Category Archives: Novels

Making a list and checking it twice…

I sound like the jolly old man in the red suit but I’m not talking about Christmas. I’m talking about preparations for my trip to Kansas for the debut of my novel, A Shadow in the Past, on September 15 – things to take, things to do before I leave. Most importantly passport and plane tickets, clothing (for the event and the rest of the weekend and sleepware), medications, glasses and cleaner for same, promotional stuff (business cards, postcards and bookmarks), pens to sign books, extra bag to bring books home in, followed by camera, iPad, iPad card reader, extra batteries and charger, mobile phone and charger for it. With the phone… must turn off a lot of e-mail notifications and remember to turn the beast off before I get on the plane or will get zapped with exorbitant roaming charges (maybe even go so far as to delete the Facebook and Twitter apps temporarily) to really ensure there’s not a lot of stuff happening. Phone on in the morning, then off until later in the evening. And the hotel has free wi-fi for guests so I could get along without the phone entirely since I can login to my webmail using my iPad when I’m there.

Then there’s my launch in Brockville the following Saturday which means charge my DVD recorder, format a DVD, get my book cover poster mounted, make sure my camera battery is in a fit state, decide what to wear because I don’t want to wear the same thing as I did in Kansas (I mean I can’t have people thinking I only have one outfit).

Oh, and then there is my fifteen day, twenty-one stop blog tour that starts on September 28. Have I sent my posts, author info, cover and author images, and where to buy links back to mine hosts and hostesses? I think so but must touch base with everyone to make sure. So I hope they understand my scattered-brainedness when I e-mail them AGAIN to ensure they have everything they need for my date with them.

I’m thrilled to be in this position and have dreamt about it for such a long time. My brain might be on overload right now but I’m loving every minute of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I welcome author Joanna Lambert to Celtic Connexions

Joanna Lambert joins me today here in my hometown along the shore of the St. Lawrence River. The sun is shining, it’s not oppressively hot and there is a beautiful breeze whispering through the trees surrounding my back yard. Since it’s such a nice day, I thought we would sit out on my deck, chat over some ice-cold lemonade and watch the birds and other wildlife come drink at either the birdbath or the waterfall fountain I have in one corner of the deck. I hope you’re not allergic to bees because they come to drink, too.

Your novels in the original Behind Blue Eyes Trilogy are all less than 300 pages. Did you ever contemplate putting them together into one novel? If so, what changed your mind?

Actually the manuscript was originally planned as one large book .  When I submitted to my current publisher, however, they would only take it in a two or three way split as it was too large and would have made the resale price prohibitive.

I know you self-published these books, was that a consideration in making three books?

Yes, as I said above, the publishers  liked the book but as they work out sale prices on page count, the resale price would have been astronomical.  I really wanted to keep the manuscript as one book and knew there was no way I could cut anything out or change the storyline to make it smaller.  So there was no alternative, I had to split it. I decided on a three way rather than a two and have to say, although it was hard work doing the rewrites, the whole thing turned out really well!

Had you tried the traditional route before deciding on “going it alone”?

Yes, I had sent the original manuscript to several agents.   I did get some really positive feedback but it was always a case of ‘thanks but no thanks’ and there were comments about it being a very large manuscript.  It was when I came to self-publish and was faced with having to split my work that I wondered whether the whole thing might have been a more attractive package had I marketed it as three separate books.

Will there be more involving the characters you’ve introduced us to after Between Today and Yesterday?

Yes, there will be one last book before I move onto something completely new.   This time Matt and Ella are very much in the background and it is the young adults who feature in Between Today and Yesterday who are the central characters who drive the plot.  I’m not quite there yet but what happens is going to be every bit as surprising as what goes on in Between Today and Yesterday.

Your original covers on your first three books were attractive, why did you decide to go with something more, shall I say bold? Have you noticed any increase in sales since your new covers went live?

I did like my original covers very much.  I chose them and felt they were right for each of the books.  However, it was when I had lunch with a fellow writer that she emphasised the importance of being ‘branded’.  She put me in touch with her own cover designer Jane Dixon Smith who worked with me to produce the new look.  I wanted to have a character on each of the covers.  So we have Ella, Andy and Matt on the trilogy and Marcie on the cover of Between Today and Yesterday.  The first three were done when the trilogy had been out for some time but there was definitely a slight surge in sales – although people who had already bought got in touch to say they were keen to get a set with the new covers!

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

I think self-belief and determination are both very important.  The writing journey can sometimes be difficult – there are good days you have when things go right and bad days when either the inspiration dries up or no matter what you write you’re not happy with.  When that happens you need to stay calm, hang on in there and convince yourself it’s just a passing phase.   Better still, close down the computer and come back to it later.  You’ll be surprised what a difference that can make!

