Fairchild Giveaway Winner

Rafflecopter randomly selected a winner from among the entries, and the winner is....

 

Desiree!

Don't forget to check out Jaima Fixsen's great new book, Fairchild, and thanks for participating in my giveaway.

When You Believe

There is something very magical about stumbling upon a gem of a book.  There is something unforgettable about the chance to be involved in the evolution of one.

One of my best friends, and critique partner, Jaima Fixsen, just published her first book. 

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for this book.  Not waiting for the chance to read it (I've already had that unique privilege).  No - waiting for the chance to share it!  Because, when you believe in something, you want to stand and shout it from the roof tops.  You want to pepper the streets with pamphlets and flyers.  You want to tell every stranger you meet on the street.

However, that's not exactly standard author behavior, so I shall censure myself, subdue my excitement, and pass on the good news with more socially acceptable composure.

Here it is folks, now available on Amazon:

Fairchild

By Jaima Fixsen

Truth or dare?

Good English families all have a house in the country with a deer park, a trout stream, and an army of gardeners. They should have a son and if it can be managed, he should be handsome. Cleverness isn’t important. Daughters in limited quantities are fine so long as they are pretty. Bastards are inconvenient and best ignored. It's not a big problem, unless you are one.

Unfortunately, Sophy is.

Sick of her outcast role, she escapes her father’s house, only to fall from her horse during a spring storm. Injured, soaked, and shivering, she stumbles to a stranger’s door—Tom, a blunt edged merchant from a family of vulgar upstarts. Mistaking Sophy for the genuine article, he takes her in.
Sophy can’t resist twisting the truth. Soon she’s caught in her own snare—and it might just be a noose.

 

 

If you love a good, clean, funny, endearing, regency romance, go check out this book.  If you are a Jane Austen, Eva Ibbotson, Shannon Hale or Julianne Donaldson fan, go check out this book.  Jaima has the first three chapters on her blog, and you can read them on Amazon.  I've also invited Jaima to do a guest post later this week.

But I'm not finished yet.  Because when you believe in something, you want to give your all to help it take flight.

My Own Little Corner

 

January can be tough.  The cold, the snow, the boxing up of Christmas.  The New Years resolutions made, then shortly thereafter abandoned.  So what better way to ring in the new year, than new books?  I've been hoarding Chapters gift certificates (the Canadian version of B&N) for a year now, and combined with the one I received in my stocking this Christmas, I hit the jackpot (literally.  I paid $5 total for all of these books!):

 

There's Donna Hay's cookbook: Off the Shelf (making the most of the staples in your pantry, including some very useful guides to things such as different types of pastas, rice, oils, herbs, etc.).  Also Character & Viewpoint, by Orson Scott Card (which I daresay may become this year's editing bible - Yes, it's that good!).  Also Ella Minnow Pea, by Mark Dunn (a novel in letters that's and clever and punny as its title).  And I couldn't not buy the two Alan Bradley books for sale (he's quickly crawling up my favorite author list), both The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, and I Am Half-Sick of Shadows.  As a dedicated dystopian writer and avid dystopian reader, I figured I should stop waiting for the 273 individuals ahead of me on the library wait list and just buy the dang Veronica Roth books (Divergent and Insurgent).  Plus, I love them.  And, with editing on both my mind and writing agenda, it was time for my own copy of The Elements of Style, by Strunk & White.  Lastly, a Kate Morton book that was on sale for $5 (The House At Riverton).  If you haven't read The Forgotten Garden, you should.  It's good.

No sooner had I lovely un-swaddled them from their careful packaging, and nostalgically cracked them open to catch a whiff of that new book smell, then I lovingly cradled them on 'the shelf'.  This my friends, is my bookshelf.  As you can see, it is dangerously close to overflowing.  Hallelujah for eBooks!  And as I stood there gazing in wonder at 'the shelf', that song from the Cinderella musicale popped into my head.  Do you know which one I mean?  And seized in a fit of excitement, I grabbed my camera.  I wanted to share the moment.  I wanted to share... "my own little corner, with my own littler chair, where I can be whatever I want to be..."

My angels (Willow Tree ornaments are my favorite, but I'm a sucker for most angels.)

