Websites for Children's Books

This month I am the 'Emerging Author of the Month' at a great new site for Australian authors - Creative Kids Tales . Started by Georgie Donaghey to showcase new and emerging authors and to bring them together with established authors and publishers, it's well worth a visit if you're wondering what's happening in the Australian children's writing scene.

Another website I'm involved in is Kindle For Kids , run by a new British author, Lynda Wilcox. Besides writing great books, Lynda has spent a lot of time and effort in getting this showcase of ebook children's authors up and running. The list of authors involved grows every day, so there's a wide range of ages and genres covered, plus stories and blog posts for children to read while they're there.

So if you're looking for books for your children, I recommend you pay these sites a visit.

Favouritism

As a teacher, I was aware that I mustn’t have ‘favourite’ students. Each one was special in their own way. As a mum, I wouldn’t dream of loving one of my children more than another. I love all three of them to bits. As a writer though, I have to admit to having a favourite amongst my books. It was my first born, but that’s not why I love it the most. I can’t even claim it’s the best written – only my readers can judge that. However, there’s a special place for it in my heart, because that’s where it came from – my heart.

That’s not to say my other books have been written in a half-hearted manner. I put my whole effort into them and I think they’re good stories. That’s what they are, though – stories. Treespeaker, on the other hand, was written from a different place than the others. I didn’t write it because I wanted to tell a story, I wrote it because I wanted to tell that story. I had to tell it. It was my way of sorting things out in my head. Sometimes I surprised myself by coming up with answers that I didn’t know I had in me.

Sometimes I have felt sad that Treespeaker has sold the least of all my books (apart from the short story, which understandably hasn’t sold many copies in the short time it has been out). In fact, before this past couple of months, I was beginning to wonder if there was any point in trying to sell it at all. With the birth of KDP Select however, I’ve found that it has been selling along with the others, even though it isn’t enrolled in the programme. (I object to the exclusivity clause, so won’t take it off Smashwords, B & N, Apple etc.) In fact, on one lovely day this month, I sold a whole 12 copies all at once. I’ve no idea why and it certainly hasn’t kept up, but it was a buzz while it lasted.

The truth is, though, that some books have a different sort of readership. There have been people who have reviewed Treespeaker who have obviously found whatever it is that makes the story different, and appreciated it.  Check the comments after one of the reviews on Amazon US and there is a lovely word used to describe these reviews. So rather than ruing the fact that it’s not selling millions, I’m grateful for the thoughtful readers I have had.

I wish I could come up with another story like Treespeaker. Yes, I’m still working on that promised sequel, but I don’t know if it has the depth of Treespeaker. It has taken me far too long to write to have come from the same place. But I think it will be a good story nonetheless. Time and readers will tell. Meanwhile, I’ll cherish every sale of all my books because each one is proof that it can happen and there was a day, not very long ago, when I thought it never would.

Old books give new ideas

It’s school holidays here at the moment – summer holidays. Kids get bored after a few weeks at home. Looking for something to do the other day, Sausage started searching the book shelves in my office and discovered a book I was given when I was 11: “The Australian Girls’ Book of Crafts, Pets, Sports and Hobbies” by Prudence and Anthony Harvey. Having been published in 1969, it’s a little dated of course, but it still has some great ideas to keep a girl busy, from ‘archery’ through to ‘white mice’. My brother had the boy’s version and it’s interesting to note what was considered suitable for both boys and girls. Sadly, things like cooking, knitting and clothes care (ie washing and ironing) were considered girls only.

Sausage has long wanted a pet, so this book provided her with plenty of material to get her ideas flowing on what she wanted. I drew the line at white mice (I can’t stand the smell of mice) and her father wasn’t keen on rabbits (he’s a farmer, after all), so she finally decided on a budgie. Though Christmas has only just gone, I did agree that a pet for her would be good. We have a menagerie already, but none of them are ‘hers’, so something just for her would be good for teaching her care and responsibility.

I checked out the pet shop without her first – made sure there were no sweet little kittens or unbearably cute puppies. Fortunately the pet shop was still in its post-Christmas lull, so budgies and fish were about all he had. He had a cage full of budgies, every colour they can be, all chirping away. Then the pet shop man pointed at a cage behind me – “Or there’s this baby one, already finger trained.”

There, in a tiny cage, its head down in the corner, sat a tiny bundle of pure white misery. It perked up a little when he took it out, but as soon as he put it back, it went back to its corner.