The other piece of advice is get yourself an editor.  Having written four books now I know being the writer makes you far too close to your work and you just don’t see things that a fresh pair of eyes will pick up.  Believe me, a good editor can make all the difference!

When you’re not writing, what other hobbies do you enjoy?

Writing does take up a good deal of my time, but I also like to read – I have a Kindle but do occasionally get given the odd paperback to read as well.  I’m working part time now and allocate one of my free days for seeing friends and work colleagues I’ve kept in touch with over the years.   It’s great to meet for lunch and catch up on news.   I also love theatre (we’re really lucky in Bath having the Theatre Royal where we get a lot of pre-London productions).  Oh and I love the cinema too – we’ve a really good multiplex in the city.

Thanks for joining me here today on Celtic Connexions. It was good to see you. Maybe next time, we can take a little walking tour along the waterfront.

Another Scene of the Crime Mystery Festival has come to an end…

After thunderstorms and chances of rain predicted for today, the weather cooperated and the sun stayed out all day. Best of all, it wasn’t as humid as its been in previous years so it wasn’t as uncomfortable inside the venues. It was great to renew acquaintances with fellow attendees from previous years and catch up with authors I’ve met on other occasions. And I met some new authors, too.

We left the mainland from the ferry dock in Kingston filled with anticipation of what the day would bring. What we didn’t know was Scene of the Crime was competing with a music festival.

My wee black car squeezed in between a Merc and a Mazda on the ferry dock on the mainland.
The windmills on Wolfe Island
Approaching the ferry dock in the village of Marysville on Wolfe Island

After a meet and greet with the authors and the Grant Allen award winning members of The Ladies Killing Circle, we made our way to the first venue (United Church) where four authors read from their works. Since we were there in plenty of time, I took the opportunity to buy some books.

Author Thomas Rendell-Curran
YA Author Y.S. Lee
Author D.J. McIntosh
Author John Moss
All of the authors and festival president Violette Malan

After a delicious church lunch, everyone had a chance to get their books signed by the authors and visit with old and new friends before making the trek to the Anglican Church where the authors we enjoyed reading from their works in the morning session, held a panel discussion led by author Vicki Delany.

D.J. McIntosh, Y.S. Lee, Thomas Rendell Curran, John Moss and Vicki Delany
Y.S. Lee answering one of the questions posed by Vicki

A Q&A session followed the author panel before we adjourned for a short break to allow the “ladies” to get into their glad rags and ready for their turn. The Grant Allen award is a handcrafted kaleidoscope. And normally there is only one presented. But since six lovely ladies make up the killing circle – six of these beautiful handcrafted items were crafted in the shape of a stick pen, all in presentation boxes in the shape of books.

The Ladies Killing Circle – Mary Jane Maffini, Linda Wiken, Barbara Fradkin, Joan Boswell, Sue Pike and Vicki Cameron
Mary Jane Maffini wrapping up the Ladies Killing Circle discussion before the presentation of the awards

Another delicious meal served up by the church ladies rounded up the day accompanied by the presentation of the short story contest winners (no, I didn’t enter this year… too tied up with edits for that) but I did tell people we sat with at various times throughout the day that my novel was coming out next month.

One of the books I bought today was the one that Y.S. (Ying) Lee read the prologue from. Well my husband was so drawn in to the story, that by the time we left the island, he’d read the first six chapters! That’s quite the achievement. Usually, he only reads tech manuals, computer books, magazines and newspapers. So him getting drawn into a novel is huge! Who knows, maybe eventually, he’ll pick mine up and read it.

With the music festival and the ferry schedule being interrupted to bring an ambulance across and back to the mainland again, things weren’t as orderly and on time as usual.

Normally, there isn’t a police presence on the island (so we heard) but when we got to the ferry dock, a police cruiser was parked next to the building. When the ferry approached, the officer driving pulled the car to the parking spot at the head of the queue.

Waiting for our ferry to the mainland
Fort Henry
Royal Military College or RMC as its better known by

All in all, it was a great day and I can’t wait until next year’s festival.

Scene of the Crime – 2012 Edition

In just a few short hours, I’ll be heading off to Wolfe Island for the 2012 Scene of the Crime Mystery Writing Festival. I’m hoping for no rain although the weather forecast is calling for a chance of thunderstorms. But then they could make an interesting background atmosphere for a mystery writing festival.

The Ladies Killing Circle (Joan Boswell, Vicki Cameron, Barbara Fradkin, Mary Jane Maffini, Sue Pike, and Linda Wiken) are this year’s recipient of the Grant Allen Award.