A little reminder.  Both be inspired by the high quality fiction that surrounds me (Yes, I own Twilight.  Yes, I enjoyed it.  What can I say?), and act to inspire others with the stories that I weave.  That's the dream, at least.

And speaking of dreams, a little reminder, that for all the sweat and tears and heartache and agony, once in a while, they do come true.

Do you have your own little corner?

Edenbrooke...Best Romantic Novel of the Year?

I know this blog appears to have been on Hiatus.  I am sad to admit I've let it slide these past few months, but happy to share that I've not been idle with my writing.  I spent a good part of my free time in the summer working on short story fiction that I entered into a couple of contests.  I've since been working on editing my first first draft (that's still so exciting to say!) and plotting, outlining and then plodding through NaNoWriMo 2012.  I'm at 40,000 words with less than a week to go.  Wish me luck!

As for the hiatus - part of it was busy life circumstances, and part was a need for a break to think about the value/vision/purpose of this blog.  Or rather re-think it.  I think I have an idea of how I want to shape this space as my author platform, but I'll go into more detail in the new year, so stay tuned...

In the meantime, I found another book I can adore, and have shelved with the best books of 2012.  Coincidentally, it is currently a semi-finalist with the 2012 Romantic Novel of the Year Awards on Goodreads.  If you read it, and loved it, go vote!

What is this books I speak of?

I was picking up my daughter from school a few weeks ago when a friend of mine approached. She handed me a copy of a book called "Edenbrooke" and said, "You have to read this. I just read it twice in two days. I've never done that before." I've always trusted the literary tastes of my friend, and so I dove right in.

Edenbrooke was written by the delightful new author Julianne Donaldson, and published by Shadow Mountain. The blurb for the story (as taken from the back of the book):

Marianne Daventry will do anything to escape the boredom of Bath and the amorous attentions of an unwanted suitor. So when an invitation arrives from her twin sister, Cecily, to join her at a sprawling country estate, she jumps at the chance. Thinking she’ll be able to relax and enjoy her beloved English countryside while her sister snags the handsome heir of Edenbrooke, Marianne finds that even the best laid plans can go awry.

From a terrifying run-in with a highwayman to a seemingly harmless flirtation, Marianne finds herself embroiled in an unexpected adventure filled with enough romance and intrigue to keep her mind racing. Will Marianne be able to rein in her traitorous heart, or will a mysterious stranger sweep her off her feet? Fate had something other than a relaxing summer in mind when it sent Marianne to Edenbrooke.

I recently contacted Julianne and asked her to answer a few questions about her own unique writing and publication journey. I am so grateful that she agreed to answer, and here is what she had to say:

1. When and why did you start writing?

I started writing when I was young because I love to tell stories. As an adult, I would write stories here and there but never seriously thought about being published until I started having children. As a stay-at-home mom, I found within myself a yearning to create something outside of my home and family--something that belonged just to me--something that wouldn't come undone overnight (like the dishes, the laundry, the cooking, the diapering, etc.). I started small, with poems and ideas for picture books. Then I started dreaming bigger and bigger until I had written Edenbrooke.

2. How did you get the idea for Edenbrooke?

Edenbrooke didn't come to me as an "idea." I don't think it's an "idea" type of book. If I try to describe it, I usually end up saying inane things like "It's about a girl who lives in England in the 1800's who grows up and falls in love at a grand estate." No big ideas there. So writing Edenbrooke was not really writing around an idea, but taking a journey of emotional exploration. I escaped into a finer world than my own, where no children existed and money was not an issue. And in my escape, I tried to recreate what it felt like to grow up and fall in love.

3. What was the hardest part about writing your novel?

The hardest part about writing my novel was finishing it. I spent hundreds of pages writing threads of plot that I didn't know how to tie together. Huge gaps existed in the middle of my story that I didn't know how to fill. And the perfectionist side of me rebelled every time I attempted to call the story "done." The best thing I did for myself as a writer was attend a writer's conference, where I learned how to overcome those trouble spots. And sheer determination did the rest.