My heart melted. No, I told myself, no sad cases. Get a healthy, happy budgie.

I took Sausage back later that day. I took her straight to the big cage, forcing myself not to look at the single bird in its solitary confinement.  Sausage looked at all the budgies and her eyes opened wide. What colour? She stood there some time trying to decide. Then a mad chirruping came from behind us. The sad little baby bird was running up and down his cage, jumping and biting the bars. I could almost imagine him saying, “You came back for me! You came back for me! Take me hooooooome!”

Sausage took one look at him and was instantly besotted. Within five minutes he was ensconced in his new home (purple, of course) and in the car.

There’s been no sign of that sad little bird, now known as Ttokttok (Korean for smart), since we brought him home. He is so loved that he hardly gets time to sleep. Unfortunately the dog and cats are showing signs of loving him rather too much as well, so we’re going to have to find a safe place to hang his cage, but for now he’s on a small table in the kitchen and loving the constant attention from Sausage. We're not sure he is a he and not a she, (he’s too young to be able to tell), but Sausage is intent on teaching him to talk. Around here, it could be embarrassing what he picks up! Hopefully, nothing worse than, “Annie, get out! You stink!” or “Who left the door open?” But anything's possible. 

I must think of some great literary phrases to teach him.

Mark of the Dragon Queen FREE for two days.

This is just a quick news flash.

As part of KDP Select, my new YA fantasy novel will be downloadable to Kindle FREE for the next two days (12th and 13th January). If you'd like to read it but don't have a Kindle, there's a free app available from Amazon which will let you read Kindle books on computer, phone or iPad. Just look under where you press to buy the book and the app is there.

Available from Amazon US  Amazon UK  Amazon DE  Amazon FR   Amazon IT  Amazon ES

A perfect present for a writer of fantasy

I’d like to introduce you to a new friend of mine. I haven’t known him long, only three weeks or so. I don’t even know his name, but from the moment we got together, he has had a special place in my heart.

This old fellow was my children’s Christmas present to me. No commonplace box of chocolates or pretty vase for them. Their mum writes fantasy stories about wizards and dragons, so how could they go past this? Actually, we did go past it once. Sausage and I walked past it when we were out shopping one day and Sausage said, “Oh look at that wizard, Mum.” I seem to remember saying something like, “Yes, he’s lovely.” That was enough. My children went shopping and the wizard mysteriously disappeared from the shelf.

I love him. Not because he’s beautiful (though he does look rather awesome with his globe alight, doesn’t he?) but  more for the look on my kids’ faces when they gave it to me. Love and pride. I’m a writer. In their eyes, this wizard was made for me. He will live on the top of the piano for many years to come. He'll weave his magic spells and make me write. How dare I not, with a wizard and a dragon glaring at me like that?

As you can see, this is not the first dragon to come into the house either. They're not all mine. I'm not the only dragon lover in the house. 

Good Morning 2012

I didn’t stay up to see in the New Year. I haven’t done for a very long time. In fact the only time I can remember celebrating the New Year was when I was about 20 and a group of us climbed the church tower and rang the bell at midnight. That was fun. Rather too much ginger wine that night, I'd say. These days, though, I prefer my sleep and one midnight is much the same as another. Maybe I’m just a killjoy.

So, 2011 is over. I can’t say I’m sorry. Yes, I epublished two books and that was exciting. We had a good season on the farm and the crops were great. But other things happened, more important things, that were not so good and I’m glad to be able to put them all behind me. I must say thank you, though, to all the people who helped me get through those difficult times. I have some lovely friends and family.

2012. What are my plans? I’m not looking that far ahead. I’ll be writing, of course, as long and as hard as I can. I would really like to get the sequel to Treespeaker out. It’s just a matter of sitting down and putting in the concerted effort. ‘Mark of the Dragon Queen’ is almost ready to go. I’m just doing a final sweep for errors and then I’ll format it for Kindle. Maybe in a few days…

As for the rest of the year, I’m not making any firm plans. Last year taught me that life will go its own way, no matter what plans you make. I’m hoping that my family had all the bad luck of about ten years rolled into one last year and so this one will be relatively trouble-free. New Year has a way of making you feel hopeful.

A wonderful friend sent me a book for Christmas – Eckhart Tolle’s “Guardians of Being”. This quote jumped out at me and will be my philosophy for this year:

"The key to transformation is to

make friends with the moment.

What form it takes doesn't matter.

Say yes to it. Allow it. Be with it."