Other authors taking part this year are YS Lee, DJ McIntosh, John Moss and Thomas Rendell Curren.

I’ll be back later this weekend with photos and a round up from today’s event.

Launch day for my novel, A Shadow in the Past, is getting closer

My novel’s cover created by Aidana WillowRaven

The closer launch day gets, the more excited I get. I still can’t believe it’s really happening. Me – having my novel published. Wow!

So what have I been doing the closer launch day gets? Well, I’ve put a countdown timer here on my blog and on the novels page of my website and I won’t bore you with how many days, hours, minutes and seconds it is until September 15 and the Kansas Book Festival arrives, which I’ll be attending.

Last week, I discovered that if I searched my name at amazon.com my book is listed. No cover image but it is there. The first day I saw myself there, the note said sign up for e-mail notification when this product becomes available or something to that effect. I checked again a the next day and I was in stock along with a retail price but still no cover image and now, there were 3 other sellers with new copies. Yesterday, I was temporarily out of stock and up to 4 other sellers. Follow the bouncing book?

I decided it was as good a time as any to set up my author page at amazon so worked on it yesterday. You can view it at amazon.com/Melanie-Robertson-King

And back to the bouncing book … this morning when I looked, I ship in 1 to 3 weeks.

Even though I said I wouldn’t do it, I have to … 40 days, 14 hours, 15 minutes and counting. And by the time this post goes live, the time to launch will be shorter.

Nolichuck! TJ’s Wild Frontier Adventure – review

Overview:

TJ’s just an ordinary fourteen year old kid with extraordinary problems at home and school:  A broken up family from his parents’ bitter divorce, evil bullies almost every afternoon, failing grades, boring classes, snobby girls, mean teachers, cut from basketball tryouts, few friends.

Life is rough for TJ Cockrell.

And then that mysterious little green book had to go and throw him into the past.  And not just any past, but into the untamed forbidding forests of 1802 eastern Tennessee along with the savage Indians, wild beasts, bloodthirsty robbers, backwoods ruffians, and log cabin living!  Yup, it’s definitely not 2011 Knoxville anymore.

And he thought his present life was bad news!  But TJ’s adventures are only beginning.  Along the way, he fights off killer beasts and bandits and braves, meets the young Davy Crockett, gains a world of confidence in himself, finds his first real love, and is befriended by a fantastic frontier family who really has it together.

When he returns to the present, he’s a brand new person––but there’s killers loose in his house, bullies waiting to beat him up at school, a pretty new girl at Highland High he’s hasn’t even seen yet.  And the aftermath of the little green book to deal with!

Links to Nolichuck!:

http://www.trebleheartbooks.com/WDKeene1.html

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12964375-nolichuck-tj-s-wild-frontier-adventure

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nolichuck-tjs-wild-frontier-adventure-jackson-keene/1105860532?ean=9781936127504

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Nolichuck

 

Review:

TJ Cockrell is an average fourteen year-old boy. Still grieving from his parent’s divorce and his young sister, Natalie, going to live with their mother, he struggles with classes at school – especially history, has little self-confidence which is compounded by the bullying he receives from the more popular students at his school.

When TJ discovers a mysterious green book in his father’s normally locked desk drawer, his adventure begins. He finds himself back in the year 1802 and quickly has to blend in with the people of that time. His self-confidence is tested far beyond his expectations but he rises to the occasion.

TJ is a likeable character and the reader cheers when things go well and despair when things go badly.

Divorce and bullying are prevalent in today’s society and this book portrays both sympathetically but realistically. This is an interesting read and teens, especially those who are in the same situation as TJ, will be able to relate to his situation.

I look forward to more from this author.

About the Author:

Jackson Keene is the pen name of Jack Olen King. Mr. Keene is a former advertising man and senior marketing executive with a love of writing and history. In his free time, among other things, he volunteer coaches youth basketball and is a coach-player on his own men s team. He lives in Plano, Texas, where he enjoys creating stories about less celebrated yet equally exciting periods of the past and present. Nolichuck is his debut novel.

Bullying…

I was reading New Beginnings by Rebecca Emin when I was approached to read/review another book that dealt with childhood bullying. I agreed and started reading it today. I’ll post my review here when I’m finished. Bullying is as old as man and will continue to plague our lives unless we collectively take a stand to stop it.

So without any further preamble from me, I turn my blog over to Jackson Keene author of the debut YA novel, NOLICHUCK.