4. What future plans do you have for your writing?

I loved writing Edenbrooke, but after I finished it I vowed I would never write another historical fiction. It is so limiting to write in that genre, and I think it takes a lot of patience and attention to detail to do it well. Yet...here I am, writing another historical fiction. My fans convinced me to give it another go, and I am currently working on Blackmoore, which is set in England in the same time period as Edenbrooke, but features a whole new cast of characters and problems. As I have been writing Blackmoore, I have sworn up and down that I will never write another historical--yet, I am obviously a person who can be persuaded to change her mind. So I guess I will take things one book at a time. I do know that there are a lot of stories I want to tell. And I have a real science fiction streak in me that will probably make itself heard sooner rather than later.

I invite you to go check out her blog. If you haven't heard of Edenbrooke, I urge you to go get a copy. I loved it so much, I bought my own, and you can bet I'll be reading it again.

Great Writers....Read?

You've probably heard this sage advice before. In fact, it's old enough and prevalent enough, that when you hear it, or see it, you roll your eyes and wonder, "How can anyone think that way?"

What am I talking about? The idea that some people propagate that reading is bad for your writing.

 

It doesn't make much sense, but many people that call themselves readers actually think this way. In fact, a family member told me recently about a Facebook post they'd come across - a friend looking for good book recommendations - where someone had commented along the lines of

"I'm a writer, therefore I don't read much."

Seems shocking to me, but I've seen it before. It's the equivalent of saying:

I'm a lifeguard, but I don't like to swim.

I'm a teacher, but I don't like kids.

I'm a police officer, but I don't like guns.

It's not that you still couldn't do these things with those attitudes. It's that you can't do them effectively.

It's not that you can't be a writer if you don't read. It's that you can't be an great writer if you don't read.

Why do some writers feel that reading is bad for their craft? Truthfully, I don't entirely understand their side of the argument, but I think it has something to do with some of the following points:

1. They think reading similar books will kill their original ideas

2. They think reading requires too much time, which they could spend writing

3. They think there isn't enough quality literature out there that could stand up to their own skills (I know that sounds snobbish, but someone actually told me that once!).

What I'm not trying to do is be critical of those that hold this opinion. However, I believe people, in general, don't read enough these days, and as writers, who thrive on readers actually reading our work, we need to work to change that.

So here is why great writers read:

1. To set an example

2. To support other authors - we are all in this together!

3. To learn from the best and the worst (yes, you can gain something by reading a book that is poorly written)

4. To engage our minds in healthy, creative escapism, essential to our growth and positive well being.

5. To learn more about our world, and beyond.

6. To strengthen and refine our ideas, and plotting, and characters .... this list could go on.

7. Because reading books is what convinced us we wanted to write them in the first place.

This is in no way an exhaustive list. I'd love to hear what you think: why should great writers read?

LMNOP

Well, I felt like posting today partly because of a couple of fun books I found, and partly because it's the 29th of February, and how do you not blog on a day that exists once every four years? It sounds like something out of a fairy tale, or a sci-fi thriller, or maybe a mixture of both...

Anyway, at the library last week we (the kidlets and I) stumbled upon a book by an author I mentioned previously named Tom Lichtenheld. The book was called E-mergency!, and since I love everything else he writes, I picked it up and added it to my bag. And I wasn't disappointed. the gist of the story is that all the letters live together in a house, but one day E gets hurt, and by the doctors orders, nobody is allowed to use the letter E until she has a chance to recover, and O has to step in to pick up the slack. Makes for some pretty funny spelling. My kids can't get enough of it, and the illustrations add a whole new dimension to the story. I laughed out loud when I closed the book the first time, and saw the caption, "Look, it's and E-book!".

This book got me thinking to a novel a read a few years ago. One I picked up on a whim and absolutely fell for. It's a novel in letters, and it basically follows the same type of concept. Ella Minnow Pea is a young lady living on the island of Nollop in the Atlantic ocean, named after the man who 'supposedly' penned the famous pangram:

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Hint: all the letters of the alphabet are used at least once. Anyway, the book is essentially a series of letters written between Ella and her friends and family discussing the political and social issues that arise when letters start falling off the monument established for Nollop, causing the island's high council, by divine will, to banish them from the alphabet.

At first, Ella and friends, find other ways of saying words with banned letters (my favorite is when the council 'renames' the days of the week. But as the alphabet continues to diminish, the text, and the task, become harder, and funnier.

This book is definitely not within my genre, but I considered it so clever and unique, it's moved up the list to one of my all time faves. Check it out, if you need a good read!

