potential readers because I’m nearly BOUND to NOT like the book. Which is why I just don’t pick those books up. :) But I know not everyone is me and sometimes someone is going to pick up my book also bound not to like it. So you accept that, take what you can from the review, and move on. Also, I’ve watched some other books on Amazon and noticed that when you move up the charts, you simply get detractors. You have to realize that while not all negative reviews are from jealous writers, some are, and that’s part of the game.

Sorry for the long reply, but I think this is one of those things us authors think a lot about … probably more than we should.



To learn more about Rebecca Hamilton and her latest work, The Forever Girl, check out these sites:

Blog: www.beccahamiltonbooks.com

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/RebeccaHamiltonFanPage

Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5295294.Rebecca_Hamilton

Twitter: @InkMuse

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Forever-Girl-ebook/dp/B00729GQ0A

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Forever-Girl-ebook/dp/B00729GQ0A

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/127100

iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-forever-girl/id498630479?mt=11

CreateSpace: https://www.createspace.com/3781330

Amazon Print: http://www.amazon.com/Forever-Girl-One-Sophias-Journey/dp/0985081821

Is your book in print, ebook or both? Both.

For the other parts of her interview, follow these links:

Currently Up--Em = About You

Tuesday -- Dean = The Creative Process

Wednesday -- Terri = About Your Current Work

Thursday -- Teresa = Words of Wisdom