GUEST POST by Jackson Keene, Author of Debut YA novel NOLICHUCK

(NOTE:  TJ, our young hero of NOLICHUCK, endures constant bullying at school.  He even has problems with ruffians when he travels back in time to the wild frontier days.  His story of ultimately overcoming and gaining real confidence is very relevant for youth today who suffer harassment from mean classmates.)    

 

 

Are you faced with bullying at school or know students who are?  Ways to deal with bullies.

Bullying in schools has seemingly reached epidemic proportions today.  This appears especially true in elementary school, middle school, junior high school levels, and even up through senior high.  And it’s not just the boys who are tormenting their classmates.  Girls often are crueler and much more devious than the boys.

Bullying can take many forms.  It can be verbal such as taunting, teasing that goes way beyond mere kidding around, false accusations, vicious rumors, ugly slurs, constant unkind statements, making fun of someone’s appearance or intelligence or lack of material things.  It can be emotional such as constantly and publicly humiliating someone, continuously excluding someone from becoming part of an accepted group or popular crowd, derogating someone’s manhood or womanhood.  And it can be physical, including hitting, punching, slapping, kneeing a boy in his private area, shoving, tripping, choking, in the case of girls, pulling hair, yanking on clothes, spitting, biting, kicking, etc.

Whatever form bullying takes and wherever it occurs, bullying kids at school is intolerable behavior.  Unnecessary and unprovoked unkindness is always wrong, no matter what the excuse.

But there are ways students can help protect themselves and deflect bullying actions.

  1. Build a “defense team” around you.  The old truism that all bullies are cowards unfortunately is not 100% true.  Yes, many bullies are cowardly at heart, and they seek to lash out at weaker prey.  But all bullies, whether they’re a coward or not, respect power.  Two are better than one, three are better than two, four are better than three.  Early on, connect with other students who may also be targets of bullying action, and form a protective group.  In between classes, in the lunchroom, in the gym, on the playground, etc., keep together as much as possible.
  2. “Believe in yourself” and your good qualities.  I’m not saying don’t be realistic about areas where you want to improve.  We all have things that aren’t perfect in ourselves.  But spend equal time encouraging yourself in the many areas where you KNOW you have good qualities.  Think on all the good traits, skills, and abilities you have.  Don’t let peer pressure or group mentality or bullying take away your core confidence.  You have a lot of innate value.  You have dreams and hopes.  Don’t give those up.  Who knows how productive and how fulfilling your life will be in 10, 20 years versus many of those people who are being mean to you right now.  Look at the long-range picture and KNOW you’ll going to be someone and accomplish good things.
  3. “Stand up” for your innate worth.  When confronted by untrue or mean statements, reply calmly, logically, and clearly.  State what you know to be true about your self-worth.  Don’t back down.  And never give up on yourself.
  4. Think about taking some type of “martial arts or self-defense” class.  I’m not necessarily talking about becoming the Karate Kid here.  But learning some basic defense techniques and using them ONLY WHEN ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY will work wonders in scaring off would-be bullies.  I had several fights growing up with bullies.  I was always small, highly intelligent (not a good thing in my generation), but feisty, and I never lost a fight with a bully, and in fact had instances where the bully failed to show at the “appointed time” because my bluster apparently scared them off.
  5. “Make allies and be a friend” wherever you can.  Even among the more popular kids, you’ll find of lot of them have good hearts and real character who’ll sympathize with your plight and take up for you.  Be a true friend to everyone you can, knowing that real friendship pays dividends.  And don’t just be a friend to those in power, so to speak.  You should go out of your way to be friends with others less fortunate.  Help those in need, and you’ll find help may be coming back to you!
  6. “Never return evil for evil”.  It never works out the way you’d hoped.  Don’t say or do intentionally mean things to get back at bullies or others.  Rise above the maddening crowd and be a better person than the bullies who persecute you.
  7. “Make it known”.  In today’s “zero tolerance” environment, it’s not only okay but the correct thing to do to notify school administrators and teachers of bullying behavior.  They’ll take steps to stop the aggression.  In addition, you should confide in others who can give you comfort and guidance:  Siblings, family members, friends, acquaintances you can trust, and people at church (if you go).  Talking things out always helps, especially if the person has been through some of the same problems in their school days.  

 So if you know someone or someone’s child(ren) who is being bullied, or suspect they are, please share this post with them. It could make all the difference.

lovehappyending.com author Owen Carey Jones launches his novel Rough Cut

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Rough Cut

Rough Cut is an international mystery thriller set in the UK and on the French Riviera. Populated with well drawn characters, it is filled with suspense and intrigue and the many twists and turns introduce the reader to the fascinating world of synthetic diamonds.

When a New York dealer in gemstones discovers a number of top quality synthetic diamonds in a batch he has bought, industry watchdog, the Federation of International Diamond Traders calls in Belizean, Carter Jefferson to trace their origin.