And Happy Leap Day!

Teach Them To Read, Tip #1

Wow - so it's been way too long since my last post - I apologize. And I plan to make up for it with an over abundance of dashes in the following 'play catch-up' post. We've been dealing with some health issues - not to be alarmed, I'm talking standard winter cold and flu like symptoms - nothing serious. However, trying to keep on top of life is hard enough when you're healthy. Feeling slightly under the weather trumps blogging, and therefore, my somewhat lengthy silence. However, as promised, lots of dashes.

I promised to give some tips on teaching children how to read, or more importantly, how to love reading. I want to emphasize once again that I'm in no way a certified professional, but having worked as a teacher in the field, I do know the basic tricks. In fact, you may be surprised to learn you actually know them too, even if you weren't aware of it.

And the things I've learned about literacy education I have turned around and used with my own children, so from personal experience, I know they are valid. My six-year-old daughter (notice how I snuck the dashes in???) finished reading Ramona the Pest last night. By herself. I don't say that to brag - I'm just pointing out that there's at least a little bit of truth to these simple teaching techniques.

Aware that I am probably 'preaching to the choir', I will get down off my soap box and get to the point of this post.

How do you teach a child to love to read?

Tip #1 - You read to them.

That's the first and probably most important tip. Read to your kids daily. At least fifteen minutes (that's about three books). We'll get to the how, and what and why in another post, because I think the true emphasis in this technique lies behind the action.

Read to them. Or with them, if you prefer that semantic.

And as simple as it sounds, it works. Professional studies prove that if you do nothing else to teach your child to read but this, they will learn to read (if there are no learning difficulties involved - such may require a different approach).

And as simple as it sounds, it's not as common as it should be. Too high a percentage of parents these days don't even spend fifteen minutes one-on-one with their kids, never mind reading to them. I don't say that as a political/philosophical opinion. I'm just stating a truth.

The beauty of the solution lies in its simplicity as well - it's not hard to adopt the practice of reading fifteen minutes daily. If you are analyzing you're own habits right now, and realize you are missing out on this vital learning opportunity, it's not too late to make a change. If you know of someone who could use this important interaction, encourage change.

Need some inspiration? There's some well known, successful storytellers in the world of children's literature. Names such as Don and Audrey Wood, Robert Munsch and Eric Carle span two or more decades of high quality, well loved story production. But just as in the world of novels, children's literature does not stagnate. Here are some suggestions for authors I have found that are making huge headway with their picture books - because they're that good.

Mo Willems has some incredibly popular books available - including the 'Pigeon' series. This books, however, will remain one of my all time favorite children's books. It's about Leonardo, who just can't scare anybody, and has to learn that there is something more important in life than being a scary monster.

Melanie Watt is an author on fire. Here books are fresh, original, funny and plentiful. Not only does she have the scaredy squirrel series (that includes an admontion to wash your hands with antibacterial soap before reading) but the incredibly popular 'Chester' series, in which Melanie has to wrestle with a Narcissic (did I spell that right?) cat over a fat red pen and the rights to authorship of the story. If you've never read her, head to the library Pronto!

Tom Lichtenheld is also producing a large array of high quality books (most of them co-authored by other up and coming talents). This is one of my favorite. A little cloud who dreams of being something more Cummulous (again with the spelling - I'm too tired to google it).

Finally, for the night, an author I found just this month. Michal Hall makes shapes exciting. This book is about a square that thinks he's perfect until he gets torn up and realizes he can be so much more. I read this book five times today, and still not sick of it. Plus, it has great opportunity for quality art time with the kids.

Snuggle up with one of these fantastic reads with your kids, and I promise you won't regret it!

A Self-Publishing Surprise Success Story

How's that for alliteration? And I just want to begin by clarifying that I don't mean it's a 'surprise' that this book is successful, more a 'surprise' at the unexpected momentum with which it rose to the top.

When I heard the story of Regina Sirois and her newly released novel (very, very new - as in January 2012) On Little Wings, I knew I had to include it in my monthly discussion on self-publishing. In trying to find a way to contact her for an interview, I stumbled upon her blog, and I must say, I think I've developed a tad of a writer's crush on her. Okay, I admit it, I'm smitten.

I'd love to tell you her story, but I think she'll do a much better job, and with greater eloquence.