Whatever your plans and circumstances, I wish you all a happy and creative 2012. Thank you for visiting and commenting on my blog over the year. It means a lot to me.

A Challenge for 2012

As a challenge to myself for 2012 I've decided to join the Australian Women Writers Challenge which I found out about through  Goodreads. The idea is to read and review as many books by Australian women writers as you can in 2012. I'm choosing to be a 'dabbler' ie. someone who will choose from genres outside their usual preference, though of course there will be at least one book by Juliet Marillier in there. I couldn't go a year without reading at least one of hers (though I guess I will eventually run out of ones I haven't read and have to start re-reading). At the moment I'm going for the 'Miles' level, meaning I'll read six and review three. I may manage more, but I think that's a reasonable estimate.

Of course, working in a school library, I will have lots to choose from. Being on holiday at the moment, I'm having to mentally scan the shelves to think what's there, but I can think of at least five books that I'd like to start with. I'll be searching for some Australian e-book authors, too. We're not thick on the ground at the moment, but I know they're out there!

Wish me luck! And stay tuned for the reviews.

An interview with Ardyth DeBruyn

I'm very happy to be able to post another interview today, this time with Ardyth DeBruyn, a superb writer I met through Critique Circle. She's a Children's/Young Adult writer and take it from me, her books are well worth having a look at. I've included some links at the end of the interview. Don't go away without checking them out, will you? 

So who is Ardyth DeBruyn?

I’m the oldest of eight children, born in Portland, Oregon, USA. I come from an incredibly creative family. My mother (Monica DeBruyn) was a children’s book illustrator in the 1970s. My father is a composer and hymnal editor. And two of my brothers have done illustration work for my novels.

I got my college degree in Anthropology and am fascinated by other cultures. I’ve walked about 2000 km of the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage trail across Europe and the subject of my thesis for graduation. If I ever have the money, I’d love to do something like that again, but in some new part of the world I’ve not seen yet.

As far as jobs that aren’t writing, I’ve worked with children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Currently though, I’m writing full time.

When did you decide that you wanted to become a writer?

I’ve always loved storytelling, but most of my early storytelling was in drawings or orally as a child. I found writing laborious. The ideas would flash out of me and my pencil couldn’t keep up, so it wasn’t worth it. I would entertain my younger siblings with stories aloud instead or spend hours imagining them in my head.

After I finally learned to type properly for school papers in junior high my essay writing rapidly improved, but for some reason I kept writing all my fiction by hand, I don’t know why. Perhaps because I’d always done it that way. While I wanted to write fiction, I still found it slow and frustrating, although I managed over 100 pages of handwritten novel in a notebook.

It wasn’t until I was in college that I discovered that I could not only write fiction on a computer, but it actually worked better that way. Then again, I also actually owned a computer for the first time as well instead of being forced to share one with my siblings, so that might have had something to do with it.

While I always loved storytelling and wanted it part of my life, for years I always thought of it as a hobby. It wasn’t until much later I decided I wanted to be a career author. That happened when I went on a field study after college to gear up for going to grad school. Instead of learning Spanish during my study, I wrote two children’s novels in all my spare time, and decided to put grad school on hold indefinitely and pursue writing instead.

Has there been any one person/writer who has influenced you more than any other?

I would say George McDonald. My parents loved all his writing and named me after the title character in “The Princess and the Goblin” (my middle name is Irene). I grew up constantly listening to his fairytales and novels. With all that, it was natural that as a storyteller I wanted to be just like him. The greatest compliment I ever received in a critique group was when one of my crit partners spontaneously compared my writing to his. I aspire to reach someday his sense of wonder and depth of meaning and characterization.

Can you tell us a little about your books?

My first novel is “Chosen Sister” and centers around the relationship between a brother and sister. When a rather traditional looking Gold Wizard announces to their village that Austyn is the child warrior, big sister Reina is both jealous and afraid for him. He’s only six, and she’s suspicious the wizard isn’t capable of taking care of him. Trouble is, it’s “against the rules” for anyone to go with him. Austyn, in typical six-year-old brilliance, throws a crying fit about how scared he is, clinging to his sister, in front of the whole town. Naturally the impatient wizard allows her to come along to help take care of him. It turns out things are even more suspect than Reina originally thought.

I wrote this novel for my baby sister as a present originally, but I drew more on my own experiences as an older sister to write it. I often felt out-matched by them artistically, which is my inspiration for Reina’s jealousy over Austyn’s magic, but the moment they were in trouble I’d be right there, willing to beat someone up on the playground to keep them safe from bullying.