Carter, a synthetic diamond specialist who recently quit working or the FIDT to concentrate on writing but who still works for them on an ad hoc basis, is reluctant to take the case until he finds a reference in the file which takes him back 25 years to the time he was a geology student at Oxford University.

Old relationships are revived and family secrets emerge as an attractive English girl and a passionate young Frenchman are sucked into the web of deceit and death surrounding the illicit gems.

Review:-

What can I say about Rough Cut other than it was difficult to put down. Owen’s style drew me in immediately and kept me hooked until the very end. His characters are believable and with the exception of the villains, are extremely likeable.

Carter Jefferson, the main character in the book, is a diamond expert and author. His expertise in the gems and previous work with the FDIT leads him back on a freelance basis into the case of synthetic diamonds getting into a shipment of real ones.

A trip to England for a book signing hooks him up with the former love of his life, Nicole. She’s had her share of tragedies since her father forced her to break up with Carter when they studied at Oxford. Her husband was killed in an accident a few short years ago and now, between the time Carter has his signing in London and arrives in the village in Yorkshire, her son is murdered.

As Owen led me through the trail of murder suspects and where the synthetic diamonds were coming from, he kept me guessing who was behind the plot.

I love to curl up with a good crime read and this one definitely fit the bill.

The Star Child Cover Reveal Event

The world is about to be cloaked in darkness.
Only one can stop the night.

Kellen St. James has spent his entire life being overlooked as an unwanted, ordinary, slightly geeky kid. That is until a beautiful girl, one who has haunted his dreams for the past eleven years of his life, shows up spinning tales of a prophecy. Not just any old prophecy either, but one in which Kellen plays a key role.

Suddenly, Kellen finds himself on the run through a Celtic underworld of faeries and demons, angels and gods, not to mention a really ticked off pack of hellhounds, all in order to save the world from darkness. But will they make it in time?

About The Author:

Stephanie Keyes was born in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania and has worked for the past twelve years as a corporate educator and curriculum designer in the Telecommunications industry. She holds a Master’s degree in Education with a specialization in Instructional Technology from Duquesne University and a B.S. in Management Information Systems from Robert Morris University. She is a classically trained clarinetist, but also plays the saxophone and sings. When she’s not writing, she is a wife to a wonderfully supportive husband and mother to two little boys whom she cites as her inspiration for all things writing. The Star Child is Mrs. Keyes’ debut novel.

Website: http://www.stephaniekeyes.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephaniekeyes
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephanie-Keyes/150860604966160

Giveaway Details (Open for US and UK only):

Celtic knot designed antique bookmark – will go very good with this book!

Rafflecopter link for the giveaway: Smiley

http://www.inkspellpublishing.com/1/post/2012/07/star-child-cover-reveal.html

loveahappyending.com author Sue Fortin launches her novel United State of Love

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United State of Love

My Journey as an Unpublished Author:-

“I have always dabbled with writing and always loved reading so when I had the opportunity last year to concentrate on writing, I grabbed it. It was a case of now or never to get that novel written.

So August 2010 I began my plotting and planning. I had one scene in my mind, a confrontation between two lovers over an ex. It had no story leading up to it and no story following it but it was the beginning of French Kissing in the UK, which has since become United State Of Love. I then went about building up other scenes that these three characters might find themselves in. My next step was to link these scenes with a story line. Funnily enough, the scene that started it all off never made the final manuscript, it just didn’t fit in with the story I had created.

While I was writing, I joined the Romantic Novelist Association under their New Writers Scheme and duly submitted my novel, receiving a critique back about four weeks later. Okay, I hadn’t written the perfect novel, I didn’t get a second read, I wasn’t put in contact with an agent and I wasn’t offered a three book deal with a mega advance. It took a couple of weeks for me to get over myself and realise that actually the critique had made some very valid observations, particularly concerning motivation of two of my characters. However, I wasn’t sure if I had the energy or enthusiasm to rectify this as it wasn’t something that could just be tweaked. Nonetheless, I didn’t want to give in and headed back to the laptop with a vengeance. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the re-write, which was pretty much the first half with tweaking of the remainder.

My next step was to get some feedback from other people. The lovely Associate Reader Lou Graham and fellow Featured Author Nicky Wells both read it independently, giving me encouragement and advice for which I am very grateful.

My final step of the process was to have my novel professionally edited and proofread by Kit Domino, who is also a Featured Author with Love A Happy Ending. I am very grateful to her for ironing out the rough edges, leaving me with a polished novel ready for publication on 11 July this year.”