Meet Regina Sirois.

"I am really happy to get to tell my side of the story because I think there are many misconceptions floating around about me.

Misconception #1: I have made it big in the publishing world. the truth- I haven't. Not even close. I was contacted by two very talented agents in New York this week and I have decided which one I am going to sign with. That means she will try to sell my book to publishers. That does not mean they will buy. She feels good about our prospects, but there are no guarantees in this business.

Misconception #2: I just lucked out.The truth- this is almost entirely true. If you count working on my manuscript for years, sending it to many test readers, enduring harsh critiques, querying everyone and their mother and finally giving up on myself as lucky. Because that is what happened. I worked as hard and tortured myself just as long as other writers. The difference is I believed the silence from the agents and gave up on myself. I put my manuscript in a drawer and refused to talk about it or look at it for over a year. I stopped writing. And I made peace with that. So then how do I explain you knowing about my book? Well, I got a gift. A teenage girl who test read the book for me almost two years ago asked for a copy. I told her "no, don't worry about it. It's not any good." She told me that she loved it and had been thinking of it for months. She asked if she could please read it again. I brushed her off and went back to life. But it got under my skin. I kept hearing her say she missed it. So one day I timidly pulled it up on the screen. It was like making up with a friend after a big fight. It took some time to get comfortable with it again. And I started working. I worked for weeks. I neglected all my chores and wrote. And then, right before Christmas, I finished. There is a great amount of luck involved in any literary success, but it doesn't take unless there's a thousand times more work than luck.

Misconception #3: I had a marketing strategy. Truth- what is a marketing strategy?I decided to give my book away for free to any friends who wanted to peruse it and print up copies for my family as gifts. On January 4th I put a post on my blog and told my handful of followers that I wrote a book. I announced it on facebook. I worried people would think I was bugging them or bragging, but I did it anyway. I decided if I worked that hard I should at least tell the people who cared about me what I did. I did not think I would make a penny. I didn't really want to. That wasn't the point. I'm not sure what the point was, to be honest. I just wanted to stop being afraid to try. I don't know how 14,000 people found me in five days. I really don't.

Any marketing tips or strategies? I refer you to my last answer. :) I believe that free is a great way to plant your book. If it really touches people and lands in fertile ground it might just grow. Just remember that there will be no word of mouth if it doesn't resonate. No one says, "hey I downloaded a mediocre book for free. You should get it." Let your work speak for itself and see if people pass along the word. And say a mediocre book does make it big online. When an agent reads a copy, then what? They will say, 'what the heck is this?' You have to have a product that stands up to the most critical eyes. Self publishing is not a short cut! It is just another path through the jungle. For me it was an accidental path. But trust me, I had tried to get through the jungle before I self published.

How long have I dreamed of being an author? I fought being a writer for a long time. I always said that writing is a crap shoot. It doesn't matter how good you are because even dogs write books nowadays. Dogs! So how do you compete with that. And if you knew me you would know that if I have a competitive bone in my body it is my pinky bone. Or maybe one of those tiny bones in my eardrum. I fight hard with myself but I hate competing with anyone else. When I finally gave in and decided to do this it was because I was sick of telling my husband, "If I ever write that book..." It sounded so lazy and stupid to me. I told myself, "Just write it if you're going to write it, or shut up about it." (See, I told you I can be hard on myself. But in a good way) Every time I wanted to give up (there were many) I told myself to write it to my daughter. I can do for her what I cannot do for myself.

The most exciting part of this experience? The first time a complete stranger blogged about my book. I found it by googling my title. She said I was a master of the English language. Another woman called me a "wordsmith." I looked at my husband and said, "I'm a wordsmith?" Then I covered my mouth and cried in the kitchen. Cried happy, happy tears. Seeing that people who don't know me and are not trying to be nice to me care about what I wrote is the biggest reward."

Okay, this is Mandi speaking again. I know, I'm sorry, I was completely hypnotized by her writer's voice as well, and almost forgot I was supposed to be writing this post. If you haven't read this book yet, don't miss it! If you don't believe me, go check out the 20/22 five star reviews on Amazon! There is a reason this book has gone from zero to sixty in under ten seconds, but I'm not going to tell you what.

I'll let you read it and find out for yourself...