My second novel “A School for Villains” is about a boy whose father decides to send him to Dark Lord Academy, to become a villain. Danny’s older brother inherits the family business, and his younger brother gets to be a hero, because that’s only open to third sons. Danny doesn’t like the idea of being a villain, but he doesn’t figure out how to get out of it fast enough, and ends up at the school. Getting in, however, is a lot harder than getting out.

I wrote this one because I loved “Harry Potter” but also couldn’t resist poking fun at all the typical fantasy cliches. Satire has always appealed to me and many of my books have satirical elements (all those colored wizards in “Chosen Sister” are a nod to “Lord of the Rings”) but here I let myself go whole hog with the satire and run away with it. I had a great deal of fun.

Why children’s/Young Adults books?

First, because I never grew out of fairy tales, animal stories, and Newberry winners. As I grew older, my tastes widened to include young adult books and the occasional adult novel, but I always check out the children’s section of a library or bookstore first. It’s natural to want to write what I enjoy reading best.

Second, because I love children and want to inspire them in creativity and learning and books seem a natural way to do that. While I donate to literacy causes and spend volunteer time teaching children, there’s nothing quite so special as inspiring a child through a story and touching their imagination.

Why did you decide to publish an ebook?

I was pursuing traditional publication, and got back my first agent rejection of a partial request. In a fit of dissatisfaction, I thought, well, my next novel will be better, what don’t I need an agent for? I sent it off to an epublisher, expecting another rejection. To my surprise, three days later they asked if I’d like to sign with them. I’d only been half-serious, but when I looked into it, I realized that ebooks were a growing market and I decided I’d try epublishing as well as traditional publishing and decided to let them publish the book.

I decided to go indie with this section book because I wanted more control of the art in the book, not just the cover but to have pictures inside the book like a print middle grade novel would have. Art, however, is expensive, so I might go with an epublisher for some of my other work, depending on how it goes.

What, in your opinion, makes a good book?

I think at its core, it’s a story that sticks in your head and doesn’t let you forget it for some reason. The reason varies from novel to novel… the vivid world it creates, the fascinating ideas it raises, the dynamic characters and personalities, or the exciting plot, but something about the novel is remarkable.

I don’t think it has to be the same aspect for every novel, which is why it’s so hard to define at times what makes a good book. It doesn’t help that taste also is a large part of that. For example, I love “Harry Potter,” but found “Twilight” awful. Both books were hugely popular, so if you look at sheer numbers, lots of people would call both a “good book,” but I’m only able to call the first one a good book from my experience with reading them.

I wouldn’t say it’s impossible to define what helps make a book good, I think the final and most important ingredient is that it resonates with you in that unforgettable way. From listening to “Twilight” fans, I get the impression it was the characters that really gripped most readers, and they didn’t me, but it sounds like that’s the aspect of the book that was strongest. While I feel like “Harry Potter’s” strength was the world building… all those delightful descriptive and satirical moments that made the world come alive.

Where do your ideas come from?

My brain is constantly busy looking for ideas. Whenever I have a spare moment it starts playing around with an existing novel or coming up with brand new ideas. Conversations, experiences, an interesting view, artwork, just about anything can morph into a new idea. Sometimes debating what I like or don’t like about a book or movie I just saw can inspire me. I keep lists of ideas on my computer, waiting for enough other ideas that fit to get mashed together into enough to make a novel. Usually I need several ideas woven together to be ready to write a book. I have never had a lack of ideas.

What other writing projects do you have under way?

Too many. My latest rough draft from Nanowrimo is a middle grade novel entitled “Mortal Friends.” It’s about a goblin who becomes friends with the captive Princess he is supposed to be guarding. But I haven’t decided if I’m going to edit next or let it sit and go back to working on my historical YA novel, “Paladin Honor” which I’d like to start querying next year. There’s at least five or ten or twenty other things I’d also like to get to.

I tend to have a do everything approach with a whole list of novels I’d like to finish and have various plans and hopes for. I also want to write a sequel to “A School for Villains” this coming year and publish it as an ebook.

What do you most like to do when you’re not writing?

I assume for enjoyment… not things like laundry, cooking dinner, and driving my husband to and from work. Mostly reading. I read quickly and if I let myself I’ll read several books a day and not do anything else, so I limit myself. If I’m not reading, I’m likely role-playing, doing cooperative writing projects for fun, or critiquing other people’s books. As you can see, writing themed items tends to take over my life! When I have money, I go cruising second-hand stores for interesting items. I do a little bit of art, mostly wychinanki, which is Polish papercutting, and enjoy hiking.

Thanks for having me on your blog!

Thanks for being on my blog Ardyth! If you'd like to check out Ardyth's work, here are some useful links -

http://www.ardythdebruyn.com/

A School for Villains:

 Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0061I23PU 
 B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-school...
 smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/103...

Chosen Sister

 Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Sister-eboo...
 B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/chosen-s...
 Fictionwise: http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook8...

E-book Cover Design

Original cover idea -rejected

Breaking news: I have a new book coming out on Kindle. That’s the cover for it there, underneath my other books. I finished writing it last year and have toyed with the idea of trying to get it published the traditional way, but if truth be told, I’ve lost all confidence in traditional publishers. Penguin’s recent move to e-publish unaccepted authors at an exorbitant cost confirmed to me that traditional publishing is on its way out and being able to do it yourself is the best option. How long that will last before the Big Six take over the e-shelves, I don’t know. But for now, I’ll publish my own.

Anyway, I spent a lovely two days designing the cover. I’d come up with something a few weeks ago, but when I put it up on my favourite Goodreads group for opinions, it was met with a lukewarm response. So I started again. My first idea was to go with a simple dragon’s eye. But I decided that it really didn’t say much about the story and had probably been done before.

So I went back to the original and started playing about. The girl, it seemed, was seen as ‘sneering’. I didn’t see her that way, but if that was the response, she had to go. But I liked the castle (or prison as it is in the story) so I kept that. Then I had an old leatherbound account book that my mother had given me a long time ago.  The main character’s father is an academic who has spent his life filling books with sketches and research, so it seemed relevant. I had sketches of a hawk and a chameleon (which I warped into a dragon-like creature) for the pages of the book. Add in a locket given to me by a teacher long ago and a dragon in the sky, colour it in vibrant colours and voila! I’m pretty pleased with the result and glad I asked the group's opinion before I published.

A discarded idea.

Another discarded idea

It’s quite an art, getting an ebook cover right. Not only do you have to have a design and colours that draw the eye, the title and author have to be legible in quite tiny versions of the jpeg.  It’s definitely not a matter of slapping a picture and title onto a page. It’s something I absolutely love doing, though. It distracts me from writing, yes, but once I have that cover done, I’m so keen to get the book out that my enthusiasm for writing is revived. I think I could quite happily become a full-time author and cover designer.

If wishes were fishes…

Book Review: Iditarod by Andre Jute

A while ago, I read something about the concept of 'setting as character'. I didn’t understand it until I read ‘Iditarod’ by Andre Jute. The book has two main characters, Rhodes and James, both skilled athletes, both determined to better the other in the Iditarod, an annual sled race across Alaska. At first, I presumed that James was the antagonist. With his fame and wealth and slightly arrogant approach, he was the obvious candidate to be the baddy of the piece. It soon became obvious, though, that the real antagonist is the place, Alaska itself. Both Rhodes and James, while competing with each other, face this wild, desolate landscape alone and it throws everything it has at them to stop them succeeding. 

As in all good books, though, the antagonist is a three-dimensional character with enough goodness about it to draw the reader in. Even when Rhodes and James were fighting the worst Alaska could muster, I was in awe of the spectacular beauty of the place so clearly described. It was not hard to understand why people would pit themselves against the place in such a dangerous way. 

This is a determined adversary that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. Hardly a page goes by without the potential for disaster being raised. At times, I must admit, I was a little annoyed at Jute’s use of chapters written from the point of view of a pack of wolves. It took me some time to understand the significance of these chapters and-- as he tended to put them in just as one or other of the characters was in dire straits-- I became impatient with them for a while. In truth though, they gave chance for the reader to have a rest from the fast paced action* whilst they quietly developed the setting as a character. By the end of the story, I felt sympathy for those wolves (who epitomised Alaska) despite their actions.

This is a book that has obviously been the subject of detailed research. Everything, from the history of the Iditarod to the detail of the landscape along the way, is meticulously described. It’s an old-fashioned, beautifully written adventure story that won’t disappoint any modern reader who enjoys fast-paced action. I highly recommend it.

*If I have any criticism of the story, it would be that perhaps sometimes the action scenes were so fast that I couldn’t quite picture what was happening. However, that could have been more to do with the fact that I know nothing about sleds, snow, ice etc., rather than the writing itself.